Last 10 Days in Myanmar

There has been little wifi in these areas, making it difficult for me to post these at the right time throughout this week. In the past 10 days I went over to the Shan State of Myanmar, the eastern side of the country closer to Thailand. It is known for Inle Lake and its famous one-legged rowing fishermen, and further up north in Hsipaw for its treks and little villages.

Inle Lake

I spent 5 days here, it was such an easy place to lounge around in after the trek from Kalaw - here are a few noteworthy things:

My hostel: Song Of Travel

This place was so cool, only $7 a night and it looks like a boombox. Beds were little pods, with free traditional snacks every day served at 4pm, free bike rental, a rooftop bar, I can't say enough good things about this place.

After checking in, we took it easy and rested before celebrating the end of our trek at a bar called Pub Asiatico, perhaps the only developed place tailored to tourists/expats in the entire area.

On our first day, 3 other girls and I took a boat ride throughout most of Inle lake and got to see several things, the most impressive being the floating village - where the only mode of transport (anywhere) is by boat. Even if you wanted to go to your neighbors house. It made me think could it be the Venice of Asia?

Another very cool stopover was a full area of weavers and weaving warehouses - These weaving machines are truly from another era and are ingenious in the way they work and how they are used. It felt like we were transported back in time. The weavers were actually weaving with the fibers found inside a lotus flower's stem. WOW! Never even knew that was possible, but they make full scarves out of this stuff. It is incredible. Another cool thing we passed by was a floating garden in the middle of Inle lake, just tons of tomatoes being grown on stilts. It's no wonder this area has such an abundance of tomatoes...

Other things we saw included a pagoda, silversmiths at work, a long-neck lady (although it felt more like a museum display than anything authentic), and lots and lots of people napping. Truly, everyone naps on their boats or on boardwalks throughout the day here.

On a different day I took one of the free bicycles to go and visit Htet Eain Gu Cave with one of the girls, Verena from Germany, and we ended the day at a winery! I was so surprised to see that they had a winery here. The cave was very cool, and quite eerie - one part reminded me of a cave that my dad went into in Bolivia, where the air was thin and there was a sculpture of the devil in some corner - the air got so thin the deeper into the cave we went, with corners that turned and you had no idea if it continued or was a dead end. We did not have the courage to crawl through and find out.

Suddenly, we found ourselves in a very peaceful moment - a part of the cave had an opening that was partly outdoors, but you were still sheltered - almost like you were under an ocean wave. And it rained. So rain surrounded us, it pitter-pattered on the rocks, the stupa,  the landscdpe, and we were underneath the cave-wave surrounded by buddhas, listening to nature's sounds.

We headed to the winery afterwards, 5,000 kyats to try samples of 4 different wines (ahem, that total is a whopping $3.65). We upgraded that amazing deal with a cheese platter, an additional $3 (don't mind if I do!)

The "Eminem" Restaurant

This place deserves its own mention on this blog... This is a ridiculous place, serving Indian food, and I say ridiculous because the entire decor is inspired by the rap artist, Eminem. The owner thinks he is Eminem - acts and talks and dresses like Eminem as well, has a tattoo of Detroit (where Eminem is from) on his arm even though he has never been, he has Eminem mannerisms and swag, he has photos of Eminem all over the walls, lyrics as wall decals, the "reserved" note placed on the tables is in the font from Eminem's albums, and the music that constantly plays at the restaurant are every single song Eminem either has on an album or is featured in on another artist's album. IT. IS. A. SIGHT. TO. BE. SEEN. I didn't even know how to react because it was so funny. Also, this man is going to Detroit for the very first time this year... unreal. Oh, and the Indian food was good.

Hsipaw

I truly lucked out in my journey to Hsipaw - it is about a 7 hour car ride there, and I booked an 11-person van to go. But no one else showed up, so it was someone's personal car and my driver was a 16 year old. I sat in the front seat which was amazing considering it was a very bumpy ride. Hsipaw is known for its treks, but I didn't do any - it is far removed from the usual circuit that tourists do while in Myanmar, but it was really lovely as a result. I was only here for a day but a highlight was definitely waking up at 4am to catch a morning market meant only for the locals, which lasts until 6am only. This is when people from nearby villages come in to sell their produce. Since it's still dark outside, many of them lit their stands with a candle.

Life on the Train:
From Hsipaw to Pyin Oo Lwin

This was unforgettable. Many of us left Hsipaw to slowly make our way to Mandalay, but the train there takes 13 hours. Thus it was suggested to take the train to Pyin Oo Lwin, and then take a bus from there to Mandalay which would only take 2 hours. But this train ride, whether by the long or short route, is nothing short of spectacular. A 7 hour train ride, ordinary seat with no air con and all windows open, and it only cost me... 1,200 kyats (that's $0.88 cents).

The scene inside

An old train made by a Pennsylvania stell company, it's old and rickety, but amazing engineering. So much lush green around the window, constantly changing in an ebb and flow from vast, open landscapes to tight forestry and vegatation, so thick that you have to wisely choose when you stick your head out of the window to prevent yourself from getting smacked in the face by extended branches and bushery. So many leaves fall in because of the repetitive hits of the open windows - except that it looks and acts exactly like a paper shredder would. The leaves literally went through the window shredders before the bits fell into my lap (or all over my face).

The locals who were on the train were so nice, they even shared freshly cut pineapple with us as a gift free of charge. The people here are so nice.

At one of our first stops, we stopped wedged between a corn field and a local guy on the train took the opportunity to reach his arm out of his window and attempt to steal a corn from the crop!

And then, the highlight of the trip... This is one reason why everyone takes this train route. This was when we made it to the Gotheik Viaduct, a huuuge suspended bridge (the 2nd highest suspended bridge in the world), where the train had to travel extra slowly to not exasperate the beams and trusses any more considering how old (and high) it is. We were 335 feet from the ground below us, absent by the sea of trees. It was completely unforgettable.

Pyin Oo Lwin

This place was without a doubt a hidden gem of Myanmar. It is not a place often visited by tourists, even though it is a more developed "city" than other places. And yet despite it being a more developed city, it was the cheapest place we had all come across. There were no "tourist" prices, the price was the same for everybody. And that meant 500 kyats for 5 mangos (100 kyats each, also $0.07 cents each). I bought 2 new pairs of pants (since one of mine got lost/swapped in the laundry with someone else's in Bagan) for a total of $5 USD.

A cute little clocktower was in the heart of the city, and the most impressive market I've seen thus far with absolutely everything you can imagine. I did not have my camera on this day as we stumbled across the market right after our breakfast. Not only could we feel the charm of this developing city through its slight colonial architecture, but also through a common mode of transport: horses with VERY cute almost Disney-like horse carriages.

The absolute highlight of Pyin Oo Lwin was that it was the best Indian food I have ever had. There is a huge Indian population here and every single bite of every little thing I had was not delicious but exquisite. I had Dhosas for breakfast which were made to perfection, before heading to my final stop, Mandalay...

Unreal Indian food. At this restaurant an entire Indian family was fixated on an Indian soap opera. These soaps are very very dramatic!!
Dhosas for breakfast were even better and only cost 400 kyats each (29 cents)

Mandalay

I only spent a day and a half here, but that was all I really needed. It was sooooooooo hot, I could barely get myself anywhere. I also did not like the vibes of my hostel, which made me want to get out of here a little bit faster. The city of Mandalay is not much to write about, it is nothing too special - but the surrounding areas of Mandalay are beautiful. On my first day I only had the energy to take myself to a padoga surrounded by hundreds of white stupas, it was absolutely beautiful and reminded me of the white temple I had seen in Thailand's Chiang Rai.

overpacked public van. Funny because on my way to see that white temple in Thailand, this was exactly how I had traveled and I was one of those people standing and holding on for dear life!

On my last day before heading to an overnight bus, 2 girls and I hired a taxi to drive us around a ton of archaeological areas surrounding Mandalay. Some of these places were quite impressive, reminding me of Indiana Jones landscapes...

The only thing I did not enjoy about this tour was that it felt significantly more touristy than other things I had done - and this was the first time I had really seen vendors trying very hard to get you to buy something, other people trying to get more money out of you, it had reminded me too much of certain places in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia...

We had to ride by horse carriage as the distances between archaeological sites was too far

Where I am Now

Back in Yangon! I am catching a flight tonight to my next destination, Hanoi, Vietnam to meet my wonderful college friend Lizzy and her equally wonderful boyfriend Charlie, who are on vacation together in Vietnam for the next 3 weeks. We figured we had to say hello since we would all be on the opposite side of the world together.

A brief reflection

So this is the end of the Myanmar chapter, and I also have some news. I thought long and hard about, but I have decided to completely scrap India all together and replace it with the Philippines. Myanmar is such a fascinating country, it has some landscapes I have never seen before, some parts of its culture that no one else in the world practices, the way people dress, what they eat, how cheap everything is, it is truly a gem. But it is also very quiet and still very undiscovered - this is actually a good thing, but I initially chose Myanmar thinking that this would be the livelier, more backpacker-y half of my trip while India would be the very introspective, difficult, challenging and eye-opening half. But the truth is it's already been the introspective half of my trip. If I were to do India after Myanmar, I feel that my whole summer would be too heavy, too emotionally exhausting at times, and more overwhelming than all-around enjoyable. It would ask for too much perseverance and grit when I have already had a good dose of that so far, and now I am ready to treat myself to perhaps more nightlife, more relaxing and lazing on a beach, sipping some kind of tropical drink before getting back to the work grind...