A welcome change of pace

I spent Monday-Thursday of this week on a work trip, but it felt almost like a holiday. I was busy the whole time, and engaged in quite a few very productive meetings, wrote a couple of concept papers, and edited several budgets. And yet, something about this week still felt like 'getting away'. I think it was just the change of pace.

I spent the week in Sankhlaburi, another border town, south of Mae Sot. The difficulty in getting there is that there is not direct road between the two. If you take the bus, you have to go all the way down to BKK, and then back up, or by car, you still have to go nearly all the way to BKK. We lucked out, and got a ride with a bloke from World Education, who does more driving around Thailand than anyone I've met. I always call him before buying a bus ticket, just to see if by chance he is headed where I am, and several times, I have gotten rides from him this way. He got us down to S'buri in one 7 hour car ride, whereas it took me 16 hours and 5 buses to get back.

Sankhla is about 15km from the border crossing known as Three Pagodas Pass, which is no longer open for crossing, but was, in the vein of Myawaddy, until a few years ago. It is near the border of Mon and Karen States, so the people there are a mix of Thai, Mon, Karen, and Burman.

We found the local organizations to be friendly, welcoming, well networked, and eager to collaborate. Many were weak on capacity, which is what we are going down there to help with, and resources, which we are also trying to help leverage. The town is smaller than Mae Sot, and has a slower pace of life, combined with a much more secure security situation, the whole town had a calmer feel about it.

And then there's the lake. Created by flooding a long winding river gorge, the lank is long and narrow. Two bridges span it - the low unobtrusive one for motorvehicles, and the rickety wooden behemoth that pedestrians use to cross to the Mon part of town, supported by seemingly carelessly placed bamboo poles, tied on to the framing at any and all angles. I heard a rumor that there is one (1) sailboat on the lake, but I didn't have enough free time to track it down. Next time....

Jade and I spent a very lovely afternoon, meeting for several hours about some urgent topics, which didn't seem so stressful as we discussed them in recline on a friend's houseboat, on the lake at the base of the wood bridge, a pleasant breeze cooling our shaded retreat, gently rocked by the passing fishing boats. Not a bad way to work. Next time I go down, I will try to add a couple of days to my stay, just to stay and enjoy hiding in this relaxing valley.

Chinese fishing nets in the lake, bridge in background. The 'left' side of the photo is the Mon side of town - Mon from Burma can live here regardless of registration status, without hassle.

I don't feel that this photo gives the viewer a true appreciation of its ricketiness...

Our friend's houseboat. There are several at a couple of docks at the base of the bridge. A couple are occupied permanently, and the others are rented out to Thai tourists who come to Sankhla for weekend getaways. The boats float on large rafts of bamboo. The tourists often have them towed out to moorings in the middle of the lake.

Our friend's is one of the smaller, but also one of the nicer, houses. Just a deck with a cople of chairs and hammock (above) a bedroom which is just large enough for his bed, and a shelf, a bathroom, and a 'kitchen' which consists of a shelf, drinking water, a bucket for washing, and a burner perched on top of a propane tank. Simple, but enough to live comfortably.

View from the guesthouse where I stayed.