Time for a visa run. So while I await the beloved trip to Malaysia to submit my work permit info and apply for my non immigrant b visa I had to make a quick visa run to Myanmar / Burma.
This is actually quite an easy process these days. I pay a company that actually has the words "Visa Run" in the name and they pretty much take care of it for me. All I do is tag along for the ride and remember my passport.
So, this is how it goes. 5am pick up! Shit that sucks, excuse my language but the last thing I want to do is climb out of bed to climb into a car for a 5 hour drive but mai bpen lai it is what has to be done. They pick me up conveniently at the 7 Eleven near our house and drive me to the minibus. I climb in with 6 strangers from France and America all on the same mission. More time in this beautiful country!
To keep us from wasting away they hand us each a little plastic baggy with wasabi peas, water, and juice to tide us over on the drive; and away we go at a speedy 100 km / hour minimum. I hope I make it to the border!
I am not sure if you have ever been in a minibus / minivan in many foreign countries, but they really haul ass. I mean you are bouncing all over the place and there is a lack of seatbelts and an abundance of nausea. You plug your head phones in, curl up with your pillow that you brought to snuggle with and hope to crash out. As soon as you reach that beloved dream space they naturally slam on the breaks and barrel into another 7 - Eleven to where the driver disappears for a bit and you can relieve your bladder and grab another snack. Cattle would probably make more noise then we do on one of this journey, we are as quiet as possible and just wander to where we are told to.
Completing the first leg and arriving at our destination an hour prior to expected we file out and file into the immigration building. They already have our passports as the driver collected them when we first climbed into our seats. Now they take them and stamp them and sign off on the date, leaving us with an exit stamp and an arrival card for when we come back.
I have to say it was beautiful there on the pier. Something about the clouds was so definitive and outlined. The water was an amazing green and the sun blazed hot. After walking the 300 yards down the pier we got our passports checked again, and filed onto the boat. Met with air con and cozy seats we then begin our journey across the sea.
The destination was a hotel / spa / resort that is considered to be Myanmar. Since we are now in a new country we have to do the immigration thing again, this time they keep our passports and shuffle us up the hill to eat lunch. "Do not feed on animals" reads a few signs, I have to chuckle because they really mean "Don't feed the monkeys"... but I guess you get the point either way.
As we walk into this beautiful hotel that overlooks a glorious pool I am overwhelmed with the feeling that I am walking through the movie The Shining. The hotel is immaculate and there is staff walking around here and there but not a single guest anywhere in sight. Only 1 or 2 gamblers in the casino and the 2 -3 bus loads of Falangs that are doing the visa shuffle. They feed us lunch, we go to duty free, I buy a bottle of scotch and we do the same thing in reverse order.
A day of moving around like cattle. I am so glad it is over. Thank goodness that I have 9 days before my next one!
Quite honestly if this is what it takes to stay in a place this beautiful and delightful to the senses then so be it.
Next stop Malaysia!
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