Visiting Thailand for this length of time requires a visa. For me, I have a multiple entry visa, which means that I must leave the country to get my passport stamped. This in effect renews my visa for another two months. I was due to renew my visa the first weekend in August. As Myanmar is about 15 minutes from my place it was the easiest place to go. In the late morning, Fanny, Fids and I headed for Friendship Bridge. This bridge crosses the Moei River that divides Myanmar and Thailand. The process began by going to Thai customs with our departure cards. Both Fanny and I forgot ours at the house, but luckily it was easy enough to get another one. Once we got that stamped we walked across the bridge. This walk played on your emotions because as you walked you had small children approaching you for money. We simply walked past them, all while feeling guilt and sadness for not stopping to help them. I also knew deep down that Myanmar was going to be different despite being so close to our house. I found it interesting that halfway over the bridge the roads switch sides as in Myanmar they drive on the same side of the road as Canadians do. Once across, we checked in with Myanmar customs. To spend a couple of hours there cost us about $20 to enter the country and get our passport stamped. One thing I found different and made me nervous was that when you entered the country, the customs agent keeps your passport until you return.
Our plan for the day was to explore a bit and maybe visit a temple. As we walked down the streets, we had many people stare at us as if we were out of place. There were also some very interesting smells. We needed to find a restaurant to try and get Wi-Fi so that we could find our way around. We found a restaurant that was next to the river and we enjoyed a Coke and found the temple we wanted to visit. Heading back into the streets, we made our way to Wat Ja Dee Thong temple. It was a beautiful, quiet and Zen place to walk around. When we arrived, we each purchased flowers, incense, and a candle to make as an offering to Buddha. We walked into the first building where there were a handful of men praying and meditating. As we didn’t really know where to put the offerings, a kind gentleman motioned to us where to put them all. Once we placed our offerings, we took a few minutes to reflect and meditate. Following this, we walked around the temple grounds and saw all the beautiful golden pagodas. Fidelie and I eventually sat down as we waited for Fanny. While we waited, a man came up to us and asked to take a picture with us, then he offered us some of his trail mix. This seemed a little sketchy at first but after trying it, it was pretty good. Before leaving, we went to asection that you could walk up to get a better view of the temple. I chose to look towards the street and saw a young boy running through a small lot that was filled with hundreds of pigeons. He created waves of flying pigeons as he ran back and forth through the lot. When we left the temple, we started to look for a place to eat lunch. It was perfectly timed as it began to rain. We found a little restaurant and each of us ordered a curry with rice. They also brought us fresh vegetables and herbs that we could eat with our curry and also a bowl of soup each. We enjoyed our lunch and waited out the rain. As it slowed down, we headed out and made our way back to the bridge. At the bridge, we got our passports back from Myanmar customs and walked back, passing all the same children again. Once across, we filled in our new entry form and were set for another 2 months. Next time, I’ll have to find a new temple to visit and I’m definitely going to return to the small little restaurant.
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