Hot Springs, Cattle, and our First Visa Run

A brief description of Thai Visas: For members of the EU, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, when you enter the country by air, you are given a free one-month visa. When you enter overland, you are given 2 weeks. We came through Malaysia by bus, so we got the 2 week one. This came as a surprise to us, however we were already in Thailand, so there was nothing we could do about it, other than the obligatory visa runs to Myanmar every 2 weeks. The end of our first two weeks fell just after Songkran in Chiang Mai.

There are three official border crossings into Myanmar that are open to foreigners, mostly set up for the specific purpose of doing a "visa run." The Burmese make money, the Thai's make money, everyone is happy, except us. The Burmese immigration bureau charges $10 USD or the nonequivalent 500 Baht ($14) to walk across the Myanmar border and back. Above, the Thai immigration officer checks for illegal Burmese immigrants who might be trying to go home to see their families or to smuggle in money or goods.

A view from our bus from Chaing Mai to the Myanmar/Thai border town of Mai Sai. The mountainous natural border can be seen in the background.

Here's Gary. We rode up with him from Chiang Mai. He's from Jersey, so that was fun. We had a good time talking to him and it was nice to have a friend for the long ride.

We finally arrived at the border. There, we were taken into a little room and had our photos taken and passports examined. Max is nervous as Kara covertly snaps photos inside the immigration office. We weren't really sure what the atmosphere at the border of Myanmar would be, but the officers were actually very relaxed and friendly, however they were very badly informed. Knowing that in a month we would be visiting Myanmar in earnest, we wanted to get some information from them about the visas we would need. They knew nothing.

At the border crossings, if you want to walk into Myanmar itself, you need to leave your passport with the immigration officers. You can only go about 15 km into the town and you must return by 5 pm. On the other side of this bridge is the Union of Myanmar and a giant market. They also celebrate the Water Festival (Songkran) in Myanmar, but its called by another name. Though it had ended in Thailand, it was still going on there. We crossed into the market area to see a large group of people playing water and splashing bystanders. We were done with the water festival, so we just walked across the border and then back, but not before buying a pair of pink knockoff Ray Bans at the market. That was our first encounter with Myanmar. Sunglasses, water splashing, and uninformed yet friendly immigration officers. Much more on Myanmar later.

Back to Thailand for now. After renewing our visas and a pit stop in Chiang Mai, we set off for Pai (pronounced "Pie,") a small and quiet town in the north of Thailand. Max had heard about Pai on his last visit to Thailand and we heard a lot more before we got there about its "chilled out vibe" and "laid back atmosphere." In Chiang Mai we had set up to volunteer with an NGO down in another Thai/Myanmar border town, and knew that the following 3 weeks would be intense and stressful. Therefore, Pai seemed like a good final chilling point before going back to work for the first time in months. Pai lies in a mountain valley northwest of Chiang Mai. The main activity of the locals is farming; the main activity of the tourists is hanging out. There is a sizable ex-pat community here-- we're not quite sure what they do. There are also a lot of bars, tattoo parlors, and craft shops. It reminded us a lot of Ubud (Indonesia.)

The real reason Max wanted to come here was because he heard there were hot springs in Pai. There are, and they are very hot. Max sits happily next to the steaming source, which is boiling.

In fact, people boil eggs here, contrary to what the sign says.

We arrived in Pai during the end of the dry season. As you can see, the view from any hill was super hazy. Everything felt like it was about to burst into flames. Sometimes it did. That fire in the background could be trash burning or agricultural slash and burn, OR it could be heat fires.

Pai is popular amongst many Israeli travelers. We've noticed that the number of Israeli travelers directly corresponds to the number of falafel restaurants in any given location. The food was delicious but was definitely a Thai inspired Israeli food. We swore not to eat any more falafel until we got to Israel or New York.

The mountains around Pai are beautiful and a motorbike ride was in order. We planned to head out to Mae Hong Son, which is about 4 hours away by bus, thinking we could make it there in 3 on a day trip. However, we were two people on a 125 cc motor scooter traversing rather steep and twisting roads. Somehow the motor scooters in Indonesia must be tweaked to be able to handle steep inclines because we had no trouble doing similar rides there. Their Thai counterparts were missing something. Regardless, the ride afforded breathtaking panoramas and elevated heart rates.

View from the road's highest point.

We drove to a very famous cave about halfway between Pai and Mae Hong Son. This cave is home to about 100-300,000 swallows at any given time. They swarm around both entrances in a cloud that is difficult to capture on film.

To enter this cave you have to ride a long bamboo raft. We split a raft with this Italian guy who took more pictures than Kara. He used to be a radio announcer and had a smooth sonorous voice.

Inside the cave.

Kara listens to our guide who spoke very little English. Her limited vocabulary impressively included an eclectic mix of words as "UFO", "stalactite," "limestone formation," and "ancient tomb." Here is the "ancient tomb," which was fascinating to see just lying unprotected on the cave floor. It was about 2,000 years old. According to our informational pamphlet, this cave was a burial site for ancient humans. Also in this cave was the oldest cave painting in Thailand, also unprotected from the elements, the most destructive ones being human hands.

Gestapo shot of the tombs.

Walking out of the caves. That grey matter is a thick matte of bat shit, sparrow shit, and moss.

Kara doesn't want her picture taken all the time. Notice her new Burmese sunglasses. Here we are the next day at Pai Canyon. Kara has not been to the Grand Canyon yet, but if its half as cool as the Pai Canyon, she will be impressed. Apparently it is. Max assures her of that.

Max walks along the ridge of the canyon.

Kara stands in the middle of that field with the cow pictured at the top of this post. Here's a giant rice stalk stack.

Max soaks in the hot springs again. We went there three times, one time at night under the stars with the candle light. We tried to re-create that moment with our Chilean friends and a bottle of wine the next night, but were surprisingly unable to bribe the security guard that time. Max says " I love these hot springs." We'd like to mention that we were going to these hot springs in the middle of the day, when the temperature soars to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Some might call us crazy, we call ourselves refreshed.

Like we said, its really hot during hot season, even for Thai people. Looking to seek refuge in a covered place one day, we walked into this temple and found this guy laying under the only working fan in the place. That's Thailand. Temples, though places of worship, are also places to just hang out in the heat of the day.
We left Pai refreshed, relaxed, and ready to work. Mae Sot, here we come.

Max and Kara