Mystified in Myanmar

Upon entering Myanmar I knew that something drew me there, but I wasn't entirely sure what that something was. I came willing and ready, while I left inspired and full of wonder. From stepping off the bus (lucky for us it was organized from the airport... and free) I was immediately impressed by the people of the wonderful nation formally known as Burma. 

On the flight I met a European couple who, initially, decided to check out my hotel with me. Before any major decisions were made we decided it was crucial to feed ourselves. Upon sitting down at a street stall we had no idea how or what to order or how to communicate anything. It turns out English is a bit harder to find in a country that has only been officially open for tourism a few years. Lucky for us we sat next to a self-taught-English-speaking taxi cab driver who ordered us delicious food (we never found out what exactly) and turned out to be our saving grace in organizing our afternoon. Over lunch the couple convinced me to hop a 4 a.m. train to a less touched area of Myanamar where trekking and adventure awaited. I quickly cancelled my hotel reservations on the other end of town and jumped in with them and our new cab driver friend to buy a ticket at the train station and to find a nearby hotel for a few hours of sleep before boarding my first train ride ever. He even escorted us in buying our tickets and made sure we had satisfactory seats. What hospitality!

In the few hours of the evening wandering Mandalay I could tell this was country unlike anywhere else I had been. The men walk the streets wearing skirt/tube like garb called longyi or paso, while chewing betel leaves and tobacco leaving their mouths a blood red. Street lights are non-existent. Every meal is served with green tea made in the nearby villiages. Tourists can only enter certain parts of temples. You are always asked "Where are you going?" (A cultural way of saying hello while checking to make sure you have everything you need.)

We left Mandalay short of the touristic experience, but full of delicious Burmese curry and coconut rice-you can imagine my satisfaction. The train itself was super basic and very... Springy. It was an experiences of thirteen hours rocking the opposite direction of cars in front of you, catching a small amount of air on bumps, watching the train go backwards at a stop with your stuff on it and not knowing if it would come back, screaming goats in the back, bridges only safely taken at ten kilometers per hour, locals transporting their harvested veggies, and views and insight into the landscape that makes up beautiful Myanmar. 

I really enjoyed how ruffed and true the train was to the country. I especially liked trying to communicate with my 14 year old seat mate over tic-tac-toe and origami, until her parents seemed to suggest me taking her back to the U.S. with me.

Once we arrived in Hsipaw (the Shan district) I separated from the couple o give them their own space and bunked up with some other girls for the night before taking off on a three day trek through the mountains and villages of Northern-ish Burma.

The trek itself was easily one of the most wonderful things I have done in my travels. Anyone who knows me knows I need to be active and outdoors to really be in my element-it only put a cherry on the experience to be with fantastic people and a well educated and willing to share guide through some rural villiages. The trek through the farmlands, hills, and mountians was broken up by stops for locally grown green tea, visits to school and monestaries, and heaping amounts of rice and traditional Burmese dishes. As I mentioned before a highlight was our guide: Aso. Aso studies economics in the university and worked abroad for many years to put his siblings through school before marrying his high school sweetheart and settling in Hsipaw. His knowledge of the history and development of the region was such a treat. He made sure we spread out our food money and accommodations to help distribute wealth and he was very open about sharing about the "dark era" and his hopes and aspirations for future generations as Myanmar gets itself on its feet politically. I learned so much from him and was only inspired to learn more as my travels continue.

We ended our three days in the countryside trek at the "hot springs"  for me a much needed rinse of the feet and explored the quiet town of Hsipaw before the three Americans (for lack of a better word in the English dictionary) took off for the historical site of Bagan. We only made the bus out thanks to a local man on a motorcycle who came up to us asking "Where are you going?" and pointing out to us we had passed the bus station by a long shot and allowing me to jump on his moto in the opposite direction to make sure one of us was there to hold the bus on our less than timely arrival. The generosity of this man and so many others... Wow! He wouldn't even let us give him money or food in thanks.

Arriving to Bagan at five in the morning we managed to reserve accommodations and set out to explore the thousands of temples on e-bikes. Something Myanmar has an edge up on is promoting environmentally sustainable tourism- like electirical motorcycles (that don't always maintain a charge, but add to the adventure.) We were able to explore some of the best temples and do some more yoga pictures on the motos before we ran out of steam for the day and headed back to New Bagan for the evening.

                        

Being the sunset and sunrise chaser I am, I didn't rest long and to a pagota on the river and watched the sunset while watching a local man paint.

The next day we awoke beside dawn to watch the sunrise and the release of the hot air balloons and over the temples. This is just as beautiful as all the pictures in all the magazines make it seem. The light and glow at that hour is unreal over all the historical structures. 

After the sunrise Olivia, from Wisconsin, and I set out in search of a view people on our trek told us about...and only found a pool with overpriced coffee. Yet, in the process we were able to find the first restaurant that opened in Bagan, where Olivia's parents had eaten at in thier short and limited visit to Burma 30 years prior. 

After our failed expedition we visited a few more temples and headed back to the hostel before our bike batteries failed us again (we didn't quite make it, but luckily they can seat two for a short while.) Afterwards, I ended up going by foot in search for that man from the sunset and his painting and was again blown away by the kindness of strangers here. I sat with him and another man selling paintings for an hour or so asking them questions about the Buddhism, history, and politics represented in the paintings. They were more than willing to share and also very hopeful for change and a brighter future within the growing Democratic Party. After I ended up buying a painting from each of them (I'm a sucker for a story behind a trinket) they treated me to a sugar cane juice and more conversation. This little spot by the river quickly became my favorite place in Bagan. I returned there the next day and took the local boat across the river to watch the sunrise with Olivia for a different and more local perspective before jumping on a bus to Inle Lake.

I had been told that Inle Lake was where the true Burmese lake culture was preserved. This is true and false in a number of regards. I was able to share a boat ride for the day on the lake with two German girls. We hired a female guide, interested in getting that perspective on things which for me wasn't as rich due to my trekking experience, but she was informed on the area and very helpful. In the end Inle was beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing the fishermen in their unique tension based fishing strategies spread out across the lake, as well as the homes and gardens that are floating on or above the lake. The tour itself was insightful into the industries from the region such as: silvering jewelry making, cigar rolling, boat making,

and different types of materials in weaving, but it was also clearly modeled to try and sell us tourist priced goods. There is always a fine line between educating, displaying, and selling and they are walking on it with binoculars backwards (monocular vision-for you outdoor ed friends.) They didn't push it on us too much but it seemed established for a purpose. 

After such a touristic experience  (yes, I understand I am a tourist) I decided to spend my last day (after another over night bus ride) in Yangon on a more local level. I wandered Yangon and sat down at a number of street vendors and chatted with locals to our best ability. The most interesting of which was a man who had a tattoo of a peacock-the nationals bird and symbol for democracy. He got the tattoo after spending five years in jail after being a part of the 1988 demonstration for democracy. He was very open and kind, but he was also very injured by his own government wearing false teeth and not being able to see out of one eye due to all the interrogation he suffered through. Despite all this he insisted on buying my thirty cent breakfast because as he said: "Myanmar are friends." Throughout the day other locals continued greeting me with a smile and sharing as much conversation as we could (I've nailed three phrases in Burmese), and even guiding me to the train station to take a loop around the outskirts of Yangon.

Overall Myanmar is a beautiful country with intense history. I haven't even touched the surfaces of fully understanding it. What I do know and fully understand is that the people here have huge hearts and are compassionate and inspiring. I feel very blessed having had a short experience with such amazing people and only hope that growth continues in a positive way for their futures. This country stole a piece of my heart.

                          

Chang and Cambodia

Thailand is to smiles, as Cambodia is to laughter. I have never had so many innocent giggles shared with locals trying to earn a living as I have in Cambodia.

I left the North in a mission to get to Cambodia only to make a last minute decision at the bus station to get some beach time in first. Cambodia is also known as Scambodia, so when there wasn't a headache-less way to get across the border an island I had just read about in Thailand called for a visit. This is how I ended up beach bumming at Koh Chang  and sharing a bunglaw and cocktails with a girl I met in the bus. The island itself is huge! In my two days there I only had a chance to beach it, rent a kayak to the islands, get a Thai massage, and watch some AMAZING fire shows along the beach. Besides suffering from post traumatic stress disorder upon discovering that I was dinner for a lot of bed bugs in one of the bungalows, Koh Chang deserves a big thumb up.

From those (mostly) refreshing days I headed to the beaches of Cambodia. When I had thought of Cambodia prior to my trip I never imagined such beautiful sandy beaches. Again, I met another solo female traveler and we opted to split a room on the river tucked behind the beach. The two of us stuck together like glue for a few days; reading and eating fruit on the beach topped with an island/snorkel tour for a day. The beach we stayed at was Otres 2. It was a more mellow beach that still had access to the more frequented beach restaurants a sandy walk away-perfect for vacation from travel.

From Otres we headed to the little town of Kampot located on a river and well known for its sunsets and cusine. My roommate, Kristin, stayed with me for one night before she headed back to a big music show on one of the islands. Since Cambodia (unlike Thailand) drives on the right side of the road I decided to do as most do in SE Asia and tour the country side with a motor bike. I convinced a couple I met at breakfast to tag along with me in search of some scenery and salt. We found just that, with some rock-formation-mountain-things off of a dirt road before they parted ways and I found some fresh and far-too-small crabs and coconut water to enjoy along the beach a few kilometers from Kampot. In route to home I stumbled (more accurately-rolled) into some salt fields where the famous French Kampot Salt is cultivated. It was pretty extraordinary to see how expansive the system was for a normal household item.

That evening I hoped on a river cruise to watch not only the sunset, but also fireflies. For those of you following any social media of mine you know that this is where my nostalgia for the Eastern Shore really set in. Crabs, sun setting over water, nighttime fishermen like you read about in The Lord's Oysters, and the mating dance of fireflies. Although the day and experience was amazing, I have to say that the Eastern Shore takes the cake in all of those categories. 

From Kampot I headed to the history. Prior to heading up to Phenom Penh I read a book and watched a movie on the killing fields. It was really useful to have more knowledge of the emotional trauma  endured before heading to the sites where it all started. A little background knowledge is good here, because I know the genocide of Cambodia was not something I ever studied in school:

After some of the bombing in the war in Vietnam rolled over the borders of Cambodia a gourilla group called the Khmer Rougue was able to make their way into power in the vounerable country. The Khmer Rouge was exenophibic and exeterminated any and all educated people and their families to avoid any internal resistance. The rest were sent to work in the fields with little food and care. In the events that passed over the three years of the regime over 1/4 of the population of Cambodia was killed. It is something one can still see today, with nearly 40% of ther Khmer (Cambodian) pollution under the age of 16. Perhaps while they are so giggly in the land of eternal youth. 

The capital Phenomn Pehn is were they play tribute to the events of the past at the S21 Prision and the Killing Fields, where if they weren't harshly imprissoned they were taken and slaughtered in the thousands. As hard and as heavy that this was to take in- it gives me a little hope because on a global scale such tributes are raising awareness and hopefully will empower future generations to be less naive to what happens behind closed borders.

                       

Needlesstosay, I was very thankful to have a friend from Nature's Classroom now living in Phenom Penh to fall back onto after feeling so vounerable from the day on top of nearly getting extremely sucked into a huge scam running out of the capital. I found my happy place with Ox after some good street food and playing soccer under the bridge with some lively locals.

I left that bloody history behind to go further back in time and explore the famous ancient ruins of Angkor Wat in Siem Riep. I stayed at a wonderful hostel that allowed me to book a sunrise tour with other solo travelers. This was great for picture sharing and hanging someone to admire the master piece with. Ankor Wat was a city, but is really famous for a number of temples. We did the small circuit to the most famous and, in my uneducated opinion, most extrodinary structures. The stones used to construct these masterpieces are meticulously stacked on each other and elaborately decorated with all sorts of  designs, people, sceneries, faces, and animals. The details were far more impressive than I could begin recognize. My favorite part of the temples that we saw were the massive trees that have started to dominate some of the temples. There some trees that reminded me of the redwoods in California (because of their size) just weaving roots between the walls and bricks of the old buildings. After the destruction that some of the areas suffered in the Khmer Rouge regime this was a very redeaming feature to see.

                     

I ended up going back by bike the next day for sunset to see more of the detail. I It was a great way to end a day of finding a yoga class at a spa that allows you to hang out in their saltwater pools. Life is sure rough out here.

Clearly, I loving my trip so far, but ironically enough I am finding  my excitement about Latin America continuing to grow. Some of the best people I have met and shared time with have been from the lower Americas. Their attitude and enthusiasm is making me excited to explore that part of the world more. To start traveling is like entering a ring of infinity... There is no getting it out of your system once you start.