Month: May 2016

Day 1 – April 21st

After a wonderful 6 nights in Krabi, we boarded a ferry via Ao Nang Travel at 10am and headed to Ko Lanta, a smaller island 2 hours away.  One of my longest and closest friends, Ashley, has a friend, Kendall, who lives in Bangkok.  When I asked Kendall for any and all recommendations she might have for Thailand, going to Ko Lanta and staying at the Pimalai Resort was number one on her list.  She said it was the perfect place to relax, unwind and remove yourself from the rest of the world.  However, when I looked up the hotel online, it was clearly way out of our budget.  But just like we did for the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, we collected some of our Chase Sapphire points and some of our Hotels.com credit and made it happen for 2 nights.  I think the only reason why my financial advisor (aka Vinny) actually approved this transaction was because one of those nights was my birthday.  Wish made, wish granted.

We arrived at the Pimalai Resort, a 5 star property, around 1:15pm.  The bed was decorated with rose pedals and a happy birthday sign while a cake sat patiently in the refrigerator waiting to be eaten.  I already feel special.

It was lunch time so we needed to decide which of the 4 restaurants onsite we wanted to go to (talk about stressful).  Rak Talay, which had their tables and chairs in the sand, right on the beach, unanimously won our vote. Life really doesn’t get any better than this.

The Pimalai Resort is located on a private beach, which is rare in Thailand.  Although the islands are stunningly gorgeous, they are overcrowded with tourists so it’s hard to fully enjoy your surroundings.  This though, this was paradise.   Just us, the ocean and our much appreciated umbrella.  We swam, we walked, we laughed, we enjoyed.

Around 6pm, we ordered some mango, pineapple, banana, mint, yogurt smoothies (all in one, not five different kinds) and watched yet another incredible sunset.  This giant orange then red ball of fire literally dropped one breath at a time from high in the sky down beyond the ocean’s horizon.  It was like a magic trick – now you see it, now you don’t.  I have a video capturing this AH-HA moment because it was just too good not to.

Since we are in a fancy hotel and a fancy room, we decided to take advantage of it and had a night in.  Literally.  After 7pm, we didn’t leave again.  We ordered room service (which is rarely offered at the places we visit) and enjoyed each other’s company on a slower, more intimate level.  Not at a loud restaurant like almost every other night has been on this trip.  It was the perfect way to end chapter 31 of my life.  When I see you tomorrow, I will be 32.

Day 2 – April 22nd

It’s really weird to be on the opposite side of the world, without friends or family, on your birthday.  Today, April 22, is technically the day I exited my mother’s womb (thanks again for giving me shelter for those 9 months, Mom!) but back at home, my birthday won’t officially start until 14 hours later.  So when should I acknowledge it?  Thailand time or America time?  I chose BOTH!  Why not?  Might as well take advantage of a legit 38 hour celebration.  I figured Vinny and I can have today together and then everyone else can keep the party going after the clock strikes midnight.  However, I was beyond shocked to wake up this morning to so many birthday texts and emails.  Not only do I appreciate my friends and family remembering my special day but thinking so far in advance to send me wishes on Thailand time.  WOW!!  I was speechless.  Birthdays are just the best.  They make you feel like the most loved human being.  You hear from those you just talked to yesterday and those you haven’t talked to since last year. Any excuse to celebrate is a good excuse and this is just one of them.

We started the day with breakfast at their Spice ‘n Rice restaurant, which overlooks one of their two pools and the beach.  Definitely felt like we were on the upper level of the Titanic.  For being complimentary, the food options were endless.  Western style and Eastern style.  Any coffee you wanted.  Eggs your way.  Tons of different fruits, breads, meats, pastries, etc.  Calories don’t count on your birthday – bring it on!

Next up we went kayaking.  So awesome being in the middle of the ocean with nothing else around you.  The water was a mixture of different shades of blue (dark teal, crystal clear, baby blue – all depending on the sun), the mountains were a perfect combination of green and brown and the weather was ideal.  Vinny did most of the rowing as I put my feet up and tried to enjoy this special treatment he was giving me since it is rare (wink, wink).

Then we took a much deserved break…

Followed by some uneventful yet fun snorkeling…

Then it was time to eat again.  We went to the upper part of the resort for lunch at the Banyan Tree Poolside Cafe.  This was located on a high hill, overlooking their second pool and the beach.  Deliciously satisfying food and pretty amazing views.  Let the good times continue rolling.

After stuffing our faces, we took another break…

And ended our trio of activities with paddle boarding.  Unfortunately, I needed to keep my balance standing up so I couldn’t take any photos.  Sorry.  It sure was fun though.  The only other time we had both gone paddle boarding was on the Big Island of Hawaii.  This was much easier though because there were far less waves.  It definitely requires strength still but not as much commotion in between.

Just like yesterday, we had mango, pineapple, banana, mint, yogurt smoothies (try saying that three times over again) and then sat on the sand for a front row view of the sunset.  While we were anxiously waiting to see if it would be as breathtaking as yesterdays, we became mesmerized by this little crab digging a deep hole for himself.   He would gather the sand with his legs in a ball, walk really fast sideways and then quickly toss it far away.  Then back again.  Let this repeat for a good 30 minutes.  We couldn’t take our eyes off him.  Very self sufficient.  Very impressive.

Here we are, again, watching the sunset.   In a matter of minutes, it went from orange sherbet to cotton candy pink (yes, I have a sweet tooth).  Ugh, now I’m craving sugar.

We ended this happy, magical, fun in the sun, kind of day with dinner at Rak Talay again.  Cheers to 32, I think I’m going to like you 🙂

Day 3 – April 23

Although my birthday is technically over here in Thailand, it’s still happening back in the States.  I’m telling you, this time difference thing is working my favor.  Everyone deserves more than one day in my opinion.  Thank you to those who made it so special.  I love you, I love you, I love you.  You contribute everyday, my birthday or not, to this massive, sometimes obnoxious, smile on my face and words will never express my appreciation for your role in making me one happy girl.

Unfortunately, after 14 nights, it’s time to leave the island life for now.  We had breakfast, packed up, relaxed and boarded the Pimalai Resort’s boat back to the mainland of Krabi, where we will then catch a flight to Chiang Mai, located in the Northern part of Thailand.

Until then, stay classy my friends…

Day 1 – April 15th

Goodbye Koh Tao.  Thank you for some of the best memories of my life and some of the worst.  With half sadness to leave such a wonderful island and half happiness to start fresh in a new place, we boarded our Lomprayah ferry at 9:30am.  We went from Koh Tao to Koh Phangan to Koh Samui via boat then boarded a bus to Krabi and finally a shuttle to Ao Nang.  Another long day of travel but I really don’t mind it, especially when everything goes smooth and is somewhat on time.

We arrived at the Ban Sainai Resort around 5:45pm and were kindly greeted with an ice cold washcloth, a refreshing Butterfly Pea Flower Tea welcome drink  (never heard of it but according to Bon Appetit magazine “it is the next big thing in the exotic beverage category”) and a much appreciated free upgrade.  We are paying $78 a night here but will be sleeping in a $120 a night room.  I just love when that happens.  Ban Sainai is a breathtaking resort surrounded by limestone mountain cliffs, lush greenery, lakes and a lovely salt water pool.  Not to mention, a ridiculously happy, friendly, helpful staff.  They give Thailand the nickname “Land of Smiles”.  When we got to our cottage, I noticed they provide you with homemade complimentary plantain chips, a beach bag filled with beach towels, a fruit platter and a wide variety of toiletries.  Keep in mind this hotel is a 3 star, not a 4 star or 5 star.  But so far, it’s impressing me to that level for sure.  Something tells me the next 6 nights are going to be fabulous.

After we unpacked, walked around the resort and got our bearings, we headed to the onsite restaurant for dinner around 7:30pm.  Since we are a 20 minute walk to the town/beach, we decided to have a low key night and “stay in”, especially when the hotel’s restaurant is right on a lake in the middle of nature.  However, I couldn’t handle being outside in the heat.  There is something about the hot air that wakes up my bed bug bites and it becomes the most uncomfortable feeling in the world.  I am now at 126 in total but who’s counting (I sure am).  Unfortunately, I got my food to go, left Vinny high and dry and ran as quickly as possible towards the air conditioning in hopes of some relief.  This sucks.

Day 2 – April 16th

We had a lazy daisy kind of day today which predominately consisted of laying by the pool.  But it’s not just any old pool.  You are constantly captivated by the picturesque landscape surrounding the area.  The limestone cliffs are calling your name in a very deep, overwhelming yet soothing, calming voice.  The palm trees are swaying back and forth providing you with a nice, cool breeze.  We had lunch, listened to music, talked then didn’t talk, went swimming and ordered mango smoothies.  No day is fully complete in Thailand without a mango smoothie.

After a few hours, we headed back to the room and caught up on some “past due” things such as planning a few day trips while here in Krabi, booking our Chiang Mai AirBnB and applying for our Vietnam visas.  That’s the thing about traveling, there is always something that needs to be done.  At night, we took the hotels complimentary shuttle into town, walked around for a little and bought myself a bottle of calamine lotion for only 27 THB (about $0.77 USD) because the cream I currently have is doing absolutely nothing for me.  Here’s hoping this is the magic potion.  Poor Vinny has to drown me in it. Since he refused to touch the bites, he ended up putting one drop on a Qtip 126 times over again.  Although he does huff and puff, I know he’s more than happy to help me out (or at least that’s what I try to convince myself).

Day 3 – April 17th

Yet another lazy day laying by the pool and catching up on a few things.  We are really taking this vacation from our vacation serious finally.  Around 6pm, we went into town and watched the sunset from Ao Nang Beach.  Observing the people around us was incredibly entertaining.  It was like a crayon box with all different colors and shapes.  Some sharp, some not so sharp.  Some colorful, some dull.  Some new, some old.  Some in perfect shape, some a little more damaged.  I just love how different we are yet we all have two eyes, two ears, a mouth and a nose.  With every inch that the sun dropped down, it continuously changed the sky’s appearance.  These pictures almost resemble a few different nights but they were actually taken in a span of 15 minutes.

Ao Nang Beach, which is in the province of Krabi, reminds me a lot of Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii.  There is a main strip consisting of super duper touristy shops, chain establishments such as Starbucks, McDonalds and Subway, restaurants trying to recruit you to eat there and a “book your ferry/activity here” type of place every other blink.  The lights, the noise and the commotion all send an energy shock through your veins and really make you come alive.  It’s fascinating.  The first four countries we visited were so underdeveloped, poverty stricken and foreign to us.  But here in Thailand, it doesn’t feel that much different than what we are used to, for good or for bad.  There’s a 7-11 on every corner.  English is widely spoken.  Tourists outweigh locals, which certainly wasn’t the case in India, Nepal, Bhutan or Myanmar.  It’s definitely a nice break from feeling so removed from the rest of the world but it’s also sad because it almost seems as though Thailand has lost itself to tourism.  It seems to lack culture.  Maybe it’s just on the islands though, we’ll see.

That night we had dinner at Diver’s Inn and ordered Pad Thai (duh) and chicken in garlic and pepper with of course, some rice.  Rice is with every meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Rice, rice, rice, rice, rice.

Day 4 – April 18th

After a lovely few days of lounging around, we decided to get our lazy butts off the pool chair and do some exercise (in a fun way of course).  I had read that Krabi has some of the best rock climbing in Asia so why not see what all the hype is about. We decided to go with Krabi Rock Climbing (I wonder how long it took them to think up this name), which is owned by a local husband and wife.  They picked us up from our hotel at 8am, drove us to the nearby dock, we boarded a long tail boat and made our way to Railay Beach, about 15 minutes away.  The scenery heading over there was exactly what I had envisioned for Thailand.  Teal blue waters with gorgeous limestone cliffs.  No picture can really ever do the beauty of this place justice.

Once we arrived in Railay, we then walked 15 minutes to Phanang Beach where our rock climbing adventure took place.  Vinny used to do some indoor courses when he was in high school and I went rock climbing once before in Alberta, Canada – 7,000 feet above ground.  But that was considered “via ferata” which means there are metal foot placements in the rocks to make it a little easier.  This time around, there is no help.  You have to find your own crevices to put your hands and feet.  The only thing saving me from freaking out is that you are in a harness which has a rope that the rock climbing guide is holding on to just case you slip or lose strength.  You have to put so much trust in that person because your life is literally in their hands.  It was definitely harder than it looked.  You have to use so many muscles in your legs and arms to hold yourself up, glue yourself to the rock and stay focused on the mission.  When you finally get to the top and take a minute to look around, it’s amazing.  High above ground, high above everyone else, you enter a world of your own.  You see people taking photos of you as you are taking photos of them.  I would go and then Vinny would go.  It would have been more fun we could have climbed together, side by side, in a race but I’m sure either way it would have ended in a Thai (you get it?).

This is where we started, at the bottom…

Vinny looking up with fear…

Not a bad place to be…

Here I am, gearing up in my harness…

Don’t mind the nasty bites on my upper left thigh, I promise I’m not contagious…

Sometimes you just want to hide in a rock from the rest of the world…

And then sometimes you just want to hug a rock, hoping it hugs you back…

Getting a good stretch in while I can…

When you finally make it to the top…

And then look down, trying to appreciate the beauty surrounding you from afar…

Go Vinny, Go!

He makes it look so easy…

Check out those muscles (hehehe)…

I spy with my little eye…

Now that my legs were weak and my arms were sore, we decided to grab some lunch to pump some energy back into us.  Before we did that, we met an awesome family from India who were visiting Thailand for their parents 60th wedding anniversary.  We got to talking about Incredible India, our experience there and how much we genuinely fell in love with the country and the culture.  It’s always so fun reminiscing on those 7 weeks because it feels as though they were forever ago.  After shoving our faces with food, we headed toward Railay West and laid on the sand under a tree with a handful of other people.  It wasn’t overly impressive of a beach but I think that’s because the tide was fairly low.  And the water was at boiling temperature.  If I would have thrown in a bag of penne pasta it would have cooked in less than 5 minutes.  Not very refreshing when it’s 100+ degrees outside.  It was still beautiful though.  No matter how crowded, rocky or dirty a beach in Thailand may be, it will always have a certain glow to it.

We took a long tail boat back to Ao Nang Beach, walked around the town, bought a new hat to help protect my face from looking 62 and had dinner at the hotel.  We had such a fun day taking our relationship to new heights…

Day 5 – April 19th

Now it was Vinny’s turn to buy a hat.  But he didn’t go for style like I did.  He went for functionality and ended up with an awful looking fisherman’s hat.  I couldn’t persuade him otherwise.

Today we embarked on a full day snorkeling trip with a company called Thalassa.  We met at 9:45am (Burger King was the location, I promise we didn’t choose that spot on our own) and boarded their speed boat shortly thereafter.  We then picked up a few people at Railay West and it was so much better than yesterday.  The water was gorgeous and the tide was high.  Crazy how just a few hours and a few minor elements can change the vibe.  There were 13 people in total in our group.  A family of 5 from Italy, a couple from Canada, a couple from Germany and then two girlfriends (friends that are girls) from I believe Sweden or Norway.  Our main guide was local and our co-guide was from Spain.

We went snorkeling in 2 different spots and saw clown fish (aka Nemo), a sand shark, barracudas, etc.  I brought the wrong GoPro case with me today so unfortunately I couldn’t capture any of the beauty from the underwater.  I was so bummed.  Such an amateur move.

Here we are at Maya Bay, which is where “The Beach” with Leonard DiCaprio was filmed back in 1999 I believe.  Can you say touristy and overcrowded?  But I closed my eyes and  envisioned this island with just us on it. Perfection.

Phi Phi Don & Phi Phi Lei…

Bamboo Island, where we had a home cooked Thai lunch that consisted of noodles, fried rice, stir fry chicken and veggie spring rolls.  A very remote island and once all the Asian tour groups left, you felt you were alone.  Crystal clear water.

Chicken Island (can you see why it got its name)…

Searching for the meaning of life….

“Sailing takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be.  Just a dream and the wind to carry me.  And soon I will be free” – Christopher Cross

That one time you decided to wear matching bathing suits…

We ended the day back at Phra Nang Beach (where we went rock climbing yesterday).  There was an 8 person wedding happening next to us, with a playlist that consisted of 4 songs on repeat for at least 2 hours.

An entertaining girl having her boyfriend take risky photos of her…

Fish out of water…

Who needs food trucks when you can have food boats?

Training for the Olympics maybe?

And an epic sunset to close out this epic day…

Day 6 – April 20th

Our last day was spent exactly how we wanted it to be.  Just another lazy, uneventful, relaxing day in paradise.

Overall, we loved Krabi.  It’s overcrowded and touristy but there’s always something to do, something to see and somewhere to be.  The day trips help you escape the chaoticness and enter a world of tranquility.  These last handful of days were the perfect recipe.  A cup of doing absolutely nothing, a tablespoon of adventure and exploration with a pinch of sugar and spice and everything nice.  Ban Sainai Resort is one of our favorite new hotels on this trip.  The location is amazing, the food is delicious, the room was big and clean, the shower was heavenly, the service was incredible and they don’t charge 3% for using a credit card.  I highly recommend this place if you are planning a trip to Thailand.  Four thumbs up.

Tomorrow we head to Koh Lanta, our third and final island…

Day 1 – April 9th

We left the Triumph Hotel in Mandalay, Myanmar on Friday, April 8th at 11am, got to the airport at 12pm, boarded our flight at 2:30pm, landed in Bangkok, Thailand around 4:30pm, took an hour and fifteen minute Uber ride (which was a male driver with Hello Kitty head rests and seat belt covers, love it) to the city center, arrived at the Lomprayah head office where we picked up our transportation tickets around 6pm, grabbed a quick bite to eat at 7pm, sat down on our overnight bus at 9pm, pulled up to Chumphon Pier at 5:30am, walked onto our ferry at 7am and finally stepped foot on Koh Tao Island at 9:30am, which is located on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand.  Are you as exhausted reading this as we were living it?  Almost 24 hours of travel between cars, flights, boats and buses.  But I’m sure it will all be worth it for some much appreciated relaxation and endless fun in the sun.

Dinner in Bangkok…

Vinny getting a workout…

Our overnight bus…

Our high speed ferry to Koh Tao…

Zombie Vinny at 5:30am…

When we got off the ferry, we hopped into the hotels complimentary topless truck and made our way to The Aminjirah around 10am.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t check in until 2pm.  Bummer! We’ve been so spoiled in the past that we almost didn’t think twice about it this time around.  Kind of annoying since they weren’t sold out but that’s their policy so be it.  At least we can lay by the pool for now.  Not a bad alternative plan given it overlooked the ocean with million dollar views.

Around 2pm, we were able to finally check into our room only to be greeted by disappointment.  This was definitely not what was shown online.  The photos and description were completely different.  One may call this false advertising.  Not cool.  When I said something to the front desk, they blamed it on Hotels.com for having the wrong information. Whoever’s fault it is, I don’t care.  I just want what we were promised and what we paid for.  After a few minutes of going back and forth, they finally apologized (somewhat) and said they would happily upgrade us tomorrow.  I know they are not completely full tonight so I’m confused why we have to wait.  It seems like everything is pulling teeth with them for some reason.  However, my inner thoughts were saying to me  “don’t dwell on the small things, Kim.  You are in paradise.  Relax, enjoy and move on”.  Okay, I’m easily convinced.

Before we left for our big adventure in January, I had about 11 months left on my Toyota Prius lease.  Although I absolutely loved my car (Betty White was her name), I didn’t really feel the need to pay $334 a month to have it just sit in my Dad’s garage.  Plus $70 for the limited insurance.  I discovered a website called SwapALease.com and was able to have someone take over my lease 2 days before we boarded our flight to India. Talk about in the nick of time.  Phewwwwwwwww.  Long story long, the guy who took it over suggested that we get scuba certified in Koh Tao (diving capital of Thailand) and then use that certification in Indonesia and Philippines.  So we are doing just that.  The main reason why we are here on this tiny Gilligan’s like island is to learn how to be one with the underworld.  After doing a ton of research about various companies, we decided to go with Roctopus.  For one, the name is awesome.  But really the reviews were extremely positive.  Our 3.5 day course starts today.  Probably not the smartest idea given we are still brain dead from our insane travel day but since it’s only for a few hours I think we can manage (well I can, let’s see how Vinny holds up).

We had cappuccinos at Morning View (right next door to Roctopus) at 3pm to give us a much needed energy boost…

And then walked to Roctopus at 4pm for orientation.  Blah, blah, blah.  Always boring the first day.  Videos, paperwork, introductions, etc.

Since The Aminjirah is about a 25 minute walk into town, we decided to rent motorbikes for the 6 nights we will be here.  Knowing the next 3 mornings will require an early start time, we didn’t think planning for an extra half hour was necessary.  Plus, for only 150 THB ($4.20) a day, it’s a win-win.  However, I had to let them keep my passport.  Ummm that’s scary.  I can’t go anywhere if they lose it.  Oh geez.  Trust, Kim, trust.  That night, we grabbed a bite to eat at Thaita Italian Restaurant, which was super duper authentic and yummy.  It is owned by a husband and wife from Turino, Italy, who opened the place 12 years ago.  It’s #1 on TripAdvisor,  they make their own pasta everyday and only offer a few options on the menu – all handwritten.  We were there around 7:30pm and they had just opened.  We felt like the senior citizens who go to Denny’s for the early bird special.

Our 32 year old scuba instructor, Martijn (from the Netherlands), gave us homework that needed to be completed by tomorrow morning.  HOMEWORK????  I haven’t heard that word in over 10 years.  One and a half hours later, we finished it and couldn’t wait to close our eyes for some much needed sleep.

Day 2 – April 10th

Rise and shine.  It’s your first full day of scuba school.  We were so excited.  Our alarm went off at 6am, we were on our motorbike by 6:40am and at Roctopus by 7am.  We spent the first hour learning everything we needed to know about our equipment. It’s crazy how just a few things can change us from being a land-dweller to somewhat of an aquatic being. A mask lets you see clearly. A scuba regulator and tank provide the air you need. Fins allow you to swim efficiently.  A wetsuit helps you stay warm. And a buoyancy control device (BCD) gives you the control you need to hover, weightless underwater – eye to eye with a fish (hopefully never a shark).  You inflate the BCD when you want to float up and deflate it when you want to float down.  Pretty neat.  Do you know that S.C.U.B.A is actually an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus?  I didn’t but now I do.  After we mastered the terminology and purpose of all the various devices, we made our way to the pool where we spent the next two hours learning new techniques and going through a series of tests including treading water for 12 minutes (thanks to the Slade boys – Jesse, Tyler and Dustin – for torturing me growing up on waterskiing trips I mastered this task.  In a playful little sister way, not in a malicious fashion, I promise), swimming with our fins in a graceful figure 8 form, holding our breath underwater for a minute, clearing the snorkel when its filled with water, etc.  All of those were easy breezy.  The one I had the most difficulty with and the one that could prevent me from getting certified is breathing underwater through my nose.  I know it sounds like riding a bike to some but I’ve never been able to to do this.  At the age of 31, pathetic, I know.  Whether it’s falling while waterskiing or jumping into a pool or diving under an ocean wave, plugging my nose is the first thing I do, before anything else. I just can’t seem to figure it out.  And today was no exception, although it’s more important than ever that I learn how.  Better luck tomorrow or else I can kiss scuba diving goodbye.  To top this frustration off, as i was exiting the pool, full of our diving equipment and the ever so heavy oxygen tank weighing me down, I stepped on a bumble bee.  OUCH!!!  The stinger went right into the bottom of my foot.  Oh wow, that hurts.  I had to carefully sit down as quickly as possible without letting the oxygen tank knock me over first.  Not fun.  Martijn was able to get the stinger out fairly quickly which hopefully will help decrease whatever reaction I might have.  Speaking of which, why did the bee got to the barbershop?  To get a buzz-cut.  HA HA HA!

That afternoon, we had lunch at Wind Beach with John, who is getting his scuba certification as well.  It’s just the 3 of us in a group.  John is 40 years young and originally from Washington DC but has been traveling the world for the last 3 years on an abundance of different sailboats across various oceans.  Such a unique, inspiring story.  The restaurant views were pretty impeccable as well.  The ocean was fifty shades of blue.  The weather was warm not hot.  The breeze was refreshing not annoying.  With my Pad Thai noodles, red chicken curry and mango smoothie, I couldn’t help but love life at this very moment (despite my foot swelling up more and more with every hour that passed from the bee sting).

Class finished around 4pm, we grabbed some cappuccino’s at Morning View again, went back to The Aminjirah, did some more homework for our test tomorrow (ahhhhh) and switched into our new “upgraded” room (although it’s what we should have had from the beginning).  Despite the initial impression being okay and the views from the balcony being spectacular, after about a minute and a half we both screamed YUCK!  This room was even worse.  I don’t think it had been cleaned in at least a month.

I know you are thinking we are extremely high maintenance, over dramatic and never satisfied, which is completely fair.  But here is why we were so grossed out at the moment.

Gecko poop on the ground (not just one pile but two)…

Dead mosquito smashed on the wall…

Moth nest growing on the curtains…

And piles of someone else’s hair all over the floor (couldn’t capture this on camera).  Wouldn’t you be appalled too?  I can’t complain twice though, can I?  After much back and forth thanks to the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other, I decided to suck it up and just deal with it.  I’ll just spend as little time inside as possible, which won’t be hard in such a beautiful place like Koh Tao.  So I immediately went to the pool and watched the sunset, which turned my frown upside down real quick.  I sure hope keeping my mouth shut doesn’t bite me in the butt in the long run.

That night, we rode our motorbike to Mint Kitchen for a very authentic, hole in the wall, delicious, inexpensive, spicy as a Latin female dancer, kind of dinner.

Day 3 – April 11th

6:45am wake up call, 7:45am call time.  We had more academics in the morning with videos, review and then our 50 question multiple choice (which always makes it a bit easier) test.  We needed to get at least 40 right to pass.  I hate tests.  No matter how challenging or common sense they may be, they are never fun.  My palms become sweaty, my heart races rapidly and my head starts to spin.  For this reason, I was never a straight A student.  However, I got 43 out 50 correct so that’s that.  Yipppeeee!!

Today we actually go out into the ocean.  The salt water.  The deep blue sea.  And I can’t wait.  We boarded a massive boat with around 20 other Roctopus students and headed out.  The front of the boat was blessed by Buddhist monks to ensure a safe and pleasant journey, which made me feel complete inside.  Time to get all of our gear set up, which definitely takes a while.

Our first real dive was at the Japanese Gardens, which was only 5.5 meters (about 18 feet) for 15 minutes.  Our second real dive was at Twins, which was 10.1 meters (about 33 feet) for 41 minutes.  These dives unfortunately weren’t for pure pleasure.  We continued to learn new skills and were tested on them afterwards.  Most of them were easy except for the breathing out of my nose, on the ocean floor, without a mask on.  First attempt, fail.  Second attempt, fail.  Come on, you need to master this to move on.  Don’t give up.  Take a deep breath, calm down and make it happen.  Third attempt, fail.  Ugh,  Fourth attempt, SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I knew I could do it.  Yay!!!!!  The next thing we had to do was take our regulator (that simple plastic piece that provides you the oxygen to breath from your tank), throw it behind your shoulder, breath bubbles out of your mouth, then swipe your arm backwards to retrieve the regulator and put it properly back in your mouth.  Wow, panic attack.  But manageable.  Go us.  We all passed the days tests.  Some easier than others but we all survived.  It is a pretty magical moment when you stop to look around and realize how deep you are.  It’s a whole new world down under.  So mesmerizing.  You feel as though you are living inside a massive fish tank with beautiful coral, colorful fish and various sea creatures.  But in reality, nothing is in captivity.  This is all the wild.  Anything is possible.

What a long yet wonderful and successful 10 hour day we just had.  The 4 of us (Vinny, me, John and Martijn) went to grab some smoothies after class and enjoyed another stunning sunset.  Unfortunately, around 7pm, Vinny and I both started feeling nauseous.  Maybe because we were in the sun all day?  Maybe because we were on a boat in the middle of the choppy ocean?  Maybe we because we went 33 feet underwater?  Who knows but we decided to call it a night and head back to our hotel for some rest.  As soon as we opened the door, I ran to the bathroom and threw up.  Hmmmmmm, this is odd.  Then Vinny followed.  For the next 3 hours, we were like a ping pong ball going back and forth.  Still not sure what it was from but luckily it didn’t last throughout the night.  Hopefully we have enough strength to complete our scuba diving course tomorrow because that would suck if not.  Cheers to a good night sleep…

Day 4 – April 12th

Our alarms were scheduled to go off at 4:30am because we had to be at Roctopus at 6am; however, I woke up at 3:45am to the awful feeling that my body was on fire.  Not fire that could be related to throwing up last night but stinging, burning, itching fire all over.  Without thinking about it, I just starting scratching anywhere and everywhere under the assumption that I got a few mosquito bites in the last few days.  Nothing abnormal as insects for some reason love me way more than I love them.  As I was digging my nails into my skin in hopes of receiving some kind of relief, a lightbulb went off in my head.  I don’t think these are mosquito bites in fact.  Given the rather disgusted mindset we have from this hotel I freaked out thinking they might be bed bugs.  Holy shit.  No.  This can’t be happening.  After being a host to fleas in 2014 and a host to mites in 2015 (yes I am a person not an animal, I promise), this would be my worst nightmare come true.  I instantly became a crazy person.  Detective Cantor.  Keep in mind Vinny is still sleeping so I have to remain somewhat quiet.  I turned on my iPhone flashlight and started inspecting the bed.  Without any effort, I found a little red bug casually and calmly crawling along.  Oh no.  Please don’t tell me my theory is true.  A few seconds go by and I found another one, a little baby.  Ahhhhhhh.  I frantically strip the sheets on my side to find the mattress is covered in what looks like little black dots.  Is that a sign of bed bugs?  What does that mean?  So of course I obsessively googled anything and everything I could and long behold, it’s all pointing to bed bugs. Eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww.  This is the last thing I want to do deal with so close to getting scuba certified this morning. I couldn’t let the bugs escape or else the hotel would never believe me so I grabbed a few drinking glasses and captured three of them for proof.  I then threw my pajamas in a ziplock bag and moved all of my stuff as far away from the bed as possible.   I’m just hoping that they haven’t already entered our backpacks uninvited and created a home for themselves.  Oh please no.  Let this not get any worse.  We did everything we could for the time being but will have to handle it when we get back later today after our final scuba diving class.

I am doing everything in my power to not let the unbearable discomfort I’m currently in effect my experience today.  What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger is what I am replaying in my head over and over and over again right now.  The three of us (Vinny, me and John) hired a photographer to document our last day of scuba diving, both on the surface and underwater.  And although Vinny and I both look a little pale, tired and distressed from the past 24 hours, I promise, we are loving every minute.

First up is to prepare our gear, making sure it all works…

Next up, is to jump in the ocean off the boat – one hand holding your weight belt and the other hand holding your mask.  As soon as my body touched the ocean, I instantly felt a sense of relief to my bites thanks to the salt water.  Okay, this is manageable right now.

Our first dive, which was at Chumphon Pinnacle for a total time of 33 minutes and a depth of 17.7 meters (about 58 feet), was beyond incredible.  The visibility was so clear and there was so much sea life happening all around us.  Thousands of fish swimming together, an eel observing us as we observed him (or her), coral beyond belief and so much more.  We were literally living a Finding Nemo reality.  Completely indescribable.

Our second dive, which was at White Rock North for a total time of 35 minutes and a depth of  14.6 meters down (about 48 feet) was pretty stunning as well but not as breathtaking as our first dive.  We had a few series of skill set tests and wham bam, thank you ma’am we are officially certified!!!!!  Woohooo!!!! Given how the last three days have panned out with a bee sting, some kind of stomach situation and bed bugs, accomplishing this bucket list item means so much more to me.  It wasn’t easy and it didn’t come naturally but boy was it fun.  I can’t wait to go on some fun dives in the future.

Now that we were on a complete high from our morning, we had to quickly come back to reality and deal with our bed bug infestation.  Ugh.  Talk about a bi-polar day so far.  Down then up and now back down.  When I respectfully and calmly told the manager about my situation and showed her the handful of bites that decorated my body, her first reaction was “how do you know it’s from here?”.  Oh no you didn’t.  Don’t you dare put this on another hotel.  “How do I know?  Come with me and I will show you”.  Her face was genuinely surprised when I pointed to the trapped bed bugs and revealed the nasty mattress stains.  She apologized a few times and offered us another upgrade to the best room they have with a private pool.  Unfortunately, it’s too late.  We need to get out of here as soon as possible.  We politely declined and asked for a full refund for all 6 nights.  She without hesitation agreed and we parted ways civilly.  This will haunt me for a while, I know it.  Vinny and I had to scramble to find another hotel for the remaining 3 nights we have on Koh Tao.  That’s when we ended up at The Tarna Align Resort, a little fancier than usual but much needed after this horror story come true.

What a hectic last 4 days we’ve had.  But I truly believe our vacation from our vacation will begin right now.  We headed to dinner around 6pm at Fizz, which was directly on the beach.  The chairs were neon green bean bags and the views were priceless.  I literally and figuratively took a deep breath, put my feet up and enjoyed the rest of the evening as much as I could.  We watched an epic sunset, indulged in a tasty Thai meal and then headed to Victor’s Bar where Roctopus threw all of us “graduates” a fun little celebratory party.  It was so great spending more time with our dive teacher Martijn and our new friend John.  Reggae music loudly blasting in the background, drinks loosely flowing, and a Peter Pan like vibe where no one wants to grow up was exactly what I needed to keep my mind of the eighty or so bites all over my body from my head to my toes.  They sure don’t discriminate when it comes to their breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Blood is blood.

Day 5 – April 13th

Today is Songkran, or Thai New Year, which is a Buddhist festival and the country’s most important public holiday. The word Songkran is derived from Sanskrit and means “Astrological Passage”.  Songkran marks the end of the dry season (April is Thailand’s hottest month) and the beginning of the annual rains in the fifth month of the Thai lunar year. While this holiday has a significant importance to most locals, it has adopted a whole new meaning for others.  Nowadays, the throwing of water is the festival’s highlight. In fact, the entire country turns into a celebratory war zone. Children with huge water guns roam the streets or sit in the back of their parents’ pick-up trucks, which are loaded with buckets of water that is dispensed on anyone who happens to be within reach.  In some parts of the country, it is a one day celebration.  Others, it’s a few days.  While places like Chiang Mai in the north, celebrate for as long as a week. Local versions of Songkran are also observed in Cambodia, Laos, Burma and amongst ethnic minorities in Yunnan, southern China and Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India.  It’s basically a massive water fight.  You can’t step foot outside without getting drenched.  We had to see what all the hype was about so we made our way down to the main street on our motorbike.  Within seconds, we were wet.  A few kids squirted us.  Within minutes, we were soaked.  A few adults poured water buckets on us.  It didn’t matter if you were 7 or 70, local or foreign, participating or not participating – water was all around.  We stood on a corner and observed for a while.  What an awesome tradition.

Unfortunately, I just wanted to be indoors with the air conditioning for most the of the day as my bite count was now over 100 and the heat doesn’t help the burning sensation.  I wanted to crawl out of my skin, shed the first layer I have and pull my hair out.  No words can ever describe the amount of discomfort I am currently in.  But I will manage as long as I know they didn’t follow me here.  Only time will time.  The saying “goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” sure has a whole new meaning now…

Day 6 – April 14th

Today was our last full day in Koh Tao and we certainly wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.  Our first mission was to find somewhere to get our entire wardrobe washed and dried.  Not hung dry like everyone usually does in Asia but dried in an actual machine.  At the highest possible temperature we could. That is the only way to kill the bed bugs and its cycle of reproduction.  We tried to do it yesterday but everything was respectfully closed due to the holiday.  Great timing, huh?  Thanks to the Yellow House, we were able to do every piece of clothing we both had (which really isn’t that much in the big picture) for $14 USD.  AMAZING.  Our second mission of the day was to plop our butts on some sand and do absolutely nothing.  We took a 20 minute ride on our motorbike to Freedom Beach, which was recommended by Martijn, and it was stunning.  Picture perfect.  Endless shade from overgrown trees, hardly anyone else there, clear blue water and peacefully quiet surroundings.  All we could hear were the tiny, almost nonexistent waves crashing along the shore.  The only thing missing was Wilson from Cast Away.  I couldn’t be happier right now.  We frolicked in the water, rested our minds and soaked up every last inch of relaxation we could.  What a lovely way to end such a rollercoaster of emotions over these past 6 days.

That night, we had dinner at The Gallery, “A Complete Sensory Experience”.  It is a local Thai restaurant that is also a photo gallery, wine bar and spa.

Despite all the hardships that occurred this past week on Koh Tao, we still managed to thoroughly enjoy our time here, mainly in part because of our thrilling scuba diving experience. The island is very small and remote with a cute town existing of restaurants, bars, beaches and viewpoints.  It’s a bummer we had so many road bumps along the way but that’s the price you pay when traveling like we are.  It’s not always going to be margaritas and sunsets.  Sometimes things don’t go your way and sometimes you are thrown a curve ball when you are least expecting it.  But just like in life, it’s how you respond that makes all the difference.  I decided not to let the bed bugs rain on my parade and although they sure did beat me down, I managed to get right back up again.

Day 1 – April 4th 

Thanks to the never ending snoring Monk (who put my mom, dad and sister to shame), we barely got any sleep on our overnight bus ride.  Plus, just as our eyes were about to shut down around 3am, we ended up arriving into Mandalay at 3:45am, which was two hours earlier than expected.  Usually this would be much appreciated but when most hotels don’t let you check in until 2pm, it wasn’t necessarily ideal in our case.  What are we going to do for the next ten hours?  We were walking zombies with half of a brain scrambling to not fall down the stairs while exiting the bus so coming up with a plan was most likely not going to happen.  As we got in a cab and headed towards Triumph Hotel, our home for the next four nights, we figured we would test our luck and see if our room was available (after all, it worked in our favor in Bagan).  If it wasn’t, we were willing to pay for a fifth night.  All we wanted at this point was a shower, a sink to brush our teeth and a bed to sleep on, even if it cost us a pretty penny.  Thank Buddha though because when we showed up at the front desk, eyes half open, bodies struggling with each step, they were so kind to let us check in, at no additional cost.  Absolutely amazing.  Good night, good morning and most likely, good afternoon.

Let me give you a little bit of background about this fourth and final stop.  Established in 1857, Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar (first largest is Yangon). It is located in the upper part of the country, on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River.  Mandalay is where the Royal Palace of the Konbaung Dynasty is located, which was the last monarchy and independent kingdom of Burma. In 1886, present day Myanmar was conquered by British colonial forces. Ratanapunja was the ancient name of the city. It was given the name Mandalay based on the 236-meter high Mandalay Hill, which is currently one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city (we will be visiting this hill so stay tuned for photos.  I know you are hanging on the edge of your seat with excitement but try not to fall off).  Today, Mandalay serves as the cultural center of Myanmar and is home to several Buddhist monasteries. While the city is historically relevant, it has definitely become more developed in the last handful of years.  Many people we’ve met along the way have said we should skip Mandalay if time is limited but since we’ve got nothing but time, we decided to check it out.

Okay, back to me now.  After waking up at 10am, which still only gave us five hours of sleep, we walked to SP Bakery for some much needed coffee and breakfast.  Holy guacamole it’s hot out.  With every step I took, the sweat on my back literally dripped down my body as heavily as rain drops fall down your windshield in Seattle.  I needed wipers to monitor the intense wetness that was happening underneath my clothes.  So gross. I never knew my body was capable of sweating this much until now.  I feel bad for whoever is around me while I go through menopause.

The rest of the day we spent inside the hotel.  I know, how boring of us.  This happened for two reasons.  Well maybe three.  1) It was stupid hot outside – about 110 degrees.  2) We needed a break from pagodas and temples.  When you see and do too much at once, the excitement around it starts to fade.  It’s hard to explain on my end and probably hard to grasp on your end but it’s true.  Sometimes you need to slam on the breaks, turn the engine off and chill out in order to fully appreciate what your experiencing.  3) Thailand was in four days but we hadn’t planned anything yet – no flight, no agenda, no hotels, no activities.  We didn’t know where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do, how long we would be there for, etc.  And this for sure caused about seven grey hairs for me.   Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  In a nutshell, we took today to plan our next country and after about six hours of researching, I am proud to say I feel much better now.  That night, we had dinner at our hotel, outside by the pool and watched a traditional Burmese cultural performance that consisted of song and dance.

Day 2 – April 5th

Okay, back to sightseeing and exploration.  Taking one day off was really all we needed to hit the restart button.  I feel charged up now.  Full battery power.  The first stop of the day was Mandalay Hill, which is a 790 foot hill and has been a major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists for nearly two centuries. At the top of the hill is the Sutaungpyei (literally wish-fulfilling) Pagoda.

The views of the city were amazing.  We got a panoramic glimpse into all of Mandalay.  However, the views of myself staring back at me a thousand times over again from all the stained glass mirrors was not so amazing.  I’m the definition of a hot mess right now.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most colorful of them all?

Next up was lunch.  It’s always lunch o’clock in our minds.  That’s the beauty of traveling.  We can eat whenever, wherever (well almost) and whatever (well almost again).  Today we chose Ko’s Kitchen, which was Thai food.  This was to get us in the mood for our next country.  I loved the outside, I loved the door handles (red hot chili peppers – the spice not the music band), I loved the toothpick holder (an animated happy little muscle man) but the food was just eh.  Nothing special.  It came out quicker than I could say Pad Thai Noodles which is never really a good thing.

Our third stop of the day was the Shwe In Bin, which is acclaimed as one of the most attractive monasteries in all of Mandalay.  Lonely Planet wrote “if you want a place for quiet meditation, you couldn’t find a better spot than this beautifully carved teak monastery”.  That won Vinny’s heart over quicker than I did five years ago.  So of course, we had to check it out.  Built in 1895 by a pair of wealthy Chinese jade merchants, the main Monastery stands on tree-trunk poles and is home to over thirty monks.  The design and architecture of this establishment was astonishing.  All wood and all from various types of trees.  The minute we arrived we felt at peace.  It was so quiet.

Last on our list was the U Bein Bridge.  Have you been to the U Bein Bridge before?  HA!  I just had to, sorry.  Built in 1850, this is believed to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world.  I just think that is so cool when we can visit something that claims it is the X in the world.  Not the city, not the state, not the country but the WORLD.  The bridge stretches across the Taungthaman Lake, leading the way to the former Burmese capital city of Amarapura and is about 1.2 kilometers from one side to the other.  Mayor U Bein is credited for the creation of the bridge, using scavenged teak pilings from the discarded palace of Amarapura when they moved the capital to Mandalay.  During the dry season, the water level drops dramatically, allowing you to meander under the bridge and through small crop fields planted by farmers. During the wet season, the water level can reach the top of the bridge, and in some years has even covered the walkway.

Rush hour traffic…

Locals doing their normal day to day business…

Anyone hungry?

Friendship is universal…

I scream, you scream, we all SCREAM for ice cream!!!!

I mean, she’s pretty cute…

One of Vinny’s many foreign admirers.  He’s got bros in different area codes.

Noodle party for one…

When your baby is bigger than you are…

We read the best time to visit the U Bein Bridge was at sunset and I must agree…

A colorful burst of sweaty emotions happening right here.  My face is as red as a Shirley Temple cherry but the picturesque background makes up for it.

Vinny trying to prove he still has muscles…

That night we had dinner at Cafe City, which was their “A for effort” attempt at recreating an American Gastropub. The menu consisted of burgers, fries, pizzas, BBQ, etc.  The walls were decorated with USA state license plates (including one for the Dodgers!) as well as freedom posters while the music playing in the background was Bob Marley.  One love.

Since our time in Mandalay is quickly running out, our cash is quickly running out too.  Every time we go to the ATM, there is an automatic 5% fee that is incorporated between the local banks as well as our USA bank so we are trying to not spend more than we have to.  That said, we decided to take the forty five minute walk back to our hotel vs. getting a taxi.  Luckily it was only 95 degrees at this point since it was nighttime and the sun wasn’t shining.  What a relief, hahaha.

Day 3 – April 6th

Today we hired a driver for $58 (not cheap but nothing in Myanmar is) to take us an hour and a half away to Pyin Oo Lwin, otherwise known as the “City of Flowers”.  Founded by the British in 1896, the town was designed as a place to escape the Mandalay heat (which is exactly what won us over – sign me up). Following the Indian-raj terminology for such places, it has been known ever since as a ‘hill station’, although in fact it’s fairly flat (just at a raised elevation). After the construction of the railway from Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin became the summer capital for the British colonial administration, a role it held until the end of British rule in 1948. Numerous colonial structures, ranging from impressive mansions to churches, still remain.

Our first stop was the National Kandawgyi Gardens, which is an area of 382.46 acres including natural forest, tiers of lakes and recreational lawns plus alluring landscapes and scenic views.    There are 589 species of local and foreign trees, 75 species of bamboo, 75 species of croton and 300 species of orchids.  Walking around this bright, colorful botanical garden was a wonderful change to the hustle and bustle of the city.  Not to mention, the weather was about 20 degrees cooler over here.  Amen.

Look Mom(s), we found the lake…

A rainbow bright kind of playground…

What they call Pagoda Island…

How to take a proper selfie…

Here is a Black Swan but I couldn’t find Mila Kunis or Natalie Portman…

Girls just want to have fun…

Pre-wedding photos…

Keep in mind it is about 12pm on a Wednesday and these young local boys are already getting their party started…

Inside the botanical gardens, there was an area with just birds…

Next we had lunch at The Club Terrace, which was an adorable little restaurant with great food and can’t beat prices.

Last on our list was the famous Candacraig Hotel, which was originally built in 1904 as a British Country Club.  During the colonial era and hot summer months, the Brits tended to migrate to the cooler hills stations.  The Country Clubs were the center of activities and where people would meet for drinks and party.  However, during the last few decades, the Candacraig Hotel served as a government house.  It is now closed down and currently going through renovations to become a luxury hotel in 2018.  There’s a slightly spooky air to the place as many locals believe it’s haunted.  However, I felt it had a lot of charm to it.

On our way back, our driver randomly stopped to get strawberries from a local farmer since its cheaper than the city and then stopped again for some bread.  Glad we could come along for your errands.

That wraps up our time in Mandalay as well as our 18 days in Myanmar. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience here, although we certainly could have gotten away with about 6 less nights if time was an issue.  Just like Nepal, I fell in love with the people. And since tourism hasn’t fully taken over quite yet, I truly believe we got a good sense of what life is really like.  That’s not to say that tourism doesn’t exist or that you won’t run into any other travelers. But compared to the rest of this region of the world, you could call Myanmar undiscovered. Uncharted territory.  There aren’t any chain establishments like Starbucks or McDonalds. The Internet is basically nonexistent, even when you do connect. The roads are barely paved. Signage is minimal. And nightlife is unheard of (which was totally fine with us).  Sometimes this absence of infrastructure can make travel a bit inconvenient but after embracing Myanmar’s lack of development, we found it to be quite charming, actually.  The entire country just felt real. Truly authentic.

Many of Myanmar’s traditions are unique and specific to this country alone.  Men often have teeth stained crimson from chewing betel nuts (a habit somewhat like chewing tobacco). The faces of women and children are painted yellow with a paste made from the thanaka tree to make themselves beautiful and protect their skin from the sun. And both men and women wear the traditional longyi – a sheet of cloth worn around the waist like a skirt. Myanmar is the only country in Southeast Asia where it’s common to see females who have entered the monastic life as nuns.

When Southeast Asia can sometimes blend together, Myanmar stands out. It may not be the first country people think of when planning a holiday, but I certainly recommend it.  At the very least, put Bagan and Inle Lake at the top of your list.  Two very unique, beautiful, surreal places.  I can only hope that as more tourism and development comes to this country, that the traditions hold strong and the people keep smiling.

From my friends to yours, see you in Thailand…

 

On Thursday, March 31st, we arrived in the town of Nyaung Shwe (located in the Shan State of Myanmar) around 4pm after a 7.5 hour bus ride from Bagan on JJ Express.  Once we got to the bus station, it was another 25 minutes until we reached our hotel for the next four nights, Inle Lake View Resort & Spa.  Sounds luxurious, huh?  We definitely splurged a little on this city ($120 a night).  Since Inle Lake is such a small, remote, quiet town, we figured it was well worth it.  And there didn’t seem to be any “average” priced hotels.  It was either backpacker hostels or 4-5 star resorts.  We chose the latter, which did not disappoint.  The grounds were gorgeous.  Very tranquil.  And, we were upgraded for free to a suite.  Jackpot!

Once we unpacked, settled in and checked out the various areas of our hotel (pool, restaurant, bar, spa, etc.), we took a casual stroll around Kaung Daing, the tiny little village we were staying in.  Not a whole lot happening here, which kind of made it so awesome.  This is what life in a small town is like.  No tall buildings, no traffic lights, no hustle and bustle.  While out and about, we saw a few good men having happy hour on the same child like plastic chairs Yangon and Bagan seemed to have as well…

Simple yet adorable…

A different mode of transportation than what we are used to…

A pick up game of foot volley…

When I say there is nothing really near us, I truly mean it.  Everything seems to close around 6pm and the only restaurants to eat at are back in Nyaung Shwe, which is a twenty five minute car ride away and taxis don’t exist here.  We are literally stranded but that’s not always a bad thing.  Luckily our hotel’s restaurant was super nice, with a great variety of food options so we just had dinner here and enjoyed a low key evening.

Day 2 – April 1st 

Happy April Fools Day!  One of my favorite holidays but I feel as though my friends and family almost expect me to play a trick so sometimes I need to take a year off.  That way I can then fool them the next time.  Oh how I love playing games with people.  Life is too short to take seriously.

Today we went on a 5 hour, 16 mile bike ride through the Khaung Daing village, which was very rural, to Nyaung Shwe and back.  I felt like Lance Armstrong but the only performance enhancing substance I was feeding off of was the pure determination to make it back in one piece.  No scrapped knees, no ripped pants, no flat tire.  Is it really that hard, Kim?

We rode past a man walking his buffalo…

Which direction would you choose?

We saw young kids playing in not so clean water.  But hey, whatever floats your boat (literally)…

Beautiful, shady, tree filled roads…

Houses all on stilts…

When we finally made it to the town of Nyuang Shwe, we grabbed a bite to eat at Linn Htet, which served traditional Myanmar/Burmese food (I never know which name to use).  It is a family owned restaurant and even their eight(ish) year old son worked there.  Starting them young I guess.  What’s that you say?  You want to know what we ordered?  Well, I hope this doesn’t make you hungry because it was a TON of food.  And surprisingly quite delicious as well.  The main dishes were potato curry and eggplant curry but each came with a wide variety of sides including soup, fried peanuts (Dad, you would have LOVED these!), fried baby dried fish (definitely did not eat them), fried soya beans, fish paste sauce and seasonal vegetables – all for 3000 kyats ($2.50) each.  Talk about a bargain and I didn’t even have to whip out my negotiation skills.

Along the way, Vinny and I both bought hats because the sun was shining real bright and real strong.  That’s me below.  Don’t I look like a local?  Vinny kind of looks like a cuter version of Indian Jones, haha.

Let’s see how many people we can fit on top of our truck…

“Oh when the Monks, go marching in.  When the Monks go marching in.  O Buddha, I want to be in that number.  When the Monks go marching in.”  Yes, I revised the lyrics.

Row, row, row your boat…

Coffee break…

When we got back to our hotel around 5pm, we were drenched in sweat and extremely exhausted from the heat as well as the exercise so we headed straight to the pool.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200.  Pure magic what some cold water can do to you sometimes.

Day 3 – April 2nd

This morning we woke up at 6am, had breakfast at 6:45am and then departed for a full day boat tour on Inle Lake at 7:30am.

Say hello to one of the many infamous fishermen of Inle Lake.  They have a very unique technique that involves standing on one leg while rowing with the other leg, allowing both hands to be free for catching fish.  Talk about a true balancing act.   Quite impressive.

Our first stop of the day was the “5 Day Market”, which rotates between 5 different locations over a 5 day period.  Creative name, huh?  Let me put this market in American terminology.  It was a Bed, Bath & Beyond meets Target meets Walgreens meets Farmers Market meets Best Buy meets Kay Jewelers meets Whole Foods meets Blockbuster (when they still existed of course) meets 99 Cent Store meets Swap Meet meets Payless meets your local mall’s food court.  Anything and everything you could ever need was here.  One stop shopping.  Come one, come all.

Next up was Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, which is the most highly revered monastery in the Inle Lake area.  The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha believed to have been brought to the area in the 12th century.  They are covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen.  Like other pagodas, only men can approach the inner areas.  Gender equality is such a norm these day that it’s a little awkward when the women are forced to stay back and the men are allowed to go up.   I took at least 20 photos with random locals at this pagoda.  My mouth was quite tired afterwards from smiling.  I felt like I just finished five packs of Big League chewing gum.  Hopefully TMZ doesn’t get ahold of those images, I’m sure they would be worth a lot.

Here are a few photos of what life on Inle Lake looks like.  The only way to get to these houses or restaurants or shops is by boat.  Pretty unique living.

After the pagoda, we visited the Inn Paw Khon Village, where almost all the people in this area are related to weaving work of some kind or another including silk, lotus, cotton, hue coloration, design and production.  I learned something new today.  There is only one place in the world where the fibers of the lotus plant are woven into scarves and shawls. It is a form of weaving that is entirely unique to Myanmar (Burma) and specifically to Inle Lake.  And the fibers of the lotus flower costs 7x more than silk because it’s so rare and considered holy.  Now if that is a question on Jeopardy, just don’t forget where you heard it first.  We walked through a tiny workshop where women sat at their machines and created beautiful objects such as scarves, dresses, pants and scrunchies.  Yes, scrunchies.  Blast from the past.  Some of the scarves were selling for $250 USD – ouch!

Ywama village, one of the few craft villages, is famous for its goldsmith and silversmith.

Men working hard while building wooden boats starting only with a tree trunk and a saw…

A cheroot is a cigar special to Myanmar (Burma), so distinctive in fact that they have been nicknamed a “Burmese facial feature.”  The world “cheroot” is derived from the French word cheroute, which comes from a Tamil word meaning “roll of tobacco.” The cheroot has both ends clipped and is made with a blend of tobacco and fragrant wood chips, then rolled up with the dried and flattened “tha nat phet” leaf. A filter is added made of dry corn husks or sugar cane fibers for a stronger smoke. It is not unusual to see Burmese ladies puffing away on these cheroots in the morning, afternoon and/or evening.

The women of Inle Lake are famous for hand-rolling the cheroots very quickly.  Some can roll over 500 cheroots a day.  We sat and watched about 16 women perform this act live and in person.  They can do it with their eyes closed if they had to.  Pretty incredible.

Following the talented and hand savvy cigar rolling ladies, we hopped back in our boat and rode past the Floating Gardens, where locals grow vegetables and fruit (tomatoes, eggplants, chilies, flowers, etc.) that float on the surface of the lake. The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor.  The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into floating beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo poles. These gardens rise and fall with changes in the water level, and so are resistant to flooding. The constant availability of nutrient-laden water results in these gardens being incredibly fertile. Rice cultivation is also significant.  Producing these items all year round is what allows the Shan State of Inle Lake to be called “The Garden of Myanmar”.

Last on our spectacular day tour of Inle Lake was Nge Phe Chaung Monastery, otherwise known as “Jumping Cat Monastery”.  This nickname came from the idea that cats were trained to jump through hoops but when the head monk died, so did most of the cats.  The new head monk didn’t think it was proper to have cats entertain tourists in that fashion so they are very limited today – which was totally fine with me because I don’t really get along with them.  They make me sneeze, itch and have trouble breathing.  Not a pleasant experience.  However, the monastery itself was a beautiful wooden building built on stilts around 200 years ago and is considered the oldest and largest monastery in the Inle Lake region.  Inside, there was an impressive collection of Buddha images respectively in Shan, Tibetan, Bagan and Inwa style.

For the rest of the day, we gladly hung by the pool, watched the sunset, listened to nature and enjoyed yet another delicious dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.  What an awesome day!

Day 4 – April 3rd 

Our day started with a two hour drive out to Pindaya, which is famous for its limestone caves, its attractive lakeside setting, and the traditional Shan paper umbrellas that are manufactured here. Set deep in the hillsides, the caves (some of which serve as meditation chambers) contain some 8000 Buddhas of various sizes, which are made of white marble, bronze or plaster, and coated with gold leaf.  New ones are constantly being added as people continuously donate them from all over the world.  It’s a very rare site to see and was a great way to escape the heat.

Uh oh, should I be worried?

Good thing they have this sign because I was just about to wash my leg there…

Great views of the city from high on top of the hillside…

After we explored the caves, we visited a family-run business (4 generations so far) that makes the famous Shan paper. Stemming from the fiber of the mulberry tree, very wide-spread shrub in the mountains of the region, this paper is very well-known in Myanmar. The manufacturing process is rather long. During a day, the fibers of the mulberry tree are dipped into the water then get plastered in the wood fire during more than 5 hours with a mixture of wood ash or clay.  The paper dough, displayed on top of a trunk wood piece, is then beaten with a wooden mallet for several minutes. Later, a bamboo frame covered with a very fine cotton fabric is settled at the bottom of a tank filled with water. With their hands, the pulp of paper is diluted in the water and then distributed in a equal way on the canvas. After having removed air bubbles and lumps of paper, the frame is pulled out from the water tank, while the pulp of paper stays on the cotton canvas. The frame and the pulp of paper will dry for hours in the sun and finally the pulp will be transformed into a paper sheet. Delicately, the sheet will be removed from the bamboo frame.

This was extremely neat to watch.  The mom and daughter here are working together as a team, hand in hand.  They are diligently creating beautiful designs on the Shan paper that will eventually be turned into umbrellas, fans, paper, envelopes, photo frames, lamp shades, etc.  They make about 20 of these a day.  A very detailed oriented line of work, one that requires hand/eye coordination and patience.  Something I would not succeed at.

In addition to the Shan paper, the famous Burmese parasols are made here as well. They are completely done, step by step, by hand starting from the bamboo handle and the pawl, which allows the parasol to stay opened, to the umbrella frame on which the paper sheets will be stuck to the artwork that is painted on the final product.

Our wonderful day trip ended with lunch at Green Tea Restaurant…

We got back to the hotel around 5:30pm, chilled at the pool and chatted it up with the General Manager, Eric, who is from France.  Throughout our travels, we’ve certainly noticed a pretty significant difference between Western hospitality and Eastern hospitality and from the moment we entered this hotel, we could tell it was run by a Westerner.  And that’s a good thing (in my biased opinion at least).

Day 5 – April 4th

Although we loved Inle Lake, we had way too much time here.  Three nights is plenty.  Not only did we have four nights but we also had four full days because we are taking another overnight bus tonight, which doesn’t depart until 10pm.  Luckily, Eric let us keep our room all day at no extra charge.  This was a HUGE help.  We didn’t really do much though, which was actually nice.  However, it wasn’t as quiet as I would have hoped given we were in the middle of nowhere.  This unexpected noise was due to the large population of cicadas.  Have you heard of these?  I sure hadn’t but now that I’ve done research, it all makes sense why I was about to pull my hair out.  Here are few random facts on cicadas just in case you were as interested as I was.

• Cicada comes from the Latin word meaning “tree cricket”
• Cicadas are among the loudest insects known to man, and a swarm of them can produce sounds up to 120 decibels. That’s louder than a rock concert (about 115 decibels), and comparable to the noise from a chainsaw (humans start to experience pain from sound at the 110 to 120 decibel level).
• Only male cicadas sing. They do this in an attempt to find a mate.
• Different species have different songs to attract only their own kind.
• Adult cicadas have short lives, usually only a few weeks.
• Most of their lives are spent as nymphs underground. For some species this can be up to several years.
• Cicadas feed only on plant sap using their piercing, sucking mouthparts.
• Birds, bats, spiders, wasps, ants and mantids all prey on cicadas.

Tonight we are headed to Mandalay.  As we were sitting at the bus station, I started talking with some random folks because hey, why not. Sometimes I need more than just Vinny. One girl was from Germany and the other guy was from China.  I just love meeting people from all over the world, learning about where they come from and where they are headed (geographically not figuratively).

As we boarded the bus, we were quite impressed yet again with JJ Express.  Leather reclining seats, personal TV’s, blankets, pillows, air conditioning – not bad for $12 per person.  This is going to be an easy, breezy 9 hour ride.  That was, until the monk behind us started snoring as if every breath he took was going to be his last.  Oh geez, this is will be a super duper long night after all…

 

After a long, bumpy, semi freezing, ten hour overnight bus ride with JJ Express, we finally arrived in Bagan around 5am (it was still pitch black outside).  Luckily, neither of us needed to hug the porcelain god along the way, which is always a positive, especially given there wasn’t a bathroom on board.  Hopefully this means whatever was wrong with us in Yangon is now in the past.  I’m yearning to get out there and start exploring again.  This girl wasn’t meant to be confined to a tiny hotel room with only one window, no one to talk to and very little natural sunlight.  Since we knew it was going to be so early in the morning, we arranged for someone from our hotel to pick us up.  The last thing we wanted to do after not really sleeping on a chaotic bus ride was negotiate a taxi price (assuming cab drivers were even here that early) so for $10 USD, this was a win for us.

Day 1 – March 27

Bagan is an ancient city in central Myanmar, standing on the eastern banks of the Ayeyarwady River.  It is known as the Bagan Archaeological Area, where more than 2,000 Buddhist monuments tower over what seems like endless plains.  Given we most likely couldn’t check into our hotel yet, we had our driver take us to the famous Shwesandaw Pagoda to catch the sunrise.  I figured not very many people would be awake knowing it was before 6am but I was totally wrong.  An abundance of tourists from all over the world decorated the graceful white pyramid-style pagoda with the same hopes as us, to see a fresh start to a beautiful new day.   Shwesandaw means ‘golden holy hair’ because legend has it that the stupa enshrines a Buddha hair relic (just like the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon).  For a few seconds here and there, it would be extremely quiet.  Not a single noise would cross my ear drum.  I would quickly get lost in my own thoughts while staring out into the wide opens spaces.  But then for the rest of the time, it was a collaboration of sounds consisting of roosters crowing, cameras flickering and people chatting.  About an hour later, the sun fought really hard to rise although it seemed to struggle a little (I get it, I have mornings like that too).  It wasn’t the epic, colorful burst of emotions Bagan is so infamous for but it was still the perfect way to start our chapter in this very unique city.

Now that it was light out, we got back in the car and drove to The Areindmar, our hotel for the next four nights.  It was 7am so we crossed our fingers, toes and eyes that we would be able to check in (talk about multi-tasking, huh?).   Thankfully, luck was on our side and our room was ready for us.  Woohoo!  We were so discombobulated from the overnight bus ride and being sick so we took showers, brushed our teeth and headed off into lala land for a much needed nap.

It is ridiculously hot during the day, averaging 105+ degrees, so most people tend to have the same itinerary.  Wake up early to chase the sunrise and explore pagodas, rest during the day or relax at your hotel’s pool and then head out again for the sunset.  This sounded like the perfect plan so just to warn you, our next four days will sound a little repetitive (in a good way), almost like Groundhog Day the movie with Bill Murray.  Sunrises, temple hopping, eating, sunsets, temple hopping, eating – and repeat again tomorrow.

Neither one of us have really eaten a legit meal in a few days so after we caught up on some Zzzzzz’s, we took our umbrellas and walked to Starbeam Bistro, a restaurant we had read about for lunch.  But after fifteen minutes of intense sweating and a slight case of heat exhaustion, we arrived to a place that was closed.  Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me.  Why did the internet say it was open but it isn’t?   I was so annoyed.  Now what?  I know it’s such a minor problem but this isn’t New York City where there are food options on every corner.  This is Bagan, a small town with very few places, which is what makes it so special.  As we headed back towards our hotel, we came across LA Pizza.  Not very cultured but not a horrible Plan B either.

Around 5pm, we had our hotel arrange for a taxi to take us to a few temples at sunset. The first was Thisa Wadi, which we climbed up to the top through a very dark, narrow stairway and watched as the sun began to glisten on the sprawled out temples.

The second was Thabeik Hmauk, which we couldn’t walk up since it was locked and apparently the gate key was lost but the family that guards this temple was super friendly.  I believe they live right there onsite.  An older gentleman took us on a quick tour around the temple which was very nice of him.  And whom I believe to be his grandson was so adorable.  You could tell they were extremely poor and didn’t have a lot.  The young boy was playing with a plastic bag as if it was the newest electric toy helicopter.  He would throw into the wind, watch it fly for a second and then chase after it once it landed.  This would be repeated at least ten times while we were there.  It makes you sad at first to see him entertaining himself this way but then you realize, he’s happy.  When you don’t know any different, the little things in life go a long way.  Sometimes I wish we weren’t so influenced by the world around us and we too could live this simple.

Last but not least, we visited the The Sulamani Temple. This temple is known as the Crowning Jewel and was built in 1181. It is one of Bagan’s most attractive temples, mainly due to the brickwork.  It has five doorways, carved stucco on mouldings, glazed plaques around the base and terraces and Buddha images that face the four directions from the ground floor.  Definitely way more crowded then our first two stops but we figured that would be the case since it was one of the top sights to see.

Our hotel restaurant overlooks the pool and is surrounded by welcoming trees, wrapped around ivy, fruitful flowers, romantic lighting, brightly shining candles and peaceful music so we decided to just have dinner here.  Why go anywhere else?

Day 2 – March 28th 

There was no way we were waking up for sunrise (talk about being lazy) so we slept in, had breakfast by the pool and laid low.  Around 4pm, we rented an eBike, which is a very popular mode of transportation here in Bagan.  They are basically electric scooters or motorbikes that run on a charge vs. on gas.  I wish every city had these!  For half of a day, it cost us 4,000 Kyat or $3.42.  Yes please.

We started our pagoda chasing evening with a thirty minute drive through some small, quaint, quiet, traditional villages…

Our first temple for today was Pya-Tha-Da Paya.  I loved this one.  It had beautiful views once you climbed to the top and the bricks were still pretty much in tack for the most part.  As with all of the other temples, every corner you turn there is another Buddha statue silently welcoming you to its home.  Instead of Bubba Sparxxx’s “Booty, Booty, Booty rockin’ everywhere” song, I changed the lyrics to “Buddha, Buddha, Buddha rockin’ everywhere” – HA!

Our second stop was the Dhammayangyi Temple, which is the largest in Bagan.  It was constructed in the 12th-century and is infamous for its mysterious, bricked-up inner passageways and cruel history. It’s said that King Narathu built the temple to atone for his sins – he supposedly smothered his father and brother to death and executed one of his wives, an Indian princess, for practising Hindu rituals. It is also said that Narathu mandated that the mortarless brickwork fit together so tightly that even a pin couldn’t pass between any two bricks. Workers who failed in this task had their arms chopped off.  Just inside the west entrance, there are apparently stones with arm sized grooves where these amputations happened.  After Narathu was assassinated in 1170, the inner encircling ambulatory was filled with brick rubble, as ‘payback’. Others quietly argue the temple dates from the earlier reign of Alaungsithu, which would refute all this fun legend behind it. It’s also likely that this bricking up of the passages was a crude way of ensuring the massive structure didn’t collapse.  Who knows what to believe but if the stories of Narathu are true, ouch.  Not a very nice man.  This temple was extremely busy, with tons of buses piling in as many tourists as they could possibly fit.  Great people watching but kind of killed the vibe so we didn’t stay long.

Our third and final stop of the evening was the Myauk Guni Phaya, otherwise known as North Guni.  We got here just in time to catch the sunset. This specific temple was recommended to us from an awesome Dutch couple we met in Bhutan.  And they didn’t stir us wrong.  Wonderful views and far less people than the other few pagodas.  It was so wonderful to sit on top, high above Bagan, and look out as far as you possibly could (good thing I have 20/20 vision so I could see real far).  There are just so many magical pagodas almost smiling back at you, horse carriages that are gracefully transporting tourists from one place to the next and the sun slowly making its grand exit for the day. I felt like I was living thousands of years ago, not in the present of 2016.  One literally travels to the past when in Bagan and it is quite surreal.  Not to mention a perfect break from chaotic cities.

That night we walked to Green Elephant for dinner.   Decent food but nothing to write home about.  It’s a small chain with locations in Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan.  But it did the trick for us so we went to bed feeling happy, full and ready for some positive dreams.

Day 3 – March 29th 

Today we woke up at 5am, left the hotel at 5:30am and arrived at Shwe Gu Gyi Temple at 5:50am to catch the sunrise.  We are obsessed with our eBikes.  They are so easy to maneuver and really makes pagoda chasing convenient.

Next up was the Thatbyinnyu Temple, meaning Omniscience, which is the one of the tallest temples of Bagan.  You can’t climb it so we did a quick walk around and moved on.

Last on our morning ride was the Ananda Phaya, one of Bagan’s most well known and beautiful temples.  It was one of the first to be built and is located near the Tharabar gate, the only gate remaining of the original twelve in the Old Bagan city walls.  The architectural style resembles that of North Indian influence.  I definitely liked this one from the outside the best.  It shimmered in a reddish tint with gold reflections.  Plus, locals asked to take photos with me which made me happy.  It had been awhile since I felt like a celebrity in a foreign country.  Even young nuns (female monks) approached me.  So I have course, had Vinny capture the moment as well.

We chilled in our room for the rest of the morning and then rode our eBikes to Be Kind To Animals The Moon for lunch.  Absolutely loved this place.  It was an all vegetarian restaurant with a cool outdoor vibe consisting of Asian style umbrellas and a flower garden as your roof.  Great food, great prices, great choice.  Thanks Kari and Lonely Planet.

Then we drove to the Black Bamboo for mid-day coffees and something to fulfill this sweet tooth of mine.  I got a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of banana ice cream (homemade, of course) and Vinny got a banana split.  It was the perfect remedy to this incredibly hot day.

That night, we took a break from temples and embarked on a sunset boat ride along the Irrawaddy River.  It was a nice change of atmosphere but unfortunately, there was no setting of the sun due to the clouds.  Definitely a disappointment but oh well.  It’s always nice to be on the water with a cool breeze to lighten up the intense heat.

Day 4 – March 30th

Yet again, we woke up at 5am, left the hotel at 5:30am and arrived at Law-ka-ou-shaung around 5:50am to catch the sunrise.  This too was recommended by the Dutch couple and I had read online it was one of the more “unknown” temples.  But when we arrived, there were definitely more people than we had been lead to believe.  However, how could I know about something that’s on the internet and not have the rest of the world know too? Duh, Kim.  Regardless, it was a wonderful location with awesome views.  One of the highlight activities to do in this town is a sunrise hot air balloon ride.  We looked into it but for $380 per person, we quickly changed our minds.  As breathtaking as it would have been, we thoroughly enjoyed watching the balloons soar from the ground, at no additional cost.

I had a hot date to catch up with my mom and sister this morning so we headed back to the hotel for our mid-morning relaxation.  Unfortunately, they had some extremely heartbreaking news to report that instantly brought a dark stormy cloud over my head.  I was an absolute mess for the rest of the day.  Completely dazed and confused.  Why do bad things happen to such good people?  So many questions were running through my mind and I had no answers.  Moments like this make being on the road really difficult yet remind me how precious life is so live it to the fullest.  If you are reading this and you know who you are, I love you more than our Mac n Cheese holidays, more than the infamous Christmas wreath cookies and even more than TripAdvisor – and that’s a lot.  Keep smiling, keep shining and I know you’ll get through this.

Since the Starbeam Bistro near our hotel was currently going through renovations, we rode our eBikes to the original location in Old Bagan, about 15 minutes away.  They make their own French baguettes and it was mouthwateringly delicious. It was so nice to have a yummy piece of bread since all we’ve been having is rice, rice, rice and more rice.  Plus, Starbeam had amazingly refreshing Lassi’s as well.  I got a strawberry one and Vinny got a mango one.  So fruity of us.

That evening, we went back to Thisa Wadi for sunset and chatted it up with an awesome young boy who was so curious to learn more about Obama and of course, Trump.  Since Vinny and I know nothing about politics, I think we disappointed him a little.

That basically wraps up our incredible 4 days in Bagan.  This place is like nowhere else in the world.  It is a city consisting of thousands of Buddhists temples and that’s about it.  It is surreal, mystical, magical, charming and absolutely breathtaking. Life is lived at a much slower pace and the locals are just so friendly.  While cruising on our eBikes, they would drive past us and wave.  So happy to have us in their country which in turn, makes me so happy to be here.  Happiness is contagious and I wish it spread easier than it does.  If you are thinking of visiting Myanmar, Bagan is a good reason to make that happen.

On a random side note, I want to tell you a little bit about Maps.Me, which is a genius app.  Getting from one pagoda to the next can be difficult since there are no street names or real landmarks.  It’s basically dirt roads with random trees and sporadic directional signage.  I had heard about an app called Maps.Me so we decided to try it out.  If it can work in Bagan, it can work anywhere.  And oh my Buddha, what a life saver it was.  It is basically Google Maps but offline so it doesn’t use any of your data.  You download what city or country you are in over WiFi and when you leave, it will take your wherever you want to go.  This made our lives so much easier.  I’m sure it took away some of the fun of getting lost but given how strong the sun was, we were fine with that.  I highly recommend you start using this app, whether you are a traveler or not.  That’s my secret tip of the day – shhhhh.

Now that we have spent nearly ten days in Mysterious Myanmar, there are a few random observations I would love to share with you.

1. Most everything in Myanmar so far has been quoted in USD including hotels, restaurants, activities and transportation.  That’s fine for us Americans but could you imagine being German or Australian or Brazilian or Chinese and having to pay in a currency that isn’t your own nor is it the currency of the country you are actually in.  A little odd, don’t you think?
2. When you decide to pay with a credit card, almost everywhere will charge you an extra 3% – 3.5%.  However, when you try to use the local Kyat currency, they make it so it is not in your favor with the exchange rate.  It’s kind of a lose-lose.
3. When cabs or young kids or random locals ask where we are from and we answer with USA, they always respond with “Obama!” and “can I have an American dollar?”.
4. The driver seat is on the right hand side of the vehicle (just like the United Kingdom, India, Hong Kong, Ireland, Australia, etc.) but the vehicle drives on the right side of the road (just like America, Canada, Costa Rica, Peru, Switzerland, etc.).  Quite an interesting mixture.
5. I’m assuming you have noticed that a lot of the women and children in some of my photos have some sort paint on their face, neck, arms and legs.  This is called thanaka, a yellow-white cosmetic paste produced by grinding the bard of the thanaka tree on a flat, smooth stone with water. The milky yellow liquid dries quickly when it is applied to the skin. The main purpose for this product is to keep the skin cool, stop oiliness, tighten pores, improve the complexion and add a pleasant, soft fragrance. Thanaka is also used as a medicinal product to treat acne, fungus, skin sores, measles, epilepsy, poisoning and fever.  Nowhere else in the world is thanaka so widely used.  Some people put it all over with no real technique while others create patterns and designs such as circles, squares and various lines.

From dry lands to water, see you in Inle Lake!