Pictures!!!

Howdy!
Shaina has posted some pictures along with her accounts from Burma on her blog at http://therickshawdiaries.blogspot.com/ Please feel free to check it out!

We are now in Luang Prabang in Laos and are going to explore it by daylight, as we just arrived last night. It is right on the Mekong river and a UNESCO World Heritage site, so I am quite sure it will not disappoint! When I have some time I will post some words on our time in Laos, which thus far, have been fantastic.

Cheers!

Myanmar revealed

I stepped off of the plane and was greeted in the Yangon airport by men wearing skirts! At least this is what I initially thought until I learned that the long piece of cloth the men in Myanmar wear wrapped around their waist is called a longyi, and is a traditional dress that, thankfully, has not yet been traded in for western-style jeans. The women all had yellow-ish makeup smeared on their cheeks, which I was to learn is called thanaka, made of powdered sandalwood and used to smoothen the skin and to protect it from the sun. So many interesting cultural differences, and this was only the airport! This was excellent foreshadowing for the incredibly interesting 8 days to come.

Due in part to advice from others who had previously travelled to the country, and in part to literature we had read warning that Myanmar is not the safest country to travel in ("One of the world's six outposts of tyranny", as cited by Condoleeza Rice), we decided to travel the country through the help of an organized tour, consisting of just the two of us. Our experiences in this country of stunning geography, a strong culture and incredibly kind, generous and friendly people who prevail in the face of astonishing suppression by their government could not have been more contradictory of these warnings. Not only were we treated with utmost friendliness and helpful attitudes, but it really was a haven for female travellers - the women were so sweet and the men treated us with nothing but respect. Next time I return to this country, I am happy to say that I would be completely comfortable doing it as an independent traveller.

Although we returned from this country 5 days ago, right now I am still trying to reflect on everything, and am struggling to put it all into words. However, I will give it a shot and try and share some of the highlights.

Our first 3 days were spent in Bagan, an area that has been said to rival Angor Wat in Cambodia as one of southeast Asia's most remarkable sites. Scattered amongst the lush greenery are over 5000 temples and pagodas!! Their dazzling gold-leaf painted stupas seemingly rise out of nowhere and each one was impossibly more beautiful than the last. They all had Buddha images within and around them, with one temple containing a gold-leaf Buddha 46 feet tall, and another containing over 1000 Buddha images - incredible. We climbed up to the top of one particularly large pagoda, and were rewarded with a magical 360 degree view - the lush green plains of Bagan stretched out before us, meeting the hazy hills in the distance. In every direction I looked, the land was dotted with temples and stupas of all sizes, shapes and colors. Most were brick red in color, with a few shimmering golden stupas amongst them - incredible. I was in awe of the abundance of these spiritual sites ... I kept forgetting that people actually lived in this area, as all I could see were temples, with no house, shop, or building in site to disrupt the view. WOW. Watching the sunset over this vista was one image I will never forget. (Sidenote: If you are wondering the difference between a temple, stupa, and pagoda (as I was), a stupa or a pagoda (same thing, different name)does not have an interior room, whereas a temple does and you can go inside the structure.)

I cannot count the number of times that I felt as if I had been transported back in time 100 years, and was witnessing Heritage Park or Upper Canada Village in action. Most work is still done by hand, and at most points during our journeys by road, the traffic was comprised more of oxen carts, water buffalo, goat herds and bicycles than by vehicles. We were fortunate to observe many of the traditional handicraft methods, which are still being used - weaving by hand using wooden looms, cloth woven from the stems of lotus flowers, reducing peanuts and sesame seeds to make their respective oils using a oxen-powered wooden crushing apparatus, umbrellas made from handmade paper from the bark of trees and constructed using bamboo, and blacksmiths forging huge swords, knives and household utensils - all by hand. I kept feeling that in North America we are so wrapped up in our complex and "state-of-the-art" technology that we forget that technology can be something as simple as a piece of bamboo or a stick... and can work just as well (if not better) than our complicated solutions.

We spent 4 days in the town of Neung Shwe, which is on the beautiful Inle Lake. Our guide for this leg of the journey was just stunning; by the end of our time with her, San san was more like a mother figure to us as she was SO kind, patient and generous, and she quickly learned our travelling style (involving getting off the beaten track and to as many "non-touristy" places as possible!) Inle was spectacular - the morning haze over the water resulted in no clear distinction between land and water .. the misty lake just seemed to flow into the mountains surrounding it, with the silhouettes of fisherman in their hand carved wooden canoes dotting the calm water. Some of the highlights of our time at Inle were a HUGE limestone cave filled with 8094 Buddha images - they were EVERYwhere, on the ground with smaller ones in between, in the walls, above your head, in the crevices - everywhere you looked - golden Buddhas; the time we spent on the lake exploring the fascinating villages that are built entirely on the water; the endless floating gardens which are literally islands of soil floating right on the lake; jumping into the lake fully clothed for a refreshing swim (much to the delight and astonishment of our guide and the fisherman around us); exploring the early morning floating market with commerce occurring on the water, from boat to boat as goods and money were passed from one canoe to another (everything from fruits and vegetables to meat to necklaces and flowers); the time we spent in the Paho hill tribe village where we had tea in the house of one of our guide's friends - a house made ENTIRELY of bamboo - so interesting to see how the people really live and an experience we were really hopign to have; and the time we spent in a canoe attempting to paddle it without tipping. (This involved me sitting crosslegged on the small square part over the water, Shaina at the back of the TIPPY canoe, and only a few run-ins with plants and trees ... not bad for our first time!)

This is getting long-winded, so I am going to wrap up by saying that although the time I spent in Myanmar was short, I learned and saw more than I could have ever hoped for. The people are incredibly kind and sweet, attributes which are enhanced even more by the fact that they live under incredible suppression by their government. This is a topic I feel I need to read more about, as it was not as obvious as I had thought it would be. However, there is huge corruption, ridiculous restrictions (you can be arrested for even taking a photo of a government official) and the government ministers do whatever they please (including packing up the entire capital city one year ago and randomly moving it to an isolated place in the jungle and spontaneously changing all of the currency to include 45 and 90 kyat notes in order to appease the President's fixation with the number 9, a lucky number in Buddhism) It is appalling and disturbing that in a country of 53 million individuals, the government can put up with such random controlling bs. On a positive note, it was encouraging to hear from everyone we spoke with that they feel tourism is a positive contribution to their country, as as long as it is done with private companies, it has worked to improve the lives of many people in the country.

To conclude, Myanmar is a wonder of geographical beauty, a fascniating culture deeply rooted in Buddhism and not yet watered down by western influence, and simply incredible people. I only hope that they will one day find freedom and peace in their amazing country.

We are now continuing our adventures in Laos .... 'til next time

Take care.

Pai in 3.14159 days or less

Our Indian Odessy was over when we sad a sad goodbye to the country that had us hooked from Day 1, and boarded our Indian Airways flight bound for Bangkok. My first impression of Bangkok was utter shock at how modern it is! The brand new airport that we arrived in looked like something out of a futuristic space age movie. I guess I hadn't mentally prepared myself for the transition from the chaos and random assortment of buildings in Delhi, to this organized modern feat. We were dropped off at the end of the road that is the famous backpackers paradise - Khao San Road. Although I have heard tales of western males with Thai "girlfriends" and the multitude of fake designer items available, I really ahd no idea that both would be apparent in such quantities! The stalls and shops along Khao San road were full of everything from North Face backpacks to designer perfumes and Lacoste shirts, just to name a few. You can even get a fake driver's licencse, ISIC card, or university degree made in "5 minutes or less". Interesting. Although I was expecting it, it was also a huge shocker to be suddenly thrust into an environment with so many foreigners. We easily saw way way more in 10 minutes than we had come across during our entire month in India.

We only spent 24 hours in Bangkok and then caught an overnight bus north, to Chiang Mai. I have to say that in a sense, at times Shaina and I have almost felt bored here - everything is just so convenient and easy here. The bus was easily found, it was a huge double decker wtih large, cushy seats with leg rests, and English movie, blankets and even a toilet!!! What luxury...we had to laugh as it all just seemed so easy after our experiences in India. I immediately liked Chiang Mai more than Bangkok, as it is much smaller (about 350 000) and the old city has small quiet streets, surrounded by a pretty canal. We immediately headed for the market and feasted on amazing juicy mangoes (my FAVORITE) and bright pink dragon fruit. Just by chance, we happened to be there for the weekly Sunday market, which happens from 5 pm - 11pm, and encompasses several blocks which are closed off to traffic and lined with vendors selling everything from clothing, to jewelry, to handicrafts and multitudes of food in such interesting forms - on sticks (I have decided that we really need to have more foods on sticks back home), in banana leaf packets and in bamboo cups. The highlight was definitely the vendor that we ran into who was selling roasted cricket, beetles, huge grasshopper-like insects and worms. Yum. Our second day in Chiang Mai we rented bikes ($1.00 CDN for a full day!) and went exploring, in search of the "real" Thailand, away from the multitude of internet cafes, English restaurants and foreginers that had been surrounding us thus far. As we manouvered our way through the constant traffic of scooters, cars, tuk-tuks and taxis I was amazed at how natural it felt to be on the left side of the road! Things got interesting when we came to the "Superhighway" and had to cross it twice, over 3 lanes of traffic - yikes! Good thing India prepared us with techniques in which to navigate oneself across crazy roads! It felt so incredible to be on a bike - to be going fast enough to cover some distance, but slow enough to take it all in. Our destination was the Tribal Museum, which had information and artifacts from the various and numerous different hill tribes in Thailand; 'twas interesting and informative. It was located on a large pond which was surrounded by bamboo structure food and drink places. After visiting the museum, we ventured into one of these places and removed our sandals, and sat crosslegged, relaxing on the bamboo mats which were only a few inches off of the water. There was not another foreigner in site, we were surrounded by Thai people and the menu had not a word of English on it - exactly what we had been looking for. Along with Shaina's quick sketch of a "pig" and my chicken noises and arm flapping, we managed to get the point across that we wanted something to eat with no meat in it. It must have worked, as we got a delicious meal! On our way home we came across stables and a horse racing track - of course I was in heaven just wandering around and admiring the beautiful horses. One thing I have definitely learned while travelling is that stepping off the beaten track and exploring always pays off. Another highlight of our time in Chiang Mai was the traditional Thai massage that I had - 1 hour for less than $5 CDN!!!! I have never had a real massage before, but I can't imagine a better introduction to this art. I left feeling just incredible. I will defintiely have to take advantage of this one (or a few) more times when we are passing through here before heading home!

Our next stop was the small town of Pai, 4 hours north of Chiang Mai. In our continuous effort to escape the tourists, we decided to take a local bus instead of one of the many advertised tourist minibuses. We had to laugh again, as although Lonely Planet described the trip as follows: "The road is savagely steep and snaking; grab a window seat and ride on an empty stomach if motion sickness is a problem", it was a breeze for us - I guess India really did toughen us up! Pai was a really chill town, and a popular destination for Thai artists and free-spirits. This day also just happened to be Halloweeen, and as Shaina and I had made an earlier pact that regardless of where we were on Halloween, we would dress up in some shape or form, we did. We decided to be nerds, and made use of the town's name by making Pi symbols out of duct tape for our shirts along with huge square glasses made out of straws and chopsticks, pants hiked up to our ears, and me with a calculator in my pocket and Shaina with pens in her shirt pocket. Not bad for the limited resources we had!!! We hit up a Halloween party (we were surprised to find that there were 4 or 5 different ones going on - the influence of tourism for you ), and had a fun night. The next day we jumped at the opportunity to rent bikes again, and found ourselves finally in the "real" Thailand we had been hoping to see - on a quiet road in the midsts of bright greenery, rural traditional agriculture and bamboo houses. Our destination was one of the many waterfalls that surrounds Pai, where we played in the water and relaxed in the sun.

We are now back in Bangkok and are both battling with a bout of food poisoning. Although Shaina's is much worse than mine (hence the proposed title of her recent blog, "Explosions") we both have to laugh at the baffling fact that we managed to tough out India with not a single case, and are now hit with it in Thailand! That is irony if I have ever seen it.... Tomorrow we are taking off for Burma (Myanmar), where we will be doing a 10 day tour. I am quite excited to explore this country that is not readily travelled by tourists, and it will be quite eye opening given the current situation in Burma with the Totalitarian government that is in place there. For this reason, among others, there is a lot of controversy surrounding travelling within this country, but I only hope that I do not leave feeling as if I have supported the government and done more harm than good. We have done our best to ensure we are only staying in family run guest houses and using non government transportation. We shall let you know how it goes when we return.

(Just for the record, I am not as big of a nerd as the title of this blog makes me sound - I just couldn't resist! Even though I may be an Engineer, I had to google "Pi" for the last 3 digits ... I promise.)