A brief Burmese vacation

My visa was up on the 8th but I just couldn't bear to leave Thailand (I mean, I've finally learned my fifth word and can tell the difference between 2 baht coins and half bahts!) so I went on a visa run to Burma.  The minivan picked me up a little after 6AM and we drove around Phuket for another hour picking up everyone else before stopping on the side of the road to rendezvous with another truck carrying our breakfast.  Croissant, banana, and a juice box; not too bad!

After breakfast we all promptly fell asleep, I've only been in vans packed to the brim with luggage, but as it turns out they're actually quite comfortable.  The seat recline much more than normal buses.

The drive was pretty, although it rained several times throughout the day.  My new Russian friend was glad because it meant that her friends wouldn't be going to Phi Phi without her!  We passed through several small towns stopping once for a snack and bathroom break and finally arriving at the pier at around 11.

As with all of my other experiences with Thai administration, I felt like a sheep being led around with no clue as to what was going on.  While my experiences here have generally been positive, I'm still always a bit skeptical.

We arrived at the pier and went through Thai immigration.  As we stood in line a man in street clothes and fake Crocs with claw toes (I think he was one of the other bus drivers) came around asking for people's passports and then telling them they owed money.  Apparently this was for visa overstays, and the one girl behind me actually had overstayed her visa by a day, but I still didn't really trust him and when he started trying to take my departure card off of my passport I grabbed it back and he left me alone after that.  I went through without a problem and the woman behind the counter didn't say I owed anything.  Another random man collected our passports (also made me uncomfortable, since he didn't look the least bit official either, but he had everyone else's as well.)

We took a small enclosed water taxi to the pier in Burma, stopping first at a small building by the side of the river that said Immigration.  We never got off though, our guide hopped off for a minute and then we continued on.

The boat ride was nice.  The rain had stopped and it was a beautiful day.  We passed by small fishing shacks and factories along the water

We arrived at the pier and disembarked to go through the Burmese immigration.  They allowed people to leave the fenced in pier to go to the duty free shop, but as the sign says, we weren't allowed to stray far.  We spent all of ten minutes on Burmese soil before getting right back in the boat and heading back to Thailand.

On the way back we stopped at this small island where there were a group of men in military uniforms and then again briefly at the immigration building on the water.  I'm not sure what the purpose was. 

 We got back to the pier in Thailand and went back through Thai immigration to get our new visa stamps and then were on our way.  We had pre-ordered lunch and stopped at a restaurant where our food was waiting for us.  The ride back was uneventful and we made it home in time for dinner.