Blogs from Burma, Asia - page 72
March 13th 2006
"Picturesque Dishevelment" is how the Lonely Planet has described Yangon, and for once, it has absolutely got it right. We're sitting outside Motherland Inn 2 as rickety old Chinese buses, circa 1947, pass by in the dark, half falling apart but jammed full of people (see the pics if you don’t believe me). A man in his longhi (the standard attire for all here - like a sarong but made as a complete skirt that is stepped into and creatively tied into a knot at the front) has spat his betel nut juice from his mouth onto the pavement - a common site as the red betel nut spray can be seen sporadically all over Yangon's roads. Betel Nut is a mild stimulant that is wrapped in a small heart-shaped green leaf and then placed between ... read more
February 5th 2006
ＨＥＬＬＯ ＴＯ ＡＬＬ． Ｉ ＡＭ ＯＮ ＭＹ ＷＡＹ ＨＯＭＥ！ ＴＨＥ ＴＲＡＶＥＬＢＬＯＧ ＷＡＳ Ａ ＢＵＳＴ ＢＵＴ ＴＨＥ ＴＲＩＰ ＷＡＳ Ａ ＢＬＡＳＴ． ＡＦＴＥＲ ＲＩＤＩＮＧ ＡＲＯＵＮＤ ＦＯＲ ＨＯＵＲＳ ＬＯＯＫＩＮＧ ＦＯＲ ＩＮＴＥＲＮＥＴ ＣＡＦＥＳ Ｉ ＤＥＣＩＤＥＤ ＴＨＡＴ ＴＨＩＳ ＳＥＡＲＣＨ ＷＡＳ ＪＵＳＴ ＡＤＤＩＮＧ ＨＹＰＥ ＴＯ ＭＹ ＴＲＡＮＱＵＩＬＩＴＹ． Ⅰ ＦＥＥＬ ＬＩＫＥ Ｉ ＨＡＶＥ ＢＥＥＮ ＧＯＮＥ ＦＯＲ ３ ＹＥＡＲＳ． ＦＡＶＯＲＩＴＥ ＴＲＩＰ ＭＯＭＥＮＴＳ： ＴＨＥ ＣＨＩＮ ＳＴＡＴＥ ... read more
January 23rd 2006
I almost forgot.... why the hell did I get up at 3:30 this morning? to watch the Broncblows. Wait until I go back to my monk. "Detachment, my boy." Any chance of my being reincarnated was lost when I threw the shampoo bottle at the buddha tapestry. Congrats to Nick.... Go STeelers... Shayumuni Sri Douglas... read more
January 23rd 2006
Every thirty days I have to make a Visa Run, where I have to find the nearest border of Thailand and exit the country, so I can turn around a get a new visa. The 3-hour drive up to Ranong, Thailand and then a 40 minute longtail boat ride across the strait and I'm in Burma. Once again. This time I met with my Burmese friend by accident as he was now dressed in an official uniform. He could legally waltz me around his shanty town and give me a tour. With me is Evelyn Rodriguez of San Jose, CA, a woman that survived the tsunami on the island of Ko Phi Phi. Also joining me is Travis Mitchell, the young man from Boulder, CO that overheard my conversation about returning to Thailand in a cafe ... read more
The Land of Sweet Milk and Honey
Published: January 29th 2006Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Inle Lake
January 23rd 2006
Again, this date is fabricated and we are really somewhere else. Please stay tuned as Aneta is responsible for the entry preceeding or at least chronologically before this one. Okay. So this is Inle lake and more specifically we stayed in a place named Nengshwe (sp?). This is basically the only budget option in the area as the rest of this 22 km lake is either villages on stilts or fancy schmancy resorts on stilts. But for us a nice room by the water being gently awakened by the long boats taking tourists to handcraft markets (read as sarcasmm - think chain saw at 5 am) was just fine. Actually this is supposed to be a heavily touristed area but seemed rather empty by most travel destination standards. All the locals said business is down. Which ... read more
January 22nd 2006
Out from the abyss it is 6:25 am here in Myanmar. Now in Mandalay. This is quite in amazing country. I keep thinking I am going to wake up with Bos Mo knocking at my door. I arrived in Mandalay from Lake Inle with is the really, I believe, the lost city of Atlantis. The whole place... city, not village, sits on a lake. There are over 200 monastaries. My room was in island in itself... I walked across a bridge to get there. It had water on all four sides and below (I woke up having to pee every 15 minutes.. which I am sure went right down into the lake... nothing like ecotourism) Every morning (2) I woke up to students paddling across the lake in their green uniforms and men fishing by ... read more
January 18th 2006
So, yet again, we are not actually in Myanmar but felt this country deserves multiple independent entries. Where were we...ahhh, Rangoon. Actually- this entry requires three parts- Part I: "The Middle Seat - Filth, Phlegm, and Flatus" After a few days of exploring the city we headed out to see Bagan - an overnight bus ride away. We had heard horror stories about bus travel in this region so we were pleasantly surprised when we settled into our seats and even found they had placed a bottle of drinking water and a trash bag in from of each seat- luxury! We prepared for the ride and were ready to be on our blissfully ignorant way when, suddenly, they lowered the middle seat. To those of you unfamiliar with the middle seat- it basically folds out from ... read more
January 17th 2006
Whilst in Chang Mai we had to go to Burma for the day to extend our Visa's. Fairly boring but needed to be done. The trip was a standard tour trip which enabled us to cross the border and back again. We took in the usual hot springs, although here locals were cooking eggs in them, some ruined (old, not broken) temples and a token trip to the "Golden Triangle". This is the border point between Laos, Thailand and Burma - marked by the Mekong River. So although it was a long and uneventful day, on the positive side we now have a Burma passport stamp, have been to the northern most point in Thailand and can stay in Thailand for longer - yeah!!!!! ... read more
January 17th 2006
This place is way more amazing than I ever thought. I am in the morning of my second day where I have woken again with a view of the Schwedagon Pagoda. It rises 316 into the baby blue sky, pointed and guilded with gold like the finger of the Buddha himself. Buddhism has its gentle grip on the people here. I insulted my guide yesterday when I asked him if we should keep our shoes in the car instead of at the foot of the temple where a young girl no more than six puts them is a slot with a number on it. I looked at my Naot sandles and then at everyones elses flipflops and thought, "This could be the last time I see these babies." My guide hearing the wheels of my ... read more
January 15th 2006
I'm still uncertain as to how to refer to this enigma of a country. Calling the country Burma subtley voices disapproval at the fact that it is ruled by an oppressive military junta; whereas, Myanmar is what the government has declared the name of the country to be. It's a country where people can go to jail just for speaking against the government as is the case with the comedy troupe the Moustache Brothers. The country remains highly controlled and the Aung San Suu Kyi, former leader of the Democratic party and 1991 recepient of the Nobel Peace Prize, is in and out of house arrest and has seen her voice essentially be silenced after winning the popular vote in the 1990 elections. Knowing these things made seeing the country and meeting the people a different ... read more
