Mae Sot

This past weekend, Andy and I had a chance to check off probably one of the biggest items on our list of "things to see and do before we leave Bangkok". We spent some time in a true village.

We went to Mae Sot.
Rather than taking an overnight bus on a very winding road to reach the tiny town, we opted for a quick one hour flight on this adorable plane. It was by far the smallest plane I have ever been on.

We were accompanied on our journey with two of our good friends. We stayed in this house (belonging to a friend of our good friend).

Mae Sot is located on the Burma boarder. The Moei River (which was behind this sign) is a natural boarder between Thailand and Burma. A short walk over the Friendship Bridge (in the background) would lead you in to Burma.

The buildings in the distance are in Burma. The river is just a trickle at this time of year.
The majority of people who live in Mae Sot are Burmese migrants and refugees. I could not get over how different the place felt compared to the heart of Thailand. The people spoke different, looked different, and dressed different. I didn't even attempt to use (my usually butchered) Thai when speaking, because most people spoke Burmese. 

We went to a fish market along the river.



The left side of the path = Burma, and the right side = Thailand.
Due to several immigration issues, the people selling fish are not allowed to cross the handrail and officially enter Thailand.  

Dried shrimp.

We had a nice afternoon break at a CANADIAN restaurant!
We met up my friend's sister who is in Mae Sot doing some volunteer work (shout-out to Bon Bon and Kristin!) What a small world.

This picture is solely for Leta. 8 kg of RAMBUTANS for a couple bucks! Enough to feed 25 adults (which really happened). We better look at importing them into SK. 

Markets are always a fun time.

We saw some interesting things including: itsy bitsy turtles (usage unknown)

these things

gigantic deep fried bugs

and angry bird meat on a stick.
 

Our mode of transportation for the weekend; a sweet cart attached to a motorbike.

I would have been happy if that's all we did the entire weekend- cruise in the cart.

I think the fresh air had to do something with my happiness.



We spent a lot of time at a village school, where my friend will be teaching next year. The school was built a couple years ago right beside this gorgeous sugarcane field.

The school is for high school students, and adults who are trying to get an education. Everyone lives on the school grounds.

Breezy rice fields are also nearby.

Burma mountains in the distance.
The fields made us a tad homesick for the wheat and canola fields back home (t-minus 3 weeks)!

A midnight "BBQ".

We went to a temple and received a blessing from a monk.

 

Mom and dad, check out the suitcase! Now with a proud new mystery owner on the boarder :)

Nothing like a good weekend with good friends.