On Sunday, I basically lounged around Chiang Rai. I was feeling a bit under the weather...maybe it's from being in the rain (imagine that!), but I thought I was coming down with something. And no, I wasn't just coming down with a case of irritation. Though there was that...so I put myself in timeout for a day, for everyone's benefit.
On Monday, I got up early, packed up my large suitcase, which I asked the guesthouse owner to hold for me, then packed an overnight bag and headed to the bus station to meet Calina. I had already told her I would take a trip with her up to Mae Sai, so she can do a border run into Myanmar. Figured I would just go along for the ride, then on the way back head northwest to Mae Salong.
The trip up to Mae Sai was very uneventful. It was on an ordinary bus that looked like a throw back from from the '70s. I mean, I could have sworn I saw people riding buses like the one we rode in that movie, "Good Morning, Vietnam." Broken down, doesn't even begin to describe it. But it was cheap and it got us from point A to point B. After we got to the Mae Sai bus station, we took a soong taow to the border and hoofed it across to Tachileuk, Myanmar.
For those of you who do not know what a "border run" is, basically, it is what the words imply...a run for the border. For visitors or residents who are looking to stay beyond the time allowed on their visa, crossing over to another neighboring country is the easiset way to get another visa. In Mae Sai, people usually just walk across the border to Myanmar, pay a fee, stay for 30 minutes, and then come back across the border. There are a few other things that one must do when going through customs, but that is about it.
The only problem with the border run by land is a person with a regular 30 day visa on arrival can only get an extension of 15 days. I, on the other hand, got an extension for another 60 days, since I had applied for a 60 tourist visa prior to leaving the USA. (It pays to do some research before traveling in other countries...I'm just saying.)
Since we weren't planning on staying in Tachileuk, we simply wandered around the nearby market for a little while in search of another suitcase (for moi) and lunch. Unlike my previous experiences in Thailand, the street hawkers in Tachileuk were extremely aggressive and relentless. They would just follow us from stall to stall trying to sell us cartons of cigarettes. It was crazy. It made me crazy and poor Calina was just frustratred and overwhelmed. They wouldn't leave her alone. Poor girl.
I managed to get a great deal on a new Gucci carry on bag, It was significantly less than the one I was looking at in Chiang Mai. Of course, it isn't real, but it's good enough.
After that, we got some lunch, headed back across the border and back...Calina to Mirror and I to Mae Salong.
