Burmese chestnuts

I've stayed longer than I intended in Thailand, an easy thing to do in such a lovely place. And you know what that means....visa bueracracy. YAY!

I've had to do this all before, but it is still always an inconvenience to waste a day trudging to and from sketchy borders and filling out redundant immigration forms. I made the most of it with my friend Yoko from Pun Pun and it was actually quite fun.

Taking an early bus North to Mae Sai on the Burmese Border we ducked across the river under the gaze of military generals framed on the wall into another land. Physically nothing has changed, culturally and politically everything is different, silently hidden and strange. Small things stick out like the betel nut stains on the cobblestones and the Chai teashops over like in India. Woman duab mud on their cheeks against the sun in Burma and men wear dress-like longjies around their wastes. A border is just a line, but everything changes once you set foot across it. What a curious idea?

No matter the politics both sides of the border are full of commerce and trade. All things from electronics to black market drugs are for sale here. It is the simple things like green tea and Burmese chestnuts that catch my eye though. They come from Kachin and Shan State this time of year straight from the hills of the Himalaya. Roasted in tamarind seeds and cooled they make a fine snack on the bus ride back across the border....