Yangon, Myanmar: A Rough Beginning

Hello everyone! I know it's been quite a while since I posted -- December has been a crazy month with traveling to Myanmar (also known as Burma), celebrating Christmas (more than once), and celebrating the new year.

By a stroke of luck, I had 10 days free from work in December because our city was hosting a nationwide Sports Week. I chose to travel to one of the few countries in SE Asia that I haven't been to yet -- Myanmar. It's not a well-known country, but it's increasingly on the radar for many travelers because of its natural beauty and unique culture. It's located right next door to Thailand, so I didn't have far to go. The entire country was closed to tourists for nearly 60 years, and opened its doors just a few years ago. As more people visit the country, things are quickly changing. Tourists bring money, which also means changes that are not always good: more restaurants geared toward tourists, vendors selling souvenirs at every tourist destination, people begging for cash just because you're white, and aggressive taxi drivers. That being said, I loved my time in Myanmar. I had a lot of great moments, and a few unpleasant ones as well. There is always some good and some bad while traveling, but it's always a learning experience!

Traveling throughout the country, I visited the typical tourist sites: Yangon, Inle Lake, Bagan, and the new capital city of Mandalay. I greatly enjoyed my time in the country, but got off to a bit of a rough start. I flew into Yangon, which is the southernmost city I visited.

I'll be honest: Yangon is not my favorite. I had a rough beginning 24 hours in the country. I started by trying to haggle with one of the cab drivers for the hour-long drive from the airport into the city to my hostel. Sadly, they were not open to giving me a deal (which is pretty unusual; cabs that run by agreed prices rather than a meter are usually open to negotiations). The drive into the city was a bit terrifying -- there was so much traffic and people were trying to merge into two small lanes in eight different ways. Luckily, the driver got me to my destination safely (but with a bit of muttering about how he needs to start charging more haha).

After I checked into my hotel, I went in search of food. I asked for a recommendation from the front desk, and they sent me to an American style restaurant, which was a bit strange. I certainly did not travel to Myanmar to eat a burger! I walked past the place, and decided to find something a bit more Burmese. I tried to order some street food, but not knowing the names of any kinds of food made it a bit difficult. The first place I tried was a bust. I walked up to a street vendor, and tried to mime that I wanted the same thing she was currently making for a customer to no avail. She spoke no English, so she just looked at me with big, terrified eyes. She tried to flag down a random person on the street to help interpret, but he got distracted by talking to another person. Then she tried to get a guy that was playing on his phone to help. He looked at her, then looked at me, said "no" and continued playing on his phone. Complete rejection.

After this little failure, I was a bit discouraged. But I walked a bit more and saw a place with the names of beers written in English and pictures on their menu, so I sat down at a table. They had no problem helping me, and I had a delicious curry and a beer for dinner. Finally, success! After this I went back to the hotel and got some much-needed shuteye.

The next morning I was off and headed to Mahabandoola Garden.

The Garden was stunningly beautiful. On my walk over there, I took a few pictures of random things I saw on the streets. I sat down to review them and was approached by a young lady trying to sell me thanaka, which is gold powder people use as makeup and sunscreen. I politely refused, but she was incredibly persistent. She sat down next to me to plead with me, which is an unusually pushy move. I finally gave in when she lowered the price by more than half because I just wanted her to go away. As soon as she had the cash, she triumphantly walked away. That was when I noticed that my camera, which I had set down next to me to argue with her, was missing. No wonder she walked away so quickly -- she stole my camera. It was gone. This is the first time in all of my travels that I have ever had something stolen from me, and I couldn't help but feel angry, sad, and mistrustful of all the people around me.

Like I say, Yangon was not my favorite. In my first 24 hours there, people were rude and I had something stolen from me. Most people who have traveled to Myanmar raved about the kindness of the people and the lack of pushy selling to tourists. Perhaps things are changing in this country that has so recently opened its borders, perhaps I just had a spot of bad luck. In any case, the country did not make a great first impression on me, but I did have some fantastic adventures. More coming soon!

Loy Krathong in Sukhothai

Dragon graffiti outside a Chinese temple by the river.

When I first arrived last year, the first Thai/Buddhist festival that I attended was Loy Krathong (and hey, I even blogged about it!). I stayed in Nakhon Sawan for the event, and it was quite small in comparison to what I did this year.

For the 2015 festival, I decided to travel to Sukhothai (about 3 hours away by bus). I've visited before, but this time I stayed in the New City close to the bus station, which has quite a different feel than the Old City. The place I stayed was next to the Yom River, and I greatly enjoyed the bike rides next to the water. The wall next to the river featured graffiti paintings --some were beautiful, some were just plain weird. Look at how beautiful it was!

Beautiful view!

The entire reason that I decided to visit Sukhothai again was to see a big celebration of Loy Krathong. I had heard that this old capital city hosted one of the most beautiful incarnations of the celebration with lanterns, candles, a light show, fireworks, and ancient temples lit up like Christmas. The hype was real.

This was the entranceway arch: "Sukhothai Loy Krathong and Candle Festival." I have already been to Sukhothai and walked around the entire park several times, so I knew exactly which ruins I wanted to visit right away.

The Loy Krathong festival happens every year on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month according to the traditional Thai calendar. This year it fell on Wednesday, November 25th, but Sukhothai celebrated for 5 days (it started on Saturday the 20th and finished the following Wednesday). A krathong is basically a floating decoration, typically made from the trunk of a banana tree and decorated with flowers, candles, and incense. A growing trend includes krathongs made from bread because they can be eaten by the aquatic animals as they float away from shore.

As people launch their krathongs, they make a wish as they leave shore. I've heard that the candle is venerates Buddha with light, and the floating away is meant to symbolize people letting go of all their resentment, anger, and hatred. People also give offerings and "make merit," or accumulate good acts and charity to carry on to their next life by donating money or food. It's a ceremony meant to cleanse the sins of the past year so that you can start new and fresh.

Krathongs!

When I walked into the park, the first thing that I saw was a GIANT market. It was filled with fried and grilled food, fruits, barbecued meats, shrimp . . . any Thai food you could possibly imagine was there. In addition to the food market, there was also a huge clothing market where you could buy Thai traditional clothing or "Bike for Dad" shirts (which are blue and yellow and are in celebration of the King's birthday/Father's Day on December 5). I really liked that most of the food was served in banana leaves instead of plastic or styrofoam containers. This is how food used to be prepared, and I liked the fact that this helped keep the park clean.

Market with ALL THE FOOD.

Prawns and grilled fish in banana leaf bowls.

More grilled fish.

This was probably my favorite photo of the night.

Lanterns everywhere!

More lanterns!

I absolutely loved how this Buddha looked lit up.

Side view of all the little tents and markets set up.

One of my favorite parts of festivals in Thailand are the big lanterns that people light up and release into the sky. Granted, they are quite dangerous -- you light a rag that is soaked in something that burns, then wait several minutes as the hot air fills it (like a hot air balloon), then release it and hope it goes straight up instead of at some weird angle right into the big crowd of people you are lighting it in. Lots of people are impatient, and many lanterns are released too early and crash (then burn) on the ground. They are quite lovely to look at though.

Lanterns in the sky!

Fireworks!

I was actually really excited for the fireworks show! When I heard the first one go off, I was in the market. I wanted to hurry out from under the canopy that covered it, so I tried to go around the back so I could avoid the big crowd that walked at a zombie pace. It was pretty dark over there, which I started to notice just as I stepped into a giant, mid-calf deep garbage puddle. It was gross--sock ruined, shoe ruined, and I smelled like garbage for the rest of the night. But then a little while later I saw elephants!

The elephants were my FAVORITE thing I saw in Sukhothai. There was a big show they put on in a sectioned off area (I didn't pay for a ticket), and elephants were part of it. To my surprise, when wandering toward one of the gates so that I could leave, I found the elephants again! They were just hanging out in the middle of a crowd, taking money from the hands of people that held it out. The mahouts (elephant trainers) just sat up there, looking bored, and I couldn't help but be jealous of how close they got to be to such amazing animals every day. I would never ride an elephant because it hurts them and I think it's a bit undignified for them, but I love the chance to get up close to an elephant!

Photo of the Week: Halong Bay

This is one of my favorite photos captured from my recent trip to Vietnam. It was taken in Halong Bay, which has been on my bucket list since I first heard about it. The place was stunning, and exceeded the expectations I had for it.

This photo shows, in just a little bit of space, how amazing the place is. It's filled with limestone karsts and mountains. The ones you can see in the background are shrouded in mist and ghost-like. The whole place felt a little unreal, but I would be content to just sit on a deck and cruise around that harbor for ages.

This photo was taken on a stormy morning with the wind whipping around and gray skies everywhere. Luckily, it was the morning we headed back from Cat Ba Island to the mainland, so I had already experienced two full days with amazing skies and didn't have to worry about being caught in the storm.

Vietnamese Food Highlight: Egg Coffee

This is a Vietnamese specialty called egg coffee. It's basically exactly what it sounds like -- coffee mixed with raw egg. It's a little bit more complicated than that though: egg yolks are beaten with sugar, butter, and coffee until stiff, then served on top of the remaining cup of coffee. According to Buzzfeed, this stuff tastes like "liquid tiramisu." 

When I first heard about this, I was a little bit scared. Who drinks raw egg in coffee?! But I also knew that I had to try it, so I ordered one at my favorite coffee shop in Hanoi, The Hanoi Social Club. 

After I received mine, I stirred it all together and took a gulp. It was incredibly delicious -- thick, creamy, and rich. Coffee in general in Vietnam is the most delightful I have ever tasted, so I could only expect that this would be just as amazing. And it was! If you are ever in Hanoi, be sure to check out this special coffee item. As far as I can tell, it is only served in the north, but I wouldn't be surprised if the recipe floated down to Ho Chi Minh because it is so popular.

Hanoi: Traffic You Have to Pray In

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying Hanoi. I really am.

The only thing that is, um, not so enjoyable, is the feeling of risking my life every time I cross the street. There are a few intersections governed by lights, but for the most part the roads seem to basically be a free for all. There are very few stop lights or stop signs, which means that there is never a pause in the mass of traffic. This is true even in side streets where there is two-way traffic on a narrow, essentially one-lane road.

To cross the street, you just have to step out into traffic (there are no breaks), keep a steady pace as you walk across, and hope for the best. Sometimes I utter a little prayer under my breath and try to keep myself from getting too worried. I think that crossing the street would be better blindfolded because you wouldn't be able to see all of the cars, cyclos, and motorbikes coming at you!

All of the motorbike drivers are used to driving around pedestrians, so they magically part around you so you can cross safely. It's like walking through a swarm of bees, and it kind of sounds like one too. If you stop or slow down, you are much more likely to get hit. Drivers are also constantly honking, so if they fear you might change pace or something they will honk so that you know they are there. I really dig Hanoi, but I couldn't live here simply because of the noise of everyone constantly honking their horns.

Seriously, the traffic is crazy. But I'm used to it now.

If you think the video I took was a fluke, watch this compilation: