Quote Originally Posted by DiscoMick View Post
Sounds like a great time. It's interesting to get away from the tourist routes and travel in areas which don't get so many tourists.
I've been to some of those places, most recently in Myanmar in December, and previously to Chiang Mai, but haven't done the trip from Myanmar across to the border and Mae Sot yet. Did you have any problems at the border crossing?
BTW there are several large refugee camps in the Mae Sot/Mae Hong Song area, but you wouldn't know it unless you knew where to go.
Chiang Mai is an interesting place. Did you walk around the Old City?
It's amazing how many westerners are now resident in Chiang Mai - it's become very popular. There is a joke that if you go to a rural Thai village and find the largest house it will probably be owned by a Thai woman and a western, often German, man. It's a joke, but has a lot of truth.
Vietnam is also very interesting.
It's good that more Aussies are getting over the idea that Asia is a place you fly over on the way to Europe and realizing that Asia is actually a very interesting destination.
Hi mate,

No problems getting over the border at Mae Sot. Our driver dropped us off on the Myanmar side and we just walked across the bridge and through passport controls etc. no probs at all. Picked up a tuk tuk to our accommodation. Funnily enough the next day we were chatting to a great cab driver who took us for a bit of a drive around town & back to the border crossing for a look see. He said some people from Myanmar cross at the legal border...but very many just hop in their boats and illegally cross just a couple of kms away from the bridge. The Thai border security seem to turn a blind eye to most as they don't pose a security risk.
We stayed in the old quarter in Chiang Mai and walked all the way around the old wall...it was great. The night markets were a 5 minute walk from our hotel...and a great place to eat dinner & enjoy a beer. We saw a lot of non locals there..Germans and Dutch....more than Myanmar where there were very few tourists.
We have a friend who has a house just outside Chiang Mai..unfortunately he was in Oz while we were there.
You are correct when you say Asia is a very interesting place..the people are lovely and the food is delicious. We will head back there in a year or so.

Cheers, Erich