Return to Mae Sai
After returning from Myanmar there wasn’t much reason to hang around Mae Sai any longer, I had seen as much as I could in Myanmar without a pre-arranged visa. I checked out of the Monkey Island guesthouse and hit the road.
It was another hot and dry morning in Northern Thailand and as I walked through the covered market the Sai river flowed gently to my left. I walked toward the center of town past a row of guesthouses that seemed empty. A few of the market traders from Tachileik had started to set up their stalls and while passing the border gatehouse I could see it some of them setting up for a busy day. On reaching the main road I took one last look at the large border gate at the Northern edge of Thailand before starting to make my way back South on foot.
I must have walked more than a few kilometers straight down Mae Sai’s wide multi lane main road. Smoke a few cigarettes and took in the scenery no doubt. One thing with the convince stores in Mae Sai is I don’t remember there being any seven elevens in town.
One invaluable piece of advice is to travel light. On traveling I took one small backpack and a larger duffel bag. Easy to put over my shoulder. I would not have had the freedom to make plans as I went and walk long distances with a large, hard shell, suitcase. You probably don’t need as much luggage as you think.
I arrived at the deserted bus stop and saw an old, small women with jet black hair sitting behind the ticketing screen. I’d decided to stop off at Chiang Mai on the way back to Bangkok. I asked for a ticket to Chiang Mai, and held up one finger as though it wasn’t obvious I was traveling alone. Three hours to the next bus I was told by the woman pointing at a ticket. I nodded, not having much choice in the matter anyway. The price of freedom I thought, or something about traveling without making plans. I Took the ticket, turned and thought this is a large empty bus station for such a small town. I had three hours to fill what was I going to do to fill them.
At the far side of the station I saw a lone figure, another caucasian face, few and far between in this part of Thailand. He Started walking toward me. This could pass some time, or drag it out a lot longer, I thought. He then introduced himself as Mike from South Africa. Mike from South Africa was probably mid to late 40s and seemed to be living in Thailand, part time at least. He explained he had seen me, at the border a couple of days prior. He had a son in South Africa with the same color hair as mine, an ex wife that cleaned him out big time, then he explained to me about the complexities of getting permits to build a house in Thailand as a foreigner. All odd observations and topics to bail a stranger up with, at a bus station in the middle of nowhere no less, but I thought maybe he needed a familiar looking face to talk to about anything. He then launch into a bitter tirade on the problems in his native South Africa, everything from value of the currency to, lets just say, the ‘political situation’.
After managing to shake off Mike the South African I decided I needed some other way to pass the time as it was going to take more than that or chain smoking Burmese camels to pass it. Time to find something to eat.
Congee snack
As I took a walk looking for somewhere to eat I realized the Southern end of town was much more desolate than North at the border. The intercity bus stop itself was the only place a foreigner would normally bother to go at this end of town.
I found a place that had a few people in it already. There were a few stares from the locals as I walked in, as in what are you doing in our establishment kinda thing so decided to kill some more time looking for somewhere else.
I walked around, near the bus station, looking for somewhere to eat but places were few and far between at this, the more desolate, end of Mae Sai. There really was nothing much here, a few large petrol stations for the buses to fill up but not much else. I decided to double back to the station and the local bus station cafe I just left. .
The speciality of the bus station cafes in regional Thailand seemed to be a rice dish called congee, a sort of porridge made with rice instead of grain and with the consistency of baby food. With time ticking by too slowly, and no other options without making the long walk back into town, I decided to give it a go.
I sat down at one of the formica tables in the relatively empty cafe. It didn’t take long for the congee to come. In fact, it was halfway between soup and baby food consistency and as hungry as I was by that point it wasn’t half bad. It tasted like rice porridge, with pork stock and the ubiquitous coriander garnish. It was actually pretty good and I’d recommend it as something to try in Thailand. I think it is a classic, comfort food, type of breakfast dish. Or that could be a story just told to foreigners, who knows.
After lunch I had about two hours to kill before the bus arrived. I’m normally a patient guy, but even I struggled for that two hours. The South African had gone, even the cashier at the ticket office was out to lunch. I decided to kill some time on another walk. I tried to take in the atmosphere at this end of town. Telling myself in a short space of time I’d be back at a boring job back home and I’d have none of this excitement, as I passed a rusty petrol station. I could have been on an empty post apocalyptic movie set for the lack of another person at this end of town.
Once I’d circled back to the station I looked at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed. Today, you’d kill two or three hours on your iphone playing whatever the latest version of candy crush is or on twitter. But to anyone who traveled to these kinds of places before 2011 probably understands that solo travel in back blocks Asia sometimes meant sitting around some bus stations for an afternoon occasionally, without even an angry South African to take your mind off the clock in the corners second hand seemingly going backwards.
*Apologies for the delay in blogging. There will be some more recent adventures coming soon along with previous Asia and Europe escapades mixed in regularly from now on.
The OB
* Part One and Two were earlier published as separate entries. Republished here in one place.
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