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V6N1

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BEFORE YOU GO YOU SHOULD KNOW WHILE IT'S POSSIBLE TO EXPLORE THE MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO WITH NO ONE OTHER THAN YOUR MANDATORY GOVERNMENT-APPOINTED BURMESE GUIDE (ABOUT $25 A DAY), IT'S MOST COST- AND TIME- EFFECTIVE TO GO THROUGH AN OUTFITIER WHO CAN TAKE CARE OF YOUR VISAS (ABOUT $140) AND PERMITS (NEEDED TO KAYAK OR DIVE IN MERGUI, ABOUT $100). THE BEST TIME TO GO IS LATE SEPTEMBER THROUGH MAY. being forced to adapt to new environments-rows of thatched huts elevated on stilts driven into the mUd. Still, they seldom venture any distance inland from the beach. Boat dwellers don't have much business on land. Though they can leave these permanent villages when they please, the temptation to resettle on land is challenging the Moken's rootlessness-yet their t raditional ways are not really rootless. The family is tightly connected and activities revolve around the boat, just as western families' revolve around the ranch house, chalet or high-rise apartment. Their homes just happen to move. Despite living on the move, they live connected: connected to the water, connected to the stars, connected to the seasons, and connected to each other. LEGACY As the world changes around them, the Moken are slowly disappearing. But, for as long as they last, they seem to be sublimely impervious to the despair occurring in the rest of world. Many cultures like theirs persist under the gun, seemingly impossibly, because genetically they don't know when to quit. In this lonely dockside corner of Asia, knotty vitality breathes, even though on the fringe of a country at war with itself. Optimists and pessimists are both correct about Burma-pick your reality. As the kabang floats away, a teenager on board turns around and lends one more Moken smile. There is no way to harmony. Harmony is the way. The sunrise is a stronger symbol than the sun setting on Burma's departing sea gypsies. The winds are watching. As the boat disappeared into the horizon, I began to appreciate that we can't truly understand the sea until we turn our back on the shore . • Bruce Northam's third book, Globetrotter Dogma: 100 Canons for Escaping the Rat Race & Exploring the World, a collection of maxims to inspire travel and life, has already been reprinted several times. Details on his professional vagabonding can be found at www.AmericanDetour.com. REMEMBER, THOUGH THE AREA HAS BEEN STABLE FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS, OVERLAND BORDERS ARE PERIODICALLY CLOSED WITHOUT NOTICE, USUALLY DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH NORTHERN THAILAND. THIS MEANS THERE'S A VERY SLIGHT CHANCE YOUR TRIP COULD BE DELAYED WHILE YOU'RE STUCK IN RANONG OR KAWTHAUNG. VISITORS FLY IN AND OUT OF PHUKET, THAILAND. TRANSITING THROUGH KUALA LUMPUR IS GENERALLY CHEAPER THAN GOING THROUGH BANGKOK OR SINGAPORE. WHILE THERE IS NO MALARIA RISK IN THE MAJOR CITIES OF RANGOON (yANGON) AND MANDALAY, IT IS A POSSIBILITY IN RURAL AREAS. THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES (WWW.CDC.GOVfTRAVEL) RECOMMENDS THE ANTIMALARIALS DOXYCYCLINE OR MALARONE; BEGIN TAKING MEDICATION ONE WEEK BEFORE ARRIVAL. HEPATITIS A AND TYPHOID VACCINES ARE ALSO RECOMMENDED. BRING AN ANTIBACTERIAL-IN THE TROPICS, MINOR INSECT BITES AND SCRATCHES CAN TRANSFORM INTO INFECTED OPEN WELTS. BE PREPARED TO WEAR A LONG-SLEEVED SHIRT AND TROUSERS AND SPRAY YOURSELF WITH INSECT REPELLENT CONTAINING DEET (DIETHYLMETHYLTOLUAMIDE), IN 30% TO 35% STRENGTH WHILE IN KAWTHOUNG, JUNGLE TREKKING, AT CAMP AND BEACH BARBECUES. COMPREHENSIVE TRAVEL INSURANCE IS A GOOD IDEA. OUTFITTERS SOUTH EAST ASIA LlVEABOARDS CO. (SEAL); +66 76 340406; WWWSEAL-AS/A.COM TWO-WEEK MERGUI TRIPS USE A TRIMARAN AS BASE CAMP, FROM WHICH VISITORS KAYAK, SNORKLE AND HIKE ON THE ISLAND. AUTHOR VISITED WITH THIS OUTFITIER. ASIAN TRAILS;+ 662658 60809; WWWAS/ANTRAILS.COM OFFERS A WEEK-LONG CRUISE OF SAILING, TREKKING, SNORKELING, KAYAKING AND DIVING. OONASDIVERS; WWWOONASDIVERS.COM DURING THE EIGHT-DAY TRIP, NORMALLY THREE DIVES ARE PLANNED PER DAY, DURING WHICH YOU EXPLORE THE MULTITUDE OF REEFS WITHIN THE ARCHIPELAGO. PHUKET LlVEABOARD; +6698715142; WWWPHUKETLIVEABOARD.COM SPECIALIZES IN DIVE TRIPS TO THESE SHARK-RICH WATERS.

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