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Published: April 7th 2015
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It was a beautiful few days without a ton of action, so I'm hoping this blog is long on photos and short on words...
We left Hsipaw with the hopes of finding an overnight trek out of Pindaya, which is in eastern Myanmar. It was a fantastic decision. The weather is slightly cooler as it is at a higher elevation meaning we weren't sweating immediately upon stepping outdoors. There seems be less slash and burn agriculture in the area, making the vistas much clearer. And there are very few operations for hiking, so there are fewer tourists roaming the countryside making it more quaint. As we hiked the villagers were happily amused by our pressence in their neck of the woods, asking our guides where we were going, waving as we passed, and laughing as we fumbled our attempts to say hello in Burmese.
On the morning of our trek we took off out of town and headed straight up the hill towards the ridgeline. After a leisurely hour with a few rests we started hiking across the ridge through tea plantations. This would be the scenery for the next day and a half. The small crops allowed beautiful
Full Moon Paya
The moon was so bright I didn't even need a flash landscapes of the surrounding yellow feilds, the blue sky, the brilliant maroon clay, and the verdant green tea plants contrasting off one another. We hiked like this for a few hours before coming to rest during the midday heat at an elderly gentleman's house in a small village. We sat about playing cards, eating a large lunch, and napping off the food coma. Towards mid afternoon we started walking again with a fantastic breeze and the temp in the mid 80s, which is lovely considering it's been over a hundred consistently to this point. We continued meandering through the tea plantations until we reached our destination, a monastery in a small village that was home to two elderly monks (and two small cats). We spent the evening resting our feet (and oncoming blisters) and chatting about the trip. We ate in the vacated upstairs hall with Buddha statues looming over us and our voices echoing in the empty chamber. After waking up the next morning we descended, walked across some empty fields, took a brief rest in another monestary court yard, and finished our hike by clambering down a small dirt road back into Pindaya.
After another short rest
we visited the buddhist caves that are the main attraction for most tourists to Pindaya. After walking up 900 some stairs you enter a large cave home to 8,000+ buddha statues that range from several hundred years old (though recently restored) to recent additions from around the world. It is a fairly eery feeling walking through a darkened, damp enclosure with holy images staring down on oneself. However it was quite picturesque meandering through the labrynth of shrines lit by small lamps hidden beneath them. The cave was impressive in its own right given its massive height and large stalagtites. But, after an hour of looking at statues we were a bit tired of looking at the same subject matter and decided we would rather grab a bite to eat.
So, after all that, we returned to Inle Lake where we set up camp after Hsipaw and before this recent adventure. I'll blog about it in a few days after we meet up with Lawless and finish our expeditions in the area.
Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't note the most recent developments in my body's attempt to rot from the inside out. On top of
On the road from Mandalay to Inle
The photo wasn't actually in Pindaya, but was on the way so I included it here... the cough and GI issues previously mentioned I've developed awful nasal congestion. I'm a snotty mess. Back home I would find some tissue and take care of it privately. However, Kleenex doesn't have a huge footprint here. Neiter does toilet paper so the secod best option for blowing my nose is out too. I've settled on the old 6th grade hockey solution of snot rockets; basically plugging one nostril and blowing snot onto the ground beneath me. It isn't pretty, but at least I'm able to breath. Now if the story ended with snot rockets, it wouldn't be worth mentioning here. But there is an odder development in the works. Somehow, when I blow out my right nostril my left eye suddenly fills with fluid. Most likely it is simply the pressure causing me to tear up. But it feels like I'm blowing snot out of my eye. Its an odd feeling... So that is me at the moment. Harsh hacking cough, popping Immodium so I'm not spending the day in the john, snot running down my nose and occasionally out of my eye. Despite it all I'm having a blast. And my travel companions at least have something to
laugh at while the locals have something to ponder about Americans.
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