Day 18 - Wednesday, March 2 - Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai

Day 18?

How can I have been here for 18 days already? 6 weeks is not nearly enough. 6 MONTHS is barely enough but there is always next time to get to parts missed this time.

Was up a lot of the night coughing but I'm feeling much better. This will be the last you hear of my illnesses - assume I'm a little better each day and it's boring to talk about.

Got out of bed at 6:30A to get ready for my day trip. The mini-bus picked me up at 7:30A, we made a few stops to pick up the other people signed up for the trip, and headed north towards Chiang Mai. I made immediate friends with Unai and Eider and we talked most of the way. They are 24 and 25 respectively, and just finished living in Australia for a year and are heading home to Spain after a brief 2 weeks in Thailand. When they got to Australia 11 months ago, they spoke NO english whatsoever. After hello, goodbye, and Bush, they were lost. It's amazing how great their English is after a year.

Our first stop was an hour later at a hot spring. Pretty thrilling. The big gimmick here were the local ladies walking around selling chicken eggs and quail eggs so you can lower them in a little basket and cook them. After your eggs are done, you can take them over to the little "outdoor cafe" and enjoy them with some coffee or tea. We were only there for about 20 minutes. After another 2.5 hours of driving, we arrived at some Pagoda Temple that after a photo or 2, I was readyto move on. We did just that. The next stop was the Golden Triangle. After driving through Chiang Rai City, we arrived at the "Triangle". We boarded a long tailboat and drove around the Mekong River for about 35 minutes. It was a cool ride and we got off at a little village in Laos (no visa needed) and we looked around. After another short boat ride, we landed back on the Thailand side of the river and proceeded to some fancy tourist buffet restaurant for lunch. Lunch was decent but nothing to write home about.

http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/northern_thailand/golden_triangle/

We then headed to Mai Sae. This was the whole reason for me coming on this day trip. This is a border town but not into Laos like I had thought, but rather into Burma. The group wandered around this border town market where Jade was the big selling point as most of it is imported from Burma and a lot of the typical crap I have grown to love and hate for the past 2+ weeks.

At this point, I was on my own to cross the border into Burma and deal with my visa issue. I was led, by my tour guide, Luen, down a long sidewalk lined with police and government officials, to a big gate that said, "IMMIGRATION". She then left me and told me she would see me back at the bus at the time we were reconvening. For some reason, the movie "White Nights" popped into my head. If you haven't seen it, forget it. Not worth the explanation. I was following Luen's directions as to what to say and what to do at each window and each step, however, I still felt as if I was doing something illegal. I walked down a path and handed my passport over to a government official who was whistling "Yankee Doodle". Something about that was comforting. He had me fill out departure paperwork and stamped my passport that I had left Thailand. A few feet further, I had to walk through customs having nothing to declare so they waved me through and I walked further. I was now in the twighlight zone. I was not checked into Thailand but I wasn't in Burma either. At this point, if I was gunned down and never heard from again, there would be no documentation of me being anywhere in the world. I walked over a bridge and the atmosphere changed dramatically. It seemed much poorer and I was approached by begging parents and their children with these beautiful yet desperate faces. I walked through yet another gate into a little office and was told to sit down. The Burmese Official looked over my passport and said. "five dollars please". That is the cost of a day visa into Burma. Being prepared, I took out my $5 and handed it over. He looked, and handed it back to me. It was an old $5, a bit worn, and he didn't like it. Hoping he had change, but if he didn't, oh well, I handed ove a $10. It's a good thing I hadn't changed all my US dollars into Baht. He didn't like the $10 either. I wanted to say, "hey dude, it's all money and it's all the same no matter how pretty it looks", but I needed this guy a lot more than he needed me at this point in time. Finally, my last resort, the fresh new "colored" $20. He liked that, opened his drawrer and gave me 3 $5's and said, "shopping"? I said, "no shopping". He said, "no shopping, just need a stamp", and I replied, "yes". He looked at me, winked and stamped my passport. I had just entered Burma. He then stamped it announcing to all who looked at my passport that I had exited Burma. He looked at me and said, "now go back to Thailand". So back across the bridge, back through the Twilight Zone, through customs, and through Immigration in Thailand and I got another stamp as I entered Thailand and a new 30 day visa that expires on March 31. I am now legally in Thailand again and wont have to pay a fine for staying longer than allowed.

Met back up again with Unai and Eider and they welcomed be back to Thailand. They were the ones worried that I was going to be gunned down as I was walking the bridge. Back on the bus, and we headed to 2 Hill Tribe Villages. I have some great photos that I will upload in a few days to share. These villages, yet rely on tourism as a source of income, are so primitive and crazy. Only photos can tell the real story.

After the 2nd village, we got back on the mini-bus and began our 3 hour drive back to Chiang Mai. Everyone was exhausted and we weren't looking forward to the drive. I'm glad I did the trip though, not only for the visa, but I now realized I didn't need to take a side trip for a few days up to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle - a day trip is plenty. We dropped Unai and Eider at the Night Market so they could grab some dinner before boarding their overnight train to Ayuthaya. The goodbyes after spending just 12 hours together were very touching. Telling me to come to Spain to visit and that they will call if they ever come to the states, the hugs and kisses, one would think we just traveled the world together.

Got back to Libra, dropped my things, and headed to a travel "agent" to see about my flight to Phuket tomorrow. Maybe I should have done this prior to 12 hours before wanting to depart. I was told I needed to wait til 8:30AM to book anything and there is a non-stop from Chiang Mai to Phuket at 11:30A. Perfect timing. Now he just has to get me on the plane and get me the fare he "quoted". For some reason, I don't think that fare is going to be available, but only time will tell.

Got some dinner at "Ristorante Pizzaria da Roberto" (penne in a meat sauce) and it was nice. Refreshing to eat some Italian for a change.

Got back to Libra, packed my things in hopes that I am actually going to get out tomorrow and realized something.....

NO WONDER I AM TIRED.......I'VE BEEN TO 3 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES TODAY......THAILAND, LAOS, and BURMA!