Another Run for the Border

Well the month just slipped on by us. Last weekend it was time for another run across the border to renew our non-visa entry permit. This time we had some business to take care of in Mae Sot, so we decided to head across to Myawaddy, Burma instead of Tacheleik like we did last time.

On our way down, we thought we try our hand at birdwatching along the famous Salween River. The Salween is currently (but not for long thanks to Japan, Thailand and the SPDC) the longest undamned river in SE Asia. It forms the border between Thailand and Burma for about 100 kilometers (or miles, I can't remember). While Laura was at the hospital, she had a discussion with a doctor and fellow birder about where the best birding spots around were and she recommended the Salween. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs the entire trip down and we had to postpone our outing.

After quite a long and wet trip we finally made it done to Mae Sot and crossed the border to go through the necessary passport stamping. The minute we ran walked across the "friendship bridge" we knew we were in different territory. As opposed to the last Burmese town we visited, this one is far less touristy. Apparently tourists feel it is too far off the beaten path to be worth a look. This meant that there was staring and gawking and not a single peddler hassling us. It was wonderful.

We wandered around the main street until we came to the local market. At first I feared that the town was a bit quiet as at first glance the market looked quite barren. But, as soon as we weaseled into the narrow halls of the market, the hustle and bustle began to reveal itself. We decided to have ourselves a little Burmese breakfast of noodles and fried tofu. The tofu was delicious, the vendor cut it open and then stuffed it with a single fresh chili, fried garlic chips and topped it with numerous unidentifiable sauces.

We wandered around the backstreets some more. One of the first things we realized was that the roads were horrible. It did not help that it had been raining for the past few days, but apart from the main road, the other roads were absolutely awful. There was yellow mud and rocks jetting out everywhere.

It's amazing how different a place can be just because of a border. I would have thought that Myawaddy would have been similar to Mae Sot. Mae Sot, after all, consists of more than 60% Burmese migrants. Essentially it is a Burmese town. When you walk in the market you see men and women wearing longgyis and their face painted with the traditional natural powder tanaka (made from sandalwood I just read). But I felt that Myawaddy had an entirely different feel. For one thing, it is a much more laid back town.

One of the things that caught our eye were the small stalls of betel nut vendors. They were everywhere! It was fun to watch them whitewash a small leaf with lime and then add betel nut and other ingredients before packaging it all up for the customer. We couldn't resist trying one of these creations. It looked pretty good with fennel seeds, tamarind and honey in the mix. We had a jolly time trying out the little Burmese that we know on the vendor and the few passersby who were awed by the foreigners buying betel nut. We realized our Burmese is horrendous, but it was a lot of fun to try.

Before heading back to Thailand we stopped in a teashop. Burma is famous for their teashops. The plain tea is free, but you must buy another drink or munch on some snacks. We had tea with canned milk, a creation very similar to the tea tarik of Malaysia that we enjoyed so much. We took our time sipping the tea and nibbling on the snacks that were splayed across the table. We were treated with some Burmese music videos filled with cheesy scenes of star crossed lovers.

It was a great experience and piqued my excitement about heading to Burma. I am very eager to learn more about the country and it's people and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful adventure.