We Be Trekkin

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Well hello Boys and Girls.

Welcome to will’s world once again, take your shoes off at the door and make yourself at home. Today we will be talking about the highs and lows of traveling off the track style. Specifically trekking in the jungle’s of Myanmar. Being the savvy, experienced, well rounded travelers that Matt and I are we wanted something challenging for our last hurrah in Burma. We had planned this nice hike from Kalaw to Inle Lake. Nice and easy stroll through the forest taking photos and enjoying the great outdoors. Well this was the plan… Until while reading through a book in my room I had a great idea. This idea was to scrap our plans and tear off in the complete opposite direction we had decided and go once again where foreigners rarely venture. After running my idea over with Matt (who was so tired I could have said lets go to Antarctica and he would have been onboard) we decided to change everything and go to Kyaume. A Quite nice town in the mountains where everyone is staring at the white people and everybody who knows any English is your new best friend whether you wanted one or not. We enjoyed the first day immensely we rented motto bikes and cruised up to the famous temple at which they were having there annual Nat festival. Nat is a religion based on animal spirits and giving sacrifices and prayer to honor them. On the way there we stopped at a restaurant for lunch… Well we thought a restaurant but in reality it was a set up for the wedding to be held the following day. But in Myanmar fashion they fed us anyway not letting us know the truth till we were finished and refusing to take money in the end. These were nice people and after Matt broke out the famous connect four games we had friends for life.

“Now it’s time, we are lazy boys and need some exercise, we want a trek….Not any trek though a trek where no foreigners have been before. We want new territory untouched; we want the true Myanmar experience”. This is what I told nighn nighn our guide to be for a expedition Matt and I weren’t fully prepared for I think. So after saying all that again six or seven times (Nighn nighn doesn’t speak the best English) we were told what we would need and to be ready for an adventure. We woke up at 0500 to the sound of the market bustling outside our window. We had mostly packed the night before and were ready for our trek. We met nighn nighn outside and had to catch transport about 6 hours north to a small village in the hills and then we were off. So we set out looking for drivers and caught a tuk tuk sort of thing. A motorcycle front with two rows of bench seating in the back for passengers. It was Cold, real cold so we froze about 12mi. to the temple we had visited the day before. There we decided to hitchhike to Hsipaw a larger town we could get transport from a bit easier. Well this was a treat we finally got to ride with the locals in this machine I had only seen in Asia. This guy is a tractor front engine with a flat bed in the back for sitting or hauling goods. We rode into town with this while getting hit on by two older Burmese women in the truck who wanted to touch our arm and leg hair a bit to regularly. Well we were making good time and things were looking good. We found some transport but they wanted to much for the trip so we decided against it. Well this is when things start to change a bit. After the transport left Nighn nighn told us that may be the last transport of the day and we might have to spend the night in this town. We weren’t to keen on that idea as we were ready to be in the jungle so then we waited… and waited playing games an asking everyone headed up the road “going to Nam son”? Finally after about 5hrs we found a ride. This ride was also unique, a tractor front again, this one had a one piston engine and a load of locals in the back maybe fifteen or so. This was going to have us there in six hours and all was well. As we have found out many times before Asian time and real time well they don’t really coincide. We were hanging off the back of this thing for twelve miserable hours.Our legs dangling from the back of the bed, the first four hours or so were quite enjoyable we shot smiles back and forth with passing traffic and the locals on board. Everyone was quite taken with two foreigners riding in this contraption as this was not a regular occurrence. Then we blew a tire, no problem we jumped out and helped the boys change it. Then hours started passing six turned into eight, eight turned into ten. By then we were no longer amused by the ride our butts were throbbing and the dang spare tire we picked up in town tried to push me off the truck every twenty minutes with all the bumps and jostling the truck was going through. By the time we reached our destination the snarled look from our faces had to be a scary seen to the kids whom come out to greet us at tweleve in the morning. Well we went and had the worst bowl of noodles to date which seemed to cap off the night…. But not so fast, it was still the nat festival and all the locals liked there drinks it seemed. We were the only sober people around and didn’t feel like dealing with drunks but of coarse every one of them wanted to say hello and follow us around. We were pretty grouchy by the end of this the saving grace was staying the night at the monastery were the head monk was not upset one bit that two foreigners followed by drunkin idiots showed up on his doorstep at one in the morning for a place to sleep.

The hike begins, we wake up early excited to get on our way. We head up and down the mountains keeping a good pace. We started to see just how beautiful this area was and the amazing panoramic views a camera could never fully capture. Well as the day went on we ate at another monastery sitting atop the largest peak in the area. The views were so amazing that I took a good while just soaking in the awesome views from atop the temple. Then we started heading into another kind of area, an area we didn’t know we were getting into. I guess one of the reasons foreigners hadn’t been to this area was this is one of the many spots that the government grew opium for export. And they didn’t really like people poking around in these areas as to the public they had been putting a drug free country campaign for the last few years. Well we noticed something was up when the few and far between cars that would pass our guide decided to jump in the bushes hiding from the road. Then he told us that he was a former rebel against the government and really gave us some insight into the affairs of the country. We were given all kind of info from who was running the country behind the scenes to the best way to hide mines for maximum death rate of your enemy. All in all it was a mixture of fun and fright with the famous phrase being thrown about “But don’t worry the never bother foreigners”. So we concluded our first day at the house of a local villager and called it an evening. Well as we woke up the following day we started our hike. One of the highlights beside the awesome villages and more pristine views was getting our lies straight on where we were coming from and where we were going in the case of running into army or police on the way. And again it was made clear that we didn’t know nighn nighn in the case of trouble and not to worry they never harm foreigners. Well another big day passed seeing sights taking photo’s and evading police by asking every person we saw if the hade seen any and where they were headed. But today our guide could not enter the village with us as he” already had trouble here” and didn’t want to go in. So Matt and I strolled into the only guest house in the village which also doubled as the loudest karaoke house I’ve ever been to. No I didn’t sing Michael Jackson was the only English singer they had and I didn’t want to go there. This village was cool everyone was very nice and we were told there had only been three foreigners in the last year to visit. The kids were very curious and loved to look at our pictures and touch the white skin. Well this was about it we hadn’t got in any trouble from the cops. We didn’t have to use all of our excessive lies we had dreamed up. All we got was a beautiful hike, curious locals, and some needless drama from our guide. But it was true to the terms of Myanmar that what you ask for and what you get is usually not the same.

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Photos

resting at the pagoda
chillin during the big trek

the boys
matt, nighn nigh, and me

big budda
on the hill big ole budda

Teaching the people
Matt lets this old guy check out his ipod

wedding dinner
cookin in Burma.. a family affair

goin to work
regular transit for myanmar peoples

homade
made from earth and only earth

our friends in the tranport to Nam son
worst ride of my life
Yep great once again

Comments

[OC]

When in Seattle?
This Blog it is an interactive way to keep w/Uass! Keep up teaching us of certain cultures that we weren't aware b4 Utime ThnX BiSh.

[Upeople]

Happy Bday
Bishop keep spreading happines for more years