Myanmar

We left Chiang Mai late afternoon on the forth of November. It was a bit of an interesting understanding, how I felt and what I was thinking. I mean, I was happy to have arrived in Chiang Mai only six days earlier, it was great to see Amphawan and I thoroughly enjoy the city of Chiang Mai and Thailand as a whole. The thing is, I've seen it all before it wasn't new, I've spent a lot of time on a different trip in Thailand so the culture wasn't shocking to me. The massages are great, the food is sensational, the people are kind and lovely. However, I did not yet experience the culture shock that I craved and ultimately live for. I did not yet get a chance to feel the complete shift of another country and their lifestyle which releases endorphins and a feeling of bliss in my mind. The feeling is like a drug that I chase. Chasing the dragon..

We took advantage of my Priority Lounge Pass at the Chiang Mai international Airport. This included a fifteen minute complimentary back and neck massage each, free food / beer and of course a strong wifi signal. It was a nice segue into another part of the trip and the start of Amphawans vacation. The food was decent and the beer was cold. Overall I was impressed, not to mention the staff was awesome.

The flight was an hour. When we were 30 minutes out the anticipation began to build and I started to feel that excitement, I was acting like a child (kinda like me and Scur boy do) Eye eye eye eeeeee shoe shoe sheeeeee su su suuuuu. Amphawan was a little confused at first but then her playful side came out and we had a great time preparing for our first introduction to the world of Myanmar.  Ohhhhhhhh I was jacked up, I heard so much from Willy Chia - his incredible stories about the culture and about his unique experiences within the wonderful Myanmar. I had high expectations, too high - somewhat unattainably high. You know what, this is what it is, living and learning and expecting. Expecting the best thing ever.. ohh this is gonna be the best place in the world, why? Because I haven't been there and I heard so many detailed incredible stories from other travellers.

We debarked the plane and headed towards immigration. Those immigration agents.. you never know what to expect with them.. they can make your day or ruin your trip. They can ask you to prove the world to them, its a matter of who you get and if they are reasonably going to assess you or look to pad their stats. Honestly I'd been thinking about this a little bit ever since I got approved for my visa a few months earlier. I did everything right.. but as a Thai citizen you can visit Myanmar for four-teen days without a visa. How long were we their? 14/15 days. How strict are they here? Easy peasy Japanesey. Done, we were in. It only takes a minute to be denied entry to a country. The consequences could be devastating, they could affect your whole trip and thieve away an experience of a life time, precious memories. BUT! If you shouldn't come in based on a proper assessment then you shouldn't come in.

The cab ride was about an hour from the airport countryside into the bustling streets of the city Mandalay. The traffic and how they conduct themselves while driving.. HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK. You can't drive two minutes without honking but it not like honking back home, its a honk here a honk there to say "Hey, I'm passing you" or "Hey, don't kill me, I'm a little scooter and your a panel van." Nevertheless the honking is endless. While we drove through the city and looked attentively at the structure of the streets, looking for bars - how did they look? Hmm I'll get to that. At the hotel the it was apparent immediately that the service was second to none. The people seemed genuinely friendly and happy to service any and all questions or needs. Check-in, drop bags, eat at the hotel anddddddd Amphawan what do you want to do? Pool table, ohhhh yea you do.

Tuk Tuk, whats up bra, can you take us to a bar? Yea sure. He took us to this open concept "restaurant / bar" Nothing like I've ever seen classified as a bar.. we were the only white people there.. well I was and she was the only Thai person and let me tell you they were looking at her much more than they were looking at me. It was fascinating for them to see a Thai girl, a gorgeous Thai woman. It was like they'd never seen anything like it before. Then there was me. a pure white cracka. They were all sitting at small plastic tables on small plastic stools. Ummm I think we should buy a beer and leave immediately. This was my introduction to Myanmar, all of my expectations as high as they were. They were shattered. We talked to another Tuk Tuk boy. He said there are no bar here. WHAT?! Really....? No bars (other than that back yard BBQ pour excuse for a bar we just came from) A shanty.. Okay okay lets think about this pragmatically. I presume there are restaurant / bars in high end hotels. Theres one across the street. Lets check it out. Roof top bar, nice. Go in, it was alright... we talked to an english speaking Burmese guy (for those of you who don't know, I'm guessing most of you do. Myanmar is formerly known as Burma. The people are called Burmese and they speak Burmese) Apparently, from what I was told by a Burmese guy on a boat the country's name was changed when they were liberated to Myanmar but honestly I don't know if this is true or not. My mind immediately goes to Rambo when he was in Burma. I'll have to check.

After talking with the guy on the rooftop I was a little discouraged because damn no bars.. and I have to be 100% honest, Mandalay wasn't a nice place. It was run down and much more povern'd then any other city I'd been to. We went back to the hotel and relaxed. We were very tired. I was hoping the next day would slank up my excitement again. For the time being the silver lining was the beer called Myanmar. It was solid and price was 2$ CAD for a big bottle 640 ml. I could get used to that.

The next morning I had an itinerary, two temples and the U-bein bridge. First we went to Mandalay Hill. We hit up Mandalay Hill first. It was suppose to have a spectacular view of Mandalay. Tuk Tuk there and a on the back of a truck to go up the hill. It was cool to see, it was a temple and the view was good. A little, okay okay yea yea I've seen this kind of thing many times. It was interesting to see the people and the layout of how they lived more. they didn't aggressively approach you to sell their goods. They smiled, but only after staring and you would typically have to smile first. The they would open up with their red stained decayed teeth, theres something called Betel nut here its like chewing tobacco but you don't chew. You Jank the concoction in your mouth on either side of your check. Then a red substances slowly slinks out and you spit it. Its gives you a nicotine like satisfaction. Then you spit a red substance. This stuff rots your teeth very badly, most peoples teeth here looks like they sucked Jane everyday then shammed out shite. Sooo I'll try it once but I haven't yet.

After Mandalay Hill I changed the itinerary, screw the other temple. We were going to U-Bein Bridge. A wooden bridge built in the 1850's. 45 minutes on a tuk tuk and we were there and it was coooooool. Crazy ass old bridge, no banisters. We watched fisherman cast their nets and wade out in this beautiful lake with boats and ready for taking out tourists. We took at this in while eating and drinking Myanmar beer. After we finished we went out to the bridge. Very long and high, not packed but a solid amount of tourists but more locals. Watching the peaceful sight of fisherman was everything I wanted and needed from Mandalay. Walking along that bridge and taking it all in was awesome. Then a woman approached me and said you want to free these birds from my cage ? I looked. You'll never guess what kind of birds she had.... not a sparrow or pigeon.. not a parakeet or parrot... hmmmm seems like a good next trivia question: What kind of birds did she have? We have them in North America. I have only seen this bird a few times in the wild, they're not common. They are beautiful too... I told her ohhhh yes they'll fly right back to you bud. no no they don't I promise... Ohhhh bud they do I promise. no or yea?! She tried to reel me in but then I saw these this Burmese guy drawing... what a talented individual, he said look I will draw in two minutes.. I said no way.. he did and I bought two outrageous black and white water paintings. They were $4 US for both. One for me and one for Amphawan. The whole evening was calm and perfect. Its what I wanted but not what I expected. The next day we were to on a a 10 hour cruise (big boat) not huge but perfect. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time and... I expected a lot from it.. damn why are my expectations so high! We would take a 10 hour boat from Mandalay to Bagan (town of 3000 temples and the hot air ballon ride).

We had to wake up at 5am for the a tuk tuk to take us to the jetty (where we get the boat). We boarded this beauty looking old school wooden, two story boat. When we arrived I was exxxxxx-cited! There was a bar on the top level on the open concept dinning and sun deck area. It was stupendous, they fed us well and we enjoyed every minute of it. One thing that I started to noice at that point in the trip was there were not a lot of younger travellers. There were people in their 50's and up for the most part. Don't get me wrong we did meet a few couples closer to our age for younger but it was apparent that an older demographic put on their adventure shoes and dove into the underdeveloped mystery that is Myanmar.

Thus boat trip was sensational, a perfect exit from the Mandalay chaos. I talked with a few of the Burmese bartenders for about and hour about the history of Myanmar and the civil unrest that is currently taking place in the north of the country by the Bangladesh border. Its always fascinating talking with the native countrymen of the places I visit, I'm not afraid to ask difficult questions so we have actual conversations. This is one of my favourite things bout travelling; speaking with locals and asking about the history (especially when the history is fascinating and there's been a civil war). Not too much happened on the boat trip but it was awesome and certainly an easy and relaxed way to go between two cities in Myanmar.

We arrived in Bagan and were excited to the see the town of 3000 ancient pagodas.