Another River Trip

Our last few days along the border were filled with some good times. We were given a proper farewell and a bit of closure is always nice. We had two amazing meals: a Burmese soup with chicken and and quail eggs and delicious rice snacks at Laura's organization and one of our favorite dishes in Thailand (their version of sukiyaki or a sizzling hotpot with meat and vegetables). We were showered with unexpected presents as a sign of gratitude for sharing our time with the people here. It certainly was a great way to end our time and we were even given handmade traditional clothing which the ethnic group that we were working with wears. This was a truly heartfelt present and the best that we could think of. Perhaps not so practical to be worn in the USA but a gift which will be treasured.

After our final goodbyes we left on a bus on a rainy day heading south. Our destination was the Salawin River. This is one of the most important rivers in Burma and for now is also the longest undammed river in Southeast Asia. It is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the region and provides a livelihood for the many people that live along its shores. It will not stay undamned for long however as agreements have been made to dam the river in numerous places in order to supply power to Thailand and for the new capital of Burma. This has been a highly controversial issue and many Karen and other ethnic people inside Burma where the dams are to be placed have been forcibly relocated. The military has come through destroying many villages, raping and pillaging along the way and offering no reinbursement for the relocation. This has caused many villagers to flee to Thailand or live out a miserable nomadic existence in the jungle. All in all a pretty horrible situation.

The Salawin forms the border with Thailand for only about 100 miles but there is a large national park that has been set up here and we wanted to check out the life on the river as well as do a little birding. We had stopped at the park a few weeks ago but unfortunately did not actually visit the river and only had a chance to walk through some of the nearby forest. We had heard about an interesting village that laid on the banks of the river and also a river trip to a nearby town which sounded fun. A Thai doctor on one of our visits to the hospital had told us that the birding on the river was decent as well so we were excited about the prospects.

We arrived in the town of Mae Sariang a bit too late to catch a truck to the river village and the weather was not too great anyway so we decided to bed town in this cute river town (not the Salawin but a much smaller tributary) for the night. We awoke the next morning to relatively clear skies and jumped on the first truck to Mae Sam Lap, the aforementioned Salawin river town. The scenery along the ride started with pleasant rice fields in the valley but soon changed to thick forest in a hilly landscape and unfortunately the change in scenery was accompanied by a change in weather. The hills produced a rain that did not let up for the rest of the day. So much for that seemingly pleasant weather.

As we got closer to the Salawin, small houses along the roadside started to pop up. It was clear that many of the folks in this area were originally from Burma as Burmese seemed to be the ligua de franca of our fellow passangers and the longyis (the traditional Burmese sarong) was the favored clothing of those on the side of the road. We soon came to the bank of the river and noticed that the houses were packed in precariously along the steep slope. It looked as if any second they would tumble down the hillside but what do I know. Even in the rainy weather, this place was striking and memorable. I could only imagine why many of these people had fled their homes in Burma and decided to take up life on the river banks of the Thai side of the Salawin: for more trading options, to flee persecution, or otherwise.

We eventually arrived at our destination on the banks of the river where many boats plied the river to two nearby towns. We were not quite sure of what we wanted to do but we went to check with the local staff of the national park which had an office just outside of the village. At first we thought of staying in the nice bungalows that were offered here to both bird around the river and get a bit more exposure to the life around town. When we told them our interests in birding though, they told us that it would probably be best to head upriver to stay near the town of Ta Tha Fang. So with a bit of the help we looked for a boat heading upriver and waited a few hours as the rain continued to intermittingly drench the village.

While waiting for the boat, many interesting characters came up for a small chat. I am always amazed by the quality of English spoken especially along the border. One young Karen (a large group of indigenous people which lives both in Burma and Thailand) told us that he had learned English in one of the nearby refugee camps. This is interesting since he is not a refugee and was in fact born in Thailand but it seemed like he was putting the skill to good use. A Karen tour guide who was leading two French tourists around the area asked if we wanted to join his tour. When we said that we did not he was unexpectedly not pushy at all and actually helped us quite a bit in giving pertinent information about our own plans. It is so nice to be in places which are a bit less touristed. It always seems that the people are nicer and more helpful.

After about two hours, a boat was finally heading upriver and we jumped on board. Luckily the rain held out for our half hour boat trip on this majestic, muddy river. The banks were lined with sand banks and beautiful rock formations as well a number of birds. We arrived at the national park field office and quickly jumped off the boat and settled into our nice little room. No one else was staying here and it looked as if it had been awhile since anyone had. The facilities at Thai national parks have absolutely amazed me. They are nothing short of phenomenal, especially compared with say the Philippines (where they are virtually non-existent). Some Thai parks do charge a bit exhorbantly for foreigner admission fees but it certainly seems like these fees are being used appropriately.

After settling in, we decided to head into the small nearby village to see if there was anywhere to eat. We had brought our own supply of instant noodles but wondered if there was a bit more on offer in town. Our walk was accompanied by the rain and it was not a very fruitful effort as no food was found. But the little village was cute and the surroundings were eye-pleasing. After a little wandering we found our way down to the banks of the river and the birding here proved to be decent. It was interrupted a few times by the rain but we hung out here for about an hour or so with delight.

Then the afternoon rain set in and we decided to head home. We made the fateful decision to take a different route than we had come by and head along the river. It seemed logical since our accomodation was on the river that we would quickly make our way back. We figured that it could not be too far away. We were wrong though and found that while the path started off very clear and easy to follow, it soon headed into the forest where we got a bit lost just a few times. It turned out that the trek along the river which we thought would be a short jaunt turned into a bit of an afternoon adventure. We were just about to give up and head back the way we came when the national park lodging finally came into sight. We had started to see visions of hiking in the forest at night or even worse but our intuition that if we followed the river we had to come to our lodging was correct. It just took a bit longer of hiking through pouring rain in a muddy forest than expected. But all in all no harm done and just another afternoon adventure in the books.

Upon returning we changed out of our soaking muddy clothes and cooked up our instant noodles as well as a salad with some green mangoes that we had 'foraged' from a nearby plantation. When dusk started to settle in we were ravaged by misquitos and decided to head inside but this proved to be little better even in the closed and screened off room. After dinner we settled in for a restless night filled with some of the most hardcore misquito biting ever experienced.

Unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate. We got about an hour of decent birding in before the sky opened up and just would not quit. After an hour or so of trying to wait out the storm we decided to call it a day and hit the road. We packed our things and caught the next boat out. It had been a nice park filled with a bit of adventure and some decent birding which could have been much better if the weather had been nicer. But our schedule was tight and the rain had gotten the better of us so we decided to move on. We headed back to Mae Sariang and then to Chiang Mai and eventually to Sukothai. We were on our way back into the heart of Thailand for some more temple adventure.