Hello, folks. It's been a long time since I have taken the time to sit down and write this blog. I always want to cut out a chunk of my time during the weekends to relax with a cup of joe and stare at the screen in front of me, but I usually manage to find an excuse (working end up binge watching a certain embarrassing show on Netflix created for pre-teens) every chance I get. Today however, I have found myself at my favorite juice spot in HCMC, wishing that I was still in Myanmar.
(If you don't want to read this entire post, scroll down to the very bottom for the good stuff).
I am going to be completely honest; before I moved to Southeast Asia, the only reason that I knew Myanmar existed was because of the clip below. Thanks, Seinfeld for providing me with more exposure to global issues than any of my classes K-16.
(It will always be Burma to me)
Elizabeth, Chase, and I waited eagerly in the Saigon airport on Saturday morning for our flight to Yangon to take off. If you are familiar with Vietjet Air, you know that we were ultimately delayed for the better part of a half an hour (Don't worry folks, that left me 30 extra minutes to run stairs at the airport to get my Fitbit steps for the day/sweat out Oktoberfest. If you ever want to get some judgmental glares at an Asian airport, this is one sure way #momstatus). We touched down in Yangon in the early afternoon. The first thing that I noticed upon landing was how green the landscape was. I am always ecstatic and surprised to see the color green in large, SE Asian cities. There is a major lack of my favorite color in Saigon, and so I am more than welcoming every time I see it.
It took about a half an hour to get through customs and exchange our dollars for kyat. If you plan on travelling to Myanmar, make sure that you bring crisp USD to exchange for kyat. These bills also have to be produced after 2006 in order to be accepted. Below is a helpful video that shows you the basics.
When we were finished exchanging our moola, we were desperate to find a good spot to eat (theme of the trip). We eagerly hopped into a random taxi that boasted some old school Hello Kitty seat covers and asked the cabbie to take us to Lucky Seven Tea House (highly recommended) for a bite. He assured us that before we ate, we needed to secure a bus ticket to Bagan if we were planning to leave that night. This friendly driver told us that he could set up our ticket which ultimately meant that he drove us to five different run down bus companies before finding us a $20 VIP bus ticket to Bagan. I was thankful, hungry and a bit weary of the taxi dude, but one of the things that I have learned traveling in Asia is that it almost always serves you to be trusting of others. For every shady taxi driver, there are 100 that are sincerely trying to help you out. This saint ended up staying loyal to the end. He drove us to find a bus ticket, sat down while we ate for an hour, took us to China town and waited while we wandered aimlessly for street dumplings (to no avail), took us to Shwedagon Pagoda for an hour, and then finally led us to our bus stop. He spent at least six hours with us and charged a grand total of $29. You gotta love those SE Asian prices. Always remember, if you find a solid taxi driver, they will give you the world.
Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk
One solid piece of advice for traveling in Myanmar is that it is essential to get the VIP bus if you are not flying (There are a lot of moral implications involved in government sanctioned travel in Myanmar, so we felt like the buses were the best way to go. Also, they are cheap AF. Travelling on an 11 hour night bus means no hostel fees). We boarded the VIP bus to Bagan and were thoroughly impressed with the comfort level. There was a bathroom on the bus, free tooth brushes, AND some sweet Burmese slow jams! Score! We stocked up on Myanmar beer and the ride ended up being super bearable.
We were awoken from our bus slumber at around 4 AM on Monday morning to the driver yelling, "Bagan, Bagan." The pleasantries normally associated with waking people up do not exist in Asia. We stumbled off of the bus and into the early morning darkness of Bagan. We had been told to visit the Sunrise temple, so we quickly hopped in a taxi. Now, unfortunately this taxi driver was not so cool. He capitalized on our half awake states and charged us way too much for the ride to the temple. We climbed the stairs and awaited a sunrise that would never come. We watched as the sky around us lightened and the clouds started to take a distinct form. Despite the lack of sun, it was lovely to see Bagan rise out of the morning fog.
My favorite Pagoda buddy, Elizabeth, and I still half asleep.
Sadly, we never did see a sunrise or sunset while we were in Bagan. It was raining the entire time we were there. The upside to rainy season? We planned almost nothing and found a hostel with ease. We stayed at a little place called May Kha Lar, which I would recommend to anyone traveling in Bagan. The breakfast included coffee, pancakes, fruit, AND an egg sandwich. This plentiful breakfast was assuredly made to compensate for the lack of Wi-fi. Myanmar has almost NO Wi-Fi which ended up being a HUGE perk. We were actually forced to have conversations with strangers and each other. EW, human interaction is wack, am I right?
I was proud of us; despite the horrendous weather conditions we managed to explore more of Bagan than I would usually be inclined to in the rain. We threw on some cheap, malfunctioning ponchos and hopped on our Ebikes to explore the plethora of pagodas that Bagan has to offer. I would have loved to stay in Bagan for longer. It was gorgeous, peaceful, and basically untouched by the Western world. If you are headed to Bagan, the best time to go is in November and December because that's when the hot air balloons are flying high and you are most likely to get your best future profile picture. I would recommend renting Ebikes instead of bicycles because a lot of the pagodas are located in places where regular bikes WILL get stuck. You don't look cool falling off of your bike at age 27, trust me.
We ran into a goat herder. Chase and Elizabeth moved on while I stayed to make friends.
This lovely lady who rented us our Ebikes applied some thanaka on to our faces. This paste made from tree bark is worn by most women and some men. It has been worn for over 2,000 years and keeps the skin young, provides sun protection, and smells really damn good.
This curry was da bomb.
Places to eat in Bagan:
-Weather Spoon's (not the UK chain, but the food is delicious and pubby) Try the vegetable curries and the ginger lime juice
-Be Kind to Animals, The Moon: Not only does this restaurant boast the best name of any restaurant I've eaten at, it also offers stellar vegetarian meals. I don't know about you, but I like my restaurants best when they are giving commands.
Aroma: Wonderful Indian food. Try the ginger masala tea.
HTI- Great cocktails and 90's jams
After spending two rainy days in Bagan, it was time to head to Inle Lake. This time around, we were not so fortunate with the bus situation. We traveled on a ten hour bus with crushed legs and no bathroom. Luckily we had some help from our old friend, Myanmar beer to help us sleep. I fell asleep for the entirety of the trip and woke up very early in the AM in Inle Lake. We found an excellent little place to stay called Remember Inn in the Nyaung Shwe area of Inle. It was cheap and the people were very friendly. We fell into our beds almost immediately upon entering our hotel at 2 AM and woke up in time for a delicious breakfast on the roof. This day in Inle Lake was undoubtedly my favorite in Myanmar. We rented bicycles and rode out to the hot springs. On our way, we stopped to get some tea and coffee at a cute little fair trade shop with delicious juice. The ride to the hot springs was about 20 minutes and offered up some gorgeous views of the country side.
After visiting the hot springs, we thought it would be nice to ride up to the winery. Now, let me just say, there is a reason Myanmar isn't known for their wine. However, the view at the vineyard and the dessert made up for the taste of the vino. We sipped the sun away and chatted with some new friends. The bicycle ride back down the hill was a wine fueled adventure. It was nearly pitch black but we managed to use Elizabeth's head lamp to keep us alive. We ended the evening at a cute little Western bar called One Owl Grill. It ended like so many of my nights traveling do, forcing people to play never have I ever. Is there really a better way to get to know people? Yep, probably.
The next day we went on a long boat to explore actual Inle Lake for the day. A boat and a guide cost us a grand total of $18 for the entire day, split between five people. BIG SPENDERS. We stopped at several craft shops on our long lake journey. Unfortunately, after a while it started to seem like a gimmick to get cash, so we asked if we could see more lake and less shops. We stopped at another pagoda (shocker) and an average, over priced restaurant. Lucky for us, we were on the lake during the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival which meant that we had to wait an extra four hours on the lake to see a parade of boats for about 20 minutes. Villagers from all over Inle crowded the lake to see the fishermen paddle with their feet and dance viciously on their respective long boats. The main event was when a pagoda placed on a long boat was paraded down the lake. After the festival, the sky poured on us and we ended our hour and a half long boat ride looking like wet mutts.
That night, we hit the mean streets to find some quality market food. If you are someone who is afraid of street food, I suggest you ditch said fears for the Inle night market Shan noodles. I once had Typhoid fever and was strapped to an IV in a Cambodian hospital and I continue to stuff street food in my face like it's my last day on earth. You can do it and if you get Typhoid, I'll name one of my lowly wagon travelers in Oregon Trail after you.
Our last day in Inle was nice and relaxing. Our plans of hiking were once again thwarted by the rain. Instead of hiking, I went for a slow jog (thanks again, tendinitis) around the country side. The locals were amused to see a tall blonde chick, sweating her ass off, running through the countryside. Many stopped to say hello, point and laugh, or just stare aimlessly at me as a passed by. Normal. After my run, I went for a $7 Burmese massage in a hut. I was instructed to lie down on a mat on a hard wood floor while a robust woman walked on my back and stretched my limbs out for an hour. It was surprisingly pleasant.
Let's play, spot the white people
At five o'clock we boarded our last night bus back to Yangon. It's amazing how much you get to know people when you don't have the internet at your fingertips. We asked each other some of the 36 questions of love while on the bus ride, but ZZZquil soon took over and I slumped into a deep sleep. This 11 hour, bumpy ass bus ride sponsored by ZZZquil every single time. Too bad Myanmar has almost no Western advertising (she said, sarcastically).
We ended the trip like any amazing trip should end. We went on a street food crawl of Yangon. We managed to find a seemingly endless strip of vendors serving up street naan, samosas, dim sum, biyani, and masala tea in a bag. Every block of heaven must look like this.
ANYWAY, CLIFF NOTES:
-GO TO MYANMAR while you still can. To me, so much of the beauty of this country lies in the fact that it has yet to be overly tainted by Western influence. The only two advertisements that I saw were for Coca-cola (no one can escape its fructosy, fizzy clutches) and Dove. There are no Starbucks or McDonald's and Wi-Fi is scarce. It won't be this way for long as the tourism industry is starting to develop more and more each year. I am so fortunate to have seen this gorgeous country in its current state and you can be too!
-While it might be difficult, it is important to attempt to travel responsibly while in Myanmar. With the elections coming up, Myanmar's government could potentially become more democratic, but several of the travel destinations are still regulated by a corrupt government. Be aware! Here's a website to help you travel smart:
http://www.dosanddontsfortourists.com/
Anywho, that's all I have for you today. Thanks for reading. If you made it this far, thank you for riding the ramble express. Tune in next week for some life updates.
Hen gap lai, ya'll!
P.S. In case you feel like crying today
