Chris was looking for players to fill out a team of farong, which were to play the "village" leaders of a Karen refugee camp. The Karen are a Burmese minority group, some of which now live as hilltribes in Thailand. Many, however, live in refugee camps in the mountains near Myanmar. Tourists aren't normally allowed just to walk into these places, so our itinerary quickly changed to incorporate this game.

The next day, we were off, madly trying to keep up with Chris as he barrelled down the "Death Highway" which stretches from Mae Sot through the mountains south to Um Phang. The camp lay roughly half-way between the two. The route got its nickname because it was a stronghold of Thai Communist guerrillas as recently as the 1980s, a group not keen on having their hideout accessible to lots of traffic. As we wound around crazy turns and traversed the mountain-scape, it was easy to see why the guerrillas chose this place as their final hideout. The hills were steep and thickly forested, and closer inspection often revealed caves. The drive also revealed the other cause for the name "Death Highway", as a loss of brakes or alertness would be fatal. Factor in the Thai fondness for driving at breakneck speed on the wrong side of the road, and it is a small wonder we didn't see this stretch of road strewn with wrecks. I did notice, however, that there were many little spirit houses to be found at the side of the highway as we went along.