the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air

Made it up to mae sot today on the border with myanmar (burma). The drive in went over a very beautiful pass with some large karst formations around. Some very nice mountain jungle scenery. Got into town and walked all over and over up and down the same street looking for no 4 guesthouse where I am planning to do the trek with, so i wanted to stay with them. First the tuk tuk driver could not find it so he just dropped me off. I asked at least 20 people, and they all pointed in different directions. I must have spent 2 hours walking around the tiny town looking for it. Finally some nice man was friends with Oom, and called his number. Oom came over on his scooter and said that he was in the middle of moving his guesthouse, so I had to stay somewhere else. So I'm staying at a nice guesthouse run by a teacher and her husband. My trek doesn't leave until the 23rd, so I've got a couple days here (another problem with being alone is you have to wait until other people sign up for things like this as there is a minimum of 4 people/max 6 for this trek). Haven't had much time to explore around Mae sot other than looking for the guesthouse, but have already seen lots of different tribal people around. It's a cool town, kinda rugged, dirt roads, not near as nice as the previous places I have been in terms of the town being upkept, which I prefer. Much less western influence. In fact, have hardly seen any whiteys, fahrang, mzungus, gringos, haoles, whatever you wanna call us white tourists around. In fact all day today have only seen 4, all 4 americans (hardly ever see any of those in asia really), but are here working for NGO's at the refugee camps. I'm very, very happy to be here away from the tourist path. I guess I've done quite a bit of travel, so I get jaded and like to get away from the mass of tourists. Unfortunately the very best spots are always touristy, but there are lots of hidden gems everywhere, or the other thing I've found is go to places really early or go the hard way (trekking, etc, the average tourist is not up for exercise of adventure it seems). Anyways, it's very nice to be here. At these non touristy places, the locals are much more approachable, friendly, and helpful. THey're not trying to make a buck off of you. Bangkok was the worst, seriously couldn't trust a single Thai and the majority of the younger people there were constantly stupidly drunk or on drugs or vomitting while the rest like me were just trying to get out. Chiang Mai was better, though still highly touristy, and highly developed, Pai was great, but still lots of tourists (thought the cool hippy type). But here, nada! It's fun to be in the touristy people with all the fellow travelers, but sometimes it's very nice to get away from it. Think: would you rather be in estes park in july or on the other side of forest canyon!? They say, and I believe it, that Thailand is the most touristy of the se asian countries. Most of the more travelled people I've met really like cambodia and laos the best b/c there are just not many tourists. And I've been told that outside of the airport, I might not see another tourist the entire time I'm in burma...crazy!
So I'm sure some of you are aware of the issues in Burma, which Mae sot borders. A terrible millitary run junta government. Terrible, absolutely terrible to the people. Lonely planet gives guidelines of how to best limit the amount of money that goes to the gov't when visiting, but I've heard it's likely they will have someone following you the whole time. They are really suspicious of americans (they would take none of our aid when they got smashed by the typhoon not too long ago) and will in no way let journalists or photographers into the country. I will have to be very careful what I photograph. scenery and tourist things only. In the mountainous regions of burma, like the area near where I am, there are several hill tribes with insurgent armies fighting the burma army (and not winning). Because of this there are many refugees flowing into thailand. THus all the refugee camps that the NGO's have set up. Only a few countries are taking refugees, thailand, the U.S., and Japan has just started. Because of the fighting going on in the mountains, which are all along the border with thailand, this is why you can't go overland into burma, and must fly into yangon (rangoon). You can cross for a day to make a visa run to renew the thai visa, but can't go any further, but those one day border crossings are often closed due to fighting. Right now I haven't heard any gunshots or mortar rockets or anything yet, though they say it isn't uncommon to hear them. I'm safe here though. I made sure to check that there wasn't heavy unrest (there isn't currently), and the fighting is all in Burma. Thailand has a strong army and keeps the local insurgents on the burma side. I've pasted below a little thing from the place I'm doing the trekking with that may describe the town better:
Mae Sot is on the western border of Thailand with Burma. Sometimes the border is open for a day crossing, sometimes it is closed depending on the current political and military situation. In any case, the local people are always crossing the river to trade goods from teak to gems to Burmese banana leaf cigars. Dozens of ethnic groups live in this area and on any day one can easily run into 4 or 5 different exotic hats and faces. The Karen, Mao, Yao, Lahu, Buddhist and Muslim Burmese all live together in this frontier town speaking different languages, wearing different clothes, eating different foods, and dancing different dances. It's a fascinating place to walk around and learn about many cultures and peoples. A visit to one of the many refugee camps nearby helps one understand very quickly how and why the citizens of Burma are fighting for freedom from the military dictatorship.
So don't worry, I am safe here though, and the jungle trek I will be doing is only in the thai side as well. Down south towards Umphang and thailand's largest waterfall. I think since I have the whole day tomorrow I will rent a bicycle and bike to the border market and bridge. It's only 5km away then maybe bike to a waterfall that is 16km's away. THe woman in charge of the guesthouse tried to tell me it would be way too far on bike and I should rent a scooter...dang, I hope I don't look that out of shape. I'm pretty sure I can do those! Plus, even if I couldn't, I'd rather exercise and save the money if you know what I mean.