Kevin's Vegas
10/24/2002
The policeman was losing patience. He didn't seem too angry but I took his
raised voice to be something of a threat. 'I dont know' palms up and shoulders
shrugged. Another barrage of Chinese, this time I sensed disbelief. I figured he
was wondering how we made it this far. Our interest in the 500 km stretch of
dirt road behind us must have seemed suspicious and our lack of a single word of
Chinese baffled him. He flipped through my passport lost in the stamps and
English and decided against the headache of recording our presance in the area.
The Chinese from the bus seemed a little shaken by the situation but our right
to be there wasn't in doubt so we moved on towards the Burmese highway and to
the sketchy boarder town of Ruili. A night time arrival in the neon of Ruili
made it an impressive sight. Chinese business men and prostitutes everywhere,
the kind of place I'd like to arrive quietly and get my bearings but hotels was
tough to find and we ended up walking the main street twice, sucker western
tourists with packs on. We checked in to a place with a peeler joint downstairs
called the Hot Spring, put on our dancing shirts and hit the street to find a
Burmese meal. Leaving the hotel we were swarmed by hookers dressed to kill and
the HIV to back it up. Successfully avoided them by stepping into a stagnant
pile of mud located just infront of a Burmese restaurant filled with
questionable folk. Walked inside to be greated by a switchblade. Look the guy in
the eye and he tries to sell it to me for a buck and when I refuse he offers
jade, money exchange, marajuana, opium, heroin and women. Our new friends were
all Burmese muslims living in religious exile in Ruili working in import/export.
They are as interested in our story as we are in theirs so we end up having
Burmese coffee with two of them hearing their take on the world and pretending
not to see junkies with fever shakes stopping by the back room. Had a couple
plugs of 'Burmese medicine' better known as beetlenut which made my mouth numb,
my teeth red and gave the nicotine burn of copenhagen. Ended the night off
wandering through the dying masses of karoke bars and brothels, an excellent
twist on adventure tourism.
Kevin