After an overnight train and a van ride we finally make it to Mai Sai. 20 feet behind us is Burma now called Myanmar. Off to the left of this picture is the road going into Myanmar and there are semi trucks, cars, rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles and people by the hundreds traveling into Burma.
This is one big border town, something like Tijuana with an Asian twist. Everyone is selling something no matter how small or large. A man of undetermined nationality just came by and flashed a “little blue pill” in his hand at Myron and when he didn’t show any interest in it closed his hand and moved on. Don’t know if the little blue pill was meth or an antihistamine.
Because we arrived late and the afternoon and it was hot and muggy we decided to get a hotel room. Tiptida and her sister are with us so they negotiated the price and we ended up staying in a very nice place for $15 each. We are staying at the Wang Thong Hotel in Mae Sai. It is so close to the border I think we could jump out a north facing window into Myanmar. It is a very nice place off the main road and therefor relatively quiet. My mistake, the local rooster just decided to serenade us with his call. At lease we are not hearing endless truck traffic like the place we stayed at the first night.
After walking about and trying various fruits and veggies we walked back to the hotel while my wife and her sister continued wandering from stall to stall. We sat down and had some chestnuts from Japan, local pineapple, a light lunch, some Thai coffee with sweet cream and then a Singha beer. Singha is the first commercial beer in Thailand and was originally brought to Thailand by German brewers who used local ingredients. Today there are many other brands available such as Leo, Chang and of course all the imported beers. Here are what most would consider the three best local beers.I prefer Chang or “Elephant” brand, but the two others are also very good. 
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