I
had been told that the representative of the travel company that had
coordinated my journey through Myanmar, Silver Hills, the guide and the
government representative would meet me at the Myawaddy border gate by 1 pm.
The distance from Tak to the border post was less than 100 km and that gave me
a lot of time in the morning to get ready and hit the road. I even woke up late
and had a leisurely breakfast of eggs, pastries, sausage and ham. The orange
juice was good and I went about methodically emptying the dispenser. Later I
made a tour of the hotel. The Soho Boutique Hotel is value for money. I loved
the décor and aesthetics as well as the service. By 11 am I decided to check
out and leave for Mae Sot, the Thailand side of the border. Last evening, when
I returned to the hotel after the massage, the girl at the reception presented me
a traditional Thai bath towel. This morning I gave her a copy of “Record
Drives… And Then Some!” before leaving the hotel.
Once
I was firmly planted on the route to Mae Sot I took the roads real slow. I have
never driven so slowly, and that too deliberately, ever on a highway. It felt
heretical doing so on such a lovely road. On the way were markets operated by
tribes people, where fresh vegetables, fruits and homemade delicacies were
available at really cheap prices. After a while the route vended through hilly
terrain and the drive became scenic and enjoyable. I stopped at one of the
scenic spots that was terraced to provide lovely views of the winding roads and
the dense forests as well as to enjoy some refreshments. I was enticed to stoop
there more by the advertisement of ice cream than by anything else. After a few
photographs I moved to the vending counter only to be told that ice creams were
not in stock! Disappointed though I was I picked up a couple of products
homemade by the tribes people of the area. The dried honey coated banana with
sesame seeds turned out to be a worthy substitute for the ice cream; the
disappointment abated.
At
Mae Sot, just before reaching the border, I turned into a fuel station with the
intention of tanking up. I did not notice that I had been directed to the
dispenser that had the costlier fuel option. When I saw the meter reading going
rather quickly I stopped the attendant and told him that I wanted the cheaper
fuel. I had to shift my car to another dispenser to have this done. The end
result was paying more than I should have for the quantity that I filled.
I
parked well ahead of the Immigration counters on the Thai border and walked to
the booths with the passport and Carnet. I did not anticipate any problem as I
had all the documentation with me. I was asked to report to a specific counter
where my passport was stamped. The official then asked me to present the
‘Information of Conveyance’ to another counter. The lady at that counter was
more intent on chewing gum and trying to look pretty rather than take interest
in the paper given to her. She also displayed an annoying habit of shifting a
face mask from nose to throat for no apparent reason, except perhaps calling
attention to her ‘seen better days’ features. She sought the assistance of
another colleague for assistance, who asked if I had informed people on the
Myanmar side about my arrival. When I confirmed the arrangement she looked
decidedly unhappy! Then she wanted me to present my passport to the Immigration
counter; when I showed her the immigration stamp the unhappiness quotient
seemed to increase. Then she said that I have to present papers to Customs. I
showed her that I was ready to do that after the immigration formalities were
completed. That may have been the last straw for she pulled out a voucher book
and asked me to pay 25THB as overtime! When I protested, another officer
clarified that they were working through a designated holiday this day and
therefore, the overtime was payable. I did that and the lady set about
photocopying all the documents and finally handed over all the papers intact. I
wondered what would have happened had I not gone to the counter with that piece
of paper, since the passport had already been stamped. Much time was not taken
in the Customs. I handed over the documents meant to be retained by them and
the Carnet was returned duly stamped and signed. Mercifully, the Customs
department did not insist on overtime payment.
After
completing the Customs work I looked around for a cool drink. I spied a vendor
selling iced tea and coffee. I asked him for iced cocoa with jelly. It cost 10
THB, but when I told him that I am one THB short, he smiled and said, ‘no
problem, enjoy the drink’. It felt heavenly in that heat and humidity. I slowly
took the Friendship Bridge across the Moei River, which forms a natural border
between Thailand and Myanmar. At the crest of the bridge is a signal beyond
which I had to shift to the right hand side of the road. While driving is on
the right side of the road left hand and right hand drive vehicles are
permitted to operate in the country. It is a very curious arrangement. As I
neared the Myawaddy check point of Myanmar I noticed a couple of guys who
looked like my travel coordinators.
As
I parked the car they came up to me and introduced themselves as Thein, the
guide who had replaced Tun Tun, and Aye, the Silver Hills representative.
Shortly, Myint Sang, the government official, who had been with me in March,
emerged from one of the office booths. The trio would accompany me on the
return leg from Myawaddy to Tamu over the next five days. The work in Customs
and Immigration got done in double quick time because the background work had
already been done by the time I got there. Moreover, senior officials recognised
me and were keen to know how I experienced the drive. Thereafter Thein took me
to a bank to exchange currency. Though it took a lot longer than it should have
I got better rate this time than in March. My first impression about the new
guide was that he was very well read with a wide range of interests, besides
very good command of the English language.
We checked into the
Myawaddy Hotel; even though I was okay with the basic accommodation,, absence
of lift and poor network connectivity were vexatious. I had lunch of pork fried
rice in the hotel restaurant and requested Thein to locate a good massage centre.
He was very much apprehensive because massage centres are often mixed up in
prostitution rackets, he said, in these places. However, by the time I came
down after a short rest he was ready to take me to a place that he had
researched. The one hour massage was every bit traditional and had most
elements I experienced in Tak.
Daw Na Tuang had turned out
to be an extremely strenuous stretch last time when I drove from Yangon to
Myawaddy. Anticipating the same on the mountain pass I suggested that we leave
quite early from Myawaddy to beat the traffic as well as the road repairs that
normally hold up traffic during the day time. So, it was to be a 6 am start
next day – I had adjusted to Myanmar time of +6.30 GMT when I was in the
immigration office. I had an early dinner of excellent pork noodles and a
bottle of Heineken beer.
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