Good morning Chiang Rai - it’ll be another exciting day today cos we’re going to visit Myanmar!!

I’m now having buffet breakfast at Wiang Inn Hotel (in Chiang Rai City) with Mom & Dad - Mom enjoying her breakfast below :

My Western plus local Thai breakfast :

A plate of Potato slices & Chinese Crullers (or “You Tiao” in Chinese), except that this Thai version is sweet instead of salty. And here in Thailand, these Twin Delights Crullers are called “Pa Tong Ko” in Thai.

And beside the plate is a bowl of my favourite steaming hot Thai Fish Porridge garnished with Chinese Parsley, Spring Onions & Fried diced Garlics - yummy yummy : 

My next favourite Thai breakfast consists of the very fresh crunchy Salads :

And a plate of freshly half peeled red Rambutans (how convenient to eat!), Water Melons, & Dragon Fruits - the Rambutans are especially fresh & sweet, with some so tiny seeds - really good :

The following is a Slideshow of all the other photos taken inside the Hotel restaurant :

We’re now going to the local Thai Bank, just across the street outside Wiang Inn Hotel, to change some Singapore dollars into Thai bahts.

Now, we’re beginning on our journey to Myanmar (or Burma) by driving (by our Thai friend) to Mae Sai - a border town some 65km North of Chiang Rai. From there, we can cross over to the town of Tachileik (or Tachilek) in Myanmar from Thailand!!

We’ve now just arrived in Mae Sai after more than an hour’s drive from Wiang Inn Hotel in Chiang Rai City. As Mae Sai is just at the border to Myanmar, many Burmese goods & handicrafts can be purchased here at this pretty long side street (as shown below). In fact, I was here shopping for half an hour last December during our day tour from Chiang Mai, & that was far too short too short! And now, we’ll have to forgo the shopping here again cos we wana cross over to visit Myanmar as soon as possible!!

Below is the Thai Boundary Post - Mae Sai Customs House - the start of the Thai border crossing to Myanmar. However, further travel into Myanmar (Burma) from this Thai border crossing in Mae Sai is not possible for non-Burma Nationals.

Before crossing over to Myanmar at the Thai border, & upon checking, we’re advised to leave behind all our passports (4 Singaporean & 1 Thai) at the Thai Boundary Post - Mae Sai Customs House, instead of bringing them across the border to Myanmar with us. This is for safety reasons cos the Thai immigration officers say that our passports may be confiscated & taken away from us by the Burmese immigration side if we bring them with us, as it’s happened in many cases whereby foreign passports are taken away or stolen in Burma! So without hesitation & out of fear, we decide to heed the Thai officers’ advise to keep our passports with them at the Mae Sai Customs House, instead of bringing them into Myanmar!! And upon crossing back to Thailand from Myanmar, we’ll have our passports back safely. Well, sadly, this means that I won’t be able to have Myanmar stamped in my passport :(((

Well, guess safety is the top priority here!! Anyway, we’ll have to photostate copies of all our Singapore passports & have some paperwork done at the Mae Sai Customs House to leave our passports behind with them in Thailand, & then we’ll bring over these photocopied documents with us for entering into Myanmar. Upon which, we’ll have temporary Burmese travel permits with 1-day passes issued for us at the Burma Customs in Tachileik.

And for this administration work at the Mae Sai Customs House, we’ve to pay 100 bahts for each Singapore passport. And to enter into Myanmar, we’ve each to pay a separate 500 bahts. For our Thai friend, it costs only about 20 bahts or so to enter. WOW, it’s all so expensive & everything costs money!! But as we’re all very determined to enter Myanmar, we’ve no choice but to part with our money!! 

Here they are, our photostated passport copies (with Mom’s on the 1st page), with notes of “VIP” as the “Signature of Passport Holder” attached :

Here’s a copy of my passport - see the so short hair I’ve got in my photo taken 8 years ago!

We’re now walking on the Thailand-Myanmar Bridge crossing the small Mae Sai River. 

Actually, we’re standing on “No Man’s Land” in the middle of the Bridge, between Thailand & Myanmar. No Man’s Land is a term for land that’s not occupied or under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy cos of fear & uncertainty. It’s also a term for the stretch of land between 2 border posts, when one exits one country at their border post, & then enters the next country at the other border post, usually just a few metres or kilometres away.

And if you look closely at the below photo, there’re beggars who later come harrassing us as we’re crossing the Bridge, but they soon lose interest in us when we ignore them. And if you see more clearly, you’ll notice that there’re the Thailand Flags & Myanmar Flags lined up along the side railings of the Bridge, with each country’s Flags occupying half the Bridge.

The Mae Sai River at the border crossing  - Thailand is on the left, & Myanmar is on the right :

Below are 2 photos overlooking the Thai Boundary Post - Mae Sai Customs House, with its Thai flag :

About to enter the Union of Myanmar Gate now, on which there’s a big sign on its right that reads “The City of Golden Triangle”. The Golden Triangle is the borderline between Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) & Laos, & it’s infamous throughout the world for its Opium production (Opium being the plant that Herion is made from). Myanmar has since been seen as having a relaxed Drug policy as its illegal Opium trade in the Black Market makes the country rich.

Now Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by the People’s Republic of China on the Northeast, Laos on the East, Thailand on the Southeast, Bangladesh on the West, & India on the Northwest, & the Bay of Bengal to the Southwest. The Burmese political system remains under the tight control of the SPDC (State Peace & Development Council), the military-led government, led by Senior General Than Shwe, since 1992. 

Map of Myanmar :

From the Union of Myanmar Gate, we enter the Burmese immigration office on its right side to have our travelling documents examined. At the same time, photos of our faces are taken, after which we’re then allowed to enter the town of Tachileik inside Myanmar. The Burmese people in this town speak Thai for commercial & communication reasons, since they’re so close to Thailand.

Tachileik (or Tachilek) is a town in the Shan State of East Myanmar. It’s directly located South on the other side of the Mae Sai River, & it’s the seat of Tachileik Township in Tachileik District.

And as it’s a major distribution point for Herion & Ya Ba moving from Myanmar to the World Market, Tachileik has a reputation that it’s a rough town! So we’ve better be extra careful when we’re here!!

Once we step out of the Myanmar immigration office, we’re swamped by a huge group of Burmese tour vendors who have all come to sell us their Burmese day tour packages. Seem that all their tour packages are similar, & our Thai friend who’s always come here to shop with friends, picks the 1st vendor we meet. Our whole tour consisting of a few Burmese places of interests, plus transportations, cost us about 900 bahts in total, which we will only pay at the end of the tour.  

Now, the following is a Slideshow containing photos taken from where I’m seated inside the Burmese Tuk Tuk, with our Thai friend, travelling in the town of Tachileik, to our first Burmese tourist attraction - along the journey, we see young cute Burmese school children walking to school carrying their small stainless layered food containers with their school bags - so cute so cute :

We arrive at the Temple of Enrobed Elephant, also known as the Union of Myanmar - Township Dhammayon - Tachileik (or Community Hall) :

We’re now inside the Township Dhammayon, & we see the walls painted with beautiful murals depicting different scenes of Buddha :

The Buddhas at the end of the Hall :

And most amazingly about these below smaller golden Buddha statues, as our Thai friend tells me, are that their faces & eyes will travel the direction you’re going - eg, if you’re seeing the Buddha on his left side now, the Buddha will be facing you at his left. And if you move towards the right side, the Buddha’s face will follow you in the right direction, which means that the Buddha’s face will also be directed at you even if you’re standing on his right side next!

I try it out by moving right to left, & left to right, & true enough, the Buddhas’ faces are always fixed on me throughout my movements!

I’m now standing on the right side of the Buddhas, & see the following Buddha’s face is also directed at me towards his right side :

After praying to the Buddhas, we’re now leaving the Township Dhammayon to our next destination : visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda. Below is a Slideshow containing photos of our Tuk Tuk journey from Township Dhammayon to the beautiful hill top where the Pagoda stands :

Upon arriving at the hill top where the Shwedagon Pagoda is located, we see beautiful sceneries of the town of Tachileik : 

A barefooted Burmese woman selling flowers & baskets which I wonder what’s inside there?

See the below gorgeous shinny golden Shwedagon Pagoda - it’s actually a replica of the famous Shwedagon Pagoda (known as the Golden Pagoda) located in Yangon, Myanmar.

A young Burmese vendor grilling Sausages & Eggs over burning charcoals (called “Kai Ping” in Thai, or Roasted Eggs) :

A store with flowers & more of that cute Baskets on sales before the entrance to the Shwedagon Pagoda :

Once we’re about to enter the Shwedagon Pagoda, we’re swamped by a huge group of young & old Burmese vendors trying to sell us flowers & whatsever!!

Now, have you noticed the glistening yellowish powder on these Burmese people? Well, the powder is called Thanaka, made from a mixture of tree bark & water, & the Burmese men & women (young or old) apply it to their faces & bodies to beautify (tighten) their skins & protect them from the sun.

No shoes are allowed into the Pagoda area : 

Shoe Shelves for rental for our shoes, & it costs 2 bahts for each pair of shoes :

We’re now facing the Shwedagon Pagoda - in which the golden dome rises 98 metres above its base & it’s covered with over 60 tons of pure gold! And the large central spire is flanked by many small spires surrounding it - simply spectacular!!

There’re Gods of the daily birthdays from Monday to Sunday, & if you know which day (between Monday to Sunday) that you were born, you can offer prayings to that particular day’s God.

We’re now being swamped by more & more vendors all trying to earn a living for themselves by selling us more flowers or sheltering us from the rather glaring sun with their umbrellas etc. We’re all being treated like kings & queens & I begin to feel a little uneasy & bad for being sheltered, & one of the Burmese women starts saying to me ”It’s free, no money, it’s free, no money!” Heheh she’s so cute, but well, being soft-hearted, Mom & I start giving most of them tips!

Me holding some stalks of fresh Burmese flowers for praying :

An elderly Burmese helping my brother (who was born on a Tuesday) light up some incense sticks for praying :

Below is the Tuesday God Altar where my brother just offered his prayings :

The raised-up Praying platform infront of the Tuesday God :

Well, after offering flowers & incense & praying to the Tuesday God, my brother has to hit this below Bell 3 times with the wooden stick lying by its side : 

These below 2 young boys are really hardworking cos they keep following us everywhere we go!

2 bubbly Buddhas carrying Bell with a behind tag that reads “Union of Myanmar - Tachileik Shwedagon Pagoda” :

Dad really likes these 2 holy statues & asks me for a photo shot with them, with Mom beside him :

Here below I’m holding the cute basket which I bought (out of pity) from the youngest Burmese boy who’s following us. And well, now I finally know what’s inside them!! Guess what?! Small tiny Sparrows!!! Yes, & they’re so cute, think there’re 2 or 3 of them inside the basket waiting to be released.

However, cos I remember after telling my Godmom how my hubby & I had released some sparrows in such way last December when we were in Chiang Mai, she told us that we shouldn’t do that cos after releasing the birds, we’re supposed not to eat the eggs or the birds! So this time round, I remember not to release these sparrows from my basket, & then I give the whole basket with the birds inside, to our Thai friend, which I’ve no idea later what she does with them heheh!!

But hey, I just realised, what eggs & what birds was my Godmom or I talking about?! Think I must have told Godmom we released pigeons instead of sparrows last December when she told us to abstain from eating pigeons & their eggs!! But sparrow eggs or the birds?! I don think we ever eat sparrow eggs or the birds right?!! So there shouldn’t be any problem to my releasing the sparrows here!! Haha, so funny, what a miscommunication!!

Beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda against the bright blue with white clouds sky : 

Me standing infront of the brightly lit up under the sun Shwedagon Pagoda - I’m wearing the Beaded Mother of Pearl Shell Necklace which I bought at Sabun-Nga Souvenir Shop last night :

A photo of myself with Mom, Dad & brother :

The following are Myanmar Post Cards which I’ve just purchased from the vendors : 

And I’ve put the close-up photos of the Myanmar Post Cards in the following Slideshow :

Below are the Burmese gifts which my brother just bought for me from the vendors - a Special Set of Myanmar Coins, with the Shwedagon Pagoda Post Card & Myanmar Money Note on its reverse side :

And 2 Sets of Myanmar Old & New Money Notes, with Myanmar Post Cards on their reverse sides :

On the below left side are the Myanmar New Money Notes, & on the right side are the Old Myanmar Money Notes :

The reverse sides of the Myanmar New & Old Money Notes :

I’ve also put close-up photos taken of the Myanmar New & Old Money Notes in the following Slideshows for your viewing.

The Myanmar New Money Notes Slideshow :

The Myanmar Old Money Notes Slideshow : 

I’m by now so excited & happy cos I’ve just got so many Burmese Souvenirs to add on to my World Souvenirs Collection!! And what rare & valuable Souvenirs I’ve just got from Myanmar!! Yippie Yippie!! I’m one real pleased lady today!!

We’re now about to leave the Shwedagon Pagoda - Mom standing beside the Burmese Tuk Tuk :

Leaving the hill now :

I’ve included all photos taken at the surroundings of the Shwedagon Pagoda, as well as of us leaving the Pagoda in our 3 Tuk Tuks, in the following Slideshow, with an interesting & charming Burmese song about the beauty of their glistening Burmese yellow powder “Thanaka” which they apply on their faces & bodies. And in the Burmese Song Video, you can also see how the powder is made from the tree barks - enjoy!