Lashio to Ruili in China 8 OCt to 9 Oct

This part of Myanmar - the northern Shan states – until the 1990’s was the heart of the poppy growing industry. Now there are acres and acres of castor plants which are used mainly for bio diesel to power generators in the many parts of this state that have no electricity.

We saw lots of bananas, corn, rice and bamboo. The highway – a 2 lane sealed road had many toll gates. There were many bullock drawn carts, converted tractors ( front half tractor, back half truck) and converted motor bikes all piled high with people and/or produce. We were gradually climbing.

There were several checkpoints before border. The guide and Ross would disappear for 30 minutes or so armed with sheets of papers. It took a while to get through actual border post. I ( and others) had made a mistake on our arrival form and they would not accept a form with anything crossed out. So we filled out a new form. Then we were told black pen only – there was nothing written ( in English anyway) to that effect on the form. Several of us had used blue pens.


Ruili, a town right on the border, was quite a contrast to anything in Myanmar. Everything seemed to scream ‘consumerism’ at me. The foyer was gaudy and tacky, rooms were nice on the surface but the paint was peeling off the walls inside the clothes cupboard and the hot water took ages to come through. There were large numbers of Chinese staying in the hotel but no one we saw who does not sound Chinese. I had boiled rice, a banana,and some grapes for breakfast.