Well I’m back in Yangon, but only for a few hours, since I have a flight to Bangkok today at 16:30. This morning I flew from Bagan to Yangon via Mandalay and Heho. Even with 2 stops, the 2.5-hour flight was a much better option than a 20-hour bus ride.
My last day in Bagan (yesterday) was another great day, spent touring some of the temples by bicycles and hanging out at the market (again) having more clothes made. It was Lori, Mirit, and I who spent the entire day together. I’ve so enjoyed their company over the last few days that I know I will miss them. It was so much fun so me to engage in some good girl talk! At the market I had another skirt made for $3, Mirit had a pair of pants made, and Lori bought 2 shirts and had them altered to fit better. The women at the market were very happy with us because in 2 days we had already brought them more business from other travellers who saw ours skirts and wanted one made too. I’m sure that in another few months every tailor in the market will be displaying skirts for sale just like our’s.
Yesterday evening the 3 of us rode our bicycles to one of the temples for sunset. On the way we got caught in the rain but it was so beautiful, sun on one side, rain on the other, temples everywhere, and even a rainbow in the sky, that we didn’t care. At the temple we ran into Robbie who had also cycled there, so the 4 of us sat around and watched the sun set together. We all went to dinner together and had a very fun evening filled with good conversation and laughs.
This morning I said goodbye to everyone and left the New Heaven Guesthouse for my flight to Yangon. It’s possible that I’ll see Robbie and maybe even Lori again in Bangkok because they’ll both be heading there in the next few days. The Israeli girls, Mirit and Hadas, are planning to go to Chiang Mai from Mandalay so I doubt if I will see them in Thailand but I hope very much to see them again someday.
So now I have exactly 3.5 more hours to sit around in the airport before my flight. Normally I don’t mind sitting in airports at all but this particular airport is, well, let’s just say that it could use a few renovations. Well, okay, maybe a whole new airport. There is just nothing here, except for one restaurant, which is ridiculously overpriced for foreigners and is filled with cigarette smoke from all the locals in there smoking. Could this be the only international airport left in the world where smoking is still allowed everywhere? Right, there must be 2, since Mandalay also has an international airport. Come on Myanmar, get with the program here. And this is even more unbelievable - the local people actually come here to watch the planes take off. While I was in the smoke-infested restaurant, about 100 people came in and crowded around the windows to look outside. I knew they weren’t travellers because they were all wearing flip-flops and just holding umbrellas or newspapers like all Burmese people do. Men, women, kids, the whole group of them stood around, watched the plane take off, and then all of them left. It was very, very bizarre. I have no idea if this is a daily occurrence here or what. Sometimes I can’t even believe that there are places in the world like Myanmar that are so incredibly behind the times. When I here things about Myanmar being 100 years behind Thailand and then I see something like locals going to the airport to have a chance to see a plane, well then I understand what being 100 years behind really means. More on those thoughts when I get back to Bangkok…
My flight leaves at 16:30 but I don’t arrive in Bangkok until 18:10 because Myanmar is 30 minutes behind Thailand. Why 30 minues and not one hour I couldn’t tell you. One of the many, many mysteries of this country I guess.
Later the same day…
Welcome back to Bangkok, ie Khoa San Road, ie Backpacker snobbery infestation, ie let’s all try to out-travel, out-bargain, out-cool, out-hippie dress, and out-diss everyone and everything in the world -each other.
The scene: On the airport bus into the city, and sitting next to me is a backpacker guy with a Good Morning Vietnam t-shirt on, looking at maps of Bangkok.
Me: Were you just in Vietnam?
Him: No, Lao. (Still looking at the map)
Me: Oh, how did you like Lao?
Him: (Making a bad face, still looking at the map)
Me: You didn’t like it?
Him: (Shaking his head, still looking at the map)
Me: Ok.
Conversation ends, him still looking at the map.
Where’s the LOVE I ask???????
You people don’t DESERVE to wear HIPPIE CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!!!
How do you describe a place as magical as this???
Girl power - me (USA), Lori (Canada), and Mirit (Israel), if only we ruled the world!
Sun, rain, clouds, blue sky, temples, rainbows and me, in Bagan
July 26th, 2002
Full moon today. It’s a holiday/festival day in Bagan because of the full moon - some type of Buddha Day I think. We all (’we’ being the other travellers at the guesthouse) decided that it would be a good day to visit Mt. Popa which is a famous temple on top of an extinct volcano about 50km from Bagan. We rented a minivan with driver for $3 each and a group of 8 of us set out for Mt. Popa this morning - me, Lori (Canada), the 2 Israeli girls, Edwardo (Spain), the Slovenian couple, and the Japanese man. It was interesting to see the temple especially today because there were many locals there bringing flowers and money offerings but overall none of us were that impressed with it and didn’t think it was worth the 1.5-hour ride each way. I think we had more fun in the car.
The whole group had lunch together back in Bagan and then we retreated back to our aircon rooms to get out of the afternoon heat for a bit.
In the early evening Mirit and I decided to take bicycles and cycle around the pagados for sunset. This was the first time that either of us had seen any of the pagodas in Bagan. When the guidebook says there are’thousands’ of pagodas here they ain’t kidding. Ther are literally everywhere. The landscape is COVERED with them. The evening glow of sunset made all the temples look like gold. We went up to the top of one of them to watch the actual sun set over the river below. Spent almost 2 hours just sitting up there taking in the view. Nice time.
Tomorrow more temple touring is on, and, ok, perhaps some more tailoring as well.
See the big rock on the right with temples on top, thats Mt. Popa
Girl conquers summit of Mt. Popa
A happy Burmese Buddha (Burma has my favorite Buddha faces)
July 24th, 2002
So. I am in my aircon room with private shower for $3/night in the town of Bagan. Waiting at the moment to go out to dinner with some other travellers for dinner in another hour. I arrived here yesterday by boat from Mandalay, a 9-hour boat ride in total. It was a big boat so the ride was smooth even though the water was very choppy from the wind. On the boat I met some other travellers - Edwardo from Spain, Ester from the UK, and Lori from Canada, and we spent almost the entire boat ride sitting on the deck and talking.
We arrived in Bagan at 4pm and the 4 of us decided to share a taxi to the guesthouse. We each got our own room, 4 rooms all in a row. I was in no hurry to rush around town after the long ride and I think everyone else felt the same way because we all spent the afternoon hanging out on our porches. Edwardo, Lori and I headed out to an Italian restaurant for dinner and we invited a Japanese man who we met on the street asking for a good place to eat. The Japanese man was from Tokyo and was travelling in Myanmar to scope out a future trip for him and his wife together. Apparently he goes alone first to find all the good places and then brings his wife back. Very nice man. I had a pizza with fresh basil and garlic and it was amazing.
When we got back from dinner there was a note from Mirit, the one Israeli girl I met in Kalaw, and she had just arrived by bus and was staying at the same guesthouse. She was so happy to see me! I also ran into the Slovenian couple from Kalaw who are also staying at the same place and we all had a good time hanging out, drinking beer, and telling stories last night.
Today I had a very relaxing day. Bagan is very famous in Myanmar for all it’s many, many temples and stuppas everywhere and that’s what all the tourists come to see. Mostly everyone gets up early to get out and see the sights. At breakfast I saw the Slovenian couple head out and then Edwardo, all on bicycles they had rented at the guethouse. After breakfast, Mirit, Lori and I got together to figure out what we were doing. Well we started talking and talking and almost 2 hours later we were still at the guesthouse! It was a full girl-talk session being had. We finally decided we better go do SOMETHING so the 3 of us rented bicycles and set off to the bank to change Mirit’s traveller’s cheques. Nothing in Myanmar happens quickly and going to the bank is no exception. It took over an hour to process the paperwork, get the money, count the money, and talk politics with the bank manager.
After that we were ready for lunch and we had a very leisurely time at the restaurant, eating and talking more girl-talk. Then we decided to go to the market (still having seen not ONE pagoda) and the 3 of us got sucked into a massive shopping spree. Actually we didn’t buy that much in the end but we all decided that we wanted a new skirt so we picked out some fabric and each had a skirt made then and there while we waited. At $3/skirt it’s hard to resist. We wound up being in the market for a few hours, mostly sitting around while the women made adjustments and fittings to the skirts. It was so much fun - a tota l’girl day’ which I had not had in a very long time. We had to laugh at ourselves that we still had not seen one touristic thing in Bagan after a full day here. I still have 2 more days to spend so I’m not worried about it at all.
On the way back from the market I saw Robbie, the Irishman from Mandalay - he just arrived here today. The whole group of us are going to dinner tonight and I think it will easily be a great time. Tomorrow we WILL sightsee!
Mirit, Lori, myself, and the sisters who made our skirts
July 23rd, 2002
