Wang Thong Hotel Mae Sai

... at home.<br><br>Our first stop of the day was to go to the Hall of Opium just across the road from the resort. It chronicled the war torn history of the opium capital of the world, now known as the Golden Triangle. It was rather interesting--but we all wished later that we had spent less time here, and more time in Mae Sai later.<br><br>We drove to Mae Sai and had lunch at the restaurant in the Wang Thong ...

... when crossing any 3rd world country border. <br><br>As unsettling as the process appeared, it was quite effortless. Process your departure out of Thailand, pay the Burmese immigration officer 500 baht, stamp your arrival in and out of Burma, proceed to the Thailand border for re-enter. George, my guardian angel (a 71 yr old man from UK traveling with his wife) watched over me and was waiting at the Thai border to buy me a much needed beer.<br><br>Next time I ...

... Burma Aung San Suu Kyi) I would have had to buy a more expensive visa and buy a bus ticket from the government sanctioned ticket sellers at 5 times the local price. Then I would be on a bus boarded by soldiers who would check my ticket to insure I paid the higher price, Guess who gets a cut of the $$$?<br><br>Every two minutes someone approached me with the same pitch, carrying a box of Marlboros: "You want cigarettes? No, don't smoke. You want ...

... We also had a much more difficult time with the workshop sessions today from 1-3. I thought that Wednesday was bad, but today we literally had no control over the children for a good hour. The school got a translator for us, and although it was helpful, we feel that it may defeat the purpose of us being there with the English teaching and all. We got some control over them eventually, but a good chunk of the kids just ...

... almost the same thing here as we did with the children on Saturday. We started with name tags, did some stretches and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. But games like Duck Duck Goose, Red Rover would have been chaotic with that many kids. So we had them do crests, and afterwards we each had a group of kids and had them introduce themselves and their crests. One huge thing I noticed about these kids was that they were a lot ...

... Laos and had been teaching Burmese refugees for a few weeks while I did the multiple country tour and Laura had gone onto to Thailand and had joined Sharon a week ago and was also teaching. They had emailed me telling me they were the only teachers in a school, out in the country, with over 75 students aged 7 to 20 something's - all who live on the school grounds (displaced children with no papers - no status), no teaching curriculum, no ...

... me, but oh my giddy Aunt I weren't happy at all. This translated into a frustrating time for our one last night in Kunming, with grumpy Em and disoriented Dean. Next morning we were faced with another bus trip and needless to say we weren't that chuffed about it. So with a rainy early start we made our way slowly through the heaving traffic back to the bus station for a 10 hour stint. But what was this? Leather seating, reclining chairs and smiley staff? Were we at ...

... neat as you would need to grab onto the back of its head and it would sweep you up in one motion. It was amazing that one phrase could get these huge creatures to make these large movements. These animals were so massive it was amazing how well-mannered and good-hearted they were. Going down the hill, I started giving its massive head a bear hug. I didn't come even close to getting all the way around its neck. Looking down at its head it kind of reminded me of how that kid felt when ...

... our passports. This was a 1 of 3 step process that took maybe 5 minutes. Who would of guessed the communist country knew how to give visas to children like candy on Halloween. I go to the other 2 stations, and yep, 5 minutes later, I'm out a total of 35 bucks, but I have a Lao visa and at the age of 22 I became an instant millionaire.....WooooHOOO!!!! That could have been the easiest thing ever. They don't check bags, no security, just stamp ...

... person who will teach me something new and different than the world I know. So the boat ride took us across the river to see Myanmar, but we couldn't get out of the boat. (I went into Myanmar on my own, with my guide, later at the border crossing on foot.) Then the boat took us to Laos (where we could get out of the boat) into a very conveniently placed shopping village filled with Laotian knick knacks all layed out ...