Anyway, we hoped aboard basically a giant covered canoe with a motor and took a little tour of the river before docking on the island. Although the water of the Mekong is far from clean, the scenery was still beautiful in the late afternoon sun. I think my camera was glued to my hand for a little while there.
That gold-domed building you see is a casino on the Laos side since gambling is illegal in Thailand. We eventually docked on the other side of the river and had an hour to enjoy the Laotian marketplace on the island. It was much of the same fare as I'd seen in Thailand, but the prices were less expensive than in Thailand because Laos isn't as much of a tourist destination. The one recommendation I kept hearing was to try some of the Laotian beer, which came in regular and dark. When in Laos! The beer was cold and refreshing and pretty tasty. They also featured the delicacy of whiskey with a snake in the bottle, which I wasn't quite brave enough to try. I think I have a friend or two who bought some, so maybe it's not too late to muster up my courage.
An hour was just about the right time to see all there was to see, so we took the boat back to Thailand and set off in search for some dinner. But first we all wanted to take pictures of the giant Buddha along the shoreline. In case you haven't noticed, Southeast Asian culture is absolutely saturated in region. The neat thing is that every sacred place I visit is unique and so it keeps it interesting. This Buddha was seriously huge, I was standing right at the base when I took this picture.
We spent our last night playing cards and the group game Mafia in the hotel lobby before turning in for a good night's sleep before visiting Burma. We had the choice to visit Burma or not, depending on our visas and personal preference. There was a fee to get in, and we only had two hours or so to wander the market and the small border town on the other side of the river. Twelve of us decided to go and crossed on foot as a big group. Upon leaving the immigration office, we were immediately accosted by people offering to take us to the see the local sights, all holding laminated pictures of golden temples. There was a crowded market just off to the right, but it was more of a local market selling household items than oriented towards tourists. The two items that people kept trying to sell us were cigarettes and sunglasses.
Me and two other friends wandered away from the market to see other sights (to get to the major temples you had to take a tuk tuk, a sort of open-air taxi). We came across this interesting memorial to an important Shaun figure. Burma, like other countries, is divided into different provinces, but what's special about it is that the border provinces are considered ethnic states. From reading For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question by journalist Mac McClelland I knew then most about the Karen, but we were in Shaun state. There were several important leaders from each of these ethnic groups, especially Shaun because it is the largest state by far. However, when the military-government took over most of these leaders lost power. Actually, I learned that a former Shaun princess (being originally from Austria and having married a Shaun prince) had escaped Burma and was now living in none other than my home state of Colorado.
Eventually we stumbled upon yet another beautiful temple, and I ventured in when I saw other laypeople inside, mostly because I was drawn in by flashing lights. I had never seen the Buddha images surrounding by strings of Christmas-style lights that blinked different colors (although the use of sparkly cloth was nothing out of the ordinary to me). It was a nice find in an otherwise overwhelming place where people called to us in the only English phrases they knew, usually "Hello!" and "I love you!" When I first came to Asia I thought I would experience more of that from other people's accounts of studying abroad. However, I was pleased to find that this did not usually happen in Thailand. The only thing that I can come up with is that Burma is still really new to tourism, having only been "open" to the international community for a few years. Being American, the people saw me as a way to make money, since the reality is that I am more wealthy than a lot of people will ever be.
Overall, it was an important life lesson to learn. Burma was very different from Thailand, and I intentionally crossed over with few expectations. Of course, being in one town for just a couple hours is absolutely nothing to judge a whole country by. Imagine visiting just one place in the U.S. and thinking the whole country is like that! I wish I had the time and resources to really explore all of these places and get a better idea of the culture and the atmosphere. My mantra for this semester has been, "I have a reason to come back!" There are so many places I want to go in the world that I'm not sure if or when that will be, but I consider myself so lucky to be able to have these experiences so early in my life that I can set the precedent of always wanting to go to new places and see new things.
Thanks for reading this saga! I have plenty more adventures to come, two and a half more months of them, so keep checking back! Less than two weeks until my fall break that includes two more new countries. Too dang exciting.
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