On my way back from my travels in the north of Thailand I stopped in at Mae Sot again to nip across the border to Burma to get a new Thai visa.
At the Burmese border control it was very much business as usual - your passport is taken, you pay the 500 baht fee and then they ask whether you will enter Burma. If you say yes, then they keep your passport, which you collect when you return to Thailand later in the day.
I spent less than 30 minutes in Burma, and simply walked about 15 minutes up the road through the town, then turned around and walked back to the border.
From what I saw things looked pretty similar to Thailand, perhaps a litter poorer, but still the same mix of people of Indian, Burmese and tribal descent.
The one thing I did notice was that the Burmese men are very serious about there longhyis (sarongs) which come in a variety of chequered patterns and were worn by almost every man I saw - except those in uniform.
The other thing I noticed was the difference in cars - no fancy brand spankin new four wheel drive utes here - check to photo.
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