My first destination was Mae Sot to renew my visa. This is a town on the northwestern side of Thailand, bordering Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma). It's a small town, but as they say, it's a small world. To me, it gave me the same feeling as Senegal. There is a heavy Muslim presence here, as seen by the large goat population that roam the streets and the mosque in the center of town. Mae Sot seems to have the highest ethnic mix that I've seen concentrated in one city. There are Thais, Chinese, Burmese, Indians and a handful of westerners working for NGOs for the Burmese refugee camps located around the area.
While combing the streets looking for photo ops, I met one Burmese refugee named Mg Mg Lay. He is a Unicef-recognized refugee. Mg Mg fled Burma twelve years ago and is currently settled in Mae Sot with his wife (Ma Su) and son (Mg Thin Thung Oo). When asked about whether or not he wants to return to Burma, he said no. He fears that the current military regime will arrest him on sight if he enters the country due to his job when living in Burma at the Information Center (the media wing for the Burmese revolutionary group). If and when there is a new government, then he may return. Both he and his wife still have family there.
this is taken from the Friendship Bridge. at the top is Burma, below is Thailand.
Myanmar is a strange country, indeed. When I do my visa runs, I have to pay either US $5 or $10 to enter the country, depending on where I cross. The thing is, they will only accept crisp, whole bills. The first time I noticed this was up in Mae Sai. I paid using a $5 with one of the corners being ripped off. The rip was no more than a millimeter, but the border cop wouldn't accept it. I told him that this was the same $5 that they gave me the previous month when I did my border crossing at the same checkpoint. He looked at me with no mercy and forced me to use another bill. I heard that outside of the designated tourist areas, the government actually has signs that say stuff like, "Don't trust Americans". Hmmmmm, they hate Americans, but want our money. But they won't take slightly mutilated paper...
I moved south a few days later to an overgrown village called Umphang. It serves as a tourist destination because of having one of the world's six largest waterfalls. I really wasn't here for that though. I was only there to make my way to another national park. When I arrived, I realized that there was some good biking to check out. One of the routes along the road leads up to the waterfall entrance, but I was denied access. The park ranger was adamant about this. He said that only 4WD vehicles could pass. Another route had the possibility to enter the waterfall thru the south, but after biking thru a forest for an hour, the trail stopped at a farm. When asked where the falls are, the farmer just waved his arm in a direction that didn't seem to lead me anywhere. Hmmm, he must be keeping it a secret.
I enjoyed the biking around these two areas. I finally feel comfortable just exploring blindly into any dirt road that I pass. Oftentimes, this leads me thru farmlands along open valleys. The above picture is one such area. The trail was a dirt road, with two grooves worn out by tire tracks. It was a pleasurable winding and twisting path that eventually lead into a forest and river. Along the way were empty bamboo huts. My guess is that they are used as meditation huts for the nearby monk's compound.
