We headed to the water where about 15 longtail boats were waiting, bobbing up and down on the murky water. Goods being loaded into the center of them and people balancing precariously around them. We climbed over the cluster of boats until we reached one in the center. The woman sat down and motioned me to sit beside her. The boat sank lower into the water as more people joined us, swaying from side to side as more people climbed on board. I grabbed the side of the boat as the woman laughed and put her hand on my arm reassuringly. This did nothing to stop me from planning my escape, when the option was suddenly taken away from me, as the guy in charge of the boat walked along the board on the side lowering it so much into the water that I really thought this was the end of my journey before it had even started.

He signaled to people to shift around to balance the boat, as he proceeded to pour petrol into the engine. A cigarette hanging from his mouth...

We chugged along for about five minutes until we were signaled to pull over by a stern-looking guard, he was handed photocopies of our passports which he studied as he proceded to look us in the eye one by one. This was the water crossing between Thailand and Myanmar. he stopped and stared at me and again at my papers. The woman next to me said something to me in Burmese and smiled. The guard moved on, but not before taking a small wad of cash from the guy sailing the boat. 

I don't know what I expected when I got to the border crossing, but it certainly wasn't what was in front of me. there were people everywhere, no tourists, just me. there's something quite exhilarating about being the only European when you are in another country, also a little unnerving.

I pushed my way through the crowd to the kiosk in the corner where I had my passport stamped to say that I was leaving Thailand. I felt a shiver of excitement as I walked away.

All at once, I was suddenly surrounded by waving hands in front of me. "BOAT! BOAT!" I must have looked a little overwhelmed as a woman came forward and took me by the arm. and we headed into the crowd of excited boatmen, who were out to get as many passengers as they could for the short trip to Myanmar. My European instincts were telling me to wait, but for what? sometimes you just have to trust...

He fired up the engine and swung the propeller through the air from side to side as he tried to find a section of water amidst the other boats, all the time pushing with his feet against the other boats to move them aside, signaling to us to do the same with our hands.

Although I still felt a little nervous, I settled onto the job at hand as everyone seemed to take this as a normal occurrence. We pushed and pulled until at last, we were free of the other boats and heading out into open water.

We sailed on, but not before a big guy with a cage of chickens climbed onto the boat signaling people to move and make room for him as once again the boat rocked precariously from side to side. By this time I had conditioned myself to the thought of swimming to Myanmar. I could see the shoreline in the distance and decided it was at least a possibility. Just as I was thinking this I saw a sign on a fishing boat not far from us. it read CATCH FISH NOT SHARKS! with a picture of a net full of sharks. Mmmm. hopefully, I wouldn't be putting plan B into action. haha.

It took about 15 minutes before we were stepping onto Burmese soil. Straight away it had a different feel to it, I don't know why because it really was just off the coastline of Thailand, but it did. I was ushered towards immigration, children were shouting hello and running away laughing. I was the only foreigner there, and no one spoke any English. How exciting...