The Beautiful Country of Myanmar

Finally my summer break had arrived and I wanted to travel outside of Thailand. I had many ideas of countries to go to such as Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, but Myanmar won me over. My friend Jessie had already been planning a trip there with some friends so I joined in on their plans. I flew out on March 30 to meet them, as they had already spent a few days exploring Yangon. I caught the earliest flight out of Bangkok so I would have plenty of time to catch a bus from Yangon to Kalaw because that was where we would start our trek the next morning at 9 am. The airport was insane though!!! I arrived around 2 and half hours early and I was cutting it close because all the lines were so busy and I had to get my re-entry permit completed! The flight went smoothly and was only an hour and 15 minutes long. I quickly rushed off the plane into a taxi to go to the bus station. I briefly had searched bus times but it was difficult to understand online but in Bangkok buses run almost every hour for every destination possible, so it should be similar right? Wrong. WAY wrong. Myanmar has only been a tourist destination for about 4 years now due to the government so they aren't as up to date as I thought. There are two buses from Yangon to Kalaw a day; one at 9:00 am and one at 6:00 pm. The time when I arrived 9:30am. F*cK. I was now in a strange place I have never been before by myself and I didn't even know the language they spoke and my phone wouldn't work without a wifi connection. What a better way to quickly adapt. I took a deep breath and was thankful I at least was going to make it in time for the trek the next morning I just wasn't going to make it into Kalaw until around 3:00am. I bought my ticket and found a place to settle for the day. The bus company office was set up in a garage looking building with a couple of chairs and one fan. I read my book for a couple of hours and then I started to feel my stomach rumble. I asked the girl working at the desk to watch my bag as I looked for food. Nothing was found but I did find some chips and water and a beautiful temple. When the bus finally came I was already on page 400 of my 500 page book. The bus was really nice and stopped for food and then I slept for the rest of the way. I woke up when we finally arrived, stepped off the bus and holy shit it was cold!!! I had forgotten what the cold felt like! I grabbed my bags and ran to the hotel to find Mary waiting to let me in to our room! I quickly went to sleep as the alarm was set for 7 to wake us to get ready for the trek!

It was really nice to see familiar faces at breakfast. Mary and I met up with Jessie and her friend Aiden, Annie and her friends Laura and Garrath, and Rick a guy from Holland who they had been travelling with for a couple of days now. The temperature again was cooler than I am used too and because I just assumed everywhere is hot like Thailand I did not bring any warm clothes. After breakfast we all walked over to the trekking office. They loaded our big bags on a truck to take to our end destination while we carried smaller bags for the three day trek. Our group was led by Pew.  He was such an awesome guide! We began our walking right from the office, across some roads that then turned to dirt. So far so good. The first hour was mainly flat ground and roads which then for some silly reason I thought hey this will be easy.... well it wasn't! On the website it suggested you be in average shape for the trek and I would agree I am but oh boy! Those hills that first day were on an 80 degree angle. I struggled a lot, I wanted to cry, but I didn't give up. Pew was very helpful and I was lucky to be with friends because we all struggled and got through it together. We stopped for a bigger break at a beautiful lake. This was the first time I could truly take in the beauty of this country. Myanmar has similarities to Thailand, but is also so different. It felt untouched by tourists and like a secret place not many people get to see, and now my eyes got to see this raw beauty of hills, flowers, lakes, vegetation and many animals. I felt so lucky. Mary wasn't feeling well for most of the first day. She was taking malaria pills (which I also should have done, but I knew how sick they made me in Kenya) and they made her throw up the whole first morning. I stuck with her at the back of the pack to make sure she was okay. We were getting close to lunch time and I was more hungry than I have ever been! Then Pew tells us we have to climb this huge hill first though to get to the spot where lunch is..... well I almost died but it was worth it! This view point was beautiful. Looking down at the area I was just trekked to get here made me very proud of myself. Then I ate so much, and it was Indian, I was in love! The rest of the walk to our first home stay was more hills of course. The village was very cute and the owners of the home cooked us a delicious dinner. They set up a table with lots of food and tea, candles and love. They took care of us like you would family, and that's what we felt like. We all slept in the upstairs room with a big spread of blankets all in a row. It felt like a sleepover you would have as a kid at a birthday party. As Annie was was getting dressed for bed she noticed all these hives all over hers legs and we all panicked, checking our bodies for bugs bites or hives. Annie had used a bush for a toilet on the trek and brushed up against a plant that gave her a nasty reaction, but she was fine. No one slept much the first night because a baby was crying and we all heard weird animal like moaning and crying. When we got woken up at 6:30 am for breakfast to find out that a bull was giving birth through the night. We all had a good laugh about that! My legs were sore from the 18km of walking the day before and my body was sore from the sleep on the floor, but it was a new day! Breakfast was great and served with tea like always! Tea is a huge part of the culture in Myanmar and served with every meal and even if we stopped for a break near a shop they would bring us tea! At our first break we picked up two girls (Mac and Eliza)  who were only doing a two day trek. The second day was less hills, but more walking and all in direct sunlight. It was a hot day! This day had some amazing views of the hills. I got to see villages with children playing, crops being harvested by farmers and smiles from all the locals we passed. We did a lot of walking on old railroad tracks and and paths less travelled. Again I felt as if I was apart of a secret world that you only read about in books, I was amazed. The village we stopped at for lunch prepared fresh fruit and noodles for us. Once again I was amazed at how great the food was! After lunch we walked on the side of hills and came to a river. We were allowed to swim here and I bathed because the showers at the home stays were just buckets of rain water. The water was cold but it was a nice break from our longest day so far. The sun starting setting after our swim and on a downhill slope my foot slipped and it felt like my knee popped out a bit, but I thought nothing of it and figured it would start to feel better after some sleep. When we got to our home stay for the night they spoke their own mother tongue so Pew had some trouble communicating with them but they still treated us like family. We had chicken curry and vegetables for dinner and a nice surprise they also made home made french fries!! They were so good!! We had a couple of beers to celebrate that we just walked 21 km and we had one more day until we arrived to our final destination! Again we had the upstairs of a building with bamboo flooring. This made me a little nervous because at some spots you could see all the way down and it didn't feel stable but it was more comfortable than the first place we stayed. The next morning when I woke up I barely move my knee it was in so much pain. I was limping around and taking more advil than I should have. I had to make a hard decision... Pew said I could get a motorbike and ride to the final destination if it was too sore, or I could walk with the group. Mac helped me make a brace for my knee to see if it felt better and it helped a bit but I was not giving up on this trek. I was going to finish. Pew said it was the easiest day of walking, which it was but I was wincing in pain for most of the day. It was a lot of flat ground on roads and through villages. We stopped for tea and some snacks before lunch. I had great conversation with Pew on this last day. I had great conversations with everyone on this trek. We would start walking at 8 am and arrive at our home stay around 7 pm, so a lot of time to talk while walking. Pew educated me on the history of Myanmar and the vegetation they grow and how important tea is to them. It was great to learn about the culture from a local instead of a book. When we finally arrived for lunch I felt relieved, I knew we didn't have much further to go but to my surprise after lunch they told us all the walking was done and the rest of the trip would be done by boat! We all piled into a long boat for an hour boat ride to Inle Lake. During this ride we got to see villages on the water, women with boats filled with goods to sell and men fishing. The fishing techniques were amazing!! They would hold their paddle with their foot while standing up and pulling up their fishing net by themselves. I was amazed. We stopped for a bit to watch and I think everyone's jaws were open with awe. The boat dropped us off at a dock and then we walked foot to our hotel. Everyone was tired so we grabbed our things and took a nap. When everyone had showered we went for dinner at a restaurant down the road. We all got a little tipsy and went back to the hotel and played fishbowl (a different version of charades). It was a great night to end off 3 of the hardest days of my life. I pushed my body to its limits and mentally had to reassure myself I could do it. I am extremely proud of my accomplishment.

The next day we had to check out of the hotel but our bus wasn't coming to get us until 8pm to take us to Bagan, so we had the day to check out Inle. We did breakfast at the hotel then lounged around until check out. I sat on a swinging bench outside and read my book while a stray puppy sat at me feet. The owners said not to touch the dog because it was not theirs and could be dangerous but he was soo cute! We all stuck together for lunch and went to a cafe! The smoothies were to die for! Then we all wanted to do different things for the afternoon so we separated. Laura and I had seen horseback riding advertised in a building and thought that would be fun! It was only the two of us on the trail. The horses just walked the whole time but that was fine with me because I wasn't the most comfortable around the horses, I hadn't been on one in years!!! The views were breath taking and we had fun talking while our horses walked side by side. We stopped at a templed in a cave. It was a little scary because it was dark and we only had our cell phone lights to lead us through and then we both began thinking of scary movies in caves and we ran! It was a nice afternoon spent in the quiet hills of Inle. When we arrived back into town we met Jessie and Aiden on a roof top bar for some snacks and drinks to watch the sun go down. It was a beautiful sunset and then a parade started going through the town! One weekend every month they have a parade to celebrate boys who are becoming men and have a celebration for it! It was really interesting to see! Then we hurried back to the hotel where the bus was picking us up. It was the same bus company I had used before so it was another great ride and slept the whole 8 hours through until we arrived in the early hours of the morning in Bagan.

As soon as we got off bus at 4:00 am there were men bombarding us to use them for a taxi to our guesthouse. It was very overwhelming and I had just woken up I didn't even know the name of our guesthouse so I may have gotten rude and yelled at them to give us space, but we wanted to figure stuff out. Once we got a van taxi to fit all of us we were on our way. Bagan is a protected area because of all of the pagodas and ruins so we had to pay 25,000 kyat (which is around $25). When we got to our guesthouse I felt bad waking up the guy sleeping at the front desk but we all wanted a bed to rest in. Some of the group didn't go to sleep right away and instead rented motorbikes to go see the sunrise. I had a nap and then went for breakfast (it came included with our guesthouse). They had the best samosas ever! I rented a bicycle with Annie, Garrath and Laura for the day and we went around visiting ruins and pagodas. It wasn't he best idea with my knee but everyone with motorbikes had already left and I didn't want to go on my own for the first day. Bagan was a lot hotter than Kalaw and biking was hard work, especially all day in the sun. At one of the temples we visited they had a little market selling a variety of things. I bought way to much but I got excited and they had the most beautiful paintings. We all met back up for lunch and went to a restaurant called Weatherspoons. It was so good! I got an avocado salad and fell in love. I have missed my avocados and just my luck they grow way to much in Myanmar. We went back to the guesthouse and played cards and relaxed until dinner and we went back to Weatherspoons hah. This time I got the veggie burger and again the most amazing things ever. My knee was hurting so I hopped on the back of Rick's motorbike to see the sunset on a pagoda. It was very beautiful and I am happy I got to experience it with such great travel friends. The next morning we woke up at 4:30 am to rent motorbikes and see the sunrise. We went to a different pagoda to get a different view. We were some of the first people to arrive but by the time the sun finally started coming up there were around 30 people on this pagoda. The sky was a beautiful purple and pink colour and it made me fall more in love with this country than I already was. I know I have said this was too many times but I was asking myself, why do I deserve to see such beauty.. how did I get so lucky? I feel so blessed. After the breath taking sunrise we went back to the guesthouse to eat breakfast and have a nap. The rest of the day was spent exploring old Bagan. It was beautiful and I had to pinch myself to make sure this was real! We stopped for lunch and ice cream and played some cards. Then we headed to a fancy hotel and had some drinks on the water, it was really nice. We had made some friends earlier and we discussed going on a boat cruise for the sunset so we bought some beers and headed down to the lake. The boat ride was nice and relaxing and we had a great time with our new friends. We all went for dinner after at Bibo and I had the pumpkin curry. I wish everyone could try this pumpkin curry! I talk about the food a lot but I am not kidding when I say it is all the best ever! On our way back to the guesthouse I stopped to buy a traditional umbrella and fell behind and when I came pulling into our place a woman was going crazy and yelling to be careful, I mean I always am (because I can hear my dad in my head every time I turned or brought my speed up a little too high haha). I had no idea why she was going crazy though and then she said someone just got in an accident. I didn't think much of it until I walked in the main lobby and saw people circling around someone and thought shit... it's someone that is staying here. When I got closer I then saw that it was Laura! I screamed her name and went to her aid. She was okay and didn't hit her head which was good but she landed hard on her ass. When she stood up her pants were ripped all the way across her cheeks so we went to her room. I helped rubbed alcohol on it but we thought it would be best to go to the clinic. The owner of the guesthouse got us a driver and he came with us to make sure all went well. She got it washed up properly and they gave her some pain meds. Again I heard my Dad saying I told you someone was going to get hurt, but I'm glad it was minor and she was wearing a helmet. The next morning I got up at 4:30 am again but this time for a bus. I had to take a 5 hour bus ride to the airport in Mandalay. This time it was a local bus and we were all squished in and no AC. I tried to sleep for most of it, but did not succeed. Got to the airport and took a snooze there while waiting for my plane back to Bangkok.

Myanmar was a trip I will never forget and was such a great decision. Going to busy tourist places can be fun and they are good that's why so many people go, but experiencing a place that hasn't been touched by too many tourists was special. I recommend it to anyone travelling to South East Asia.