Myanmar By Day

At the border I got the crushing news:  I could only get a maximum of 15 days when I reenter Thailand from Myanmar.  It was the case two years ago that on reentry tourists could get 30 days. Not since the border reopened (which is only a few days ago).  This means I couldn't volunteer at Kitti's village.  It's not feasible for such a short time.


I went into Myawaddy anyway.  It is an interesting place to see.  Myawaddy is instantly different to the Thai side (reminds me of border crossings from South Africa into other African countries).  Its rundown, dirty and the ethnic majority of the people are different.  The men all wear sarongs (I forget the Burmese word) and I got a lot of scents that remind me of walking through the Oriental Plaza in Johannesburg.


There aren't that many sights to see:  A temple, a pagoda and the market.  It took me about 3 hours to take all these in at a slow pace.  I was informed of this by an old man that runs a coffee shop in town.


Before returning to Thailand I had to have lunch.  I made the mistake of just pointing to a pot and asking for rice.  When the waitress brought my meal I thought she'd dished up cats' guts and dogs' balls.  I'd ordered it so I had to eat it!  I think it was mostly chicken livers and partly developed eggs that hadn't yet been laid.  The soup had onion, beans and okra - besides the other veg I didn't recognised.


The meal was by far the best I'd ever eaten... in Myanmar.  Jokes aside it was tasty.