burma without passport - burma sin pasaporte

this day had i all!!! i'd better go to some place and have a foot massage and then go to bed directly because other ways it would get too much ;)

as planned i rented a "real" motorbike (honda phantom - jopper) yesterday and drove from chang mai to pai (300km) in order to see some more of the country. the streets were in good shape but it was still dangerous as the thais love to spill water over passing cars and motorbikes. going with 60 km/h a basket full of water really hurts and even can make you loose control over the bike. as the water festival (songkran) will continue for the whole week there's no escape.
today i did a trip further up to the north in order to see some caves. as the signs where in thai and english on the way, but when reaching the spot, only in thai, i missed the caves and waterfalls and ended up in some god forsaken hole in burma (myanmar). i didn't realize, that the border was not a check point (there are lots of them all over the country) and the guy let me pass without passport after showing him my driving license and telling him, that the bike rental place has it ;)
lucky enough, i found out soon enough and managed to enter thailand again, not without having almost an accident some tricky sand road.
on the way back to known fields i found the caves and managed to see 3 of them. the first one i found on my own and climbed up half rotten and burned wooden leathers to the entrance high up in a rock wall. the panorama from up there and exploring the cave on my own were a remarkable experience and made me forget all the obstacles on the way there.
the second cave i explored together with a guide i found sitting on a tree. at first i didn't believe him that he was a/the cave-guide (in these little villages a lot of people pretend to be guides in order to earn some extra money) but as i went to a restaurant to ask the cook and after a few calls the same guy turned up, i had the evidence that he indeed was the guide ;)
armed with lamps we drove on our bikes on a little dirt road to a place in the middle of the woods i wouldn't have found on my own in a life-time. the cave turned out to be a coral cave with the remains of corals from ancient times (the guide told me 2000 years), when the sea covered that place. there were even stalactites and tiny diamond crystals (i am not sure though, as the guide spoke not more than 5 words of english).
the third cave i found without any help again, but it was small and partly flooded. on the way back i managed to stay dry applying a refined trick. i drove slowly towards the basket armed crowd making sure, they would stay en the side of the road. just in the last moment when people expected me to stop in order to receive the 756th new year blessing in form of a basket of water over my head, i shifted back and got all out of the bike it had and switched to the other side of the road. like this i reached pai dry and in one piece, thankfully leaving the bike parked for the remaining time of today.

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el dia de hoy lo tenia todo!!! casi mejor si me busco un sitio para recibir un masaje de pies y me voy a la cama por que si no seria demasiodo ;)

como tenia previsto alquile una moto de verdad (honda phantom - jopper) ayer y parti de chang mai hacia pai (300km) para ver un poco mas del pais. las carreteras estaban en buen estado, aun asi eran peligrosas por que a los thais les gusta echar cubos de agua a los coches y motos que pasan por su lado. iendio con mas que 60km/h un cubo de agua asusta bastante y hasta duele. la fiesta del agua no terminara hasta el proximo finde asi que no hay escapatoria.
hoy me fui de excursion hacia el norte a ver unas cuevas. las senyales eran en ingles y thai durante el camino pero al llegar solo habia senyales en thai. al final no encontre las cuevas y cascadas y termine en un sitio remoto en burma (myanmar). no me di cuenta que la frontera no era un punto de control como los hay en thailandia por todos lados y pase la frontera explicandole al oficial que no tenia pasaporte por que lo tenian en el sitio donde alquile la moto. me dejo pasar sin mas y por suerte me dejo volver a thailandia cuando habia realizado donde me encontraba.
en el camino devuelta estuve a punto de cayerme en un camino de arena (a veces las carreteras cambian a un camino de tierra sin razon aparente) pero al final encontre las cuevas. la primera encontre por mi cuenta y la explore escalando sobre escalones hechos de madera vieja y medio quemada. las vistas desde la entrada recompensaban por todos los obstaculos superados para llegar hasta alli.
la segunda cueva no hubiera encontrado nunca asi que contrate un guia con su lampara ;) la cueva resulto ser una cueva de corales (2000 mil anyos de antiguedad, cuande el mar cubria aquella zona). la tercera cueva encontre yo solito otra vez, pero no era pequenya y y parcialmente inundada.
en el camino devuelta consegui quedarme secco aplicando un truco sofisticado. me acerce despacio a las hordas armadas con cubos para que creyan que vaya a pararme para recibir el honor especial del anyo nuevo (un cubo de agua en la cabeza) por 500 mil septima vez, y cambie de marcha en el ultimo instante y pasar por su lado a toda hostia. gracias a dios llege a pai en una pieza... dejando la moto aparcada durante el resto de la tarde.