Myanmar Visa Run

When you enter Thailand you automatically get a 30 day visa, and every time you reenter you get to stay another 30 days. It was time for us to do that so yesterday we crossed the border into Myanmar. The differences were immediately evident--unpaved main road, very few motor vehicles, almost all the men and women wearing sarongs, prices about half what they are just over the river in Thailand. As we crossed the bridge a young man walked along with us, very friendly, obviously angling to be a "voluntary" tour guide. We ended up very glad to connect with him. Not only was he very helpful in finding us postcards, a cold beer, a barber (more about that later), but his family history was so interesting. He is a student at a Bible seminary--he is a member of the Karen tribe, and many of them are Christian. His father was a soldier and a journalist and was killed a few years ago. His mother is a political prisoner and his older brother works for the UN High Commission on refugees.