We made a last minute decision to cross the border from Mae Sai, Thailand into Tachilek, Myanmar (pronounced me-ann-mar--it means quick and strong). Typically, it is difficult to obtain a visa, but you can enter Myanmar for one day (from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) through this border town. Many Vietnamese cross the border to shop in the markets. For $10, we were on our way into Myanmar. We had to surrender our passports at the border and received temporary passports for our time in Myanmar.
Many people still call Myanmar "Burma" because they don't want to recognize the current dictatorship. Although there is still fighting in many parts of the country, the border town is safe.
Entrance to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
One arm in Thailand, one in Myanmar.
A typical street scene in Tachilek.
The three of us piled into a tuk tuk to see a few sites. We gave the tuk tuk motor a good workout. I did a good job entertaining myself by talking to our driver while Anna and Bammie mailed postcards. The few Burmese we interacted with during our short stay were very friendly.
The White Jade Temple.
It was a relatively simple temple.
Anna with a local guide from the temple at Chweda Kong. She spoke some English and helped us navigate the temple.
She had a book that listed the day of our birth. I was born on a Tuesday, symbolized by the lion, Anna a Saturday, symbolized by the snake. There was a separate shrine for each day of the week.
Pouring water over different elements of the lion shrine for good luck.
More bell ringing.... We are becoming experts. Here, however, nine was the lucky number.
View of the city from the temple.
Hillside view from the temple.
Prayarakhaent temple.
The temple had a lot of intricately carved wood.
A Burmese woman pushing her goods through the streets.
The markets sold mostly knock-off goods made in China.
This was my favorite item for sale. Apparently they have access to the iPhone 5, even though apple has not yet manufactured it.
Back to Thailand... I must admit, we were relieved that the Myanmar agents didn't lose our passports.
Our next stop was the Golden Triangle, an area between the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. When opium was legal (and even after it became illegal) it was the center of opium production. It is named the Golden Triangle because opium dealers would exchange opium for gold in this area. They called the opium "black gold." The opium produced in this area was exported all over the world. The area is still closely patrolled for drug smugglers--thirteen Chinese drug smugglers were recently killed by Thai police officers.
Myanmar is on the left, Laos on the right and Thailand is in the foreground. The Mekong River runs between Myanmar and Laos. The Mae Sai River (barely visible in the lower left corner) separates Thailand and Myanmar.
The drug smugglers killed many rice farmers and their families. Large caravans of smugglers would travel through the farms, killing anyone who saw them passing in order to prevent them from being discovered by the police. Nowadays, drug laws are much stricter and the police enforce the laws more aggressively. Police corruption is still a problem.
The government helped decrease the production of poppy by providing government subsidies to farmers who grow strawberries and certain other types of produce. Unlike those in charge of the smuggling operation, the poppy farmers never became rich from growing poppies. Accepting the subsidy and gaining peace of mind was therefore an appealing option.
Patrols still regularly destroy poppy plants, but growers plant seeds beneath the maturing plants in case the mature plants are destroyed. If the patrols destroy the mature plants, the new younger plants will replace them in a short period of time.
We visited the House of Opium, a museum about the opium trade and opium production.
The "House of Opium (Museum)"
The purple poppies produce the strongest opium, so most of the opium farmers grew this type of poppy.
The farmers score the pods, allowing the milk to leak out. After the milk sits overnight, they collect the milk from the pods and use it to make opium.
Ornate opium pipes were a status symbol in the villages.
They smoke the opium laying down on a special opium pillow that is typically made from porcelain or wood.
This area is also home to the Giant Catfish, which can grow up to 200 kg. They are almost extinct.
Lunch along the Mekong. Across the river you can see the entranceway to a large casino in Laos. Myanmar also has a large casino along its border. Many Thai people cross the border to gamble there because casinos are prohibited in Thailand.
After lunch, we headed back to Chiang Mai and stopped at the white temple en route. This was our favorite temple in Thailand.
The temple is a work in progress. Construction began about 13 years ago and will continue for another 30 years. Unfortunately they don't allow cameras inside. We cheated and took pictures of the guidebook that had images from inside the temple. It is called the white temple, but it is white with a silver edge along each piece.
The architect does not allow people to donate too much money to fund the temple's construction because he wants to maintain complete control over how it is constructed. The architect has met with King Rama IX, who encouraged him to apply his own unique artistic style in building the temple. It seems he has.
The entrance to the temple takes you through the mouth of the demon. You can see the demon's horns and the arms and skulls of bad people in hell trying to to escape from the demon's mouth.
You then cross the bridge toward enlightenment and heaven.
Once inside, there is a wax sculpture of a monk in front of the typical gold Buddha found in most temples.
This painting and marble Buddha sits behind the wax monk.
On the wall leaving the temple is a painting of a dragon that has an image of President Bush in its right eye and an image of Osama Bin Laden in the other. We were told the painting's message is not to fight over material objects. The bottom of the painting has random figures from pop culture, including a painting of the Kung Fu Panda.
I can't imagine what this temple will look like with another 30 years of work. The architect has trained others craftsman how to build in this style so work can continue after his death.
We had anticipated our final stop at the hot springs and asked Bammie if we should put on our bathing suits. We were told that many spas nearby incorporate the hot springs into their spa treatments and that there are rare minerals in the springs that beautify skin.
We definitely didn't need our bathing suits. Local women were cooking eggs in the water, which smelled like sulfur. The "hot springs" were more like a unique roadside rest stop.
Eggs for sale.
Our tour ended and then Bammie offered to take us to the mall to buy a gift for our host family in Bangkok. More time with our new friend Bammie? We were in.
She had a meeting, so we were on our own for dinner. We headed to the Lanna food pavilion. As an aside, Northern Thailand was previously a separate country called Lanna. It was mostly tribal communities. Consequently, people in the north speak a different dialect and the food is a little different.
Anna and I stumbled into a Thai/Japanese fondue restaurant where no one spoke English. We had no idea what we were eating our what we were doing.
We picked small plates off the conveyor belt and cooked it in the different broths. We weren't sure what half the dishes were, but they tasted pretty good. When in doubt whether it was raw, we cooked it. It was a timed buffet, so we had 90 minutes to eat. I think I finished my fourth scoop of ice cream with 5 minutes to spare.
We spent another night at Thapae Boutique House. Tomorrow we are doing a Thai cooking class then flying back to Bangkok. On Wednesday, I fly to India and Anna flies to Malaysia.
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Location:Myanmar and Thailand
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