Myanmar, we are going to Myanmar

After our road trip through the north in Thailand we finally made it to the border to Myanmar. Still we hoped to get a chance to travel through the restricted areas, flying was not an option for us. Bernd was so excited getting across the boarder by foot. Most of the times we got across on an airport or by ship, so this is the first time that we were not using any vehicle.

Across the border it felt a lot more different, in Mae Sai was not so much going on and in Tachilek were so many people around that we got the feeling to leave the boarder town as soon as possible. We only had to walk a few metres when a guy showed up and asked us where we want to go and what we want to do. Well we both had the idea to talk with him and give it a try, still cautious. You never know if they want to rip you off.
But he was friendly and seemed not to be one of this persons, like most of them, but it felt really different. He let us to an official exchange office and when we checked later we got there exactly the course shown on the Internet. Then he lead us the way to some travel agencies to check for a flight to Mandalay, he also told us that there is no way through the country. As expected also here the flight tickets are much to expensive, so we did not buy one.
He told us that we can go to Keng Tung if we do not only stay here in Tachilek. We took an offered motorbike taxi for a fair price and the guy leading us said goodbye and left, so no ripping. He did not even ask for a tip or anything else, maybe he was working for the government.
We took the bus to get to Keng Tung, it was a rather long ride to get there, going up and down through a beautiful landscape and several stops. They did not only stop to let the passengers take care of some business and eating, they also stopped to pour some water at the tires and the engine to cool it down.
At the stop we took a closer look at the village and how the people live here, before we got to go back to the bus.

The bus trip was longer then expected, the roads were not in a so good condition and it the bus was always going very slow when it was going down a mountain. What else we recognised during the trip was, that there are soldiers with machine guns staying around on the street, several kilometres away from the next one. But it did not feel dangerous at all. Also what first was making us mad, the behaviour of the people on the bus, at the stops some of them stayed in the bus, bought things and dropped their litter outside to the floor. For sure we knew that the people are not that educated about taking care of the nature, but that is too much, but at the end it turned out, that the people working at the stops sweep the trash away and put it in bins. So not only dropping their litter everywhere.
It was already getting dark before we arrived, too bad that we were not at a good spot to take a good picture of the sunset.

In Keng Tung we hoped to find a cheap and nice place to stay it, we did not check for any guesthouses in advance or read anything about this town, especially we did not even understand the name of the town before we left Tachilek. But there we found close to the bus stop a nice guesthouse with rather luxury rooms. Did not expect to find something like this here.

After settling up we got outside to find a good local restaurant on the street, it was not far away and we asked some motorbike taxi drivers if they know a place, what was not so easy to tell them because they barely spoke English, but very kind and willing to help us. Not far away we found a small restaurant and got a very good dinner for less money. When we decided to leave the restaurant the family running it invited us to drink a cup of tea with them and sit next to the fire pot. A very good idea, here in the north it was much colder.

First thing we did the next day was checking for possibilities yo travel through the country, asking for a bus or train connection, but there was non. So it really is a dead end when you do not have your own vehicle and then it may be possible that they won't let you pass through the checkpoints at the street.
We were not to sad about it, we got the chance to explore the north and it may have been better then the other places in Myanmar. From other travelers we heared before coming to Myanmar that the places more down in the south are already more touristic and they got in the temple annoying ugly decorations, ruining the pleasure of sightseeing.
We went to the market place, the place where we got to see the first other European looking person around. Here were no tourists at all. No one offering you a Tuk-Tuk ride or a massage.

From the market we went to Keng Khom the first Buddhist temple we visited here. As expected it was a nice place and no blinking lights or stupid looking stuff around ruining the view.

Close by to the temple was kind of a fishing pond, a chain of lights was hanging on small poles above the water, looks like the people do make some celebrations at the lake.

From the pond we walked up a small street and got a better view above the city and got to Yet Twah Mhu a big Buddha statue.

not far away we saw a very big surprise, a Christian Church. We did not even think about the chance that there will be some other religious buildings around, only Buddhist.

The next place we wanted to go to was Nong Tung, the big lake in Keng Tung, to get there we wanted to take a shortcut through a small alley, but it appeared to be a private way, the people living there were so friendly and let us walk through their garden and on the way leading around the lake.

The lake was very beautiful, was not inviting for a swim, well it was much to cold to think about going swimming and laying in the sun. Also on our next way we got some assistance to find a shortcut, the people around here were all so friendly to us and no one was interested in getting our money, felt so relaxing. The path lead through some back gardens and at the end along a small alley, we already were thinking that the guy telling us to go this way was wrong, when we suddenly reached the end. Everything fine as expected. And also a nice experience.

Up at the hill was the Wat Jong Kham, the last temple we wanted to see here. It was still closed so we only could see the golden pagoda.

We did not stay very long in Myanmar, because Bernd was freezing all the time and wanted to get back more to the south.
So at the end we can say about Myanmar, that it is absolutely worth going to the north and missing the things we wanted to see in the south, well we can get to Myanmar again and get to the more touristic places.

Road trip through north Thailand

We knew that it will take a long time by train to get to the north of Thailand, yo Chiang Mai, but we preferred to travel that way instead of flying or taking a more expensive bus.
At the train station a Thai guy helped us buying a ticket for the train, we did not go to the central train station so no one else was around speaking English and we both did not learn Thai. Now we left Bangkok after spending some great days here with good company.

After spending the night in a train we had to rest before we could get into town and take a look around. Well this time it was me who was so tired, Bernd slept good in the train and was not willing to give me a break, so he forced me to go into town with him.
First we went to a temple and heard some noises like someone is playing ping pong. And not the way they do it in the shows in Bangkok. When we got closer we saw monks playing ping pong, very surprising.
We did not manage to take a good picture of them so we took a closer look to the temple and kept on walking.

In a garden we saw many sculptures staying around, it seemed to be some kind of open air warehouse or a stone carvers workshop.

Next place we went to was the park. There we relaxed for a long time and also could watch some artists practising. In Chiang Mai I had one déjà vu after another, remembering going through the park with my friends and a lot of other things and places.

Later that evening we decided to rent some motorbikes and make a round trip more to the north. The next day are started early in the morning and left to get to Chiang Dao, a town not to far away in the north.

After finding a great place to stay for the night we went to Tham Chiang Dao and inside the caves.

We had to take a guide to go to through the caves, first it was not so satisfying having a guide but it really felt that you may easily get lost here.

When it was already dark we went to the hit springs not that far away and took a relaxing bath, this time was no one around charging money for the entrance making it even better. After taking a bath we went to a restaurant located next to a rice field with life music. A lovely place. Too bad that the pics are so dark.

The next day we got into the higher mountains and got a very good view above the jungle and the valleys, some places there especially the camp side on top of a mountain invited to stay there and see the sunset and sunrise, but we had to keep on going.

On our way we stopped after one of the many check points around here at a small cafe to refill our energy and get a break. surprisingly no one wanted to see our ids or even stopped us there. Bernd saw there a bicycle and was thinking of taking it for the rest of the day, but seeing that it will be going up the hill soon again made him go back yo his motorised vehicle.

At about noon we arrived in Arunothai, realising that we had a stowaway on our bike, Bernd wanted to get the butterfly on his hand like I did it month ago in the metro in Rome, but he flew away when he got closer.

In Arunothai first we strengthened our self with good and spicy food before exploring the market. At the market we tried several different fruits and nuts, all tasting great.

On our way back to Chiang Dao we wanted to stop at a national park to see a waterfall and again go to some hot springs, but we did not get in, because we are not Thai they charged there ten times as much for the entrance fee, so we headed to the entrance for the hot springs only. Disappointingly they wanted the same amount of money. After a few minutes of talking with them they let us in with the same price Thais get. Sometimes asking and being friendly helps.

Our second day on the road trip ended again in Chiang Dao, the next morning we left and got on the long way to Pai, a town known for parties, festivals and being some kind of hippie area.
For us it was not a long stay in Pai, but we really enjoyed it and had a good time at the street market, the bars and the other travelers we met there.

Next time we have to stay longer in Pai and then there should be a festival, we just came there between two festivals. Rather early we started again our trip this morning. It was a long way back to Chiang Mai to go. Especially because we did not want to go on the easier way back.
Again through the mountains, up and down the curvy roads.

Late in the evening we arrived back in Chiang Mai at our guesthouse, Bernd was so hungry that he was close to eat a chair.

Visiting Bangkok

From So Nang we decided to take the mini van to get to Phuket, we did not know what to expect there, we only were sure that it is one of the most touristic places in Thailand. Before I was not really interested in getting there but it was on the route we wanted to take.
The trip was not as simple as expected, we got picked up last our hostel with a crowded mini van not having enough space for all the people inside, would be a horror trip, when there won't be any change. We did not drive that far in the bus and got to some kind of a meeting place, at the meeting place we had to wait for the next mini van, where we got more space. And again the drive was not that far, bringing us to another meeting place, this time more like a bus station. There we got to wait for felt like hours to get on our mini van. No that was not the last one, we were in a very old one and only drove a short while to get on another one. We were already thinking that it would be like that for the rest of the way, but after that change to a newer one we got to Phuket.
We did arrive in Phuket town, so no beach around and first we wanted to take a look around. Yes before doing that we went to a hostel to find a place for the night.
Not far from the hostel we found a nice temple in the typical way. It was great seeing one again after being only at the beach and the ocean.

Further down the street we found a very special restaurant, it more looked like a tree house in a jungle and had realm good decorations and for sure it was very expensive.

Later that day at the hostel we spent a lot of time with the other guests and realised that one guy there had the same idea to go to Myanmar after Thailand. So we came up with the idea to get there together, for doing that we had to leave the next day and go to Bangkok to get a visa. At the end we did not stay long in Phuket and also not in the touristic areas at the coast. Not sure if we missed something important. But we can get there again.The next afternoon and night we spent on a bus and arrived in the early morning in Bangkok. During the ride we did not have a good sunset but the sunrise over Bangkok was nice enough.

Very tired we arrived at the bus station and got immediately surrounded by hundreds of taxi drivers telling us that they will make us the best prices. For sure. We decided to take the public bus to get to the area of town were we wanted to stay, only for three percent of the amount the taxis wanted to get for bringing us. So before noon we arrived in Khao San road.

Close to the area was a demonstration, you usually get warned that it might be dangerous, but this one was very peaceful and the people were still friendly smiling at us.
On the walking street we also ran into a German camera team interviewing tourists passing by, they also interview us. Well not Bernd, when he saw the camera he his behind some shops to be sure that they won't film him, something must have made him afraid or very cautious about being filmed.
I got told that they'll show the interview next morning in TV and when it came I heard from friends that they did not take what I said, only the stuff the others said. We were walking around in a bigger group since we left Phuket with the over night bus.

At night we heard that there was some fighting between the demonstrators and the police, but not to much and again we did not get into any trouble. Next morning we went to the Malaysian embassy to apply for our visa and took the boat on the river to head back to our guesthouse.

On the way we decided to visit Wat Arunratchawararam, a Wat I visited on my first trip to Bangkok with my friends and wanted to show it to Bernd.

Also we got the the grand palace, around there were many speakers and signs telling tourists that there palace is not closing during the day and they should not belief in the things some people tell them about the times. In the past there were no signs like that, but we had a good warning and when one of those guys, who was wearing a suit and looking very professional was telling us that the palace is closed and we could get on a different tour. This time no one was around, so maybe there is no real need of the warnings anymore.

This evening we went to the night market in Patpong, the place where you also can see some ping pong shows. Bernd first thought that they would only play ping pong there, after explaining him what is really going on in this shows he was interested in seeing one of those shows, when we arrived there we met some other travelers again we met on the bus to Bangkok and they told us that they have been at one of the shows and as I expected got ripped off. Also typical for that shows. That made Bernd change his mind of seeing the show and more willing to walk around at the market. There we got to see that Xmas is really getting closer.

Getting back to our hostel was not as easy as usual, the taxi only brought us close to the Democracy monument and did not want or try to get closer because there was a very big demonstration. So we got to walk through that area. Bernd was hiding behind my back and praying that nothing would happen to us.

We did it through there without any problems, also through a very dark alley, it's never as dangerous as it is told about such places.

Back in our area we went with some other guys we met on the street to a very nice bar/local/guesthouse. It seemed that everywhere were friendly travelers around with whom you could have a lot of fun. For sure the next time we gonna be in Bangkok we would stay in the Flapping duck, I know it's covert advertising, but with this place I do not mind.
The next day we did not do so much, we only went to the embassy to get our passports back and enjoyed a good massage. Well and for sure spent a lot of time with many many friendly travelers. And also we spent some time of thinking how to get to Myanmar, first we were thinking of taking a flight but we changed our mind and decided to take a train to Chiang Mai and get across the border in the north.
This day was also kings birthday, so there was a big celebration in town and at night we could see the lampeons flying away.