Mae Sot

Mae Sot is a town located near the Burmese border in northeast Thailand. As I was riding the bus there for 7 hours, I slept for 6 of them, and the last one I stared out the window, slightly wondering what I had gotten myself into. There were maybe some rolling hills, forests of trees that looked like it was the dead of winter…and not much else. When I arrived at the bus station, my opinion was not changed.

Usually at bus stations there are tons of taxis and tuk tuks waiting to take you where you need to go. I saw none…but instead of freaking out I decided to entertain myself in the elevated squatty potties (wait till I post you a picture of them. Simply fabulous!) When I came out I noticed a few motorbikes and tuk tuks had gathered, no need to worry. And as a white kid with a lot of baggage, well I had a ride in a matter of moments.

Now Mae Sot itself is a very interesting town, to me. It’s a gateway to Burma and the Thai Burma Friendship Bridge is located here. As I said, at first looks and appearances it looks like nothing much but once you start walking around you realize this place is pretty much as modern as another place you’d like to be.

I went from being the only white kid on my bus ride to running into 3 different white families dining on the main streets. (This is only the tip of the white iceberg) There are English signs advertising Burmese and Thai food. There are probably 4 (and more) different ATMs that I can take money out of. There are massages to be had and several different wats, or temples. The night life here is loud and crazy, at least near my guesthouse. I don’t have to go out and experience as I can hear the music, whootin and hollerin in my room. Sounds fun!

Mae Sot has 2 main streets each going in one direction. The buildings here sometimes have beautiful architecture…other times, run down or perhaps under construction…I guess the best comparison I have would have to be Iringa, near the Houghton Campus in Tanzania, Africa. Or at least Iringa in my mind. It’s a cool little town that I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable in.

On Saturday I just happened to pass by a market near a Chinese temple and that was cool to wonder around in. But today as I was searching for the Peace Café which is showing a Burmese movie, I walked through another market. Again, selling clothes, niknaks (spelling?) and food. The highlight of my market experience would have to be the young girl selling fried toads, with fried fish next to fried cockroaches. Haha, that’s funny. Whole fried frogs. Even better was when I passed back through and realized that the young girl next to her was selling live toads. Just in those mesh bags that you would buy oranges in…live toads. She would touch them to make them jump. To ensure freshness I assume. Interesting.