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Published: February 24th 2007
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·Well hello there..
As you may have noticed laziness coupled with sometimes zero internet access has lead to the infrequent updating of my blog (mostly laziness) so here's my apology and forward we go 😊
Well the winds of travel have blown me over to Myanmar (formerly Burma) to which I had not originally intended to visit. But something inside told me too go and a good friend always said listen to the voices… there your only friends. This was my second attempt to visit Burma, the first one failed as I didn’t have enough money or the correct visa. There’s a double edging when planning to visit here. On one hand it’s good for the people who are extremely poor at a national average earning of roughly $3 a day. The other side of coarse is giving money to one of the most oppressing governments in the world who jump at the chance to rip off travelers at every possible corner. Well after some thought and luckily running into my good friend Matt whom I traveled with in Vietnam and met up with for the Holidays in south Thailand. We decided to give it a go… and what
riding the iron hoarse
my most uncomfortable seat for the worst bus ride of my life(it was GREAT!) a go it has been. We made it in the country to which you can only fly , land crossings are strictly forbidden by the government. Then being the adventurous people we are we decided to go “off the beaten path” and see the real ·Myanmar. ·the main difference from every where else I’ve been and Myanmar is due to there government the people, land, and infrastructure has been virtually untouched for 20 or 30 years. If you think about that for a minute that means everything from cars to buildings to the internet are ancient compared to the rest of Asia and the world. In some of the smaller towns hoarse cart is still the main form of transportation. Well getting used to this fact and still being adventurous we head to the far north of Burma.
·Myitkyina (Ma-jien-a) was our first out of the way destination. It was great the town of small size and good character. After the first few days my jaw was sore due to the amount of smiling I did at the people here. Every corner someone shouts”Hellos” and waves vigorously at you. These are places that get little to no travelers
people of myanmar
·I love these people and it showed by the friendliness and curiosity from the people as a whole. Everyone wants to help you which can be overwhelming when you step off a train and ten people surround you firing questions “where you go”?”I carry you bag”? All in good in the good heartedness of Burmese tradition of making the foreigner feel at ease. After getting familiar with the area we rented moto bikes and went to the Shan villages on the outskirts of town. This was amazing the kids so happy to see foreigners and the women shying away into there huts after flashing you a huge smile. These people are so timid they love the attention you pay to them but soon run away or try not to look just out of there own shyness. It’s a wonderful feeling ·I can’t describe when people are this happy with themselves. Making the something out of nothing is a mastered art in this country. We proceeded on to the meeting of to large rivers a ways out of town. This was a off road experience, we were standing up on these 150cc street motorbikes as if we were racing motocross with the best dirt bikes
me and my homeboy
me and crazy farmer dude that sat in the same spot everytime i drove by on the moto bike money could buy. We saw it all elephants working in the jungle, panned and found gold in the rivers, but one of the kickers was coming up on a jungle work camp. You see the government I have mentioned before has no problem forcing men, women, and kids into labor camps to have them do there bidding for no wages at all. This was saddening to us but the amazing thing is these people came out from behind there barbed wire fences to smile and greet us as if were bringing there freedom. Not sad and angry as I Would most assuredly have been. That’s when I really got a grasp of how resilient a people live here in Myanmar.
After Myitkyina we took off south on the bus…. Well that’s what they called it I called it the iron hoarse with no saddle. We took this shaking, hopping, beater for the longest four hour ride of my life. The thing was 15yrs old and never had renovation. Seats were bursting with the stuffing from there insides, and the road… Well lets just say the word pavement hadn’t quite made it north yet. So this thing beat
this is how you carry a load
these ladies can carry anything with thier head us for four hours only stopping to eat and view a cargo truck which had just fallen off the cliff we were driving by. We made it unscaved with our organs still shaken long after the ride. Then we hit a few more towns taking the boat, train, and no more buses·We have now landed in the second largest city Mandalay which actually has internet. YEAH! So where here for a few days seeing the sights before doing some trekking up in the east.
I do miss you all and will be trying not to be so lazy so everyone can follow me on the adventure
Till then………………
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Jay Tawn
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This is more like it...
Sounds like a real adventure my man! Had twinges of jealousy reading that. You sound well. You look well. I miss you buddy!