Motoring About

Today we took the day off and jetted around the remote villages. Now 'jetted' should be taken with a grain of salt as our borrowed motorcycle was not exactly what one would call high powered. Casey said riding on it reminds him of the motor scooter from 'Dumb and Dumber' (yes that horrible movie from his teenage years that he finds absolutely hilarious). For those of you have not seen the movie, lets just say two
Americans (who are very heavy compared to Asians) do not exactly mix very well with a small engine and the steep mountain roads of Northern Thailand (or as it was in Dumb in Dumber, the mountains of Colorado). But it certainly gets good gas mileage.

We arose early to make our way out before the heat arrived. We also wanted to take advantage of the early morning birding hours. We puttered about in the haze filled morning until we arrived at a waterfall where we relaxed on rocks in the middle of the stream as we gazed into the bamboo and branches above for flittering birds.

After a bit of morning relaxation, we hopped back on the motorbike and zoomed uphill, when all of a sudden the handlebars started to shake. This was not a good sign, and we soon discovered our back tire had gone flat. Not knowing how far we were from our destination, or from any village and not wanting to head back down the mountain we opted to sit by the side of the road and hope for a rescue operation. Sure enough, a nice young man came to our side and told Laura to hop on his bike while Casey followed with the flat. He took us to a little town and fixed our tire for free. Lucky for us, he used to work in a motorbike shop, so the job was quick and well-done. To show our gratitude, we followed him to his father-in-law's house to meet the family and have some tea.

His father-in-law was a nice man who originally from Burma. He has been living in Thailand for the past 30 years. He told us some interesting stories about life on the border.

Interesting Character
About a decade ago, he was a tour guide in the area. He was out with some tourists, trekking in the jungle when they came across a few Burmese soldiers. The soldiers figured out he was Burmese and whisked him away. They made him stay the night and they took all of his documents (ie his passport, his driver's license, etc). Apparently, they thought that he had crossed the border with his clients and they were not happy. He had to convince them that they were in Thailand, not in Burma and that they had lost their way. He also had to explain that he knew where they were NOT because he belonged to a rebel army group, but because he was a tour guide and therefore he needed to know the area. He was so glad that he made it out of that experience alive that he didn't care that he had lost all forms of documentation. They could easily have shot him for being a rebel.

He also related some interesting stories about the refugee camps. He does not approve of how the UN and other NGOs work the refugee relief. Apparently, they give all of the rations to the leaders of the camp, who make sure that everyone gets their share. Of course, this does not happen because in politics, people are corrupt. He says that if someone does something wrong in the camp, they will not receive their rations, but the leaders still receive the rations from the UN. Then, the leaders travel to the villages and sell these "surplus" rations to the people for prices cheaper than those found at any store (because they get them for free from the UN and other agencies). Also, there is the whole family and friends issue, where the family and best friends receive the best and first pickings, followed by the rest of the refugees. I don't know what his solution would be, but this does seem like a serious issue. Especially since we've heard that the rations AREN'T enough for those living in the camps.

He also had some interesting thoughts on corruption, which were really quite simple. It's OK to skim some money off of the top when requesting money to help others. He would do it (and most undoubtedly does) and he doesn't think this is an issue. I could understand someone in his situation doing so, to help off-set his meagre income, but it's harder to justify it when it's the super rich ex-prime minister of Thailand (whom he was defending). His main justification for this was that he felt that the ex-PM was very helpful and kind to the poor and Burmese refugees like himself. He is not so sure that the current military regime in charge of Thailand will be so kind to to people like this which he is one of. This is why he chooses to defend this corruption. An interesting perspective.

He is also the man in the previous post, who holds an after school English program in his backyard. We visited the school, which is complete with battery-backed lights for when there are blackouts. We said we'd come back to speak with the children and then we set off again. Over all an unexpected but very nice way to spend the afternoon taking to yet another interesting person from Burma who has been so willing to share a bit about his life.


Tea Time
We wandered around for a bit, taking in the mountain scenery and smoke filled air. We meandered through softly falling ash as we passed a large reservoir. We came to a dead end and turned around briefly before heading in a different direction.

We ended up in a small village known for it's tea and Chinese immigrants. On the way up we climbed through fields of cabbages and onions then plantations of tea bushes. We settled among the "tourist center" and feasted on a wonderful lunch of Yunnanese food as we sipped locally produced tea. The owner of the tea shop served us delicious ginseng tea. We had never had ginseng tea quite like this before and it left a sweet sharpness in your mouth long after the brew was swallowed. We decided to take some back, to try at home.

As the sun began to descend in the sky, we wandered about this breezy little town, snapping photos and watching the daily happenings from the back of the motor.

Slowly we headed back toward the village. We made a little detour through the Bamboo Complex to do some late afternoon birding and to admire the environs. Reluctantly, we hopped back on the bike for the final descent to our village.

Motivated People

After working in the Philippines and at times getting frustrated because it seemed like few people had much motivation, let alone motivation to help other people, coming to the border has been a very refreshing experience. I will illustrate with two examples:

One of my students and one of Casey's students are both members of the Burmese Migrant Labor Union. Two years ago they, under initiative from their organization, decided to create a weekend English school for children of migrant laborers. They began by teaching in someone's house until they received funding from an international agency to build them a 3 room building. They also searched for funding to receive snacks/lunch for the students. Though there are some flaws with the program (unavoidable considering they don't have much of a background in education or much knowledge of English which is the main thing they teach to the children), the sincerity by which our students teach their students is heart warming.

Today, Casey and I met another man, who has developed an after school English program for students from 3 remote villages. It too, began from his house and he asked for the students to pay a small fee for electricity but did not like this because most families in the area cannot afford even a small fee. Eventually, he received funding from an international organization to build a school on his property. They also sponsor materials for the children and occassionally send English speaking volunteers.

In both of these cases, the educators are doing this because they realize that their children deserve a better future with a better education. While they currently make some money from the projects, they began teaching for altruistic reasons. Unlike much international development I have witnessed, where international NGO's try to force potential projects on their target communities, these projects TRULY did come from WITHIN. Only after these projects were started, did they receive resources from the outside. This IS how development should happen everytime.

Filipino Anthropology

If anyone is interested to read some more about some of the tribes we visited in Southern Mindanao, check out this e-book. I haven't had time to browse it yet, but it was written in 1913 by the curator of Malayan Enthology.

Border Politics

A few weeks ago, a woman came to our house to live. She is not Burmese and is not from the area and she never met the women of my organization until the day she arrived. She came for one purpose and one purpose only: to learn English from me.

"Why is there?" you may be asking. We've been asking ourselves that very question. Here is the story, as I understand it.

Casey's organization in on very good terms with the Thai headman of the village. This is a VERY good thing, since it enables them to live and work here illegally, with the fewest amount of troubles. He visits their house often and drinks with the head of the NGO. So, of course he heard about the free English lessons that were going on in our respective organizations.

Could he just let it be? Of course not! What are the perks of being the headman if it's not to take advantange of other people's situations!! This started by sending a few villagers to Casey's classroom.

Then, one day, this woman showed up at our doorstep. If you ask the headman who she is, he will tell you she's his neice. But, if she was, in fact, his neice, why is she staying here instead of his house, which is only a few minutes down the road? If she was his neice, why isn't he taking classes with Casey's organization, which has better relations with him than my organization does? These are all questions that were asked during her first few days here.

To answer these questions, the women at my organization decided that she must be the Headman's mistress. Actually, they have informed me numerous times that he as many "wives." The other day, his wife #1 found out and began asking questions such as "what does she have that i don't have."

So, to sum up: So these organizations can continue to function as smoothly as possible, they made a deal with the Headman to allow his mistress to stay here for free and learn English from me. Don't I feel special!

On top of that, the Headman also suggested that Casey should teach the students from the village during their summer vacation. After all, he is doing the for free, so why should they pay someone in town. So far, this has not panned out yet, but summer's only just begun :)

The Fog that Never Lifts

When we first came to our town we heard everywhere that it was the Land of the Three Mists. Boy does that sound romantical. Not when you consider the sources of each of the three mists. With each season, come a "fog." The real mists are associated with the winter, the rain with rainy season and smoke with the hot, dry season.

"Smoke is not a mist," you make be thinking to yourself. You are correct. While the first two phenomenon are made by nature and both deal with water, the third mist is a horrible, thick smoke, the result of excessive burning by God Knows Who. This mist rolled in about 3 days ago and hasn't lifted since. On the contrary, it has settled even more into the valleys, the skin and our clothes. The smell of burning brush is everpresent and makes one's nose hurt. The eyes burn and the throat feels raw. I can barely see the top of the hill across the street. This is not good.

I am reminded of the Indonesian fires, which happened not so long ago and induced the complaints of Malaysia and Singapore. While we were not in the midst of these (Thank Goodness) we heard how horrible the smoke made for travelling and living. I can't help wondering if we now among similar smokiness, or if the Indonesian fires were far worse, which is hard to imagine.

If there was one thing I could change about the practices I've seen in SE Asia it would be the ever-present fires. I really see no point. Households burn the leaves and rubbish around their house, when it would do them more good to let the nutrients soak up into the soil through the natural processes of decomposition. Farmers burn their fields thinking they are increasing nutrients in the soil, when all they are really doing is burning off most of the nutrients and increasing the chances of erosion on their field. People burn forests so they can plant more crops instead of learning techniques to plant in and around the forest.

Sometimes it seems like I'm the only one suffering from the awfulness, but I know that children and adults must also succumb to asthma and respiratory infections as a result of all of the smoke.

But, until they change their ways or at least until the fires run out of fuel, I will sit in the house and breathe the fresh air of the mist.

An interesting article on what the government is doing about the misting problem.

Ant Man

We have an ant harvester in the neighborhood. He comes around to the house about once a week with a long bamboo pole with a rice sack fixed to the end. He uses this contraption to knock the ant nests down from the tops of the trees and then he collects the larvae. When asked what he does with the larvae the response was "eat it." I wonder how often he has ant larvae for his meals since I've seen him all over the neighborhood poking his stick in the trees. How he manages not to get severally bitten is beyond me...these ants are nasty and he goes about his work so non-chalantly. Though he does not sell the fruits of his labors, one can find them at the market where they are expensive (so i've been told). I wonder if I could get him to invite me over for dinner one night?

Still Fighting On

I met a man on a Sunday afternoon while he was drinking and relaxing at the grounds of Laura's organization. He introduced himself and asked for my name and with impeccable English told me a bit about his story. He is the head of a political organization in the area which works for democracy, self-determination and freedom from the oppressive regime in Burma. This man in from Southern Shan State and has to be in his 50’s or 60’s. He has been in Thailand for 12 years which he enjoys and is grateful to the Thai royalty, as he puts it, for allowing him to be here. I think life here for him is just a bit better than it was for him in Burma.

He was a part of the political movements in the 1960’s before General U Ne Win took control of government. When the military took control, he still worked for political freedom but that was not exactly a safe way of working. He was imprisoned six times in Burma, many times for stints of over 2 years. In prison the conditions are some of the worst in the world and prisoners are often tormented and tortured. He finally decided that he could not take it anymore and fled to Thailand. It was probably a good idea since one of his close friends and political allies in now in prison with a 100 year sentence. Even while living in Thailand, he feels that he can still help his people in Burma, and perhaps to a bigger extent, while living a relatively safe life.

Since he has been in Thailand he has been imprisoned six times as well (since he is here illegally) but he says that all the Thai authorities know him now and since he is an old man, he will no longer be imprisoned. That is nice of them. The first time he was picked up by Thai authorities, they almost sent him back to Burma but he begged them not to and told them it would be better for them just to shoot him there rather than go back to Burma.

His organization works at trying to spread democracy in the country as well as unifying the ethnic minorities in Burma. He is also a member of another major political organization which represents many different minority groups and is working with the major opposition group in Burma headed by Aung San Su Kyi and continually trying to figure out best way to achieve ‘final destination’ of freedom, unification and democracy. He states that it is extremely important to unify the Shan State, with its many ethnic groups and if this occurs, the unification of Burma will be easy. He also says that it is not a good idea to rely on the Burmese (i.e. perhaps the major opposition group to the regime that is headed by Su Kyi) to provide salvation for aunified Burma as the Burmese have not shown that they can be trusted. History has shown that the Burmese have been pretty shitty to ethnic minorities.

The strength of his words, character and determination are inspirational. He is here all alone in Mae Hong Song. His wife divorced him due to his political situation and his sons have their own life in Burma. He has committed himself to the cause and even though it has caused him innumerable hardships, he stays on course. This deserves admiration. I know that I could not do this. He is happy to still be living (luckily a bit better he in Thailand) and working for his people and ideals.

He was also a wealth of information although after numerous questions he asked to be left at peace with his drink. It was after all a Sunday afternoon and time for relaxation. So I thanked him for his time and left this strong, old man in a felt hat with his drink.

A Dedicated Man

Names and places have been omitted for security reasons.

In my first week here I met a 44 year old Pa-O man from Southern Shan State who has been in Thailand since 1989 or 1990 after fleeing Burma during the uprising in 1988. He was part of the movement to overthrow government at this time and lived in the jungle in Eastern Burma after the uprising. While on the run, he attended the Jungle University at this time for one year. The Jungle University was run by foreign teachers who taught strictly in English about a variety of topics. During this time, this man met the author of The Land of Green Ghosts Pascal Khoo The (this is a great book from the perspective of a man from the Paduang ethnic group whose women wear neck rings which you may have seen pictures of before). In the jungle, conditions were certainly not ideal with many people dying of malaria and malnourishment, not to mention the conflict with the brutal military.

He has only had contact with his family remaining in Burma two times in past 20 years. The first time was shortly after arriving in Thailand. He crossed the border and it took him half a month to walk to his home. He had to always watch out and travel secretly in fear that the government might catch wind of him. When he got close to home he met his mother and brother near his town, but in an outlying village. His mother told the authorities that she was going to visit family (you must tell government if you go anywhere overnight) but they found out that ex-rebel leader was there and the meeting only lasted 2 hours. He was informed that the government was on the way and he had to flee back to the border. This is the only time that he has seen any of his family in past twenty years. He contacted them one other time by phone a few years ago but has not done so since because he fears for their safety. When I heard this whole story, it nearly made me cry.

He lived in a refugee camp in near the border for about 6 years where life was never easy. Some of these refugee camps are quite large (the biggest is about 100,000 people) and the living conditions are not so nice. Most families do not have enough to eat or other adequate neccessities and currently it is prohibited for them to look for ork outside the camps. At this time he did however get work (hard labor) but got paid extremely low wages. Thai business people and contractors take advantage of the situation by paying Burmese who do not have work permit much lower wages than their Thai counterparts (sounds familiar no?). While in the camp he was involved in community groups and worked as a translator for organizations who came to give trainings. He knows about 6 languages which were learned through his time in the jungle and staying as a guest in many communities. He also worked as a tour guide for one month but still not being paid anywhere near as much as Thai counterparts. Other Thai tourist guides were still mad though as he was a better tour guide than them and could communicate with the hill tribes in the area and explain the Burmese situation better than them. This resulted in many tourists requesting his services which angered the Thais and led them to report his status as a refugee to the Thailand Authority of Tourism. Eventually there was an opening in an international NGO that worked in the camps and he was taken on as a translator and community worker. He moved out of camp in 1996 and one month later it was attacked by Burmese military, killing a few refugees. This link tells about a similar attack.

At the NGO he worked his way up and now holds a decent position (as high as he can go working as a person from Burma without official Thai residency or citizenship). He has relationships with many of the NGOs working in the area and tries as hard as possible to help his people (Pa-O and other people from Burma) to improve their lives here and inside Burma. He has a good head on his shoulders and good ideas about how development work should really work (not forcing it upon people but supporting them to help themselves).

I have only been here one week but already learned so much from him. He is so eager to share information about his life (as hard as it has been) and about the situation in Burma. He is a wealth of knowledge and information and just in general a top notch person. He has a good relationship with the organziation that I work with so I see him quite often I look forward to getting to know him better and learn more from this man who is a mentor not only to people in my organization but now also to me.

A Little About Burma

Our Quaint Life

So we have moved into our new home here in a nice little serene town in Northern Thailand along the Thai-Burma border. It is much more quiet and peaceful here than Mae Sot, the weather is more agreeable and the scenery is much more beautiful. It is not quite as interesting a town as Mae Sot but all in all it is a great placement. Both of our organizations are filled with great people who have really made us feel welcome. The living situation is nicer than expected and we even have internet hookup so no longer need to pay for internet cafes and can get some more updates on world news, music and everything else which is very nice. The food has been absolutely spectacular so far with tons of fresh veggies and spicy chilies. We already both feel quite at home and have settled into teaching at our respective organizations.

It is really gorgeous around here in the small village where we live and last week it was still quite cold (I could see my breath one morning). But summer is on its way and it has really begun to warm up this week. During March and April it can get really hot here which I am not exactly looking forward to it but I am used to it from the Philippines. The weather has been so nice this past month or so here in Thailand so far though it will be a little hard to get used to again. There are also lots of birds in the village and we have gone out a few times birding.

The classes that we are teaching are mostly people in their twenties and they are all very eager to learn which makes for a nice teaching environment. The classes are also small and some of the students really had basically no knowledge of English before. We were not exactly expecting this and did not know how to start at first but quickly figured it out how to teach and are hopefully doing a decent job. We are both enjoying it a lot and Casey much more so than he anticipated. I think the three months will fly by and perhaps we will wish we could stay longer (although I am not sure if this is a possibility with our visa situation).

As far as the people, they often have many interesting stories, especially those people in their 40's and 50's. I have met an extremely nice man who is originally from Burma and who works for the an international non-governmental organization that works with refugees and migrants all around the world. They have quite a large office in this town working with refugees and other organizations in the area who work with Burmese people. Most Burmese in this area are from the ethnic minorities that are found mainly in Eastern Burma and there are 135 of them in Burma. This man is from the same ethnic group that most of the people in the organizations that we work at, Pa-O. He came over in 1988 after the uprising and was in a refugee camp for about 6 years before getting a job at the NGO. He is still not a citizen or even a resident in Thailand and cannot leave this small area where he lives. He is an extremely kind man who always has time to share his story and information about the situation in Burma. He is an absolute wealth of information. He could probably give up his job here and actually get citizenship in a third country (some things are restrictive about living here and in some ways people from Burma living in Thailand are controlled by the Thai government as much as they are controlled by the Burmese government in Burma and Burmese are also heavily discriminated against here in Thailand) but he chooses to stay and do the most he can to help his people.

In the past few months preparing for our time here we did a little bit of reading up on Burma. Before this I really did not know much about the country or the situation. Since being here we have learned even more and from every angle the situation is pretty messed up. I know that things are messed up in many places in the world but I am here now so if you are interested in a little history lesson please read on. One thing that we have noticed is people that we have met are extremely ready and eager to talk about Burma, even if it sometimes hard to tell their sad stories, in order to get the message out about the situation there. Please read on and learn a little bit. For more reading check out this excellent series of articles and timeline done by the BBC.

Just a little history of Burma

Burma was independent until the mid 1800's when it was colonized by England extending from India because they felt that the Burmese were 'too uncivilized' to rule themselves. You see the nice British were doing them a favor. Even before this time I think that it was hard for Burma to be held together as a country due to the high number of ethnic groups all with different cultures, languages and ideas. While the Burmans are the majority and are found in the center of the country, the other ethnic groups have often been at odds with them. It has been said by certain ethnic groups that they actually liked the British colonization period because they were treated better than when the Burmans were in control. Before WW II, while Japan was on its quest to take over the world, they trained a group of 30 Burmese young soldiers to lead the revolution against England. While this worked in some ways, the Burmese soon realized the true aims of Japan and joined the allies to stop Japan domination in Asia. After the war, Burma was finally given its independence and all of the minorities were placed under the control of one central government even though they were not very happy about this.

In the 1950's I believe, the leader of the group that was trained in Japan and a leader in its fight for independence and democracy was in a position to become the new prime minister. This leader was the father of Aung San Su Kyi (the female nobel peace prize winner who is still under house arrest in Burma and who is the leader of the National League for Democracy, which is the main opposition to the military regime). Some people in the military had other ideas about him becoming the leader of a democracy and assasinated him along with his cabinet and seized control of power. Since that time Burma has been under a military dictatorship who does not like to give up any power or allow any form of democracy and rights for its citizens. The human rights violations of the regime make me sick and some are unthinkable.

So that has been 50 years and not a whole lot has changed in that time. Burma was once one of the most prosperous countries in SE Asia and it has now been crippled by the military regime. It was once the world's largest rice exporter and now it has to import rice and many farmers must sell their rice to the government for ridiculously low prices so that they do not have enough rice for themselves. They in turn have to buy rice at ridiculously high prices. The infrastructure of the country is terrible except for those places that the government and military use. The military outposts have 24 hour electricity and have used forced labor to build the dams to provide while most of the country is not provided with electricity. Many of the roads and transportation are poor but the military officials drive around in expensive cars with fancy gadgets from the West. The country is extremely rich in natural resources and therefore it should be able to provide better for its people but instead they have sold them off to China, Thailand and India raping the environment and causing associated problems for the people and using the money only for military purposes to further persecute the people. During the 1980's the government demonitized the currency not once but twice so that any savings that people held was basically useless. There are extremely high rates of inflation and goods are extremely expensive compared to what people earn. The black market system which is looked after by the government ensures that only a few people get rich while most of the common people remain very poor and without essential needs (clothing, food, shelter, etc...)

There have been two attempted uprisings by the people, both time led by students in Rangoon, the largest city and previous capital. These peaceful demonstrations have been crushed by the military with extreme brutality and force. Many times the military fired into crowds of unarmed students and even monks (this in a Buddhist country) and there are estimates of thousands of people being killed. In 1988 this uprising stirred lots of things up in the country and many students were eventually forced to leave because they were hunted by the military. Many fled to the jungle in Eastern border along Thailand and took up arms to fight the military regime here. These students joined local ethnic groups who already were in armed conflict with the Burmese along the border. The Burmese had continued their persecution of these ethnic groups, many of which want their own autonomy and state. As a result many of these ethnic groups have armies of their own to fight the Burmese military which treats them as no one should be treated, especially those which are supposed to be a part of the same country (more on that later).The uprising also stirred up many things in other areas of the country as there was a push to overthrow the regime not only in Rangoon but also in other places. Many of the students and other political leaders were forced to flee to the jungle and many died here through malnutrition, malaria or fighting. I have already met a few people who were a part of this and who eventually came to Thailand as a result of this situation.

Life for anyone in Burma who is not associated with the regime maybe is not the best but the ethnic minorities have gotten the worst end of the deal perhaps. It seems that the military wants to hold control of the land that they occupy but they do not want the people there. So as part of an ethnic cleansing they continually raid villages (raping, burning and pillaging) in the process. The people are often displaced and live the rest of their days in the jungle or at least until they can find another place to settle only to fear a similar situation in the future. The government instigates conflicts between different armed ethnic groups so that they do not have to do the work themselves. People are often captured while they are away from their village and then used as 'voluntary' porters for the army who have to be the frontlines while fighting (basically just to be a human shield) or are used as landmine locaters. The war crimes of these people are absolutely deplorable and it just makes me mad. It gives war is hell another meaning and this has been going on for 50 years and continues today. Just recently the military has been relocating Karen villages (raiding them and forcing them to move) in order to pave way for a dam of the Salawin River, one of SE Asia's longest so that it can provide electricity not for people in Burma but instead for Thais. This will wreck the environment of the area and only give more money to the regime to continue its abuses. I hold Thailand accountable for this shitty proposal as well.

There is perhaps some hope for Burma but sometimes I just see the situation as bleak. There is Aung Sun Su Kyi, the leader of the NLD and the work that she and many others have been doing to work for democracy. She lived in England and has a British husband and children in England. In the 80's around the time of the uprising, she returned to Burma to help her dying mother. At this point, she felt that she could no longer sit idle and made a speech which really unified the country against the regime. Her party gained in recognition and many people began to publicly show support, even though this support means the risk of one's life. After the uprising in 88 the head general of the government resigned and it was decided that there should be elections since it seemed like the people were a 'bit unhappy' with the government. This was a time when many people thought things were changing and there was excitement in the air. The NLD and many other parties campaigned and many people showed support for the possibility of democracy. The military regime and their party (SLORC) did not think much of it and thought that they would still win the election. They were a bit wrong and NLD won around 90% of the votes I believe. So it was pretty obvious people wanted a change but the military then said the election was just a test and not really valid. So instead they just changed a few things in the current government system and continued on screwing the country and its people over except now they got even stricter. Since that time Aung Sun Su Kyi has been under house arrest 4 times for numerous years even though if she wanted she could go back to England. This is quite inspirational as she could give up after twenty years and go home (she cannot leave her house and her family is seldom even allowed to visit) but she chooses to stay and fight on. He husband recently died of cancer and she was unable to attend to him and he was unable to visit.

Many people who have been involved in politics have been imprisoned on false charges and many remain in prison today. The prisons in Burma are reported as some of the worst in the world with tons of torment and torture. Many people have died in these prisons as a result of brutality, starvation and diseases (they force them to share needles for injections so HIV / AIDS runs rampant). I have met a number of people who have been in the prisons and it does not sound like a whole lot of fun. The prisoners are also used for forced labor and work 12 hours a day or more to build projects for the government.

There are spies everywhere in Burma and people are afraid to talk about things for the most part because who knows if your friend down at the store is actually a spy. People are not allowed to leave their homes for the evening unless they tell the government where they are going and why. Many people can just not take it anymore and run across the border to either live illegally in Thailand and always worry about being sent back or live in refugee camps where life is sometimes not that much better or even worse than in Burma.

There are still many people who fight on though for democracy and freedom from this deplorable situation. This is what is inspirational. Some are here on the border working to help their people inside the country. Others face greater risks in the country and continue to try to buck the system. Unfortunately I don't know how long it is going to take and I'm not sure if it going to happen.

I am happy to be here though to learn about this and do a little part (very little indeed). For me it is more of a learning experience though and these people here are doing the best they can to help themselves and their fellow people.

So sorry about this long, depressing blog. But I want to share the situation as I think it is important to know. I did not know anything about it until a few months ago. I know there are many similar situations around the world with people trapped and persecuted by their government but by being here I have learned a lot more about this one.

Burma Inside Thailand

February 10 - 20

Vacation is Over...Sort of

After our time in Doi Inthanon and a one night layover in Chiang Mai, we headed back to Bangkok to see Laura's mother off for the States. It had been an enjoyable trip for her even though Thailand was not exactly what she had expected. It had been nice for Laura as well to catch up and we had all enjoyed our month together traveling in Siam. While in Bangkok we visited the National Museum which turned out to have a very well laid out display on Thai history and also many other not so nicely laid out galleries of Thai artifacts. The volume of amazing things in this museum is outstanding however they are not very well labeled or cared for. Unfortunately it seems that much of it has fallen victim to a lack of funding and care and will soon fall further victim to the tropical climate.

We only spent one night in Bangkok and then headed off to the town of Mae Sot (a town in Western Thailand), the location of an organization, where we would hope to work for the next three months. We had been planning on volunteering in Thailand for three months from the beginning of our trip. However as we began looking further into the visa situation of Thailand and recent reports from other foreigners staying in the country, we were starting to wonder if this was going to be possible. In the past Thailand has been fairly lax about letting foreigners stay in the country as long as they want, just crossing the border every time their visa runs out and returning to the country just a few hours later. But after the recent coup in late 2006 and also the nabbing of the accused killer of Jean Bonnet Ramsey in Thailand, their policy has begun to change. Some say that it is to get rid of the sex tourists and others say it is to get rid of the long term visitors that spend very little money in the country (i.e. backpacker like us). While it has changed it is hard to really get a straight answer as to how it has changed and the how it has changed seems to further change depending on who you ask and when you ask them. But from what we ascertained it seemed that they are now only allowing foreigners to stay in the country for a period of 90 days for every six months. So since we had already been in Thailand for nearly a month and the minimum requirement for the volunteer position that we wanted to get was three months, we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle.

We still however wanted to go to Mae Sot, check out the volunteer position and see what other people's experiences were so that if we could not do it at this time maybe we could do it later. In the meantime, we began to search the internet for any other possible volunteer positions in the area that might want two ex-Peace Corps volunteers. There are actually quite a few volunteer opportunities but many of them are short term and require you to pay an exhorbant amount of money (in the thousands of dollars) in order for you to work for them. I assume this money does go to a good cause but still for anyone, like us, who does not have a large bank account, these programs are quite prohibitive. We did however find one in Cambodia that sounded interesting and required us only providing for our own lodging and food which was agreeable. So we contacted them and have been shooting e-mails back and forth since.

Luckily the volunteer position did work out in Mae Sot and we just hope that we do not run into any problems when we try to get a new visa after our three month stay here. From what we hear now, since we applied and paid for a visa we should be exempt from the 90 day rule which only applies to those who get the free 30 day visa and subsequently do a border run two more times. But we are still not positive and will find out soon enough.

After arriving in Mae Sot, we met with the coordinator of the organization that we are volunteering with and we had a three day orientation on their policies and were briefed on the work that we would be doing. We would be teaching English to the members of an organization of people from Burma (well actually two: one for each of us) who carry out projects along the Thai-Burma border. When we first heard about this position and applied we were not exactly sure what it entailed and who we would be teaching but once further reviewing with the coordinator the goals of the volunteer organization and the job of volunteers, we were excited to get started. The idea is to build the capacity of the Burmese organizations so that the members cannot only improve their own lives (English does help for schooling, employment, etc…) but also the lives of the people in the communities that these organizations assist (both inside Burma and in Thailand along the border (i.e. writing proposals and grants to fund projects, getting the message about Burma out to the international community). We were excited about the potential here and even though our experience is limited for teaching English we were ready to accept the challenge.

A Different Breed of Town

While hanging out for orientation and awaiting our eventual assignment to our respective organizations we had some time to take in a bit of Mae Sot. It is a town like no other town in Thailand, or at least any other ones that we have been to. It is only a few kilometers from the Burma border and many Burmese come over for the day to buy and sell goods and many others stay for a lot longer (both legally and illegally). It is estimated in fact that the majority of the population in town is Burmese (at least 60%) but there are also many other people from many places that call this place home or at least a transitory one. There is not only the large Burmese Buddhist population with Burmese style wats which are common near the border but also a decent sized Muslim community with a mosque and many delectable tea shops which serve up somosas and roti and make their mark on Mae Sot. This town as we would soon find out is a hotbed for human, drug and gem trafficking and a base for many of the political groups fighting for freedom from the Burmese government. It is certainly not your typical town and we would only gloss the very surface of this strange but probably my favorite town of Thailand.

One of the first things that we did upon arriving in town is something that we usually do when arriving in a new place: hit up the market. We think that it was market day as the place was packed and traffic was sometimes a standstill. There were folks on motorcycles, bicycles and on foot all trying to push their way through a 6 foot wide alleyway lined on all sides by stalls selling everything imaginable. Of course you had your usual fish, meat, vegetables, fruits and many delicious looking snacks on display for those who passed by. There were even some yummy looking frogs, forest roaches, turtles and eels for sale. There were many dry goods stalls selling your usual rice and cosmetic products selection but also a few book stores and some places selling aromatic spices and lots of beans.

As an outsider I would have maybe not been able to tell from their faces that most of these people were Burmese but they made it quite obvious by the powder cream that they place on their faces (we think for sun protection and healthy skin) and the longyis that were so prevalent (Burmese national dress like a sarong). It was a fun place to be in the morning and after we satisfied our appetite for people-watching we satisfied the hunger of our stomachs with some fried rice in the market. We came back to this market every morning just to walk around and I can honestly say that it is a top five market for me.

During our time in Mae Sot we had a chance to just relax a bit in between the orientation. It was nice just to chill out and our guesthouse had a nice little courtyard to read and just enjoy some peace and quiet. It had been a good number of months now that we had just sat and rested and had not had our schedule jam packed with things to do and places to see. It was a bit of a vacation from our vacation. This was certainly welcome and the low key town of Mae Sot offered a nice respite from our fast paced travel. We caught up on sleep, some of e-mails and blog and also prepared ourselves for the next adventure of teaching.

Off Again

We had originally expected to be staying in Mae Sot for our three months but it turns out that the coordinator of the volunteer program had an assignment in another border town quite a ways north of here that she thought would fit us perfectly. Two organizations whose offices were within a 30 minute walk of each other and who both associated with the same minority group were requesting a volunteer to teach English. The coordinator seemed excited about this placement and she said that it seemed like the groups were also doing interesting development work in nearby communities and that we would possibly be able to visit some of their project sites. This sounded interesting to us and the town where the groups were also sounded nice, peaceful and beautiful. So we packed up our bags again checked out a bunch of teaching resources from the volunteer library and headed on our way a week after we had arrived. While in Mae Sot we had met some of the other volunteers in Mae Sot and even sat in on one of their classes. It sounded like they all liked their work and we were excited about getting started with our own classes.

It's really freaking COLD!!!

February 7 - 9

After a few days in Chiang Mai, we were ready to move on to greener pastures. I think we all enjoyed the ‘Rose of the North’ but it was time to go and Laura’s mother’s trip was almost up. Our original plan was to end the trip with Sukothai, which much like Ayutthaya, that we had visited before has many ruins of an ancient kingdom. This is actually known as the first kingdom of Thailand even though it started roughly about the same time as Ayutthaya. It does get less visitors as it is further from Bangkok and less accessible but we had heard that it was nicer, with more intact structures since it was not destroyed in an attack, and also that it was in a much more forested landscape. This was our plan but when we started to weigh things: we would have to take a long bus ride there and then another long bus ride the day before Kathy flew out and the fact that we were a bit watted out, we decided against it.

Then Casey started to read more about Doi Inthanon National Park and it not only being beautiful but also a birder’s dream come true. He has become a bit obsessed with birding lately, you see. From reading a bit up on the park, it seemed like the best way to visit it was by renting a vehicle and low and behold we were in Chiang Mai where they rent lots of vehicles for reasonable prices. So we decided to go for it even though it had been awhile since we had driven and on the left side of the road and using a stick with your left hand no less. This is always a fun idea especially when starting off in the busy city of Chiang Mai with crazy Thai drivers (although I may have been the craziest one out there). We actually had the car the day before we left for Doi Inthanon and used it to visit Doi Suthep and the national park near there which made for a gorgeous but bumpy day transversing dirt roads. Luckily we had our cute little beat up Suziki 4WD to navigate.

You Did What? Sorry, I Left the Door Unlocked.

So Casey was very excited about our plan to visit Doi Inthanon and could hardly sleep thinking about all the birds that we might see. The night before leaving we had to do laundry and came back late and Casey, after living in the Philippines for two years and forgetting that people are not always so innocent and nice, forgot to lock the door. Well it turns out that was not such a good idea and when he awoke in the morning to look for Laura’s purse to get some money to buy food to take on the trip, he could not find it. Laura was sure it had to be there but it was not and we soon realized after tearing the room apart that it was not there. Someone had come in the evening while we were asleep and evidently snatched the purse along with our passports and Laura’s credit cards which were inside. Luckily they did not grab the camera which was also very close to the door. Kind of scary that someone came in while we were sleeping and glad nothing worse happened. So lesson learned by Casey: lock the door, especially in a large city.

So we told the front desk and asked if they could call the police. They responded by saying, “oh maybe you should look in your room for the purse.” I love service in SE Asia. So understanding, fast and efficient. We tried to make them realize that we were pretty sure it was not there and eventually we did get in touch with the tourist police (these are found in every major tourist town in Thailand). They came and were nice enough and we told them what had happened and how Casey had stupidly not locked the door. The worst thing was not so much the money or even the credit cards but the fact that our passports were in there. We had been good for the first few months about separating them but we had needed them recently and Laura had just left them in her purse as we all get lazy and had not had any problems. We were worried about getting new passports from the embassy and then also having to deal with Thai immigration. This was not a good start to the morning and Casey was pissed because it meant no birding.

So we told the sorry to the cops and then for some reason Casey decided to check outside the room again. We had looked in some of the trash cans but then Casey remembered there was a little alleyway to the right of our room and sure enough the purse had been thrown under a bush there. They had taken the money (about $140 worth) but the credit cards and the important passports were still there which we were extremely thrilled about. The cops were a little confused by this but they soon understood what had happened and then we went with them to make a statement at the station. We learned that they had caught someone in the area who had done similar things in other nearby hotels and they thought that she had done the same to us. So we then went to the real cops to make another statement so the tourist cops could actually do a real investigation. I do not understand how this system works and what qualifies you for a tourist cop or a real cop but whatever. There had been a video camera in our hotel so the tourist police needed our statement to look at this video and see if they had the thief on tape. We never heard the end of it but hopefully they caught the perpertrator. So we left for Doi Inthanon in the early afternoon a few thousand Baht poorer and a bit more wary.

Finally Back to the Birding Adventure
We got in our little Suziki and headed the hour and a half to Doi Inthanon. Doi in northern Thai means mountain and this is no little mountain. It is the highest in Thailand and at around over 9,000 feet (2,655m), it is nearly 1000 feet higher than any other mountain in the country. The elevation range within the park is fairly spectacular and as a result of this you get many different ecosystem types and also a wide variety of associated plants and wildlife (especially birds). There are a number of endemic species in the park (mostly at the highest elevations) and other species which are found other places in the world but only in this park in Thailand. Also because this mountain is so high it gets pretty damn cold and we had come at pretty much the coldest time of the year. We were certainly in for a chilling experience.

At the gates of the park there is a gorgeous waterfall, Mae Klang, which is formed by a beautiful rushing river which runs right past the visitor’s center. We soon found out that there are many waterfalls in Doi Inthanon and all of the ones that we visited were pretty spectacular. I do not think that I have ever been to a place that has packed so many wonderful waterfalls per area. Many of the falls run all year and almost all of them are multiple tiered. This is certainly one thing we have noticed about Thailand: the multi-tiered waterfall. Brochures will often proclaim that a park has stats like this: three waterfalls, one having seven tiers while another has thirteen and another three. What exactly makes up a tier and how spread out can they be to be considered a tier. In one park you had to hike a kilometer between tiers. Is this really a tier or a totally separate waterfall? I am just waiting for the 127-tiered waterfall. Now then I will really be impressed.

After viewing these falls, we stopped quickly at the visitor’s center for a map and then began heading up the mountain. At the base of the mountain everything was brown, dry and hot but as we slowly headed up and up the vegetation got greener and the air got cooler. It took us about 30 minutes or more before we finally reached headquarters and where we found a small cottage right nearby to stay in. The temperature was incredibly pleasant and there were birds twitching in the parking lot. Casey decided to head over to Mr. Daeng’s, a little restaurant that he had heard about where birders go to get info on birding, while Laura and Kathy just rested and enjoyed the pleasant surroundings.


In the early evening Casey and Laura went to go see if the could find a special bird, an endangered crake, near a marshy area of the campground. We sat and waited for awhile but nothing showed up and we learned later that they have not been seen there in years. However while waiting for the bird we were met by a small group of Hmong (one of the hill tribes in this region of SE Asia) children with bunches of flowers. These kids were intent on making their sale and came up to us muttering 5 Baht, 5 Baht. We continually said no but they had no desire to leave us alone. Then one of them had a bright idea. Maybe 5 Baht is too low. We will try 10 Baht, 10 Baht, 10 Baht. We found this quite amusing but still would not budge on our position. The kids would also not budge on their wanting to offload these flowers. I assume their parents had sent them out to sell those flowers, hell or high water. So they came up with the best idea, “free, free, free" and tried to hand them to us. We still did not really want them and were expecting if we did take them they would then demand money. So we again said no. But they started to lay the flowers at our feet and then began to runoff without any payment. We thought it quite odd, a bit annoying for the first 10 minutes but by the end, an interesting and cute ending to our day.


The next morning we had decided to get up in time for the sunrise. When we awoke and got out from underneath our heavy blankets we realized just how cold it was. It was nearly freezing and for two people who have not been in the cold for three years, this is quite stifling. Casey did a bit better with the cold in the next two days but Laura’s thin blood had a little trouble handling it. We loaded in the car with our 5 layers of clothes, gloves and hats and even brought the blankets with us. Then we slowly made our way up the mountain in our low powered car and by the time we had reached the top the sun had already risen but we got the nice view of the early light.

We were in fact the second folks at the top and we slowly got out of the car, bared the cold and made our way to the nature trail. On the top of the mountain there is a unique mossy forest and also a bog environment found nowhere else in Thailand. This is the place that many people come, especially birders to see this special environment and the rare birds that live here. We were one of the first ones here but soon birders began to come in groups and make the boardwalk in the bog a bit crowded. I was surprised to find that most of the birders were not foreigners and in fact we were the only Westerners that I saw up here. While watching the bog we got a view of many of the species that people come here to see (the beautiful Green and Mrs. Guold’s Sunbird, Chesnut Headed Minla and Chesnut Capped Laughing thrush to name a few) and we were extremely delighted. It was a bit cold and our feet froze in the morning (there was even frost on the boardwalk), but no harm done. The mossy forest here really was quite beautiful and it was worth getting here early in the morning to catch the first sights of the special birds here.

We actually decided to stay here longer than expected and did not realize that we had spent the whole morning until we got back to the car. Our next stop was a spot where two cheddis or stupas have been built, of course to honor the King and Queen. We decided to make a quick detour here as we had heard the gardens were nice and there might be some birds here as well. What we did not expect was them charging us more money to enter this area. We reluctantly handed over our Baht but complained a little bit to the guard although it is not his fault. Our only issue was that we had already paid a large entrance fee to get into the park. It really is quite high for foreigners (about $12 which is not that much but is more than many national parks in the States). Now when you consider the fact that you are in Thailand and things should be cheaper than in the States and also consider that Thais only pay 1/10 of that price, it is a bit high. I am certainly willing to pay more than Thais but I do hold a bit of an issue with paying that much more, especially knowing that it is highly unlikely that much of it is going to conservation but instead is being used to line someone’s pockets. But hopefully I am wrong and am just too cynical. Well anyway the gardens were nice and it was a good way to spend the not really good birding hours of midday.

After this we headed down to a group of waterfalls near Mae La that we had heard were nice and hoped to find a few birds. This area actually turned out to be a highlight for our birding in the park and we saw a number of things we did not expect. Upon arriving at one of the falls we quickly found a Slaty-Backed Forktail, a Blue Whistling Thrush, A Plumbous Tailed Redstart and a gorgeous River Chat. The first falls were nice and high and then we hiked up the road to see another group that was very nearby. These falls were even more impressive with nearly 2,486 tiers (not quite but they were highly tiered). One our way hiking back to the car from here, we saw the bird of the day and probably the trip, a nice Long-Tailed Broadbill, what we think is a Small Niltava (pictured here) and also what we think was a flock of Mrs. Gould’s Sunbirds.

Once we got back to the car we saw another sign for a waterfall and decided to see where it was. We ended up going for quite a while on a dirt road and never saw the waterfall. We think we did however go outside of the park and into the outskirts of the nearby town. It was entirely different landscape with hardly any trees and very dry and brown again. Amazing what a difference the forest makes. But it was quite beautiful in its own right with very large rice terraces, that were beautiful now but I am sure are absolutely spectacular during the green, wet season. They reminded us of other terraces of Northern Philippines and Southern Sulawesi. This was an unexpected side trip but another very nice way to end the day. While we were here we even saw an amazing Black Shouldered Kite as it hovered in the air looking for its prey.

The next morning we rose again early to get some more birding in. We tried to head to one of the suggested birding spots and although we heard a lot of birds, many of them were high in the canopy and the forest was pretty dense here. We are still novice birders and this was a bit difficult for us so we decided to head to another spot that was supposed to be easier to locate birds. We walked around at this spot for a few hours and saw a few things: a nice woodpecker and some shrike babblers and parrotbills. Overall the morning was not as fruitful as the day before but nice nonetheless.

We headed back in the later morning to our lodging to pack up and then headed over to the Royal Project Area near headquarters. The King and Queen have assisted with a number of projects in the park it seems in order to help the local hill tribe population that calls this park home. There are about 3,000 Hmong and Karen that live within the park boundaries and in the past one of their major forms of livelihood was growing opium. In order to curb this, the King has introduced a number of projects in the area including cut flowers which are sold throughout Thailand (much like the ones which were pawned off on us by those cute but pesky kids the first evening). So we decided to check out the gardens and while nothing spectacular it made for an interesting enough walk and we were able to get a view of some of the green houses used for the flowers and vegetable production. We also headed over to the Royal Gardens which was a beautifully landscaped area at the foot of another huge waterfall. It is weird to have landscaping and whole communities inside a national park but it is what it is.


After our stroll in the gardens, we had a nice lunch and started to head down the mountain. But first we went to the nice market near headquarters where many of the Hmong residents of the park were selling a variety of products, ranging from the cut flowers to handicrafts to preserved fruit. Along the way down the mountain, we hit up two more gorgeous waterfalls and eventually got back to the dry, hot lowlands. We planned to then go to another waterfall outside of the park (supposedly one of the highest in Thailand) but got detoured by a Buddhist procession and caught in the traffic caused by it for awhile. So we nixed the waterfall and just headed back to Chiang Mai having been content with our lovely, cold time at Doi.

Chiang Mai

February 3 - 7

We had tried desperately to have our trip to Chiang Mai coincide with the Flower Festival. Chi'en in Kuching had said he might be up to get some pictures and other things we had read sounded like it was pretty cool. Of all the things we read about the Flower Festival, however, the one thing we couldn't ascertain for certain was the actual DATES of the festival. Everyone seemed to have a different story and most Thai tourist info people had no idea the festival even existed. We were exasperated and decided to just run with one flyer we had seen. So, here we were.

We arrived from Pai by cramped bus (the norm) and went directly to our hotel. Casey and I had agonized over which urban though seemingly rural hotel we should choose and since our first two choices where unavailable and/or extremely overpriced we picked what we thought would be the next best option - Karinthip Village. It was located close to the tourist center but the grounds were green and inviting. The rooms, however, we a different story all together. Apparently, the owners spent all of their money on the shell and thought that people would not want to spend time in their rooms. This was evident by the horrible paint jobs, lack of lighting and horrible views of wall. We were not impressed.

After checking in we decided to head over to the Hill tribe museum in hopes of finding out a little more about the tribes we incountered in Mae Hong Son. It was a small but informative museum out in the the middle of nowhere. I tried to write information down to post later, but i'm not sure where it is now...I will look at get it up in a bit.


The next morning, we were hoping, there would be a parade for the flower festival. We ready then asked the front destk attendant where the parade would be. Not surprisingly, they had no idea what we were talking about. Somewhere though, we found a route and decided to head in that direction. Only a few blocks from our hotel (and they still didn't know about it!) we ran smack dap in the middle of the parade. It was a huge event and there were tons of locals as well as foreign tourists all trying to snap some pictures. This made for some very annoying games of who can step in front of who the quickest in order to monopolize the best picture taking view. Ugh.


With that aside, the parade was an incredible event. By far the best parade I've seen since arrive in SE Asia. The numerous floats were reminiscent of the Rose Bowl Parade floats. They were covered in vegetable matter which included everythin from colored rice to large, red bell peppers to gorgeous orchids. Most floats also included a Thai beauty or two with hair as tall as Marge Simpson and an inch of makeup caked onto their faces. Between floats, groups where showcased. There were many ethnic groups dressed in their traditional costumes (funny, these costumes looked very different from the touristy ones we saw in Mae Hong Son) as well as high school bands. The bands were amazing! They consisted of a wide range of intruments and their songs were not just awful pop tunes. This made for an extremely pleasant listening experience and kept me wondering why Filipino bands think all they need are horrific metal xylophones and drums and why they think the Sex Bomb Girls are the only singers to replicate.

After the parade we followed the hordes down to the parade finish line. The parade ended at a small park in the corner of the old walled quarter of Chiang Mai. Once there we were able to view all of the floats, which were lined along the street. There were also beautifully crafted displays from various flower and orchid clubs. The park was filled with food stalls and walking food vendors. Many parties had rented woven mats and the grass was covered with people lounging in the shade (Thais are not as sun-loving as N. Americans are, rightly so). We stayed for a few hours, people watching and tasting the yummy treats.

One night, we went to the night market. This was also within walking distance from our hotel. Once we arrived at the market, I was surprised to see all of the usual local products...delicious native fruits, the local cuisine as well as cheap clothes and accessories. Strange, I thought, this wasn't what I had expected. Of course not! Only then did I realize that this market WAS the local night market and the touristy night market was still a couple of blocks away. When we arrived at that one, we knew right away where we were. Stalls were piled high with the same souvenirs we had seen in Mae Hong Son. At first, it was excited to go through the items, but it didn't take long for it all to start to look the same. Every once in a while, a stall would have some unique pieces on sale, but these were far and rew between and often not worth the effort of searching thriough the myriad of identical junk. There was one store, that caught all of our attention - a wood carving shop. The artist had intricately carved the most beautiful designs, much inspired by Buddhism and common Thai symbols. My favorite piece was an aquarium full of wooden turtles, fish, crabs and a gorgeous mermaid.

We continued to agonize over where to go next. We thought about Sukothai to see more great ruins, but ruins didn't seem to interest mother so much and frankly, I was beginning to think that all temples of worship were the same. There are only so many golden Buddha images one can see before they all look like cookie-cutter images. Don't get me wrong, I think the temples are gorgeous, but to the untrained eye (ie my untrained eye) the small differences in detail between one style and the next was lost. Finally, after much discussion we decided to head to the tallest mountain in Thailnd, Doi Inthanon. We thought it might be a good opportunity for birding and it would be cool enough for mom.

As sort of a last minute decission, we opted to rent a car for the drive to Doi Inthanon (why we hadn't thought of this before ie Khao Yai, I don't know). On our way to Doi Suthep, the day before our departure for Doi Inthanon, we stumbled across a car rental agency and decided, why not get the car a day early and use it to roam around Doi Suthep.

So we did. It was great! We rented an old manual four wheel drive. Casey was kind enough to drive it out of the city since both mom and I were to afraid to try driving, much less with stick in the suicidal traffic. Once safely outside of the city, we relaxed as we drove to Doi Suthep.

In case you haven't noticed, "doi" means mountain in the Northern Thai dialect. "Khao" is mountain in the central Thai dialect. We were heading the Doi Suthep to see one of the most famed monasteries of the north. It was built on the hill after an elephant carrying a relic of the Buddha died on that very spot. It was thought that the elephant would know the appropriate place for the temple and would stop (aka die) when it reached the location.


We wandered around the temple grounds, taking pictures and asorbing the peacefulness of the place. We read up on Buddhism in the little library and also received information on their meditation classes. Laura and Casey have been interested in taking a meditation class ever since they first heard about other PCV's doing so while on vacation from the Philippines. They heard many stories about what a life altering experience not speaking, eating on 2 vegetarian meals a day and meditating for hours for one week was. We thought the program at Doi Suthep was nice, it was run by donation only and you could start anytime. You may be reading more about our meditation exploits in a few months, should our plans pan out.

After battling the steep and numerous steps of the wat (ok, so maybe only Casey battles the steps while the rest of us opted for the elevator), we stopped into a small jade shop. Unbeknownst to us, this was no ordinary jade shop. Upon entering, we were provided with refreshments, a free tour and even a short video detailing the different types of jade. We also had a chance to see the master carvers at work in the workshop behind the store. Most of the jade was from Burma, which made me wonder if it was such a good idea to be supporting the Burmese jade trade. I had questions: Who harvested the jade? What were the working conditions, pay, benefits (haha, benefits)? Who owned the jade before it was sold to Thailand? I wondered this, because I wanted to know how involved the military junta was in the jade trade and if they used forced labor for its extraction...I never did find out these answers.

Since we had the use of our own personal car and driver we decided to explore Doi Suthep a little more in detail. We had heard of a few hill tribe villages in the area and so we set off. The road was windy and narrow but the scenery was breathtaking as we twisted and turned up the mountain. We arrived at a very touristy Hmong village that was more like a mini bizzare where my mother found story quilts that depicted the history of the Hmong and how they travelled from China through Laos before winding up in Thailand. We wandered through an opium garden and admired the clean, cool mountain air.

We wandered around a bit more and ended up in an extremely un-touristy hill tribe village that we found fascinating, but a little embarrased at showing up unannounced and so we drove slowly to the school and then left. On the way down the mountain we stopped at a little cafe that served fresh mountain coffee homegrown on the hillside next to the cafe.



Upon our return to Chiang Mai we headed to the host monastery of Monk Chat. This novel idea was thought up by someone to help the novices and monks improve their English while at the same time increasing the tourists knowledge of the intricacies of Buddhism. We spoke with several monks and asked them all sorts of questions. If I have time, I would visit them every week.


On one of our many wanderings through the city, we came across a large wat where many novices were having a lesson in drawing the Buddha. They were using the old images painted on the walls of the temple as a template and we couldn't resist snapping a few blurry pictures.