Kareoking to Madonna

For Ken's going away (I was leaving the following day), a bunch of volunteers (from left to right: Alex, Peter, Linda, Emily, Brendon, Heyman, and Stephanie) went to Lucky's Music Place for more embarrassing kareoking. This was an awesome group game for kareoking (the Beatles, the Spice Girls, Queen, the Village People...). It didn't take much encouragment (nor alcohol). At one point, the few Thai tables try to squeeze us out by requesting six Thai songs in a row, but our persistence paid off, and we closed the place at 0130.

Dinner at Crocodile Tears

Me, Ben, Dr. Agon(y), and Emily (volunteer English teacher) at Crocodile Tears, a restaurant/bar with live music in the evenings. This was a going away thing for Ken, who was going to spent a few weeks to climb down at Rai Lay. Ken was proud to sport his 100 BHT clubbing shirt he bought in Burma that day. Actually it's "DRAGON" on his shirt, not Dr. Agon(y). Ken grew up in Hong Kong, so his sense of style is a little different, which, of course, is perfectly fine. Rock on, Kenny!

This is how Buddhism came to Burma

This alligator carried a Buddhist temple from India to Burma while crossing a river...or so they say.

Buddha's footprints

I have no idea what the significance of this is, but there you have it. Actually, these modern whitewashed Buddhist temples sort of give me the heebie-jeebies.

Taking a rest

A rare sunny and hot day during the rainy season. We rested next to this grade school before heading off to the Buddhist temple off in the distance on the left.

Playing with marbles???

No, those aren't marbles. This happy Burmese kid was playing with GOAT DUNG!!! but hey, he looks happy to me. What a wonderful world it must be, when you can have a blast playing with dung.

Dirt road in a hilly country with lots of lush trees

A typical road I found between villages in Myawaddy. Strangely impoverished, but amazingly beautiful.

This road leads to Rangoon.

The asphalt has ended, but the road goes on.

Lunch time in Burma

A little bit of cold rice, a tiny plate (the size of a tea cup saucer) of Burmese chicken curry, and some stir-fried vegetables. The land of plentiful, this is not; Burma is kind of poor. Unfortunately, this is a country that is rich in natural resources. Because of a suboptimal government, it will remain about half a century behind the rest of Southeast Asian countries.

Low doorways in village housing

They cook in the back. This door is about three-feet high. This place would even make me feel tall.

Alley in a village in Myawaddy

This place is amazing. People live in one-room shacks. At night, they pull out their sleeping rolls and all retire for the night. They cook in the back. Birth, life, and death all in the same place.

Myawaddy border control

The rare sight of asphalt in Burma. It slowly peters out the further you walk away from Thailand. There are fewer cars and more pedal taxis in Burma than in Thailand. It reminded me of being on the island of Flores in Indonesia a few months ago. I have been told that the capital of Rangoon is not much different. The people did not appear to be any different. I was told that when I entered Burma, I would be able to see why so many Burmese refugees came over to Thailand, but this wasn't the case. I guess some people underestimate how shallow I actually can be. I had been warned that I would feel a sense of the oppressive nature of the military junta state. This wasn't the case either. As far as I could tell from a brief visit to this border town, it was just any other border town in any other place in the world; there was an influx of money, goods, and opportunity coming and going.

The Friendship bridge with some friends

A bunch of medical students (all from the UK except for Ben) leaving Thailand for a day trip to Burma. It costs 500 BHT to visit Myawaddy, the border town in Burma, for the day. Your Thai visa gets renewed for another 30 days when you return. Interestingly, Burma is the first country I've been to that one drives on the righthand side of the road since leaving Taiwan. (Actually, that wasn't interesting at all.)

Riding to the border, Thai-style

Ben (American medical student), Ken (British medical student), and me hanging on the back of a sawngthaew (a pickup truck with two benches), heading to the Thai-Burmese border. Oh yeah, I shaved my extremely unpopular beard for my mother on her birthday a week ago. Happy birthday, Mom!