Countryside

         So I rent a motorbike, once again. I drove in the countryside, looking for the river but never daring to go. I know that, on the other side of it, just a few kilometers away from me, Karen rebels and the DKBA or the Tatmadaw had camp sites. You can actually sometimes see them from the Thai side. And I was dying to see with my own eyes. But I don't really want to die so... yes... security first...
        At one time, on the paved road, you had a crossroads with a small dirt track going towards the river. I wanted to take a picture of the Burmese mountain so I slowed down. A running guy thought I wanted to turn and take the track and he made big waves that were meant to say "Don't go there ! Dangerous !" Hum... Promising... I took the pic and drove away...

Barely 1km on my right, the Moei river. And in the mountains... Karen and Burmese armies camps.

            Here, more than in Chang Mai, I saw fire everywhere. I thought I had seen quite a lot around CM but here was so much more. You can just see the outlines of the mountains, never details or colors. The pic just above was taken at 5mp... Everything is hidden by the smoke, white clouds drifting with the winds. Fires crackle gently along the roads, left unchecked by everyone.      

Hide and seek with the mountains, the sky and the sun...

          In the countryside, many temples hide 30m away from the road. I went to see one of them, overlooking the Moei river and the Burmese side. I was welcomed by barking and growlings dogs. 26 of them... A man sleeping in a hammock woke up to take me out of this hazardous situation.
            He lives there. Too poor to have a house of his own, he takes shelter in one of the temple buildings, helping the monks. After paying my respect to the Buddha, I gave 50bt to the man. He bowed so much I was almost embarrassed. He then rushed into his room and came back with sticky rice in a banana leaf. And he gave it to me. Give and people will give it back to you... He will be able to buy new shoes, his flip-flops were so thin he could feel every rock when walking.

            I saw one of the Abbot, I payed respect with the Wai and saying "sawat dii ka". But he asked me something in Thai and I couldn't understand. Then I realised he had said "paa-sat" in the sentence, which means "language". Do I speak Thai ? I let out a small "Mai daai", frustrated than I was not able to speak with him. He looked like he wanted to talk. Guess he doesn't see so many foreigners...
            I know some monks escaped from Rangoon and live around Mae Sot. But even if I knew the names of the temple, I would be crazy to say it here, where everyone can read it...

Far away, within the smoke... Burma