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Published: December 4th 2008
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Jac and I were fortunate enough to have a Manager at my work, Daryl take us around the sights of Mae Sot for the day. It not only helps having someone who knows the area but an added bonus when they are fluent in Thai. Quite ironic really, everyone speaks to me in Thai because I look the part however it is Daryl the American they should be talking to, who has lived in Thailand long enough to be considered a local. And yes we have lots of fun with how we pronounce our English words, the Aussie accent versus the American; we are both learning quite a few different slang words. Who said English was easy even for the native speaker? I still think I prefer rubbish over trash and petrol instead of gas so I will work on him.
On our first destination we visited Wat Wattanarum. This had a lot of great little spots which you can see from the photos. What stood out the most was its mirror decor resembling a nightclub (if it wasn’t a holy place of worship), the reclining Buddha and the site which had a musical rotation where you were able to
The lower level of Wat Wattanarum
Two of the monks blessed us while we were in the temple throw money in silver bowls (it was almost like being at a fair).
The next sight just 11 km northwest of Mae Sot we visited was Wat Phra That Doi Din Kiu temple. It is on a forested hill-top with breathtaking views of Myanmar and Moei River. A small chedi on a boulder has been balanced on the edge of a cliff. According to sources the chedi is special because it is constructed in the same style as Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Myanmar. I am sure many visitors have tried to push the rock off the cliff however I think it has now been cemented in. Above the chedi is Buddha’s footprint, Daryl believes it may have been Buddha who was the first Big Foot (Yes I have found someone who shares my crazy humor)! This was not only a great destination for its view but an interesting hike with the amount of stairs that we needed to climb.
After our lunch break and meeting Daryl’s wife Nat and his son Tommy we went to Mae Usu caves. There is a quaint, manmade lake at this site with a wooden bridge crossing and a Buddha statue. To get to
the caves, is a stair track (I think we filled our weekly quota for climbing stairs that day) through dense forest. It had some great stalactites and stalagmites, which I am sure, could be explored a lot further then we did if you have a torch and don’t mind dark, tight spaces. We ended the day cooking some eggs in the Mae Usu hot springs. So I and Mae Sot survived my first long day on a motorbike. Definitely one of the best preparations for moving to Thailand was getting some practice on a motorbike in Australia.
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