koh tao v1.2

objective: burma! lyds and i needed to make a visa run in order to avoid any fines or possible jail time when exiting thailand on the 28th. that being said we decided to make a run for the burmese (myanmar) border. it was a quick op - in and out with new stamps in a matter of hours.

the specifics came as we went. we had booked passage on a night boat that was to ferry us to chumpon. as we tried to get to the dock there were no taxis. so we adapted our plans. i "bought" our passage to the pier in the back of a guy's water truck. the ship itself reminded me of the ship indiana escaped from with the cross of cornada. the rough waters kept us up all night in our metal and wooden bunks. while the rocking was comforting, the sound of the ship slamming back down into the swell was not. bang! bang! bang! i remembered guggenheim telling people he was going to drown on schedule and forgoing a life jacket on the titanic. on this ship, and on thai time, i was hoping indy would remember me with the cross when he swung off.

once on dry land at chumpon we were met by our driver. this gentleman could have taken the pole at indianapolis. no one could have gotten more out of the car. our ride was a blur of fatigue and motion sickness. any time i would pry my eyes open i would find our car in the wrong lane passing some "slow moving" vehicle with oncoming traffic. i never found out what happened to that cyclist. at ranong, the thai border, we were passed through immigration and then sent back out to the parking lot. it was confusing that our passports had been stamped that we had "exited" thailand, however, we had only exited the immigration building. from here we jumped on a boat and crossed into burma at kaw thaung. as soon as we got off the boat we were swarmed with locals trying to sell us drugs. the immigration people were actually very friendly, and after a quick photo we were back on the boat without even passing through the barbed wire. as we left i looked at the sign thanking me for my co-operation in helping to rid the republic of myanmar from narcotic drugs.

back in thailand we went back to the same immigration office for a new thai visa. the officer warned me there would be no more to come, and as he stamped my visa he filled out that i had left the country by swimming (method of transportation). then back in our rally car to catch a bus connection and then a catamaran back to koh tao.

another stamp in the passport. objective completed. in and out in minutes. if you don't look look quickly and i'll be gone again.