Burma (Myanmar)

---

Before I start writing my blog: Uploading photos seems to be very difficult here in Asia so if you would like to see them I recommend going to my Facebook page!

After staying 1 night in Bangkok after returning from Cambodia I headed with Katie to Burma by plane. The moment I got off the plane I knew I would love this country. The moment we walked out of the airport terminal I saw the oldest cars completely stripped. Katie said it reminded her of Cuba. The people I noticed were different from any other coiuntry I had been to in SEA. They were very friendly and the didn't hassle us as much as they do in other countries AND I didn't see many other tourists which was a very nice change. Due to the government regime there is a lot of poverty among Burmese people and the government does nothing about it. You would see families who can not afford clothes for their children. It just reminds you how priviliged you are to not worry about clothes, food etc. Some internet sites are blocked as well which was annoying but luckily the staff knew how to get around it.

We headed straight to the breakfast room after arriving at our hotel and there I saw Ellen, a girl who I had met in Vietnam. It is a very small world.. We wanted to go to the black market were the exchange rate from Kyat to dollars was supposed to better then guesthouses but after getting lost we decided to just change it at our hotel. That was the only problem for me in Burma: the exchanging of money. They do not have any ATM's there so you need to bring enough (crisp clean notes) American dollars with you. At the guesthouse 1 of my $50 notes had been folded in half and they would not accept it. Quite frustrating I can tell you, but in the end I luckily managed to change it somewhere else.
Katie and I decided to do a bit of sightseeing even though we were knackered. We went to the Shewadagon Pagoda in the centre of town and it was beautiful It was a massive Pagoda covered in gold with diamonds at the top. After that we tried some local street fodo and it wasn't bad.

Because we wanted to do the rest of the sightseeing of Yangon at the end of our trip Ellen, Katie and I decided to get on a bus to Mandalay. The bus was supposed to take 16 hours but luckily it lasted only 12 hours. It was very cold on our air-con bus and didn't get much sleep. Getting off the bus we had to get to our hotel, so after 30 minutes of negotiating at 5.30 in the morning we got the right price. We decided to have a nap for a couple of hours because we couldn't stand up anymore. In the afternoon we went for a wander and met a local woman called Thai Thai. She offered to show us up Mandalay Hill where you have a nice view over the city. She was very friendly and we decided she could be our guide the next day when we wanted to vist the neighbouring villages.

Unfortunately it was raining the next morning but luckily it did stop eventually. We had to leave early for the tour so we could avoid paying the governments $ 10 'entrance' fee to Mandalay. We got a horsecart for a bit and saw among other things a monastary (where 1500 monks eat everyday) and the largest teak bridge in the world. We wanted to stay for sunset but by the time we got to that it was overcast again.. just our luck! That night we decided to go to our local Chiapatti stand and it was cheap and delicious! We ended up going there every night during our stay. We also met up with other people we had met previously in Yangon so that was very nice. On our 3rd day in Mandalay I didn't feel really well so I had to sleep most of the day. But during the time I was awake I went to the market with the girls on a cyclo to buy a longhi (typical clothing here) and in the evening we went to the Moustache brothers (raved about in the Lonely Planet, but was quite a dissapointment) on they way back my cyclo driver (Sonny) asked me if I wanted to try cycling. It definitely isn't like driving a normal bike, but eventually I got the hang of it and Sonny was impressed!

The next morning we had to get up very early to catch our boat to Bagan. It was a beautiful boattripwhich took 12 hours. We met a couple on the boat and we all ate together for the next few days. In Bagan people come to visit the many temples that are scattered around the city. I must admit, that I was quite 'templed out' after coming to Bagan so I only rented a bicycle for a day to see them. I can't believe how hot it was over there. I can't remember the last place I'd been in where it was that hot!

After 3 days in Bagan we all decided to get on a bus to get to Inle Lake. Again, we had another early start. We were supposed to leave at 3.30 and arrive at Inle Lake at 16.00 but things didn't turn out they way we'd planned... We were stuck in a tiny minibus where there were more people on it then seats (some people were sitting on the roof!) And the seats were so small... definately not made for Westerners! At what time the suspension broke and they thought about repairing it by banging a wooden block against it??? Crazy... Once we were on the road again a truck full of bricks had broken down on the middle of the road so we couldn't get passed it. Another bus had seen this and decided to cross the river to get around it.. it didn't work: it got stuck in the middle of the river and couldn't get out. We had heard from someone we had met a few days later that the bus was still stuck the day after we saw it! We decided to get on a minibus which was on the other side of the breakdown. We had to pay an extortionate amount of money compared to the locals but we just wanted to get out of there. But the mini bus had no intention of leaving until it was absolutely full! We were not happy at all. Eventuelly we made it to Kalaw (where one half of our group was going to get off) and I told Katie we should get off to because there was no way I was staying one second longer on that overfull bus. So we all stayed one more night in Kalaw and the next morning Katie and I got another mini bus to Inle Lake.

Inle Lake was very peaceful. The town itself wasn't very exciting but the lake itself was. We hired a boat and for about 5 hours we were taken on a tour over the lake visiting blacksmiths, cigarmakers, weaving factories etc. It was amazing! Unfortunately I forgot to put some sun cream on and I ended up with panda eyes after wearing my sunglasses all day. After 3 days Katie and I got on our last bus back to Yangon. Even though we were supposed to do some more sightseeing after arriving I was so tired after our 16 hour busride I just ate and slept.

Now I'm back in Bangkok. Katie has left for Cambodia this morning and I'll be heading to Malaysia tomorrow for a new adventure.

Everyone who is reading this I would like to say: go to Burma! It's an amazing country and it is very safe!

---