Myanmar

My final day in Sangkhlaburi was almost as amazing as the week spent with the kids. Even though I was in Sangkhlaburi for about 6 days I didn't have the chance to really check it out since everyday was busy from sunrise to sunset.

Our "free" day started at 7AM where we rolled out of our "beds" and into a long tail boat to a Karen village. The Karen people are one of the many ethnic groups in Myanmar, but many live in Thailand, especially along the Thai/Myanmar boarder. Here we (myself and some of the other volunteers) were introduced to some elephants and rode off into the jungle for a couple hours. The ride was pretty amazing, and since my riding partner was a girl from Jamaica she pointed out a lot of the wild fruit that was also found in Jamaica. It was astounding how many eatable plants are in the jungle, compared to other environments.


Karen Village


Thai Elephants

In the afternoon we stopped to eat some fried rice out of a plastic bag, one of Thailand's most used form of dining wear. Everywhere in Thailand you will find food and drinks served in common plastic bags.

After a small hike we came upon our next form of transportation, bamboo rafts. This part of the journey was a little crazy and many people were even injured. The only thing more dangerous than rickety bamboo rafts, is rickety bamboo rafts in rapids. About five minutes in the river and my rafting partner was slammed into a tree with an injured hand. This made the remaining hour or so difficult to maneuver. Surprisingly I escaped unscathed although I had to bail into the water after another crash.


Bamboo rafts

After arriving back to the village on bamboo rafts and taking the long tail boat back to our boat house it was time to rent a motorcycle for about $6/day. Technically my speed demon could be called a scooter, but when you can go 60MPH easy with a passenger, it seems more like a motorcycle. It was time to head to the "Three Pagodas Pass." This pass links Sangkhlaburi in Thailand to Payathonsu in Myanmar.


My 150cc blue beast

Before arriving at the boarder we stopped off to see a waterfall. After 20 minutes of bargaining with a Military officer, thanks to my friend Chris, to let us in for 100 baht/person instead of 200 baht (normal foreigner price, it was free for Thai people) we headed into the jungle along a not so defined path. After thirty minutes or so and a few failing bamboo bridges we came to a very small waterfall. Unconvinced that this was THE waterfall, a few of us trekked in further. Soon the path faded and we were in the middle of a thick Thai forest. We actually came across a few other waterfalls along the way, but nothing huge and amazing. Seeing the jungle was very interesting though, although in the back of my mind I thought I would surely be eaten by a tiger or something. Instead I was slightly eaten by fire ants (I think), which were very painful.


Jungle waterfall

Anyway, making our way back to our bikes and through a few checkpoints we arrived at the "Three Pagodas Pass." Here I met a friendly guy from Burma. At first I thought he was trying to lure me to his alcohol, cigarette and jewelry store to scam me on something. Since I already knew I wasn't going to buy anything, I just gave the benefit of the doubt and thought he might just be a nice guy. Turns out my intuition was correct. He brought me to the back of his shop (I wouldn't advise this behavior to most people) and showed me his back door that opened into Myanmar. I couldn't believe it!


Three Pagodas Pass


Myanmar Whisky ("The finest whisky in all of Myanmar")

Turns out many people from Myanmar come to Thailand to work in the day and just cross back before nightfall. Apparently this is legal, according to my new Burmese friend anyway...


Thailand/Myanmar divided by a steel gate

He told me the story about how the boarder was closed three years ago and that people can't cross now. However Thai and Burmese people are free to cross as long as they spend the night in their own country. Besides this, the market at the boarder was super cheap and the people were amazing. I came to the conclusion on this trip the Burmese people are crazy nice and interesting to talk to. It makes me want to visit Myanmar one day!


Bike 257 has a Burmese license plate, 497 is Thai.

Anyway, it became dark and I figured it was time to head home. My fuel tank was almost on E and I wanted to get gas somewhere on the way. So the girl from Jamaica and I headed back while I enjoyed a buffet of Thai nocturnal insects at high speed.