Trip to Mai Sai, Taxilik, and Kengtung in Eastern Myanmar (Shan State)

On Thursday May 28 we took an air-conditioned bus from Chiang Mai to Mai Sai on the border with Myanmar, a 4-hour trip, and settled into a hotel just 50 yards from the border bridge. Leslie did some shopping and found a couple of tribal jackets that were very nice.

We rose early on May 29 so that we crossed the Thai side of the bridge at 7am, and requested the Myanmar authorities and tourist agency to be allowed to visit Kengtung, a four-hour drive over a mountain range and down into a valley surrounded by mountains. We were given the permit on condition of hiring a guide to accompany us there and back, and left our passports at the border for collection upon our return. We then hired a ramshackle car and driver, a Toyota Corolla station wagon vintage about 1980 with the steering wheel on the right (this was the standard luxury taxi for the whole region). After a few shenanigans where the driver was picking up luggage to fill his rear area, we proceeded on the long drive in the heat, stopping at all check points, where a copy of our permit would be taken at each stop. We also stopped and walked through two Akha villages. The guide said we went up to 7,000 feet before dropping down to Kengtung's 2,500 foot altitude.

We reached Kengtung at about 2pm, registered with the local immigration authorities, and checked in to the fanciest hotel in town, the Princess Hotel ($40/night for a deluxe room with AC including breakfast). We later understood that we had 24 hour electricity, but that the AC would only run from 9pm to 11pm each evening. They supplied a small table fan. The staff was most pleasant and spoke some English, regarding us as curiosities of some interest, which we were indeed throughout Shan Province. We were the only guests at the hotel, and in fact the only European stock we saw in five days in this part of Myanmar, all the rest being of Asian origin.

We released our young guide, who was from central Myanmar and could not speak tribal languages, and contacted the local guide we had heard about from our American friend in Chiang Mai, who worked out a 3-day trekking schedule to see over 10 villages with over 5 different ethnic groups. He then showed us the sights of Kengtung, including several pagodas and a large Buddha statue standing uncovered in the open towering above the town.

We tried two of the 3 restaurants that were nearby, both serving Chinese menus, and found the first to be on the greasy side, so ate each evening at the second, which had little variety, but the food seemed healthful and safe. Actually we had the same thing for four nights in a row, washed down with Myanmar Beer, which was the most expensive item on our nightly dinner bill, which totalled $3 each. The young waitress was much amused when we came in saying "same, same" each night.

Sleeping was imperfect, due mainly to the small AC unit which worked for a couple of hours, cooling the room by perhaps 6 or 7 degrees F, but which then ceased working as power was withdrawn. This indicated you needed to open the windows to get a possible draft of fresh air. The noise from geckos in the room alerted you that you were not totally alone, although I never saw them.

We rose each morning at 5:30 am in order to be ready to meet the guide and go to the morning market at 6:00 am. Kengtung market is a vibrant, colorful center to the town activities, and we went to a couple of stalls to change money ($100 clean bill was good for 96,000 Kyats, but a clean $20 bill was exchanged for only 900 Kyats per dollar as it was apparently harder to move). At another stall our guide bought a Kg. of dried fish and a Kg. of dried red peppers to carry that day and give to the tribesmen. We also bought supplies of vegetable seeds, lip sticks for teenage girls, Tylenol for fever, a couple of sets of sewing needles, scissors and thread, and Tiger Balm containers to give out to needy tribes we would visit that day. Then we ordered 4 picnic lunches for ourselves, the guide, and the driver, which consisted of steamed rice in a styrofoam box with scraps of chicken or pork meat in it, a few cucumber slices, and a hot spicy sauce in a plastic bag. These $1 lunch packs were fresh, fairly light and nutricious, and could be carried in the heat without spoiling.