Mae Sot is a border town a few kilometers from Burma/Myanmar. There are large refugee camps along the border here and in Mae Sot is a refugee/Burmese hospital which, according to an aid worker I met who is working there, treats 100,000 patients a year. Mae Sot is a colorful blend of men in burmese sarongs, women with large yellow squares or circ...

This absence from the blog came courtesy of a kidney infection that rendered me helpless for the last week and a half. If I haven't mentioned it yet or enough, it's the rainy season. It rains at least once a day and night, and because of this increased humidity, and the fluctuation in the barometer, many people come down with colds, fevers, and ...

The past weekend was a perfect mix of sightseeing and just beginning to live the summer life in Mae Sot. On Monday, events began to celebrate Aung San Suu Kyi's 62nd birthday, and it was an exciting time to be among the Burmese community. I have a ton of photos to add to this entry but they're not loading so I'll have to add them later. On Satur...

After a 6AM train from Albany, my journey started out with a little adventure as my luggage and I were drenched waiting outside Penn station in the pouring rain for a cab. I was nervous I was going to miss my flight and opted for that route rather than the subway to save time, but with traffic and the storm I'm not sure it made a difference. For...

In our haste to make up time, we rolled on into this border town, and straight back out. We may have stayed longer but I hate being anywhere with Mani that has an edge to it, and Mae Sot certainly has that and more. A varied mixture of inhabitants from across Asia, it does seem interesting but alarm bells started ringing when our hotel manager a...

Friends- I am not Catherine so be prepared for shoddy writing. Those English majors are a tough act to follow... Today we woke up in the border town Mae Sot, population 100,000. We walked to the morning market and passed the famous monks in saffron-colored robes. The monks form a semi-parade down the main street every morning. Their outstretched...

It was a dark and lively night. The crack of pool balls could be heard over the groovy music. The tables of drinkers had already been turned out and the gates were ready to close. A couple glasses of beer and whiskey sat on a table outside. In the back, with the rows of reading books sat an empty notebook. Only one of its pages was filled. It sa...

Spotted at an environmental workshop. The book arrived uninvited and the idea began to develop into a short poem. The gist of what it said is that there are monumental things, civilizations, supernovas, etc. that make a tremendous impact for a very brief time, but eventually get buried or ignored, maybe even forgotten forever. The treasures in l...

Here is the beginning of the story of the unmarked log with the fuzzy red cover. It starts in a country once called Siam: When Jack was born, the stars were in an unusual alignment. The moon went through all its phases in just one night. It waxed quickly into a moon pregnant with the blood color as a rose. It began to hide seductively behind the...

Arrived in Mae Sot, Thailand (the border between Thailand and Burma) early this morning. Meet up w/ Dang last night to catch the late bus into Mae Sot. Dang thinks it's a wasted day if one travels during the day. Bangkok was full of Westerners. It was like being in a sea of white tourists...It was overwhelming. I am glad I got out of there. Didn...