My hotel had breakfast included.  I probably can stop looking for that as a bonus when I book a hotel.  No hotel in Thailand is going to get American breakfast right.  It was edible, but not good.  I should just embrace the way the rest of the world eats breakfast and eat what looks like dinner, but I’m too conditioned and still can’t do it yet.  Chicken and rice for breakfast isn’t what I want.  Still, it was nice to not have to go walking in the rain looking for breakfast.

After breakfast I got a taxi to the border.  The border is a bridge over the river with a large archway building at either end of the bridge – Thai Immigration on the east side and Myanmar immigration on the other side.  So, technically, I could get my passport stamped as departing, walk across the street and get my passport stamped as arriving.  But, I decided to spend the morning in Myanmar, see some temples, see a fence with lions on top of it, and have lunch.

It was barely raining as I crossed the bridge and stood in the middle over no country.  I noticed boats full with people on either side of the river so it doesn’t look like border patrol is very strict.  Most people walk over the bridge like I did, but there were a few cars going over as well.   Most of the traffic was large semi trucks delivering stuff back and forth, or small pickup trucks with more stuff than a semi.  I had read that it was easy to get a taxi on either side.  I had also read about a pagoda not far from the border and some more temples a little farther into Myawaddy.  I got to Myanmar Immigration and they asked why I didn’t have a visa.  I didn’t think I needed a visa.  He asked how long I was staying.  I said a few hours.  For 500 baht ($14) I can go in for a few hours.  They kept my passport.  I didn’t mind paying 500 baht, but I didn’t like walking away from my passport.  I didn’t see any taxis.  I saw tons of people just standing around and there were a bunch of vans and motorbikes.  Nothing identified any of them as taxis and I assume there is no such thing as an official taxi here.  I think if you have some spare time and anything that slightly resembles a vehicle you are a taxi driver. I felt very out of place and quite uncomfortable.  I almost just turned around there and ran back to Thailand.  Basically Myanmar looked like a slightly dirtier version of Thailand with more men in skirts.  Some people asked where I was going and I said I wanted to go see the pagoda.  They quoted me some price in Burmese money, but I had no interest in changing money for the small amount of time I would be there.  I asked if they would take baht and they said 400 baht.  In Thailand it would cost 20 baht to go a few blocks and I knew one of the pagodas wasn’t that far away.  So, I told them they were crazy and kept walking.  I found the pagoda within 5 minutes.  I wandered around and took some photos.

Then I walked back to the main street.  At this point, I thought maybe I should just skip the original plan and go back to Thailand now.  I didn’t feel like walking all over this dirty town in the rain.  I didn’t see one place I would feel safe eating in so I wasn’t staying for lunch.  Then I ran into a guy with a strange motorized cart like thing that wanted to be my taxi and tour guide.  It was like a cross between a tractor, a motorbike, a backwards trailer, and a wheelbarrow.  He said 3 wats (temples) 300 baht.  That seemed a little high, but a much better deal than the last guy.  Plus, it was this or go back and I really wanted to ride in the wheelbarrow death trap thing.

The first wat was the one I had just come from, go figure.  I tried to explain that, but just ended up saying “Wat 2” until he got it and took off for wat 2.  I had read about the crocodile wat on line, but it was still shocking to see a giant alligator with a temple on it’s back.  There was a pavilion with 20-30 life sized dioramas of different Buddha stories.  It was the definition of creepy.  There was a huge gong in the middle of the pavilion.  I could barely hold the mallet.  Then there was a huge hall that we went in.  There was a shrine at one end of the hall with all sorts of disco led lights behind a Buddha.  I didn’t stay long.  The temple on the alligator was closed.

At this point, it’s raining harder so I get my rain jacket out.  And we go down dirt roads that this vehicle should not go down, but I don’t see how this adventure would be complete without bad roads.  On to wat 3.  I had read about this one too.  It was called standing Buddha.  There was a pagoda, a large hall and a very very large standing Buddha.  The guy who was working at the temple (not a monk) wanted to show me everything in the temple underneath the towering Buddha and in the hall.  He pointed out all the many statues made of marble and all the shiny gaudy things in the temple.  The hall also had a shrine at one end with disco lights.  There was an ornate gold thing with a magnifying glass in front of it that he was so excited to show me.  Encased in glass encased in gold with some disco lights in the background was a piece of Buddha skin.  You had to use the magnifying glass to see it.  Scientifically, I don’t see how this is possible, but now I can say I saw Buddha’s skin.  That’s it – what more could you possibly want to see in Myanmar?  Buddha Skin – my adventure here is complete.

I’m now soaked and hungry and done with this adventure.  I just want to go back to Thailand.  I’m not even going to try to mime lion topped fence.  I already gave up on lunch.  But no, there’s a 4^th wat that I don’t want to see, but I have to.  It’s another pagoda and there’s a giraffe and other animal statues.  Now it’s 400 baht.  After that I get him to take me back to the border.  He pulls up to the border and starts saying something that I think is some explanation of why I should pay him more.  I paid him 400 baht and walked off as he was still talking.  It was no issue getting my passport back or getting back into Thailand.  Whew.  I got a taxi back to my hotel for 50 baht and my hotel is a 20 minute ride away.  Myanmar is a country that is trying to get back on it’s feet after such a long road of war, government corruption, poverty and other horrors.  It has a desperate feeling and it appears it has a ways to go.

I went back to the café I took the cooking class at in February.  I remember the food being so good and the tea garden being cozy and comfortable.  I walked in and caught the eye of a very cute very young man who was working at the table next to mine.  We chatted off and on during my lunch.  I learned that Isaac had worked in Phuket for a while and now was wandering around Thailand.  I did some engineering work.  After a couple hours I left.  I wanted to go find an art studio I had read about on line.  Art studio and Thailand – the two words don’t seem to go together.  I haven’t seen any art, much less a studio where you could work or take classes.  They have pottery, batik, and drawing.  I went looking for a taxi as it was a 30 minute walk.  Near the market, I found a few motorbike taxi stands.  I asked the first one and he didn’t know where it was, refused to look at a map and then refused to talk to me.  So I went to the next stand, but they wouldn’t talk to me at all since they saw that the first guy wouldn’t take me.  Once again, I wonder where the “Thai people are the nicest people in the world” concept comes from.  Well, a 30 minute walk won’t kill me and might do me some good.  So, google maps and I set off to the Puzzle Box Art Center.  A couple minutes later a very large motorcycle / dirt bike pulls up in front of me with a smiling Isaac on it asking if I wanted a ride.  The bike was so tall, I barely got on it.  Now, I’m not a girl that has a thing for men on motorcycles – I couldn’t care less, but I have to say, this bike was awesome and I very much enjoyed my ride to the Puzzle Box.  Far better than a typical Thai motorbike taxi driven by an old man.

The Puzzle Box was a neat little art studio.  If I ever get back to Mae Sot, I will definitely sign up for a class.  I asked about  the possibility of working there in the future.  They don’t have enough money to hire anyone, but if I could do training for their staff, it might be possible, but then it would only be a short term thing.  They also gave me the name of an art company in Chiang Mai that they may partner with in the future for funding reasons.  It’s a long shot, but maybe I could work there for a month or two in the future.  I miss creating very much.

I set off back for the hotel.  I didn’t see one taxi on the 40 minute walk back.  I kept expecting to see Isaac drive up, but he didn’t.  The walk was more than I expected.  Normally, a 40 minute walk would be nothing, but since I haven’t been exercising lately, I was tired out by the time I got to the hotel.  A massage and dinner and I was done.  I got to watch HBO at the hotel.  I haven’t seen a movie in forever – that was actually a wonderful way to end the day.

(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore