Within the infamous Golden Triangle that boarders Thailand, Laos and Burma is Mai Sai, the north most district of Chiang Rai. Here travellers will uncover a bridge that divides two worlds, 1 is the rising Thailand and the other is the country hidden under an opium laced shadow, Burma. Burma, who’s government renamed to Myanmar, is 1 of the world’s most secluded countries, a mysterious and unexplored destination for western travellers, a nation untouched by the momentum of development.

We stumble across a makeshift car park and give the attendant 10 Baht for care of our hire automobile, from here it is only a brief walk to the Mai Sai border crossing. Being from Australia we’ve in no way walked into one more country and the concept of walking into Burma made the 4 hour drive from Chiang Mai all the more worthwhile. At the boarder we are ushered into a little and unusually hot room where a man dressed in a military uniform sits behind his desk and asks of our intentions for visiting his nation. His English is hard to realize and before we can answer he tells us we are only visiting for the day to shop at the boarder markets. 500Baht is handed over and to our surprise passports are retained and will supposedly be returned when we attempt to return back into the Kingdom of Thailand. The heat already souring its all the much more sweaty understanding we are walking into Burma without having passports.

The markets are bursting with stalls and goods overflowing onto narrow paths created narrower by the men and boys shoving into us with baskets of pills for enhancement and DVD’s of questionable content accessible at ‘cheap low cost prices’. Remembering guidance I received from a drunken expat the night just before in a bar, I move my wallet into the front pocket of my jeans, this is not just a precaution, it is essential. When the senses start off to settle back down there are several bargains to be located if you have a good eye and time to sift by way of the junk. Every thing is low cost here, less expensive than the well-known night markets of Chiang Mai that now offer you industry goods at tourist costs. There is a copy, a fake, a ‘real copy’ or a appear alike for virtually any item you can think of. The watches look great until you realise they are twice as thick as the real deal even so this is forgiven when you realise the designer watch supplied at Tachileik will only set you back a couple of cappuccino’s in your residence town. I show interest in a table of designer pens and suddenly a young girl is handing me one and asking me to test the high quality, surprisingly it writes really nicely and equally surprising is the girls English compared to her Thai sisters. Then one more girl hands me one more pen which also looks the component and is surprisingly usable. This continued until there were six girls at the table and I had tried 6 pens, after some intense negotiation we agreed upon 2 pens at 300Baht, roughly 8 US dollars.

Two hours of walking, negotiating and dodging the occasional motor-bikes speeding through the narrow market place lanes, a couple of sneaky industry pictures and we make a decision we’ve had enough adventure for the day and will return to Thailand. Returning to Thailand is relieving as passports are returned and stamped with a minimum of fuss and the harassment from young boys desperate for loose change is left behind us.

Despite the fact that not the real Burma it was an interesting and distinctive encounter that resulted in some fascinating memories, a couple of covert pictures and a Myanmar Walk stamp in the passport. Visiting Burma was a choice we created lightly and upon studying a lot more about the military controlled country it has turn out to be apparent the choice need to be given much more thought and consideration. A lot more locally to Mai Sai is the depressing environment of illegal border crossings, drugs and human trafficking, all world problems that are too effortlessly forgotten when on holiday.

The drive back to Chiang Mai down the mountain takes us into Chiang Rai and a quit at the renowned White Temple (Wat Rong Khun). White Temple is a contemporary temple developed and built by artist Chalomchai Khositphiphat about 10 years ago. The intricate particulars covering the significant temple are an incredible vision and the entirely white style with silver edges glistening on dragons and other mythical creatures creates a surreal environment. The site also has a hall that exhibits paintings of Chalomchai Khositphiphat.

A couple of dodged cows and a small nervousness waiting for the very first petrol station in Chiang Mai and we arrive safely soon after dark, ready to tell the story of our trip to Tachileik over a couple of Chaing’s.