We drove up to the border town of Mae Sai to cross into Burma for a little sightseeing, shopping, and lunch. Other than having a different language, it wasn’t all that different from Thailand. It is surely a very poor country and the sellers in the market are very pushy to sell you stuff. The majority of items in the market were brand name knockoffs, cigarettes, and Viagra (or more likely a sugar pill shaped like the famous drug to which apparently all Burmese think westerners are addicted.) We did go up and see a couple temples that all tourists are taken to. It’s exactly the same as every other Buddhist temple I’ve seen in Thailand.
Left is Burma. Right is Thailand
The most exiting part of the day was actually crossing the border. Once through the Thai checkpoint, we crossed a bridge over a small stream that served as the border between the two countries. Once in Burma, we were ushered into a small very dingy office where we were photographed and issued entry visas. At this point, our passports were confiscated. Fortunatly they were returned to us when we left.
After entering the country, we were immediately in the sketchiest market I’ve ever seen. I quickly tired of being sold $1 cartons of Marlboro’s and fake Viagra. So I decided to quit the market, have some coffee with my dad. Then explore a little.
These smelled frakking awesome.
This guy was my favorite. Totally just wanted to sell us a map for a quarter.
We then hired a tuk tuk to take us around the sites:
A temple
A dog
A Buddha
Cute kid
A big golden thingy
After much looking and picture taking, we got bored and wnet for some food and a local beer. Both weren’t that good. Tha food is much better.
Burmese beer... meh.
Heading back to Thailand... and civilization.
Overall, I was somewhat disappointed by what I found in Burma. I was expecting a military police state that was hostile to westerners. Instead I found a creepy kind of impoverished capitalism that looked to the west for any scrap of money. I’m sure I am misrepresenting the country from the very limited experience I had in one small border town. One day I will travel here for real.
At least I got a cool passport stamp.
