After working hard for the first week building, Sunday was our day of rest and recharging. We decided to take a boat ride on the Salawin, which is a river that runs on the border between Thailand and Burma. It was a great way to enjoy some jungle scenery and relax. There's nothing quite like hanging on the front edge of one of those boats and skimming over the water in between mountains and tropical forest.
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| Talking with Leu while cruising down the Salawin |
Seeing the Burma Army posts along the edge of the river was a disturbing reminder of the oppression happening even as we made our way down the river. Along the way we picked up a few passengers and their bags of rice. For some people in the area the boats are their main form of transportation since good roads are hard to come by.
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| Water taxis |
Sitting on the front of the boat, I had a good conversation with Leu. He is Karen but lives in Thailand, and a strong believer. He talked about how difficult it is to learn English, and I taught him some new phrases. I tried to explain where Michigan is, but just ended up saying I'm from a place near Chicago.
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| A big group of white people is always an interesting sight for the locals |
After returning to dry land we took the treacherous cliff-side roads back, piled in a pickup truck. Our driver, Eric, said it wouldn't be worth taking two vehicles since we only had 14 people. Seat belts are overrated anyway I guess...
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| We hung on tight through some bumpy roads |
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