River rafting and riding elephants

January 15, 2011  17:00 Thai time

Today was the fun day.  We went to a wood working factory.  (This will make you think about what it means to be made in Thailand.)  We then went down a river on a bamboo raft.  It was eight pieces of bamboo.  It was quite scary and fun.  We then eat lunch by the river (the food was so good).  We ended the day with an elephant ride.  There are tons of pictures.  Enjoy.

Jowanna and Gail striking a pose in the lobby of our house.

Arriving a wood working village

Flowers outside the factory.

Next few pictures are from a woodworking factory that produces beautiful wood boats.  Each station does a different part of the boat.

After the river rafting goofing around.  There are not pictures of me on the raft that I took.  You know my fear of water.  Ray was holding my camera while I was holding steady to the raft the whole time.

Mountain elephant camp.

Stand where you go to get on the elephants

Don and Andrea

Gail and Pat

Greg and Sue

Me and Regina

Wow, this is supposed to be me and Regina.  The camera was on zoom so it just got my eye.  Scary!

Gail talking about her farting elephant.

Regina, Jowanna and our guide.  He had the most beautiful singing voice.  He sings to the elephants to guide them.  It was awesome.

Greg and Gail

Pat and Gail

These rest of the pictures is of this adorable 5th month old calf that is playing in the sand and eating bananas.  This little calf will only eat bananas if they are peeled.  The adult elephants eat the skins and all.  

Mae Sot Day 2

Mae Sot Day 2

Today we visited the refugee camp.  It has been hard for me to complete this entry because it has been so hard for me to process what I have seen and experienced.  I am concerned that I won’t be able to find the right words to convey all that I saw.  I am afraid that the pictures I took look entirely too picturesque.  The pictures certainly cannot tell the whole story.

As we are driving up the road to get to the camp we pass two different Thai security stations.  As we come up to the camp which is on the left side of the road there is mountain in the back and the sun is gleaming off the brown leaf roofs.  It looks so peaceful and beautiful.  I was kind of shocked at the point because of the beauty.    As we get closer to the camp so that we can really see inside the camp the picture starts to change.  The mountain becomes a barrier in which encloses the camp.  There is only one way to get out and that is the road we are on.  The houses are very close together.  There are some gardens but not a lot of electrically poles.  We first go to one of the camp stores to get a little more background information on the camp. 

There are approximately 40,000 Burmese refugees living in the camp.  We will not go inside the camp because our group is too large to safely pass through.  We can however, see the different areas.  We can see the religious row where there is a Mosque, Temple and Christian church right next to each other.  We go the main gate area where there are shops for the refugees.   There is a smell to this area that is not pleasant. 

Emma in front of the toilet.

View into the camp near the main gate.  That is the mountain in the background.

Rooster hanging out in front of the shops at the main gate.

So busy

January 15, 2011 8:16 am Thai time

I keep writing June since the weather is so warm.  Yes, I really do know that it is January.

We have been so busy that I have not written.  I also have been a little overwhelmed with what I have seen.  I needed time to process all that we saw and experienced around Mae Sot.  I have started loading pictures for the past few days.  More will be posted on tomorrow.  We have a whole free afternoon tomorrow so I have time to catch up.

Mae Sot Day 1

January 12, 2011 19:51 Thai time

(Photos will be added once I am back in Chiang Mai. Check back I have many photos from the Thai/Burma border.)

Mae Sot Day 1

Art work produced by the children in the refugee camp

Sol Mort giving a presentation on Burma Issues works

Staff at Burma Issues answering our questions

The gang listening to the presentation

Our picture with the Burma Issues staff.

Taking the picture of Jason Tamthai taking a picture of us

We start the day with traditional Thai breakfast.  There was sautéed Kale, rice, some type of soup and a fish dish.  It was good.  This restaurant also has wheat bread for toast.  This is the first time we have run into wheat bread since we have been here.  We all rejoiced.

After breakfast we load our two vans and head off to the Burma Issues Office.  We meet with staff who discuss with work that they complete for refugees, migrant workers and those in Thailand in illegally.    They gave us a presentation on their work.  Here is their website http://www.burmaissues.org/En/index.html.  You can read more about their valuable organization here.  These folks enter Burma to help the disenfranchised citizens.  Actually they have to sneak into the country to do their work.  It was quite amazing. 

We next visit a clinic that treats the Burmese people.  This clinic was set up to help migrant workers and those who cross the border (which is about 2 kilometers away) whether they cross legally or illegally.  This clinic treats many types of issues from an eye clinic to delivering babies to make prosthetic devices.  This clinic helps with treating people so that the hospital in Mae Sot is not overwhelmed with patients.

At clinic listening to history of the clinic

Donors of the clinic

Grounds around the clinic

Standing in Thailand looking over river at Burma.

Next three pictures show people illegally crossing the river to go back and forth from Thailand and Burma using rafts.  What is so amazing is that I am standing less than 40 feet from a police officer.  The legal way to enter the country is to cross the bridge that is to the right of this picture.  People do this if they don't have papers.  They cross to work or buy goods and services.

After this we visited a market on the Thai/Burma border.  Words cannot adequately describe what we saw.  These images are powerful.

Lastly,  I fed an elephant today. The elephant walked right up to me and handed my its food.  I had to pay for the food but how could you turn that down.  The outside of an elephants truck is rough but the inside is very soft.  That was so much fun.  I can't wait until we ride elephant on next week.

After dinner.  We at Burmese food. It was awesome.

Sorry for such a short entry.  I am still trying to process this experience.  Tomorrow we are off to a refugee camp.  We have to leave really early in the morning.  I think my next post may be after we get back in Chiang Mai.  We should get back there tomorrow evening.