GLOBALTICKIT.COM
A Real Life Adventure		 A Global Tick It Article
by Vibodha
A Visit to Myanmar (Burma).
 

 

This is the bridge to Myanmar from Mae Sai, Thailand. It crosses into the Burmese town of THAKHILEK.

 

 

Interesting Fact: There are about 3000 - 4000 people who cross this bridge DAILY. Mostly Thais who shops for dried mushrooms, herbal medicines, cigarettes and other cheap imports from China.

 

Burma, at least the border town of THAKHILEK appears, to me [EJ], to be a cross between India & Thailand.

It has the poverty appearance of India - dirty streets, children begging - but maintains the scenic beauty of Northern Thailand.

Personally, I'm not so keen on seeing the rest of the country based on that small & short visit. That may be a bit quick of me to decide, but considering the poverty, the noticeable decline in joy once over the border, and the military-dictatorship - I'm not inclined to go on a sight-seeing tour.

<< Generals on the wall of the immigration office. >>

The Border crossings from Thailand to Burma have been closed for the last 5 months and only just re-opened a few weeks before we crossed.

You can see the sign says "No firearms" and that is going back into the Thai side!!

Myanmar, upset because rebels have been crossing the mountains into Thailand and purchasing supplies, closed the borders to Thailand (costing millions of Bhat a day). They decided to start a smear-campaign about the Thais, bringing up ancient history about how the Burmese couquered part of Northern Thailand.

They also wrote very derogatory statements in the Burmese Press about the Thai Royal Family! The Thais love their King and Queen dearly, and that was considered a national insult.

But the Thais, being the peaceful, meditative race that they are, did and said nothing. Nothing. For months. Until the Myanmarian governement realised how silly it was to lose all that money daily in trade, and reopened the border.

 
 A good thing about going to Myanmar is that we get 30 more days in Thailand. It's funny that all we have to do is walk across a bridge & back to get to stay in Thailand. Nirav put it succinctly - It's like renewing your desire to stay in Thailand. Yes, I want to stay in Thailand.

Some people (and cats) are definitely enjoying living in Burma!

 We took a couple of bikes, like rickshaws to a nearby Buddhist temple which was absolutely beautiful.

 

This is the chedi we visited in Myanmar.

We met a really lovely man at the temple who showed us the how to offer 'service', to pray.

At eight points around the base of the chedi there are alters with a buddha for each day of the week.

The 'service' says that you go to the buddha for the day of the week you were born (wednesday is split into morning and afternoon).
Once at the respected Buddha, you light candles and incense, pray, and wash the buddha statue with water from three small metal cups that you fill for the next person to complete the service.

Then you walk around the spire clockwise and ring the bell which looks over the city.

It was a fun and wonderfully experiential adventure indeed.

  

Burma borders FIVE other countries...India, Laos, Thailand, China, and Bangladesh.

We managed to exchange some Thai Baht for some local currency.

 
 After an hour and a half in Myanmar, we decided that we'd had enough of Myanmar for the day and crossed back into Thailand (getting an additional 30 days visa to stay).
This is a view of Myanmar from the guesthouse we stayed in that overlooked the river-border!!

It's amazing to sit and look out of your window onto a busy city, and know that it's within a whole different country!!

 

It was an interesting way to spend the afternoon.

I look forward to doing it again when we go to renew our visas on the 6th December.

((Which, by the way, is the day after the Kings Birthday. I bet that's going to be quite a celebration.))

 

Have you seen the Loy Krathong Festival page yet?
That FANTASTIC celebration happened 11 days later...
Read about it now...)) 
 
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