Weekend trip to Burma

I am happy to now find myself safe and sound in my bed at the YMCA in Chiang Mai after the short but exhausting weekend I just survived. The visa run I needed to do in Burma led me and two friends on a weekend trip to the northern city of Chiang Rai, known locally as the smaller and cooler version of Chiang Mai. We got in Friday night just in time to check out the night market and order some spring rolls, fried squid, and beer while listening to the live amateur band playing for the central eating market.

Saturday morning the three of us had the great idea to rent motorbikes and explore the nearby hill tribe villages armed with only an almost-decent map and a distaste for organized tour groups. The adventure we found ourselves on once we took a turn-off at a sign to see a waterfall was at times thrilling and other times frightening to the point I seriously doubted our safety in the remote area. The roads were completely washed out for long stretches at a time, forcing us to basically dirt bike in our automatic mopeds. The hills we passed through, however, were absolutely breathtaking and the ethnic Karen, Akha, and Lahu villages we saw were so traditional and poor that I was surprised we had found something that seemed so untouched by modernity. About halfway along our route we came across what the map had labeled a "bike bridge." We didn't know before then that bike bridge meant a four foot wide suspension bridge made from rotting wood slats and sparse cable "railings" over a rushing river. After we saw a few villagers cross on their motorbikes we had almost gotten up the courage to just push ours across when some understanding man came running over and offered to drive ours across himself. We were incredibly thankful and impressed as he easily steered straight across the bridge. The following return route of our loop turned out to be much easier and we were relieved to ride on cemented roads that still traversed through small villages. On our return to Chiang Rai we headed to the Saturday night walking street market where we shopped around and eventually tried the infamous Southeast Asian fruit durian. I am not quite sure how to describe its pungent smell and taste and will leave it up to everyone to try it for themselves.

This morning we left Chiang Rai for Maesai, a Thai border town to Burma. 500 baht got us a one-day visa and we walked across the river bridge that acts as a crossing for about 3,000 Thai and Burmese everyday. The few hours we spent within Burma were enough to visit a couple temples and pagodas, that turned out to be very different from Thai Buddhist art and architecture, wander around a few streets, and order a delicious lunch of goat curry, rice, soya bean soup, and this funny traditional salad of fermented tea leaves and shallots. Later while waiting for our four hour bus ride back we relaxed with a Thai iced tea and a Thai massage to ease the back/neck pain of our motorbiking adventures. It is getting late now though and I am supposed to be teaching English again tomorrow but have not prepared anything for my lesson yet!