The heat rolled from the earth like the breath of an oven. The flowers, oppressive to the eyes, blazed with not a petal stirring, in debauch of sun. The glare sent a weariness through one's bones. There was something horrible in it - horrible to think of that blue, blinding sky, stretching on and on over Burma and India, over Siam, Cambodia, China, cloudless and interminable.
George Orwell, from Burmese Days
Dear Rachel,
Accomplished the Myanmar border run. Survived the 4:30 am walk without incident, the bus ride to Mae Sai was beautiful, lots of mountain passes, but I got motion sickness and was lucky not to barf on my feet. Upon arrival at Mae Sai a red truck was waiting next to the bus and a bunch of us got in, 10 minutes later we were dropped off at the bridge. I crossed into Myanmar, went into a room with a red curtain, got my passport stamped, then decided to walk a bit in Tachileik. After getting off the bridge I turned into a side soi filled with market stalls and was immediately accosted by vendors carrying cigarettes, viagra, and ganja. They would not take no for an answer, so I told them I was sick and needed to sit down. I sat on a curb for a few minutes, then walked back to the bridge and sat a bit longer. I decided it would be a long time before I was in Burma again and got up the courage to go into town in search of water, as it was 105 degrees and I needed to soak my head. I avoided the market sois and walked on a main road and found a little shop and bought a bottle of water for 10 baht, surprised that they accepted Thai money. Having scored water I walked back to the bridge but before entering Thai immigration a young, good looking Burmese man stopped me and offered to take me on a tour of Burma. I told him I had to catch a bus in 2 hours but he tried to convince me we could do plenty during that time. I told him I was sick and needed to rest, so he let me go. He said his name was Bruno and he would see me the next time I was in Burma. Got my Thai stamp for 15 days, then walked a few hundred meters under the pressing hand of the sun and hopped a red truck (squeezed tight against big boned, merry, Thai women) back to the bus station in Mae Sai. Waited a couple hours, sitting in the open air station drinking Chang beer, eating dried seaweed and fresh cut pineapple (first food of the day). Bus ride back was long, I tried hard not to get motion sickness, saw a beautiful sunset outside the bus window. Got into Chiang Mai at 8:15pm and decided to take a red truck to Tops before it closed so I could buy some food - My nutrition for the day had been the bus station fare along with an extra beer on the bus. Found a pleasant, sincere red truck driver, or rather, he found me. As we negotiated a price a young woman (skinny legs and an Asics bag) whom I had seen from the very start of the day - she was sitting on a dreary bus station bench with her head in her hands when I arrived at 5:30am, sat across the aisle for the ride up north, rode the same red truck to the bridge, was inside the red curtain room when I arrived in Burma, sat across the aisle on the ride south - walked over and asked for a ride. I was going to ask her how her day had gone once we got into the truck, but the driver took a liking to me and offered the front seat to me, so the woman sat alone in the back of the dark truck. On the ride over to Tops I asked the driver if he was soon getting off work, he replied I was to be his last ride. After a long pause he added that his wife drove a tuk tuk, and they had both started their work day at 3:30am! When I got to Tops I bought sushi, pad thai and a coke (I am drinking coke again because they sell it in small glass bottles - tastier than coke in a plastic bottle, which I won't drink). After eating I crashed in bed and woke up this morning feeling fresh as a daisy :)
Instead of buying the Kerouac book I decided on Orwell's Burmese Days, odd coincidence because his descriptions of Burma in April helped me see things a bit clearer. He mentions the habit the Burmese have of chewing betel quid, and when I was in Tachileik one of the vendors flashed a smile filled with moist, red teeth. The book is very good so my reading selection thus far has been lucky.
I have one week left in Chiang Mai. I will be donating my guitar to Free Bird Cafe and taking my running shoes to Bali. I reserved a hotel near Lumphini Park from May 1-3, and have a 2 day reservation in Kuta. I will have to decide what to do after that. I will miss Chiang Mai, not so much for the city itself, but the comfort from having gotten to know a bit of it. The lesson learned is familiarity brings a sense of security and ease, but it can lead to resisting a departure from the known.
Hope you had a good weekend.
Love, Jim
ps - pictures from the border run included
