Myanmar - the land of contrasts!

Late at night at the internet cafe

OK, so we were wrong about the internet in Myanmar. There are internet cafes popping up everywhere! Seemingly cheap at less than $1 US/hr. However given the fact that the internet was so slow and took almost 1 hour just to log in to gmail, an attempt at a blog update was futile. Maybe it was just us? The monks at every other computer seemed to be having no problems skyping and surfing the net...

Monks waiting in line for their 2nd of only 2 meals of the day.

Most memorable question of the trip (so far):
Picture yourself on a nice walk with your family crossing a lovely old teak bridge. Now put that bridge over the filthiest, rankest, toxic waste-dump of a lake (with a fluorescent green film over the top). You too can experience this in Mandalay... Luckily after telling the kids: don't look down, don't breathe and for god's sake (or Buddha's) don't fall in, we all made it over safely. Having survived the ordeal, we were faced with the question of the trip so far (from Lily): "Would you rather drink some of that water or die". Answer: "If I drink some of that water, I will die".

On the one hand there is the filth and squalor of the big cities. Something that can take down even the most intrepid of travellers. Then you get out of town and into the countryside and you understand what people are talking about. Myanmar is a beautiful place full of the most amazing people. On this trip, I have come to realize that it's the people that you meet along the way (from all over the world)  that make the journey memorable. The kids (and Aaron and I) are definitely learning from the school of life here: we have more than we need, a smile is worth a thousand words and don't judge a book by it's cover. Everyone in Burma (without exception) had a smile for us. Often a red, betel nut stained, toothless one, but a smile none the less.

Here is Aaron to fill you in a little bit on our trip to Myanmar...

On the street in front of the Beauty Land II

I had no idea what to expect as we arrived in Myanmar. The sum total of my knowledge came from discussions with Rob and Leisha Laird and Lawson and Daniel Eberhard. After 10 days in Myanmar the best description might be that its like the medieval times crashed into the late 1940's. Aside from the very recent introduction of cheap scooters and cars from China, there is little evidence that the country has progressed from when British rule ended in 1948. Even in Yangon, the country's capital and largest city, in areas you can still have a street occupied by scooters, cars, single speed bicycles, trishaws and horse and cart. In more rural areas an ox and cart is still a widely used form of transportation as well. Socially the country is a largely a religious, agrarian society with Buddhism dominating all aspects of daily life. Apparently of the 60 million people here, 2 million are monks.
To say that our arrival in Yangon was a shock is more than an understatement. Having been softened by the beach lifestyle in Thailand, our arrival in Yangon at the "Beautyland II" hotel bought us quickly back to earth. Imagine Robert DeNiro's living quarters in the movie Taxi and that will give you a basic idea of this place. At no point was is wise to look at the sheets and you had to forget the damp feeling of the mattress. Once again we told the kids (and ourselves) that this was "all part of the adventure"! The kids were great and overlooked the decrepit stairwells, filthy hallways and damp mattresses, and simply noted that the beds were soft... I think they actually accepted things more easily that Danno or I!

Isaac in Mandalay

Aaron giving the rickshaw driver a ride in Mandalay

After a day long tour of the city we decided to head north to Mandalay. The overnight bus ride was very good and when we got to our hotel we wished we had statey on the bus. It was worse than Beauty Land. Luckily we spent very little time there and spent the next two days touring the city and the surrounding towns. These were wonderful places that time has forgotton. We saw gold leaf being made by hand, bronze casting that used mud for the molds and grantite carving shops in which all of the work was done by hand. These were at once very interesting and hard to accept. The difficulty of the work and the horrible working conditions were very sobering. Once again however, in all of these places the smiles were never ending regardless of the heat and working conditions. In a tapestry making shop the girls were invited to help and the same happened in a granite carving factory where they were able to help polish the statues.

Tiny sailboat on the majestic Ayerwaddy

After these two days we caught a day long boat trip down the huge Ayerwaddy river to get to Bagan. This place has been described as the new Angor Wat and it is hard to fathom. Buddist temples (Pagodas) and their smaller versions (Stupas) stretch for miles. Many are nearly 2,000 years old and are in remarkably good shape. While I have not been to Angor Wat I think the two places are actually quite different in feel largely becasue Bagan is semi arid and Angor Wat is in the jungle. In any event we had a wonderful day biking through the ruins.

Biking through the Bagan ruins

What was also very evident after we left the cities is that the rural people currently have a much better life than the city people. While there is little hope of any wealth whatsoever, the air is clean and so are the surrounding areas. Life is very slow here and is measured in growing seasons.

Stunning view from bus en route to Inle Lake

For our last stop we to and 8 hour bus ride from Bagan to Inle Lake and certainly we had saved the best for last. The bus ride took us from the dryness of Bagan, up through a rain forest to the top of the mountains that even had pine trees. Finally we decended to a great plain that was the most fertile place I have seen. The rice paddys stretched out like the wheat fields of Alberta.

Paddling 'Inle Lake' style

Our first day in Inle Lake was spent visiting the market, which was the best we had seen during our trip, cycling through the cane and rice fields and hiking to view points. This was the best day we had had in Myanmar and I would highly recommend Inle to anyone who visits. We did not spend enough time here at all. The following day we took a boat onto the lake and saw the leg paddling fishermen, the massive floating gardens (kilometers of tomatoes being grown on seaweed beds floating on the lake) and a village that existed entirely on the lake. This included shops, factories and schools all of which were accessable by boat only. It was a wonderful place that was unbelievably quiet.

So... Myanmar was amazing, good and bad. Everyone should travel there just to experience the people. The countryis just starting its move from a military dictatorship to a demoracy and I hope that the people there have a smooth transition.
We are just on a 1 day stop in Bangkok and off to Vietnam later in the day. Last night Isaac and I went to a Thai boxing match and it was crazy. The place was loud, packed, poorly lit and there were bookies shouting everywhere. The crowd was facinating to watch and the fights were exceptional. Those are some very, very tough little (105-135 lbs) men.
That's all for now. We understand that the internet is solid everywhere in Vietnam so expect more regular postings.

Baby in Bagan wearing traditional 'Thanaka'

Ella: Lets just say the first 2 hotels and cities were very dodgy. Open sewer holes everywhere. We had to walk with a flashlight at night so that we didn't fall into one. If you fell in you'd be in for a horrible surprise!!! Once we left the big cities we went to a very calm place called Bagan. It was really hot and like a desert - thanks goodness we had a pool at the hotel! Bagan has old style temples everywhere. You can't walk for even 1 minute without a stupa (a small temple) in sight. We travelled from Bagan to Inle Lake by bus. We went so high in the mountains that there were pine trees and it felt a little bit like Canada. Inle Lake was beautiful. We ate delicious pancakes smothered with chocolate (better than Uncle Paul's - sorry Uncle Paul!!) We went on a huge bike ride to a floating garden and climbed up to a monastery on top of a mountain. The view was amazing of farmland and Inle Lake. It was fun but on our way down we got caught in a monsoon. We were soaked! The people in Burma are very friendly. Everyone wants to say hello and ask "Where are you from"? When you answer "I'm from Canada", they would all say "Oh beautiful, but very cold"!

Girls grinding their own Thanaka paste

Lily: Mingalabar means hello in Burmese. We said that to everyone which made people happy. The people in Myanmar were always smiling at us and wanted us to be in their photos. One of the things that I found the most interesting is that everywhere you go there is a big jug of water but only 1 cup. So everyone drinks from the same cup. We would never do that in Canada! Also, a lot of people smoke inside hotels and restaurants, I didn't really like that. I loved the stupas in Bagan because they were so old, and not shiny. I loved riding in a horse and cart around the ruins. 2 really great things about Inle Lake were the pancakes and the people dressed up as an elephant dancing in the street. I also loved wearing Thanaka. We were given a big jar to put on our faces. The Burmese people think it makes you look very beautiful and were very surprised and happy that we wore it. We even got to try grinding our own, on a stone. It is made from wood (kind of like Sandalwood).

At the pub (Inle Lake)

So here we are back in Bangkok after an eye opener of a trip to Myanmar. The kids were very excited to return to the lovely guesthouse for a night before we head to Vietnam (Saigon) this afternoon. We've heard varying reports from fellow travellers about their experiences in Vietnam, but we are very excited to go there and see for ourselves!
We'll write again soon xxx