The long route to Laos. . .

I have officially been in Laos for two days now. I can hardly believe that this leg of the journey is already here. Back in May and June it seemed like it was years away! And man, did we take the long way to get here! Back at the end of July when we were booking our plane tickets out of Myanmar, we weren't entirely sure where we were going to be going or what we were doing during our time in Laos. In order to give us more options and to save money, we booked a flight to Bangkok and planned to do a border crossing from Thailand of some sort.

Our friend from Myanmar, Jenna, was also flying to Bangkok so we made arrangements to meet her at the hostel she was staying at and book bus tickets to Chiang Mai from there. Well plans got changed, Danna had an interview and I was to lazy to go to the bus station on my own to book a ticket. On the plus side, Danna's interview went well and she already has one job offer! Hooray! My being too lazy to go to the bus station worked out in my benefit because I met some awesome people at Bodega, the hostel we were staying at. It's actually owned by a trio of brothers from Wisconsin. (At least I don't have grandiose plans to get Alicia in on an overseas business, Mom and Dad!)

Our night in Bangkok, was spent getting caught in a torrential downpour on our way back from dinner and hanging out with all the other backpackers staying at Bodega. The next day, a big group of us went to the nearby mega mall and caught 22 Jump Street as movie theaters in Bangkok offer 100 Baht movies on Wednesdays. (Just over $3.) I didn't know what to expect going into the movie as I haven't seen the first one, but I loved it and laughed harder than what I anticipated. The rest of the day was spent lazying around Bodega and saying goodbye as everyone we met was also leaving.

Getting to our night bus almost threw me into a panic at one point because after getting off the BTS (metro line) we couldn't find a taxi or motorbike to take us the rest of the way to the bus station. After what seemed like an eternity of pleaing and most likely harrasing civilians and police alike, we finally got two motorbike taxis to agree to take us to the station. Thank goodness those taxis turned us down! With the crazy Bangkok traffic, we never would have made it in time.

And the night bus! What a gem! There was so much leg room that I almost didn't know what to do with myself! The seats reclined like a lazy-boy and even had a foot rest. There was a bus attendant who spent 20 minutes passing out various snacks and drinks. At first I thought I was crazy for shelling out 30 bucks for this bus but it was well worth it!

After arriving in Chiang Mai, we hopped on the next bus to Chiang Rai after waiting only 45 minutes. As it turned out, this was the longest we had to wait for any of our modes of transportation. Again, this bus had an attendant passing out snacks and drinks. We arrived in Chiang Rai at 11:23 and the next bus for Chiang Khong (the border) left at 11:30. We hopped on and were dropped off right at the tuk-tuk station to take us to the border and immigration office. We crossed the friendship bridge, which is apparently quite new as I had read in Lonely Planet that we would need a boat to cross the Mekong River. Immigration on the Laos side was a breeze and it less than 24 hours after leaving Bangkok, we traveled 1,026 kilometers and made it to our final destination with only one minor hiccup and panic moment!

Hpa-An

On a recommendation from Jenna, Danna and I headed to Hpa-An in an out of the way route to Yangon. Hpa-An is a sleepy little town with a bunch of surrounding sites. Getting there was an tiring task and involved an 11 hour night bus, 3 hour wait in a road side cafe, and final 6 hour bus ride to Hpa-An. Apart from being an ice box, this last night bus in Myanmar was by far the  most enjoyable one of our trip. The music was low and no soap operas or raucous singing was heard from the driver or his mates. Because we were now back in the Southern part of Myanmar (or it's just our luck) it started raining the minute we rolled into Hpa-An. As the rain gods don't totally hate us, the downpour at least waited until after we had found our guest house.

Again, we found the local market (in between downpours) and grabbed some fruit for our late lunch. Mangoes, rambutans and bananas rounded out our meal. Unfortunately mango season is coming to an end here, so Danna and I have been eating as many as possible. I didn't discover the greatness that are mangoes until moving here and I keep hearing how expensive they are to buy back home. This saddens me and I know my days of getting a mango for anywhere between 20 and 50 cents are numbered. Thankfully, avocado season is starting soon so that means avocado juice will be back on the menus shortly! (Clearly, my priorities are with anything edible!)

The tour to the surrounding areas was a ton of fun and filled with caves and ancient statues and carvings. The first spot we visited was an old monastery with a huge alter area set inside a cave. As we walked to the entrance of the cave, we passed a whole wall of the mountain that was covered in tiny Buddha carvings. Neither of us could figure out why there were so many carvings of the same thing. As Danna said, "It is incredible the amount of determination some people have." After spending a good amount of time gawking at everything,  we made our way back to the tuk-tuk where our driver was waiting with a huge hunk of sugarcane for us. I've never been given raw sugarcane before so it was an adventure trying to eay it without swallowing any of the fibrous pulp. It was delicious but the amount proved to be too much for me!

Our next spot was again another cave but this one had a tunnel to a back entrance that we could walk through. In the main opening of this cave there were Buddha statues with flaming hair. I've seen a lot of different Buddha hair styles in the past few weeks but this was a new one. It may be the only place in Myanmar that contains such statues. Danna and I braved the dark and bat poo to make it to the other end of the cave. We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and crazy amounts of stalactites in the opening.

The last stop before lunch was again at another monastery and contained a pagoda set atop a giant rock in the middle of a man made lake. At this site, ladies were allowed to climb up to the alter but no on was allowed to climb to the very top. In order to get there, tourists and practicing Buddhists would have to climb a rickety looking bamboo ladder.

The last spot of the day was at the base of Mount Zwegabin in a field that literally is home to more than 1,100 Buddha statues! They are in symmetrical rows and each statue is the same size. However, some have shelters protecting them from the elements and others are painted a reddish colour. Again,  the statement Danna made about people's determination fits perfectly for this place. Their isn't any information explaining who or why the field of Buddha statues was built in the first place and our driver didn't speak enough English to understand or answer our questions.

Hpa-An rounded out our time in Myanmar. We had one last night in Yangon where we met up with Jenna, found the night market, and had a mango party in the dining room of our guesthouse. Words cannot express how much I enjoyed my time in Myanmar and I truly do wish to return someday!

Red, Red Wine

One of Inle Lake's main attractions is Red Mountain Estate Vineyards and Winery. Now, I am definitely not a connoisseur of wine but I was more  than up for the adventure of getting to the winery. We decided to take the long, scenic route there and ended up getting soaked in the process. The scenic route involved a 45 minute bike ride to the boat launch and a haggle for a boat across the lake, where we would jump back on the bikes and peddle until we reached the winery. The bike ride to the boat launch was enjoyable and scenery, as always, amazing. It felt great to stretch the leg muscles as they were quite sore from the three day jaunt from Kalaw.

As we got closer to the boat launch, we passed some men sitting on motorbikes. As it turns out, they are boat drivers and basically wait for tourists to go by on their bicycles. One will then call dibs, hop on his motorbike and head towards the launch where he'll wait for you at the entrance and lead you in to make a deal. Because we are so savvy, Danna, Jenna and I were able to get the driver down from 15,000ks to 6,000ks. (Or in USD about $15 to $6.) Now, I know this seems like an extreme drop, but the average cost of renting a boat for the entire day is anywhere from 15,000-18,000ks and we were only using the boat to go across the lake.

The joy of the ride before the rain. 

The view from the boat.

Ahhh the boat ride! Of course, as was usual with my time in Myanmar, I got caught in a rainstorm. . . again. As soon as we got into the boat and through the canals to the main part of the lake, we could see exactly where the rainstorm began and ended. We were headed straight for it. The three of us (Jenna, our friend and trekking partner from Kalaw was still with us) went from being very relaxed and stretched out to curled into balls to stay as dry as possible. This was also the day that I didn't take my raincoat in an optimistic hope that it would not rain. Needless to say, by the time we arrived at the dock everyone, including the boat driver, was drenched.

On the dock before the wait, dash, wait race began.

Shortly after getting the bikes off the boat and paying the man, the rain stopped. We began the mad dash (or more accurately, quick walk) with the bikes down the dock. Because the rain in SE Asia is very temperamental, we didn't even make it halfway before it started to pour again. And so the wait, dash, wait, process began. In all, I think it took us about an hour to get off the dock and in the end it was still raining when we decided to give up hope of waiting out the rainstorm and just finish the journey to the winery.

Sampling some wine. 

So, at last, the three of us arrived at the winery for a very late lunch, beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and lake and most importantly, the wine tasting. The food was delicious and the wine, if you like wine, I'm sure was great. I did enjoy the Rose and truly could not have beat the price. The sum total for the three of us sampling four glasses of wine was the equivalent of 6 USD or $2 a person. And they say (it is true), Myanmar is one of the more expensive countries in SE Asia. While we sat, lunched, and wined, the rain stopped but when it was time to bike back, it started again. Thankfully, this time, it was more of a drizzle rather than a steady rain.

The view from the restaurant at Red Mountain Estate.

My time in Inle was truly spent just lazing around, biking, eating and going to the market. I loved the laid back ambiance of the city and enjoyed the ease of getting around. I even bought a longyi, traditional Burmese skirt worn by everyone in Myanmar. To buy the fabric and get it sewn, was $4. One of the cool things about Myanmar was that everyone wore these long skirts and seemed to have agreed to boycott pants. I'm not sure skirt is the right term as you could literally fit four of me into one, but the men and women have different ways of wrapping them so they stay up. In all, Inle was a success and great place to relax after walking for days!

These Shoes Are Made for Walking. . .

I've now been out of Bagan for a few days and am now lounging about in Inle Lake, biking through rice paddies, getting caught in rainstorms and testing out Myanmar's finest wine. The lounging has been well deserved as I literally walked to Inle from a tiny town called Kalaw.

Trekking to Inle is quite a popular venture forbackpackers of all ages and the streets of Kalaw are lined with shops advertising trek options. Before going out in search of the best option for us, Danna and I caught a couple of hours of sleep after a long night bus journey filled with loud Burmese songs and crazy music videos, even louder soap operas and eventually the same song being sang over and over by the bus driver and his mates at the top of their lungs.

On our way to Sam's Restaurant, a highly recommended tour group, we met a fellow North American named Jenna. The three of us went and listened as Uncle Sam pitched the different options to us for the 3 day, 2 night trek. Both sounded lovely and we ended up going with the slightly easier option in order to spend more time in the villages and getting a feel for rural Burmese life.

On the morning of the 16th, we gathered at the restaurant, where the French couple joining our group was already waiting, to meet our guides, Nanbo and Nankaw. They were two lovely early 20 something local village cousins that have been leading these treks for at least a year. As a group, we quickly divided into two sections with Team France blazing the way with one of the guides and their super long legs while Danna, Jenna and I stopped frequently to ohhh, ahhh, and take countless pictures of the lush, green fields and mountains. 

Kids from the village on our second night

Even though I had been told the trek would not be very strenuous, I had mentally prepared for a trek very similar to what I experienced in Thailand. I was very pleased, when we arrived at our final village in the evening to realise that my day had not consisted of a 3 hour vertical hike, but rather lazy walks up and down baby hills.

As Uncle Sam told us, the area had not had any rain for 3 weeks until the night we all arrived, and since then, it's rained every single day. The first day, we walked for about 3 hours before arriving at the village where we would have lunch. Nanbo and Nankaw cooked us a delicious, fresh meal in a traditional bamboo family home that contained two grandmothers looking after a couple of grandkids. The kids were scared of us and apperently started crying when the French couple entered the house. After we finished eating, an older gentleman who spoke English, came in and started talking with us. As always, there were a few language barriars and we understood that he was able to go quite far in his studies but are unsure if this was in Myanmar or one of the surrounding countries. He was also funny because after asking us where we were all from, he completely ignored the fact that Canada was a separate country and just kept calling it America.

In the short afternoon walk, we got caught in a rain storm and were required to break out the rain gear. I'm not entirely sure how I did it, but at one point, I swear I had 5 pounds of mud stuck to the bottom of each shoe! Thankfully, I wore my tennis shoes. Danna had on her keens and eventually decided it would be easier to walk barefoot rather than having her feet sliding around in her shoes and slipping around on the mud.

Our first night, we stayed in Nanbo and Nankaw's village at Nanbo's parent's house. It is a small village with an estimated 90 houses. After dinner, we sat in the 'kitchen' around the fire, while the women roasted corn as dessert. Nanbo and Nankaw were the only ones who spoke English but translated our questions. We learnt that Nanbo's parents have been married for over 40 years, have 5 children and they walk 2 hours one way to get to their fields every day. After the corn was finished, Danna and I taught Nanbo, her sister, and Nankaw how to play Go Fish.

The group plus couple we stayed with on our second night.

Our second day of trekking went much like the first with a longer morning walk, lazy lunch and nap in a village home and a bit more rain to round out the afternoon. This day, we walked through a ton of different fields and learned to identify the difference between mountain and water rice, chilies, lady fingers, eggplant, ginger, and peanuts. The views were stunning and the variety of greens, uncountable. It was great to alternate between good conversation and stunned awe at all we were seeing.

Again, that night, we stayed in a slightly larger village at yet another family home. This family seemed quite wealthy as they had two cows and a water buffalo living in a lean to in the yard. This couple had three grown children, all married and living in the village with their own children. After dinner, their eldest daughter, husband, 7 year old, and 5 month old gathered round to chat with us with the help of Nanbo and Nankaw's translations. They were a lovely family and it was fascinating to have the opportunity to talk with them and freely ask questions about their day to day living.

Our last day of walking, was primarily down hill as we made our way to the lake. Along the way, we caught glimpses of it and the ohhing and ahhing on my part continued. We rounded the trip off with a boat ride across the lake to the town of Naung Shwe where most, if not all, the backpackers stay. Along the way, we passed through countless floating villages, floationg fields, and fishermen balancing on one leg as they used the other foot and both hands to throw out or bring in fishing nets. It was a stunning, magnificent way to end a 40 kilometer or so hike.

Mount Popa

View of the temple from the bottom of the mountain.

Our last day in Bagan was spent venturing to Mount Popa in a nearby town and back. Mount Popa is a huge temple area set atop a large, extinct volcano. It advertises as having just over 700 steps to the top but I'm a little skeptical about that number. I had mentally preped for a long, difficult climb to the top and was shocked when I arrived at the top a little hot and sweaty but not nearly hot and sweaty enough for 700 steps. (Maybe I'm just in great shape and 700 steps feels like child's play!)

To get to Mount Popa, Danna and I rode in a shared taxi with a French couple (who we now see everywhere), a Japanese duo and Dutch man. Along the way to Mount Popa, we stopped at a roadside distillary/ oil/ palm sugar making shop. Right out front was a man using a cow to turn a grindstone to grind peanuts and make peanut oil. They use this method to make a variety of oils and it really opened my eyes to just how far behind Myanmar seems to be when it comes to using modern machinery to make things we take for granted.

Inside the hut there were two different sections: the palm sugar section and the palm whiskey section. Of course, we were given samples of everything in hopes of enticing us to buy the different products. The palm sugar is a dentist's nightmare and they used it to coat a variety of fruits and nuts. The taste is much different from the sugar we have in the States but is delicious! The palm whiskey is very similar to the palm alcohol of Flores, and is just as horrid as I remember it to be. We were able to sample the original whiskey as well as the whiskey with palm sugar added to it. This time around I resisted the urge to buy any palm whiskey even though the sales girl insisted it was good for our health and would give us energy.

Shortly after this side venture, we arrived at the base of Mount Popa. As I stated earlier, the climb was not as difficult as what I had anticipated. Unfortunately, the place was swarming with my least favourite type of monkeys, the macaques. I really do dislike the little boogers and do an internal freak out whenever they get to close!

Mount Popa was an interesting place to visit but I can say that I did not find it nearly as awesome as the temples of Bagan. The views from the top were beautiful but in true Myanmar fashion (at least while I've been here), it was a bit cloudy and overcast. I also feel that I don't have enough information on the importance of Mount Popa to fully appreciate it. I do know that it is an important place for those who still worship the Nats, or animal spirits the Burmese used to worship before the spread of Buddhism. Some of the villages still worship the Nats even though they also practice Buddhism, or at least, that is my understanding.

In all, Mount Popa was an interesting, yet enigmatic place. The monkeys are everywhere and the shopkeepers alternate between chasing them away and throwing them scraps of food. There are odd little palettes set up in different rooms/ alter areas at the top of the mountain with no explanation for why they are there. Either monks live up there as keepers of the mountain or people have set them up for the spirit of Buddha to sleep on. Also, plaques line the walls naming those that have donated to the upkeep of the temple and I found a surprising number of people from America on the wall.

Bagan Part 1

A view from the top of a temple. 

Oh Bagan. . . Where to even begin?!? First, it's quite possibly, the coolest place I've ever been and maybe ever will go! Second, the climate is drastically different than anywhere else I’ve been in SE Asia. It is a very hot, arid desert-like place, and even has cacti! Danna and I have taken to siesta-ing during the afternoons. We get up for sunrise and then nap and hide from the blistering sun during the middle of the day. Third, I have literally spent the last three days moseying from one temple to another, walking around barefoot and staring in awe of the architecture. Most of these temples are close to 1,000 years old! There are a number of them that you can climb up to the upper tiers. These are by far my favourite as you get some spectacular views and are able to see hundreds of other pagodas and stupas.

Now, like me you may have been wondering, what's the difference between a pagoda, stupa and temple? Well, I've finally just learnt this myself and can now be more accurate in my posts! A stupa is a solid structure that can not be entered or climbed. A pagoda is a solid structure that can be climbed. Last but not least, a temple is a structure that can be entered and climbed (depending upon the temple).

To get around, you either rent a horse cart, bicycle or e-bike. Thus far, Danna and I have rented bikes and e-bikes. Both of which are fun in their own way. The three main sections of temples are quite close together and makes for an easy jaunt from one area to another. Our first afternoon, we picked three big pagodas to visit before dark and never made it to any of them. We got so distracted by everything else along the way, that we really didn't even come close to our 'real' destinations.

One of the many humongous Buddha statues. 

Every single temple contains at least one Buddha statue. Some of them are absolutely humongous! In the photo to the left, I could fit 7 fingers on one of the Buddha's fingernails! I cannot figure out how they got the statues into the building. A lot of them are larger than the doorways, which has led Danna and I to question whether they built the temple around the statue. Alas, I may never know as the locals cannot figure out what I am trying to ask.

Almost all temples also contain paintings and murals on the wall. UNESCO has come through a few of them and cleaned the remaining plaster so that visitors can have a look at what the would have looked like close to 1,000 years ago. A lot of them tell Buddha's life story. It is only because of the climate that they have survived as well as they have. There are even some original statues.

I absolutely love Bagan and am enjoying my time here immensely.  If it were possible, I think I'd move here!

Mingun

My last day in Mandalay was spent getting to and from Mingun to see a couple of different sites, including the world’s largest uncracked bell. We grabbed the 9am ferry and had 3 hours to explore before it returned to Mandalay. Unlike the awful ferry ride in Maluku, this one was actually wonderful as we sat in the most comfortable bamboo wooden lounge chairs, head rests included!

The first spot we stopped in was the remains of a giant pagoda that was never actually finished. It is my theory that an earthquake destroyed part of the construction and was then never fixed or finished. Had it been finished, it would have been massive. Even though there was a sign stating it was dangerous to go to the top, there was a staircase, new railing and loads of people going up to said dangerous spot. The climb to the top was hot, sweaty, and basically like an unwanted hot stone massage for my feet.  As always, the view from the top was spectacular! I've run out of words to describe these views. Sometimes, Danna and I try to talk out how we will explain what we are seeing, but neither one of us has figure out how to do so.

Next, we did stop at the Mingun Bell and it really is huge! It’s the second largest bell in the world but the largest uncracked one. It somehow survived the earthquake (the one I think destroyed the construction of the above mentioned pagoda) and laid on the ground for years until it was raised and put into its current location. It’s raised enough for people to get underneath. The echoes that occur inside it while someone is hitting it are awesome!

One of the last spots before heading back towards the boat was at a huge white pagoda. It was different from the others I've seen here because it has a wavy, walled design. It was beautiful, but so bright to look at! Before heading back to the boat, we wandered around a few smaller, pagodas as well. In all, it was a lovely day and I do wish we had had more time to explore Mingun!

Motorbikes, Stupas and Stairs

I loved my time in Mandalay, but the surrounding towns were 100 times better and full of interesting things to see and do. Danna and I arranged for two motorbike taxis to pick us up and take us around to Amarapura, Sagaing and Inwa. Our drivers were two lovely gents named Soe Soe and Mo Mo. Throughout the entire day, I was only sneaky enough to grab and put the motorbike helmet on once by myself. Every other time, Soe Soe would not give it to me and insisted on placing it on my head and buckling the strap for me. In all the times I've ridden a motorbike, I can honestly say, that has never happened before!

Before actually getting outside Mandalay, we stopped at Mahamuni Paya, a pagoda containing a huge Buddha statue covered in about 15cm of gold leaf. It is a very popular spot with the Burmese and to gain merit, men go in and place gold leaf on the statue. This has been going on for so long that the original shape of the statue has been distorted. Also, every morning, monks wash the statue's face and brush it's teeth. I'm not entirely certain why they do this but it is broadcast in different locations throughout the pagoda. Women are not allowed to enter the area the statue is kept in. Yesterday, after meeting and talking with a cultural anthropologist, specialising in Burmese culture, I learnt the reason for this. Women are lower on the cultural totem pole and this is because they are seen as having done something bad in a past life. The Burmese believe that first you go through a stage in hell, followed by being born transsexual, then a woman and finally a man. Upon learning this, I finally was able to figure out why I always see so many more women praying than men and that is because they are trying to gain merit for their next life.

As I mentioned above, it is a very popular spot for the Burmese and it was filled with a ton of people. Besides the revered Buddha statue, there are also war relics from Angkor Wat. The sign that explained how they ended up in Myanmar was a bit confusing, but what I got was this: Thailand had stolen the relics from Angkor Wat during a war and years later, Thailand owed Myanmar a debt for help during a different war and as a result, gave the relics as part of the payment. Now, I could be totally wrong on all of this, but as I said, the sign made next to no sense!

Our first town we stopped in was Amarapura at Ganayon Kyaung, a huge monastery. 1500 monks, including novices, live here. Every morning they have a procession to breakfast. They line up in the street holding their alms bowls and walk past the rice distribution before entering the dining hall to eat. The first ones in line are finished and gone before the last monks even sit down. It was an amazing thing to witness, including the silence all the monks, even the little ones are able to maintain




! The only talking came from guides explaining what was going on and the difference between novices and actual monks.

Our second stop was in Sagaing for the strenuous climb up the stairs to the top. The views were absolutely spectacular and well worth the burning in the legs that started about halfway up. Sagaing is home to over 500 stupas and they are located everywhere you look. Some are small and some are monstrous, but they all work together to give the area a unique look and feel. If I ever come back to Myanmar, I'd spend an entire day in Sagaing walking up and down stairs to get to all the different stupas and pagodas.

After lunch, we went to my favourite town of the day, Inwa. We had to take a ferry to get there so we left Soe Soe and Mo Mo to rest and take care of the bikes. Danna and I hired a trishaw to take us around to the different spots. Yadana Sinme Pagoda was our first stop along the route and was probably my favourite stop of the day. It was this old, rundown, deserted, brick pagoda complex that was amazing. No one else was around while we were there so we were able to explore the complex in peace and wonder at who built it and why nobody uses it any longer. This was the first brick pagoda I've seen since coming to Myanmar and I like it a little better than the shiny, concrete, white and gold pagodas that seem to be in Yangon and within Mandalay.

Next, we headed to Bagaya Kyuang, an old teak wood monastery. However, before we got into the actual monastery, we were distracted by a dirt road leading to some old stupas located in the rice paddies. Danna and I decided that it would be a good idea to follow the horse cart and foot path around to all the different stupas we could see. Most of them were beginning to crumble or becoming overgrown with grasses.What was amazing to me was that none of the other tourists in the area found these as awesome as we did. We didn't see a single soul, tourist or local, until we snuck into the backside of the monastery through a hole in the wall. We were feeling tired and didn't want to walk all the way around to the front.

The monastery itself was gorgeous. The dark wood and dim interior lighting give it a medieval feel. There was even a small classroom set up off to the side of the main shrine. It didn't contain any desks, only benches that didn't look very comfortable!

The last spot of this magnificent day, was at U Bein's Bridge, the longest teak wood bridge in the world. It measures 1.2km. We walked from one end to the other and watched the sun go down behind the mountains.

Shwedagon Pagoda

I've arrived in Myanmar! Danna and I flew in yesterday morning to quite possibly the most relaxed airport anywhere. Everyone was extremely friendly and it barely took us 30 minutes to get off the plane, get visas, go through immigration, get our bags and find a taxi!

Upon dropping our things and after a few wrong turns, we managed to get ourselves to a traditional Burmese restaurant for a late lunch. The whole experience was quite crazy. The food was delicious but neither of us had any idea as to what we were eating. I could for sure identify the rice and chicken. The rest was a mystery.

Compared to Jakarta, Yangon is extremely easy to navigate and pedestrian friendly. The streets are actually in a grid format rather than the crazy loops that make up Jakarta.

Now, onto the real reason for this blog post, Shwedagon Pagoda!!! Oh my word, what a magnificent place! A couple of years ago, they had a huge celebration to commemorate the pagoda's 2,600th year. It is incredible to think that it has lasted this long and stood the test of time.

Shwedagon Pagoda

The height of the Pagoda is 326 feet and the top, called the vane, is adorned with all kinds of jewels and on the very top is the diamond orb. It is made up of 4,351 diamonds! The Pagoda was built to enshrine strands of Buddha's hair along with other relics.

 Walking up the stairs and into the pagoda area is an indescribable experience. There are monks all over and Burmese people praying at every turn. The peace that envelops you upon walking in is amazing. As Danna and I wandered around in awe, with our mouths hanging open at the magnificence of every structure, building and statue, we were chased inside by a downpour. Most would say this was unfortunate, but it ended up being one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me! A monk, named Unya, came up started talking to us and offered to show us around once the rain let up.

When Unya first came up and began speaking to us, I was quite confused. Everything I've read has warned against women getting too close to monks and says never to touch them. I had just assumed this meant we weren't supposed to talk to them as well. Luckily for us, this is not the case and we hung out with Unya for a couple of hours. He showed us where his prayer day was and took us to the Buddha statues we were most interested in seeing.

A bit after sunset, Unya took us to a spot where if you stand in certain areas, the light on the vane changes colors. If can be either white, yellow, orange, red, green or blue depending upon where you stand. This plus seeing the Pagoda lit up was really just the icing on top of the perfect day cake.

Mandalay

I've spent the last two days wandering around Mandalay, a lovely city with tons to do and see. We arrived bright and early on the morning of the 5th after a long night bus journey. The bus seats were very cramped and to give ourselves some laughs, we tried to picture Scott and Matt fitting into them. I'm not sure they would have. 

Danna and I spent our first day in Mandalay walking, climbing stairs and taking in the sights. Our first stop was at the Royal Palace and Fort. The fort is still used and restricted to foreigners. There was a sign with very specific routes and places for foreigners to walk along and visit. The Palace portion was very interesting but empty. It was destroyed during WWII but rebuilt for historical purposes in the years after the war. Most of the buildings were completely empty except the main pagoda and royal chambers. Even these didn't have that much in them, only a sign or two explaining the significance and a couple of artifacts. My favorite spot in the palace was a watch tower of sorts that we were able to go up in and get a great aerial view of the palace and surrounding fort.

Standing Buddha

Our last spot of the day was at Mandalay Hill. Apparently, you can climb this in 45 minutes if you're ambitious but Danna and I got way too distracted by the amazing views of the city and all the different pagodas and alters we found on the way up. As legend has it, many centuries ago, Buddha climbed the hill and prophesied that in the 1800s a city would be built at the base of the hill. To enshrine this prophesy, a huge Standing Buddha statue, pointing towards Mandalay, was placed about halfway up the hill. In all there was to see along the way, this statue was my favorite. The statue itself was incredibly impressive and the area itself was quiet, giving a certain peace that I found lacking at the top.



What a view! The top of Mandalay Hill is truly spectacular. It is set at the edge of the city so half the view is of rice paddies and the surrounding mountains while the other half is of the city. The view of the city was better than what I was expecting because there are so many trees, especially in the Royal Palace and Fort that most of it doesn't look Iike a typical city. While up here I did learn an interesting fact about the bells that are located everywhere around the pagodas. I've always wondered why the Burmese rang them with seemingly no rhyme or reason, but it is to drive away ghosts. The Burmese believe the ghosts don't like the noise of the bell so the sound drives them higher and farther away from the pagoda.

Day two in Mandalay, we rented bicycles to visit a few different areas. The first spot was Shwenandaw Kyang, the only part of the original Royal Palace that survived the bombing. As history has it, the building was disassembled and moved outside the palace walls following King Mindon's death because his successor couldn't deal with the ghosts inside it. The building itself is this intricately carved building that I found so amazing. No detail was spared on any part of it. If Mandalay Hill was my favorite spot, this place was easily my second favorite. 

Next, we went to the impressive World's Biggest Book, also known as Kuthodaw Paya. It houses hundreds of small white buildings. Each building houses a stone tablet that has the different 'pages' of the books on either side of them. It housed at least three complete books and one that tells of the making of Kuthodaw Paya. It was awesome to see and left me in awe of someone's ambition to have this place created.

The last adventure of the day was biking to a completely different part of the city to see some handcraft shops and a gold leaf pounding workshop. The gold leaf pounding was astonishing and brought new meaning to the term labor intensive! I don't remember all the details but know that there are three different pounding sessions that take place. They include a first 30 minute session, followed by an hour long session and it is all finished with a 5 hour long session. Each session is continuous. The way they are seated also looks extremely uncomfortable. The workers sit on benches but are bent at the waist to pound the gold leaf which is located at their feet.

In all, Mandalay has been amazing and I am looking forward to seeing what the surrounding areas have to offer.

And then came the rain...

Even with living in Jakarta, through two rainy seasons, I have never seen it rain so much as what it did when we visited Golden Rock in Kyaiktiyo. A local summed it up perfectly when he said, "Sometimes it rains cats and dogs and other times it rains dogs and pigs." As funny as the statement sounds, there were times when the raining cats and dogs phrase just didn't fit what was happening.

After a super wet arrival to our hotel, we had to change our original plan and skip going up to Golden Rock that afternoon. Instead, we blogged, journaled and made a new friend.

The next morning, we got up bright and early in hopes that it would not be raining and we could make it to Golden Rock. What an adventure getting to the top turned out to be!We went to the truck stop and climbed into the back of a large truck filled with benches. We sat there for about 45 minutes until the truck was full. A full truck is just over 40 people with 6 to a bench. The driver was not very happy with our row because we could only fit 5 even with squishing together as much as humanly possible. Our three white butts were a little bigger than the locals! This ride really brought new meaning to the idea of being squished.

The ride up contained a few random stops for no apparent reason. Nobody but the driver got out. In the last spot we randomly stopped, it started to rain. At first it was just sprinkling, but it quickly turned into a downpour. Even with my rain jacket, I was completely soaked once we arrived at the top.

Unfortunately because of the weather, the view was pretty dismal. Instead of getting a really awesome view of the mountains, all I could see were clouds. I bought a postcard to send home and the joke became I should paint the background white so that my grandparents would have an accurate account of what I saw.

In the end, the Golden Rock was pretty awesome. It is an extremely important site to the Burmese. I really wish that we had had better weather to really get an idea of what the area has to offer. Now I guess I have the perfect excuse of why I need to return to Myanmar in the future!

Yangon day 2

Danna and I spent one full day in Yangon that was filled with pagodas, walking, post office adventures, amazing food and tons of rain. The first pagoda we visited is called Sule Paya.

It literally has a roundabout built around it. Even with the roundabout and traffic, it is still peaceful once you enter the pagoda's interior. Sule Paya is much smaller that Shwedagon but there was still an abundanceof activity. We did get to witness an interesting offering. It included a wooden carving made to look like a Pyinsa  Rupa, on a pulley system. The Pyinsa Rupa is the Myanmar mythological creature that contains five different animals: a deer, elephant, lion, fish and bird. People could put money in the carving and a woman would crank the handle so the offering could be sent up to an alter located midway up the pagoda.

The second pagoda we visited is called Botataung Paya. This pagoda is unique as it is hollow and we were able to walk through it. Just like the outside, the interior of the Pagoda was also painted with gold leaf and was just incredible with the different designs it contained. There were hundreds of relics and old Buddha statues behind locked cases inside the pagoda as well.

Again we were approached by a monk who told us to go see a giant Buddha statue located at the back of the complex. While back here, we learnt that the statue had been taken by the British for a number of years and it wasn't retuned to Myanmar until it became a free country and government officials requested it be returned to the country.

Our final big stop of the day was at the market. What an overwhelming experience! The amount of jade and other stones being sold is absolutely unreal. The whole main building is lined with stall after stall of jade jewelry and figurines. One shop even told us they could make us something of our choosing. We could choose the jade, design and watch it get made in about 4 hours, all for the low price of 10,000 USD. I could only laugh, shake my head and slowly back away. We were only able to explore a fraction of the market but it was still a ton of fun.

So far, I love Myanmar. Yangon has been an incredible experience and I love the people. They are genuinely interested in talking to us and do it so that I don't question what they really want because other than chatting with us, they don't want anything.