The Conners take Asia, 3.0. New places, New adventures….

by kinsay20December 22, 2017

There’s just something about Asia. My husband and I first travelled to Asia in 2014 on our honeymoon. We were fortunate enough to visit 5 countries that trip- Japan, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We fell in love with the different cultures and knew we would have to return. To read about our honeymoon adventures click here- Conner Honeymoon

Last year we visited Laos, Myanmar and Thailand (again- new area). While each country is very distinct- they each have their own charm, extensive cultural traditions, and deep routed history. They all are wonderful in their own ways. I can’t even explain how much I have learned from visiting these amazing places.

This year we are heading back, this time to 3 new countries- Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

We typically travel with backpacks when doing our longer international journeys. This was a bit of a challenge for me to get accustomed to, as I am an indecisive packer, and always felt like more is, well more. But I have had to learn that less is more.

There are many pros to traveling with a pack. For starters, you can board flights easier, not having to check in a bag. You also can catch connection flights and get out of airports faster when not checking a bag. You also don’t run the risk of your bag getting lost in transit. Additionally, moving around cities is much easier with a pack on your back instead of trying to negotiate large crowds, busy metros, stairways and curbs with a suitcase or rolling bag.

I have gotten much better at packing, and have learned some tricks. Packing cubes are ideal to keep things organized and compact. Travel underwear is ideal because it can be washed and dries very quickly. Silk robes bundle up very small and can be used to sleep in. Hubby likes his hybrid shorts that can be used as bathing suits also. Toms and regular tennis shoes are a must for lots of walking. I always still squeeze either a pair of wedges or heels into my pack- just in case, although I end up wearing them only once or twice. The only thing that really still challenges me is the liquid limits. I mean considering, hair products, skin and cleansing products/ lotions- to fit a month’s worth in 1 quart size ziplock bag is tough. I do like Lush’s “coalface” hard soap for face wash, and take it whenever I travel.

All packed and ready to go! Up at 4am to catch our first flight out of Washington DC Dulles , scheduled to leave at 7am. Kissing our sweet kitties Shiraz and Syrah goodbye, I was comforted knowing they are in good hands with our fabulous kitty sitter.

Arriving at the airport timely, we enjoyed great lounge access for breakfast. Arriving at our gate for an on-time flight, we were annoyed to hear the announcement overhead that one of the flight attendants was late. We were not able to board the plane because the attendant ( per announcement ) slept-in at her hotel and was “on her way”. Are you kidding? We became anxious knowing that we could not miss our connecting flight in Dallas, or we would be in trouble. Our flight from Dallas to Hong Kong was booked using America Airlines points and there weren’t any others out to Hong kong later that day.

The attendant arrived 25 minutes later than our scheduled boarding time. I couldn’t help but snarl at her dumb grin as we boarded the plane. I can understand situations that can’t be controlled (i.e. weather), but I can’t understand an ignorant woman who simply just didn’t wake up in time. We then sat on the runway as the pilot informed as that they were now fixing a maintenance issue. Really?? John (aka Conner, aka hubby for new readers), and I began frantically researching on our phones back -up plans in case we missed our connection. A nice steward came over and told us he realized our situation, and that they were trying to figure out an alternative plan for us. John also called the American Airlines priority help desk. Since he flies American Airlines for work travel too, he is considered Sapphire, which gets us priority access, lounge access, upgrades, etc. It is a nice plus sometimes. The woman on the phone offered to put us on a completely re-routed journey. Instead of going to Hong Kong, our only other option was to fly all the way to London, via British Airlines ( another one world alliance airline). From London we could then fly to Kuala Lumpur. So we basically would be back tracking and going all the way around the world. Considering our flight still hadn’t departed , we didn’t think there was any way we could make the connection in Dallas. We accepted the phone offer. The steward offered us the option to get off the plane in DC and try to board another flight from there, but that wasn’t a guarantee.

We arrived in Dallas with 10 minutes to spare before our original Hong Kong flight was to take off. We literally sprinted through the huge Dallas airport ( worst place to have a short connection). It takes quite some time to get from one terminal to another in Dallas. We tried though, thinking we had nothing to lose. We arrived at the Hong Kong gate just minutes after it took off. With a now 5 hour layover ahead of us, we begrudgingly found the American airlines help desk, just to confirm again that our only option was to go through London. It turns out it was. We had to go all the way out of security, and then re-enter via British Airlines. Thank goodness we were able to relax in another lounge area during our long layover. They were conducting actual real fire drills, which was interesting to watch!

I called American Airlines customer service from the lounge, expressing my many concerns. The fact that us missing the connection was the airline’s fault, made us feel as though they need to make it up to us. Here we are losing time, losing money on a hotel for a night, not getting all the miles points that my husband had paid for ( since we were switched to British air), amongst other things. After some very unhelpful customer service reps , I finally got a call back from a supervisor. She granted as each a $300 travel voucher, and said we could be reimbursed for other things ( i.e. hotel) via written request online. I sent a very detailed email, and as I type this ( 1 week later) I am waiting to hear back.

Eventually we boarded our 8 hour flight to London. Because of the whole fiasco , we also weren’t in the extra legroom seats that Conner paid for us. Not to sound spoiled, but an 8 hour flight is a very long time to be in a regular seat. I can handle it as uncomfortable as it can be. But Conner is over 6 feet tall, and being stuck in the window he had no room at all for his legs.

I suppose the frustration (stated clearly in my email), was that people work hard, save money and plan well in advance (6 months in our case) for a big trip like this. Why should the consumer be penalized for something not their fault? Airlines in the US have been gradually declining their quality over the last few years. They are all about quantity and less about quality.

To make things more uncomfortable for my poor hubby- the woman in front of him put her seat down for about 7 of the 8 hours. The media screen was basically in his lap, so even watching a movie to distract himself of the discomfort was difficult. We watched “ It” and tried to relax. We both were able to sleep a few hours of the flight.

Landing in London we had another couple of hours before our flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We again had to go out of security and then back through. The TSA flagged my bags. I had removed my quart ziplock with liquids as asked. They insisted on searching my other bags. They considered my makeup in my cosmetic bag as liquids. Um huh? I had traveled with a makeup bag separate from my liquids through 12+ countries now, without any issue. They said I had to get rid of stuff. I was livid. They considered another face wash I use, ultrabland, from Lush as a liquid. It is not a liquid. They also said I was “lucky” that they would not consider my contacts as needed to be in my liquid bag. “what???”, I said “ they are prescribed and I cannot see without them”. Contacts lenses in their original box with prescription on them are not a liquid! What was wrong with these people? The woman then said “ miss I’m sure you also have glasses!”. At this point I was so angry I started to cry. They continued to analyze all my belongings, even considering my cream eyeshadow and mascara as liquids. Complete jerks! I am all about safety and TSA security, but nothing they were saying made any sense, nor had I ever been treated and humiliated in that way before at an airport check point. I was very upset after they threw away about $100 worth of products. Conner tried to console me but I was just angry. I honestly think the rude TSA woman took my brand new Younique liquid foundation and ultrabland face wash for herself.
After I finally calmed down a bit we rested in the Malaysian airlines lounge before our flight. We definitely save money by having access to the lounges. We don’t need to buy food at the airport, and always grab water bottles for our flights. They of course provide water on the flights, but on a 14 hour flight, a tiny cup of water doesn’t get me very far. I like to have my own bottles.

We were able to talk to Malaysian airlines and get extra legroom seats! Things were looking up! Woo hoo! Thank goodness for that! This was a very long nearly 14 hour flight!

It actually was not bad, and quite enjoyable, considering how long it was. I watched two new movies I hadn’t seen- “The Glass Castle” and “ The Shack”. Both really good! I am notorious for crying during movies on long flights. This time was no different. Both movies were tear jerkers. Malaysian air fed us a decent chicken and potato dinner. We took a couple naps. I enjoyed watching one of my all time faves ‘ The Sound of Music”, and then we were fed breakfast prior to landing.

Landing in Kuala Lumpur, we were so excited to finally be in Malaysia! We had left our condo 36 hours prior to finally arriving! Malaysia does not require US citizens to have a visa of staying less than 90 days with a valid passport good for at least 6 months. Going through customs and immigration was easy. You pay a set price for a taxi inside the airport, receiving a receipt to redeem at the taxi stand. We suppose they do this to prevent over charging.

The drive from Kuala Lumpur airport into the city is quite long- at least an hour without traffic. We were amazed at how many billboards we passed along the way. It is crazy, and we have never seen anything like it! The Malays must love their billboards!

Arriving at the beautiful Doubletree Hilton around 9am, we both were in dire need of a shower and fresh change of clothes. Our room was very nice with complimentary treats and a great view!

After our showers we headed out to explore! We used the city metro system, which was pretty easy to figure out and very inexpensive.

metro token

Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, consists of 1.6 million people- 50% Malay, 23.7% Chinese, 7.1% Indian, plus 11% indigenous tribes such as Orang Asli and Iban.
All of whom are considered Malaysian nationals.

We walked all around the city, exploring the downtown area, spectacular Petronas towers, and had lunch at an authentic Indian restaurant.

Malaysia has a large population of Indians, Chinese, As we walked around we definitely stood out. As opposed to other Southeast Asian countries, there were far less American and European travelers here. It was very hot, 90+ degrees and humid. We both were definitely sweating. We did so much walking ( probably 7-8miles) and needed another shower. We enjoyed the executive lounge happy hour that evening, with glorious views of the city.

We were able to eat enough in the lounge, that we didn’t need to venture out for dinner. We were pretty wiped out after all the travel, and walking. Not to mention the time difference of 13 hours back home.
We were asleep by 9 that night, which was good because we had big day ahead! Our breakfast the next morning at the hotel was one of the best hotel breakfast buffets we have ever seen. The only others of which are even comparable that we have seen are Tokyo Hilton, Myanmar Hilton and Beijing HIlton.

This breakfast was so impressive and delicious! Fresh made Roti with curry sauce, coconut chutney, fresh squeezed guava juice, lentil fritters, yellow watermelon, jajik salad, ….yum!

With full stomachs, we called an uber to take us to Batu caves. Uber is very popular in Kuala Lumpur ( known by many as KL), and is advertised everywhere. It is also very inexpensive! After only a 20 minute ride, we arrived to the Batu caves. The entry is free, with signs asking visitors to carry pails of clay up to the workers remodeling the structures in the caves. A steep set of stairs, brought us to the top.

The caves were very impressive with monkeys everywhere! These monkeys were way less aggressive than the monkeys we encountered last year in Myanmar. Mt. Popa in Myanmar had nice views, but the experience itself was tainted by having to take our shoes off and climb many stairs covered in monkey poo. Monkeys aggressively jumping over us and approaching people unafraid, grabbing things from them. Batu caves monkeys, were much more polite. They were cute , and their poo was not covering the grounds.

After the caves we ubered back into town and found a great food stall place for lunch. Food/hawker centers are very popular in Malaysia. We had delicious Penang style soup!

We spent the afternoon walking around the city more , exploring. We enjoyed the Butterfly park , as well as a 3D art museum, and many monuments.

The Malaysians did not stare or make us feel uncomfortable, even though we clearly stood out. They were nice enough, but not overly friendly towards us. I think we both agree, the friendliest people overall in our travels have been the Cambodians. They were just so incredibly friendly and nice. The overall rudest so far have been the Chinese in China (in Malay the Chinese are nicer/ more polite). In Morocco and Vietnam, we were definitely stared at by local groups of men, and harassed at times to buy stuff. Don’t get me wrong though- we came across very nice people in Vietnam and Morocco as well. The Japanese were reserved and mostly kept to themselves, but when they did interact with us, they were very nice. Oh, and the Thai! How can I forget mentioning the Thai! They were also another very friendly, welcoming group overall. The French in Paris were surprisingly very nice- not what we had expected hence debunking the myth that the French don’t like Americans.

Ok, back on track. So we enjoyed our afternoon and even came across a huge Comic con with hundreds of people in crazy and cool costumes!

We had these delicious sweet treats from a street vendor cooked in bamboo. We saw them featured on a travel special and just had to try them! They were so yummy!

We changed clothes to head back out for the night. We planned to see the Petronas tower fountain and light show. We were pressed for time so ended up eating dinner at a restaurant near the fountain, connected to the mall next to Petronas.

The Malays like their malls! They have huge, clean and beautiful shopping malls throughout KL. I should mention, KL overall is very clean. The architecture is amazing and so modern! Every building is like artwork! We kept thinking, “ Why can’t the US have buildings like this”.
Dinner was good and the fountain light show was awesome!

After the fountain light show we headed to Skybar. We had heard good things about this place, and were excited to check it out. There was no entry fee because we got there before 9pm. They had drink specials so Conner had a few beers and I got two wines for a great deal. We enjoyed the stunning views and music. A really beautiful nightclub! It wasn’t very crowded since we were there early, but I can imagine that place gets pretty busy!

The comic con people even came to Skybar

The next morning after enjoying that ridiculously delicious international buffet again, we packed up our stuff to head to the airport for our next stop- Singapore!!

KL, you were super interesting and we really enjoyed getting to know you!! We will see you again on our last night of the trip before heading back to the US!

harap sabar menunggu (stay tuned in Malay)-

<3, Kinz

From Rats to Riches…

by kinsay20January 2, 2017January 2, 2017

Ah, yes we began our travels in Myanmar staying in a hotel with rats ( see previous post, “Yangon(e) goes my passport”) , and now we are staying in a huge suite in a Hilton. Actually, we basically have the entire Hilton property to ourselves, or should I say “compound”. The Hilton property in the capital city of Napithaw was deserted. Workers, maintenance and beautiful grounds surrounding us, but no other guests. Weird right? The entire town seemed deserted (hence “post-apocalyptic”- previous post). There were no cars in the highways. None for miles and miles, along a city with many 5 star hotels and large homes. Where were all the people?

Interesting article —

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/10/they-built-a-capital-and-no-one-came-inside-burma-s-ghost-city.html

We slept really well in our amazing, enormous room(s). The next morning after a fabulous buffet breakfast, I decided to get a good workout in at the hotel gym before we set out back to Yangon. It felt good to get in a good run- even though we do a lot of walking when we travel, it’s just not quite the same.

We set out on our bus ride back to Yangon where we would fly out the following morning to Laos. The 5 hour bus ride wasn’t too bad, with a lunch break rest stop along the way.

Jess is unsure of this tentacle in her soup— haha—

We arrived back to Yangon, but we were not returning to that awful hotel we stayed in last time we were in this city. Christopher and Jess booked a nice hostel and John and I found a hotel near the airport. It was nothing spectacular, ( I am convinced Yangon accommodations just stink overall), but it was way better than our rat hotel.

John and I enjoyed a nice Myanmar beer and Thai meal at the hotel and went right to sleep. I should say, I am not particularly a beer drinker, but there are some beers in Asia I like very much. I like the Myanmar beer, Singha, Tiger and Asahi are also good. In Southeast Asia the beer is super cheap. For .50 cents you can get a tall beer in most countries.

The next morning we met at the airport for our flight to Laos! The check -in process was quite archaic with no technology involved. Our paper tickets in hand, we headed to the waiting area where we could watch obnoxious Chinese tourists, and Myanmar locals chew their betel nut.

I didn’t want to be rude and take a picture of someone’s teeth- but the googled pic below does a good job showing you the common sight seen in the country-

Our flight was pleasant and we were even fed on it. Not bad for a propeller plane. One thing I have mentioned in previous blog posts about Asia- all the stewardesses are pretty! Like really attractive people and so polite. This is across the board in Asia- Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and now Myanmar and Laos. They are so polite and nice and professional.

We arrived in Laos around lunch time and had only a short wait to get our “ visa on arrival”. We had applied and obtained our visa for Myanmar weeks prior to our trip. Research online made it clear that most just did the “on arrival visa “ in Laos. While Myanmar is newer to tourism ( only about 5 years for Westerners), Laos has been one to tourists for over a decade. Our Laos visa cost us 35$ USD plus $1 for a picture. The process really didnt’ take more than 30 minutes.

As we were departing the Laos airport we saw a place to buy SIM cards. John and I have used SIM cards in many other countries , and found it is very helpful. You can then use google maps to help you get around, and websites like TripAdvisor to find places to eat, attractions, etc. We paid $5 USD each for 5 gigabytes . The Laos cellphone company employee set up our phones. John’s phone wouldn’t register to 4G, not even 3G. I have the exact same phone and mine was in 4G. We were a little frustrated and the women offered to not have John pay for his, but he did anyways.

Outside the airport we were swarmed with drivers again begging for our business. We settled on a tuk -tuk who took us to our hotels in Vientiane. We dropped off Chris and Jess first, and then were taken to ours, a lovely place with a pool. Our room on the second floor, accessible either by elevator or a beautiful, winding staircase.

After we freshened up John and I set out to explore and find a place for lunch. Ahhh a new city, and a new country!! So exciting ! We had heard great things about Laos from many backpackers and avid travelers we met on other trips.

Walking down the streets of Vientiane, we immediately noted how different it was from Myanmar. The streets were much cleaner and were lined with magnificent cafes. The French influence was abundantly obvious! Laos was a French territory for quite some time. We would soon find the baguettes, pastries and sandwiches were very “ french”. John found a popular Italian place called “Tyson Kitchen” on TripAdvisor for us to enjoy lunch.

We were greeted by a sweet young server, a teenager. I spoke him for quite some time. He was from the Philippines. He and his family had made their way out of the Philippines and to Thailand 6 years earlier. They had been in Laos for 1 year now. He was explaining to me that he has to go back to the Laos/ Thai border every 30 days to get another 30 day visa. His father is in Pensacola, FL- which coincidentally, is where my father is from! He, his mom, and siblings are all doing the paperwork to get to Pensacola to be with his father. He said the Thai are getting “suspicious” with his monthly border crossings. He told me he goes to school and works every day. He even has school on Saturdays! His English was very good, and I encouraged him to follow his dream and get to FL!

John and I had delicious pizza, mozzarella balls and — red wine! Yay! Good, red, French wine! I saw a woman sitting at a nearby table talking to something in a box. I walked over and saw the tiny kitten inside. I had been missing my kitties, so this was a warming sight to see. The woman, an American from New Mexico, told me her name was Annette. She was friends with the restaurant owner and was just watching his rescued kitten. She and I then talked for quite a while. Poor John has to deal with me doing this often. I can’t help it- I love people! I love meeting new people, and leaning about them.

Annette appeared to be about 60. A woman with a thin frame and bobbed silver hair. She had been traveling as a single woman all over the world for her entire adult life. To places where people don’t tend to travel for pleasure. She told me about her time in Syria, and how she had to be rescued out by the embassy. And her time in some African countries. This was her 10th time in Laos. She had been to Myanmar 13 times. Annette was just fascinating! She told me she had been married for a few years, but was always traveling for work- sometimes a year at a time, so her husband left her. I inquired about her work, and how she had the time and money to travel so extravagantly. She said she was “ a very smart business woman”, and left it at that, although she did mention CEO at some point. We exchanged emails and talked about getting together for a drink the following night. I knew Jessica would really like to talk to her as well.

John and I walked around the adorable, quaint town and got an AMAZING massage for equal to just $7 USD for 1 hour. John whispered that he didn’t want a man to massage him as we walked in– haha too late! He still enjoyed it 🙂

Jess and Chris had traditional Laos cuisine somewhere else for lunch. John and I spent a good amount of time walking through the night market area. We saw a huge group of local woman doing workout dancing in the park! This is something we have seen in Vietnam. So fun! Love it!

A bit later we stopped at place to get a sandwich / burger for dinner. Jess and Christopher met us and we had a nice dinner outside. Afterwards we found a cool bar called “ Wind west” where there was really great live music! The female singers were very talented! We stayed for an hour or so, enjoying the music and the crowd.

Christopher & Conner trying to win us prizes at the night market

The following morning John and I got up pretty early. We decided to find a place to rent bikes for the day. It was not hard to find, as bike rentals in Vientiane are everywhere. We ran into Christopher outside his hotel. Today was laundry day for us all. John and I had given ours to our hotel and Chris and Jess found a place near theirs.

We bargained and found a good deal on bike rentals. I tested mine out, and was nervous at first seeing the busy streets with cars. I asked for a helmet. “ Helmet only for motor bike”, multiple women told me . “ No, please I want for regular bike, I will pay extra”. After I insisted , they finally gave me a helmet. Look, in my career I have seen patients with traumatic brain injuries, and some hit by cars. If you have seen what I have , you would insist on a helmet too!

Chris and Jess were still getting ready for the day so we said we would meet later by the river. It was challenging at times to keep in touch, We had our SIMS, but they were using Wifi so at times we couldn’t reach each other. John I rode along the water and then to some Wats (temples).

It was really nice riding along the city. I love bike riding, and I think it is a great way to see a city! We did an amazing bike tour in San Fran with my dad and brother Michael, sister Kelly this past Summer. John and I also rode bike through Vietnam. Traffic on some roads in Vientiane was a bit hectic, but overall it was nice.

We stopped at an indoor shopping mall plaza. It was a huge 3 level mall. I found 18k gold earrings for only $25 USD ! John bought a couple of cell phone cases. As we were riding along on our bikes outside the shopping area, I saw Jess and Chris on the other side of the intersection. I frantically called and waved to them. We were able to meet each other and discuss afternoon plans. They had already been to the arc we wanted to see, so they set out for the mall as we went to the arc. We decided we would meet for lunch in an hour.

The arc was really cool! We climbed to the top for some fun pics!

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John and I rode around a bit longer and then had a nice lunch with Jessica and Christopher. We went to the COPE center together. COPE ( Cooperative orthotic and prosthetic enterprise) is a rehabilitation center in Laos, which provides those with physical disabilties free, quality care.

http://copelaos.org

During the Vietnam war, many Vietnamese soldiers were hiding in Laos. Of course there are multiple sides and opinions to every story, but it is true that the United States dropped many bombs on the country. Google fact check-

“From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos during 580,000bombing missions—equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years – making Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history.”

It makes the US sounds awful- and it is awful. War is awful! But- we were trying to help many people in Vietnam escape communism. The Laos were helping hide their Vietnamese neighbors- those neighbors who were also attacking us.

Unfortunately, the aftermath of war can be just as a brutal. Many of the explosives did not go off and are still “live” in the countryside of Laos. Children playing in fields, and farmers have been badly injured when these explode- all these years later.

The COPE center helps many amputees, and those injured from these explosives, as well as those born with disabilities, or in motor accidents. Being a physical therapist, I found it especially interesting, that they have used all sorts of materials to create the prosthetics.

No matter how you feel about war, or specifally the Vietnam war- I think it is important to see the aftermath and learn from it. There are teams of workers who go out every day, searching to recover the millions of remnants and possibly “active” explosives in the countryside.

Artists throughout Laos use the materials found to create images.

Later, after walking around a bit more, we found a cool rooftop bar where we could oversee the night market. We sat there for awhile, talking and relaxing.

Night market

The following morning we planned to head to Buddha park.I was so excited about this! I had read and seen pictures and knew it was going to be amazing!

After some negotiating with different tuk -tuk drivers we finally settled on a good deal. The driver would take us to Buddha park and another amazing, famous temple. We also thought about adding in Laos beer brewery to our itinerary, but decided not to. I had just taken John to 4 breweries in DC for his birthday a few months earlier , so we had our fill.

As we arrived at Buddha park our driver tried to communicate that he wanted some money. The boys insisted we would pay him after our day was complete and we were back in the city ( the park was a good 40 minutes away). The driver kept trying to mime what he was saying . I understood- he needed money for gas. He needed to fill up his tank. He was just asking for a small portion of the money so he could get gas. Finally John and Christopher gave him some. Sheesh!

Buddha park was even more phenomenal than I imagined! Pictures just don’t do it justice. It was so incredibly cool! Incredibly cool, but incredibly hot! Imagine this is their cold season? (90 degrees and sweating!)

Me & John

We stayed for awhile just admiring the beautiful sculptures and art. The temple also magnificent!

Reclining Buddha

Jess and Chris

The Amazing and beautiful Pha That Luang

Back in the city, John and I got a sandwich and rested at our hotel for a bit. Jess and Chris also went back to rejuvenate.

John and I spent the evening walking around some more and visiting the rooftop bar again. We loved the vibe and view, although this night, we got to see some disturbing Westerner men with “escorts” situations. This is EVERYWHERE in Thailand. We also saw it some in Cambodia, and even Japan. The scenarios can be really awkward and I have got to learn to keep my mouth shut. There was one time in Cambodia, where there was a very old American man being inappropriate with a girl who looked about 12. I said something . Yes, I sure did. John was a little upset telling me that I am in another country and I can’t do that. Oops! Sorry, I was just so bothered by it, that I couldn’t contain myself.

The next AM we were heading to the mountain, river town of Vang Vieng. A popular tourist attraction for the last decade, that was tarnished by poor behaving tourists! The government had to put some serious retrictions on the city a few years ago. I had read about it and was excited to see the new, clean and improved town.

ສໍາລັບໃນປັດຈຸບັນ (goodbye for now- in Laotian),

❤ Kinz

Magical Mandalay to the Post-Apocalyptic Capital

by kinsay20December 27, 2016February 12, 2017

The remainder of our slow boat ride from Bagan to Mandalay was nice and we just relaxed on the top deck. The southeast Asia sun definitely burned me and Conner!

As we disembarked the boat in Mandalay we were surrounded with cab drivers begging for our business. We found one who seemed nice and had a good price. He drove us the 15 minute ride to our hotels. Jess and Christopher were staying down the street from our hotel Yadanarbon.

As we entered the nice lobby we were greeted with a welcome drink and nice cloths to wash our hands ( pretty customary in Asia). After settling into our room Conner and I went to the nice rooftop for sunset.

We were given a complimentary cocktail and ordered 2 orders of spring rolls appetizer. When they arrived we realized we could split an order-they were huge- each had 10 spring rolls. They were very good and the sunset was beautiful. They informed us a traditional show with singing, marionettes, musicians and dancing would begin at 7:30. We messaged Jess and Christopher to come and join for dinner and the show. We had a pretty good dinner and I really enjoyed the show! The costumes were really pretty and performers very talented.

After the show we went to bed, again planning to get up early to explore the city of Mandalay. The next morning we quickly realized Mandalay was very different from both Bagan and Yangon. Mandalay had the hustle and bustle city feel of Yangon, but not quite as hectic. Most roads in Mandalay are dirt roads, much like in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As walked near our hotel we walked through a crazy street market. We have seen many of these throughout southeast Asia. At times you question the cleanliness, and we reminded ourselves that all the restaurants we eat in likely get their produce from these markets.

I’ll never forget the time Conner tasted durian fruit in Vietnam from a woman on the street who looked like she hadn’t showered in weeks and was cutting the fruit with a knife that has probably never been cleaned. I thought he was nuts! Jessica is pretty liberal with her street food tastings. I like to consider myself adventurous- there was the time I ate a bowl of snails from s street vendor in Morroco, and I’m pretty sure we never really knew what exactly we were eating in Beijing half the time.

Many street vendors in Myanmar have women selling these fried looking patty things that are filled with different things- beans, shrimp, vegetables. I kind of wanted to try one, justifying it was probably safe considering I just saw the woman remove some from the hot fryer. Christopher changed my mind though when told me about “ gutter oil”. Apparently it is a thing in China, not sure about other asian countries. It is literally oil from the gutters. Yup, I’m good. Not that hungry.

We set out to find a camera repair shop (1 of only 3 in the city) for Jessica’s sunscreen damaged camera. We found the shop down a side road. The repair man was very nice and told us to come back in 3 hours (at least thats what we thought he was saying). He told us he wouldn’t charge her any money if he couldn’t fix it. We prayed he would be able to!
We continued on to find the Royal palace. Passing a public exercise area on the way, they decided to try it out. These types of things are common in Vietnam as well.

Once we arrived at a palace entrance locals tried to tell us we couldn’t go in that way. As we got closer we realized they were right- tourists could not enter from that point. The entry point we could use was about a 45 minute walk. A guy offered us motor bikes but I refused. I have heard from too many people about tourist injuries , especially in the cities with busy traffic.

We couldn’t find a cab so after some time the motor bike guy waved down a pickup truck looking vehicle with benches in the back. We have seen locals transported this way but we hadn’t done it. It was actually a cool experience.

A man with betel but red-stained teeth sat in the back next to me trying to make conversation. I was distracted by his teeth, but he seemed nice.

As we arrived near the palace we noticed a parade lining up along the street. We asked to get off the truck so we could check it out! It was so fun to see! All the beautiful multi colored costumes, hundreds of horses and carriages, elephants and cows. It was quite a parade!

On our walk to the palace we find little public workout exercise area. These are common in Asia also. So fun! LOL

We made our way through the palace. As we walked through I tried to imagine what it would have been like to live there thousands of years ago.

After the palace we walked up a hill to a pagoda surrounded by white structures. After taking off our shoes and socks we were allowed to walk all around. It was really a beautiful place! We were definitely hot though at the peak sun time of the day!

We found a nice taxi driver outside the pagoda to take us to the camera repair shop. He called himself “ Mr Very Nice guy” and tried to sell us on letting him be our driver the following day. We had planned to venture to a few area outside Mandalay to see some sites. We got his card and told him we would call him.

Back at the camera repair shop we arrived to find it closed. Oh no! Didnt he tell us to come back at this time? We were confused and concerned until an elderly man approached us telling us the repair man was at lunch and would be back. He even called him for us to let him know we were there. The man was so cute. He kept insisting we sit down in his nephews shop next door. He told us he was a retired teacher and was receiving a pension.

When the repair man returned, we were bummed to find out he wasn’t able to fix the camera. Jessica was pretty sad, and we all felt badly. We continued on to a hillside pagoda for sunset. It was really pretty. We all agreed we had never seen a sun set quite that way. The sun itself appeared to be 5 different colors at one point. Magnificent!

DCIM100GOPROGOPR0335.JPG

Conner found a good rated Italian restaurant on trip advisor for dinner. We were all excited to have something different! Mangia, a cute, clean Italian restraint was only about 1/2 mile from out hotels. The overwhelmingly strong smell of garlic was refreshing as we entered!

I ordered a beef pasta with red sauce, while the others ordered the cream bacon sauce pasta special. I was hoping I could have a glass of red wine to go with my pasta, but learned the didnt have any. They only served Myanmar beer. The waitress explained that to sell anything other than Myanmar beer required a special license. No wine for me!
We found a taxi driver who offered to be our driver the following day for almost half of what Mr very nice guy had offered. We agreed and he said he would arrive at 8:30am to pick us up.

Our following day began with a local pagoda we hadn’t been to.

Check out the boys in their skirts 😉

We then drive 1.5 hours to an outside town. Jess got a little car sick. It was a pretty bumpy ride on dirt roads. She had some motion sickness medicine back at the hotel but didnt want to take it because it makes her drowsy. After we were out of the car she felt better.

We explored the interesting , unique sites and walked around. Mingun.

Looks like an elephant behind–

Ancient Mingun bell

Christopher bought some bamboo wallets and we checked out the old Mingun bell. After finding our driver we asked him if we could stop for lunch. He took us to another amazing pagoda area –amazing!!!

Conner cleaning his yucky feet for the 20th time that day 😉 ( we carry wipes in our bags)

And then to a village area and pulled up to a local place telling us it was good to eat. The place seemed to be the stop all drivers bright tourists too. The drivers ate in one side of the place, and the tourists on the other. Me, Jessica and Conner ordered a chicken curry dish, and Christopher a fried rice and meat dish. Our food was way less than appetizing. I ate the rice and some of the chicken just because I was hungry. We all prayed we wouldn’t get sick. It just didn’t seem like the most hygienic place. Again, when you travel to other countries, these are just things you will come across, and learn to deal with.

After lunch we were led down to the surrounding river area where we were told to board a small motor boat to take us across the water way to the island village. I was a little afraid the boat may tip over, but we made it across. As we pulled up I noticed a group of 10 local girls pointing to the boat and I knew just what they were doing. They were each calling dibs on which tourist they wanted. We had learned previously in Myanmar that this was common practice. They do not want to “compete” with each other so they each pick their designated tourist to attempt to sell to.

They are sweet and although somewhat pushy, they are just trying to make a living. They all have the same English lines- “hello, you look so pretty. Look at my necklaces. You should get for Christmas present.” and “ You will be my first customer of the day which means lucky money- you will be lucky if you buy from me!” Haha and my favorite- “it is so cheap it is almost free”.

I politely tell the girl that I have already bought things and have no room left in my bag. We start walking through the island where there are about 50 horses and carriages. The carriage drivers started aggressively harassing us “ carriage ride to monastery- you must ride, walk too long”. They kept saying the walk would be 2 hours, some even said 5 hours. Conner’s trust GPS map confirmed that it was indeed not that far- maybe a 20 minute walk. We kept refusing the carriages but they followed us. It got a little annoying after a few minutes. We kept walking passing many local villagers, pigs, banana trees everywhere.

We arrived to a cool pagoda to climb. The stairs were a bit sketchy and not sturdy, but we made to to the top.

View from the top-

rice fields everywhere!

locals playing volleyball type game

with 2 of my fave guys!!

We walked around some more and saw some local girls staring up to a tree. I asked what they saw. They explained that a burmese python lived in the tree. “She comes out in the morning”, the young teenager told me, “ I see her when I pass by on my way to work. She is sleeping now”. They kept staring up as though it may come out. We looked for awhile but never saw anything. That would be crazy to have seen a wild python! The girls said it was 6 feet long and very wide.

We got back on the little boat with the bottom floor made of 2 inch width boards, water seeping through some. We made it back to shore and found our driver waiting for us. I desperately needed to use the bathroom. Conner and Christopher had warned us about the lunch restaurant’s bathroom, but it was our only option. It was an outhouse type bathroom. I waited outside while Jessica went in first. I heard commotion and chatter from behind the fence. I peaked around to see a group of men gambling and playing cards. I snapped the photo below and the laughed saying “ five dollars’. I knew they were kidding. They immediately dispersed after that though. Jessica came out and said the bathroom wasn’t “the absolute worst she had seen”. Ugh. I went in holding my breath as long as I could. I wanted to get in and out as fast as possible. It was a squatter, meaning no seat- just a hole. It smelled so incredibly bad that I started gagging. Needless to say I made record time getting out.

The “outhouse”– yuck!!!!!

locals I caught gambling — busted!

We carry hand sanitizer everywhere. I used a lot all over my hands and arms. Our driver then drove us to our last destination for the day- U bein bridge. This very popular bridge on many postcards is a photographers dream. Surrounded by beautiful scenery and water, it is quite pretty. We walked across the bridge. It definitely did not seem sturdy or extremely safe but many people were walking across. The wood panels have many gaps between them and my foot slipped through a few times. We were getting restless and although it was pretty, we didnt want to wait another hour for the sunset. We know the pictures would have been amazing but we still had an hour drive back to the city.

locals playing games

Arriving back in Mandalay we decided to have dinner at a Korean restaurant. We were led to a second floor where 3 young people tried to take our order. I noticed the one girl spoke very good English and seemed to be helping the others. Conner ordered korean BBQ chicken wings, while I got a bibimbap dish. Christopher and Jessica have been to South Korea so they ordered some unique things that we got to try. One thing was kind of like a fried sushi roll without fish , just veggies. It was pretty tasty. Our meals were all good!

We started talking with the young girl who spoke good English, As it turns out, she is a 21 year old student at University of Mandalay. She is not employed by the restaurant but her sister is a cook. She told us the owners are Korean and introduced us to their daughter. We learned her Myanmar name was Chow, chow, (meaning beautiful, beautiful), and her English name was Madison. Apparently, many students are given an English name by their teacher. She already had completed a degree and language and was now working towards a second degree in diplomatic studies. Chaw chaw was 1 of 5 children, to a mother who sells chicken in the street market, and a father who helps her. All 5 kids attended university. Amazing!

Jessica and I loved talking to her. We learned so much. She is christian and hopes to marry a Christian man. She was sweet and smart! The boys were tired and had to pull us away from chatting to go back to our hotels. We said goodbye and took a picture. Jessica got her email information to stay in touch.

The next morning we were taking a bus from Mandalay to the capital city Napitaw. This is the “new” capitol in a country with a long-term political divide. This article posted in Time this week explains in detail—- fascinating article–

http://time.com/4597920/myanmar-peace/

Originally Christopher and jessica were not sure if they were going to stay in Mandalay an extra day or come with us to the capitol. We had to all make it back to Yangon to fly out to Laos two days later. Conner had found that the capitol city had 1 of only 2 Hiltons in the entire country. He figured we could break up the 8 hour journey back to Yangon by staying overnight at the Hilton.

The 4 hour bus ride was fine. We slept most of it, and stopped halfway for breakfast. As we arrived in the Napitaw we saw many very large mansion homes and many nice hotels and government buildings. The town seemed like a ghost town though. Conner described it as “post-apocolyptic. It was obvious this city was built and designed specifically to host summits and foreign diplomats. The story goes that a high-up official was told by his astrologist or psychic, the capital of Yangon would get attacked and that a new capital had to be established elsewhere. The city of Naypyidaw ( different spellings), was built in secrecy. Government and military were apparently told without notice they had to moe there in a few days time.

Another article explaining so much-https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/19/burmas-capital-naypyidaw-post-apocalypse-suburbia-highways-wifi

Getting off the bus we were again bombarded with about 20 taxi drivers begging for our business. I found one to take us for 4,000 kyat (about $3 USD).

The Hilton property was like an enormous compound. Arriving at the gate surrounded by police and security, our car was checked for bombs upon entry. Jessica and Christopher didnt have a room booked, but lucky for us, Conner was able to work some magic. With his diamond status we were able to get upgraded at no extra cost to a suite. It was a nice size suite and we were happy! We immediately changed to go out and enjoy the beautiful pool. The hotel was very scarce with occupants. There were many workers everywhere, but very few guests. The place was immaculate. We had lunch ordered at the pool and enjoyed the sunshine.

Back at the room it was discovered one of the bathrooms had a leak from the AC. Well, this worked in our favor! They upgraded us again to an even bigger and better suite. It was beautiful! Huge bathrooms, living room, bedroom. Very nice!

We got lounge access where we enjoyed complimentary wine, beer and appetizers. It was enough to fill us for dinner. We played monopoly in the lounge for a couple hours and chatted with a Canadian man who lives in the hotel. He is a teacher to the diplomats and military children. He has lived in different countries in Asia for 10 years teaching.

After our game (Jessica and Christopher tied), we headed to the lobby bar area where there was some live music. I was fading fast and tried to stay awake for the entertainment. I just couldn’t do it! Plus, I wanted some good sleep because we were heading back to Yangon the next day– and after that Laos!!!

kaunggsawnyapar ( goodnight in Burmese),

King

Yan-Gon(e) Goes My Passport…

by kinsay20December 15, 2016

We arrived to Yangon airport in Myanmar (AKA Burma)- shocked to see it was way bigger and more established than Cambodia and Morocco airports.

My brother Christopher, and my sister-in-law Jessica, had arrived a couple of hours prior and were already at the hotel. They told us it should only cost about 7,000 kyat (local currency- less than $7 USD) to get to the hotel, and our hotel confirmed via email. There were 30 taxi drivers outside trying to get our attention. We tried to negotiate but they insisted that because of the late time (it was midnight), the price was higher. We settled on 9,000 kyat (pronounced chat), and were led to a man’s car. In other countries it is always initially odd just getting into stranger’s cars. There was no regulation like in the US. Who knows if this guy was even really a taxi driver? You just have to say a prayer and hope for the best.

We were interested to see that drivers sit on the right side, but still drive on the right side of the road. This was new to us. We drove through Yangon, passing by car dealerships, large buildings and high-rises. This was a major city, far more progressed and modern than we thought it would be! There were lights everywhere! Many building covered in christmas-like lights.

We arrived at our hotel, which on first impression looked ok. Upon check -in, the petite, pretty front desk attendant asked for our passports. After filling out paperwork and getting our key we asked for our passports back. “I hold them.” she said. Huh? “Um, no thank you, we will hold them”. I replied. “NO, no, we keep.”What? I had recently had a conversation with some military and state department friends, who stressed and reiterated the importance of never letting someone else have your passport, unless they were immigration officials. Passports are technically property of the US government. I became frustrated and insisted that the girl give us our passports back. I got a little heated after a few minutes of her refusing to give them to us. “ I will not let you keep my passport!” I said. Conner was trying to get me to just go to up to the room and deal with it the following day. Why was he not as concerned? “Babe, what are we going to do? Where are we going to go at 1am?” he kept saying. I told the hotel staff that I had never encountered this at any other hotel in any other country. I asked if it was a Myanmar law, and they said “no, hotel policy”. I was so incredibly angry at this point. I did not feel safe letting them hold our passports. The front desk girl agreed that she would give them back to us the following day. I begrudgingly followed Conner to our room, but I was not happy! Our room was fine. The size was good and a hot shower sounded nice. Sounded nice. There was no hot water coming out of that shower. After a cold shower we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up and met Christopher and Jessica for breakfast (it was included) in the hotel restaurant. It was so great to see them, and even cooler that we met them on the other side of the world! Over cold fried eggs and fried rice and noodles, they told us about the rats above their room. They said there was a rat party on their roof that kept them up all night. Rats? Oh my gosh! I would freak out! Our room was on a different floor and the only noise we heard was loud car horns and kids singing before school at 7am. I thought it was cool they could laugh about it. They have been traveling to some remote places all over for the last 8 months, so nothing seemed to surprise them. They recently did amazing treks through Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia. When traveling to these places, you just learn to roll with it. You learn you are lucky to sometimes get a shower at all- let alone a warm or hot one. You learn you may eat things you would typically never consider eating in the US , because you are hungry, and it is all there is. You learn that nobody cares if your clothes match, if they are wrinkled or even dirty. I learned these things in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. You think I’d be a pro by now. I needed a refresher- it had been some time.

After breakfast we set out to see Schwedagon temple. As we walked through the streets we couldn’t believe how difficult it was to cross the busy roads. Traffic didnt stop. In other southeast Asia countries, swarms of motor bikes and cars make it intimidating to cross, but when you do cross they stop. In Yangon they don’t stop. You have to run

The streets of Yangon were very busy with hustle and bustle of street vendors, shops, markets and just people everywhere. Yangon is by no means a clean city. A rather dirty city with an overwhelming amount of smells- some good, some not so good. Although crowded, the people in Yangon do not hassle tourists for the most part. Unlike in Thailand and Morocco where we were constantly harassed in some cities by vendors and street beggars. It was nice to not be hounded to buy things.

We arrived at the amazing Schwedagon temple. We were instructed that we had to wear the traditional Longyi- which looks like a long skirt – both men and women. You see people wearing them all through the streets of Yangon. It is their typical, daily attire . We donned our new longyi that we bought and took off our shoes and socks, as these are not allowed in the temples. Once inside it was really quite awesome! We spent a good amount of time walking around and taking pictures. A monk approached me asking if he could take a picture with me. He said ,” I am very happy to see you here”. He was so nice and probably close to my age (early 30’s). He brought his monk friend and sister over. They got a kick out of how tall Conner is, especially next to his petite sister.

We explored the city some more and found a zoo. It was about $2 USD to enter and it would take us through to another side of the city we wanted to see. As we walked through the zoo we became somber. There were so many beautiful tigers, cougars and mountain lyon, but they were kept in very small areas. We realize this is how it is in many zoos, in many countries, but we did not want to support it. We quickly rushed out and found a place for lunch. It was traditional Myanmar food- rice or noodles with a choice of meat.

After lunch we explored some more! We found a nice park and another pagoda. There are buddha statues all over . In every temple and pagoda there are many, many buddhas.

We also found a beautiful church! About 88% of the Myanmar population is Buddhist, 6% Christian and 4% Islamic, with the remainder (Burmese Indians) being Hindu.

After a nice afternoon, we clocked in at 13 miles walking for the day- did I mention it was 90 degrees? Pretty hot!

We decided to try a high rated restaurant on Tripadvisor. It was owned by an expat from Thailand. A nice, friendly woman probably in her 40’s, who greeted us at the door speaking good English. Conner and I had the most delicious curry! It was one of the best we have ever had! Jessica enjoyed a nice soup and Christopher ordered a different type of curry.

Back at the hotel we asked for our passports back. At first the front desk girl hesitated but eventually gave them back. (After I politely reminded her that she had promised she would return them to us ). If she hadn’t returned them I was ready to call the US embassy- I was not messing around!

We went next door to our hotel and sat outside having a beer and watching the locals.Our beers served to us by a boy no older then 15. It is quite common in Myanmar to have children serve alcohol and work as cooks,/ servers in restaurants. A drunk, very rude Australian man showed up. He rudely asked the owner if they served any french fries or pizza. When the reply was “no”, the guy freaked out and started making a drunken scene – “is there anywhere I can get ****bleep bleep bleep*** western food in this bloody town!?” He was such a jerk! Talk about embarrassing for Westerners to have tourists portray us this way. To a country who is newer to foreign western tourists especially. It sets a bad precedence! We saw some very intoxicated Australians in Thailand acting foolish, as well as some extremely rude Russians in Cambodia who belittled the locals. It’s a shame really.

After a semi good sleep after another cold shower we had another less than optimal breakfast. Conner and I decided we would do the 3 hour circular train. The train ride circles around the outskirts of the city and is the main transportation for locals to come to Yangon. Anthony Bordain did the ride, and all the travel blogs/ books say it is a “must do”. It was Jessica’s birthday- 28 to be exact! She gets motion sickness, so riding a bumpy train all morning was not what she wanted to do for her birthday. She and Christopher opted to skip it. The travel book did make it seem rough- it was described as “feeling as though you are on the fast part of a washing machine cycle”.

According to the map and GPS it would take Conner and I only a 15-20 minute walk to get to the train. It was leaving at 8:35am , with the next scheduled time hours later. We did not want to miss it. The 20 minute walk was actually closer to 35 minutes. We had another ”Conner amazing race” experience and ran through the streets of Yangon trying to make the train. We arrived sweating only to see an empty track. We asked a few people but nobody could explain what was going on. Finally, a nice local man did his very best to speak English. He told us the track was off and the train would be picking us up from a few tracks over. We thanked him and found our track. Our tickets by the way were only .35 cents. As we sat in some available seats I noticed many locals with their shoes off , bare feet propped up in the seats. I noticed women with supplies and crafts they were taking to town, that were larger in quantity than we could fit in a small US vehicle.

We said hello to another Westerner who also boarded. Conner was expressing to me that he wished we had a window seat for pictures. A nice local man overhead or conversation and invited us to sit in his area by the window. We graciously accepted. He was so nice and we learned so much talking-to him. He works security and had just come off of a night shift. He was headed home to his small village outside of Yangon, where he has a pregnant wife. I asked him if he was hoping for a son or a daughter and he replied, “I will love them no matter what. I just want them to be healthy”.

His friend joined us for a portion of the ride. Another very nice man who had funny memes of Obama and Trump on his cell phone. So crazy to think Burmese (Myanmar natives) know about US politics, considering half of the people in the US likely have never heard of Myanmar, let alone know where it is on a map.

We enjoyed the nice ride, passing through many villages.

women carrying food for sale on the train

Myanmar is interesting – you see a very large mansion right next to poverty ridden shacks. Christopher and Jessica found Yangon to be much more similar to India than other Southeast Asian destinations. Something else very interesting about Yangon is the vast differences in appearance of the people. In Japan, China, Thailand , Cambodia and Vietnam, the majority of the people in each country have a distinct look. In Myanmar some people look Thai, some Indian, some Cambodian.

After our new friends departed the train at their stop they excitedly kept waving goodbye, even once off the train. I invited the other westerner to come sit with us because we had a fan above us, and it was quite hot. This is the “cool season” in Myanmar, with the highs getting only up to 90 during the day – only ! The locals get very cold when the sun goes down and it is 70 degrees at night. Many kept telling us about the “cold season”.

We enjoyed chatting with Andy, the westerner from Canada, who know lives in Hong Kong for work. He has traveled all over the world. We enjoyed comparing stories and experiences.

After the train Conner and I found a nice cafe called Black Salt. It turned out to be a chain and their equivalent of Starbucks. The lattes were really delicious! Conner had a pastry treat as well. We met Jessica and Christopher back at the hotel and explored the city some more. We had a nice VERY authentic Indian lunch at a place recommended by a local. It was a loud, hectic and very busy restaurant. The owner, an Indian looking man missing his teeth was very welcoming. We all enjoyed our Indian rice, beans and chicken with naan bread. When traveling we have learned the busier the local restaurant the better and safer. It means it has turnover. It means the food isn’t sitting there for days. In southeast asian countries you will see very clean, nice looking places that are tempting – but often dead. The not as clean, not as modern, yet busy place is the way to go! Our meals In Yangon were pretty inexpensive. They ranged anywhere from $4 USD per person to $8- 10 max including beer or wine. There is no tipping in Myanmar either.

After our Indian lunch we walked around a really cool market. Jessica wanted a painting and found one she just loved! She and Christopher negotiated prices back and forth with the seller for quite some time. They finally agreed on $27 US. This is a hand made painting that would be 10 times that price in the US. I happened to have USD to pay for it- a perfect birthday gift for Jessica! She was very happy with her new painting!

All through Yangon you see men with red teeth and red splatters on the ground. It is the remnants of betel nut- a very popular plant concoction they chew like gum. It gives an energized feeling, similar to a strong caffeine. However, like tobacco, chewing it often can have adverse health issues. Jessica and Christopher had tried it in other countries, so they agreed to try it again with Conner. I wasn’t sold on it and decided to just take pictures of them trying it.

Woman making betel nut

They chewed their street -made betel nut for a minutes before spitting it out. Conner described a rush feeling- similar to after drinking an energy drink. It was short lived though and seemed to wear off fairly fast.

we have no idea what some of the stuff for sale is …

We spent the latter part of the afternoon walking around Inya Lake. A fairly unattractive lake that Christopher called “radioactive” because of the flowing oil seen on the surface. We sat along the lake and were served beer by 14 year olds. We just talked and relaxed. The bathroom was a few minute walk away and some nice young local teenagers showed me the way. When I arrived I realized I had to pay to use it. Conner had all the kyat, I had no money. The nice boys paid for me and said , “dont worry “. They were so kind!

Jessica and I chatted with two men probably in their 30’s who were wealthier Yangon locals. I watched as one flicked his used cigarette in the lake. “Oh my! You just littered!’ I said. He smiled and said,”ooh oops! Bad habit!’. Um ok….

We had dinner at a seafood place along the lake, hoping and praying the fish wasn’t caught from the lake. It was a nice dinner , and perfect for Jessica’s birthday.

We all were exhausted so we went to bed fairly early.

The next morning Conner and I went to 2 popular buddhas/ pagodas, that they had seen the previous day while rode the circular train. They were really neat- the reclining buddha was my favorite. They have a huge reclining buddha that we saw in Bangkok, but this one had its own character and charm.

Women buying flowers to give buddha

After the buddhas we had some time before we planned to meet Christopher and Jessica. That afternoon we were flying to Bagan via a small Myanmar airline- Golden Air. We had some time left before meeting them so we strolled the streets. We passed a nice looking spa that offered massages. We both were intrigued. With only 30-40 minutes we asked for two 30 minute foot/ leg massages. We were led into a beautiful spa where they washed our feet with bath salts and let us to recliners. The massages were amazing! My masseuse told me she was highly trained in reflexology and muscle energy. I believe her! She really knew when she was doing. With our eyes closed, enjoying every minute we soon realized some things were lost translation.Our 30 minute massages were closer to an hour.

Feeling incredible and relaxed we hurried back to our hotel. Jessica and Christopher were there ready to head to the airport. They had a rough morning trying to figure out how to ship the painting back home. Another “lost in translation” dilemma. $80 USD and 2 hours of running around and Christopher finally was able to get it shipped.

We took a taxi to Yangon airport, happy to leave our not so desirable hotel behind us. If you are planning travel to Yangon message me so I can tell you where NOT to stay! At Yangon airport we waited for our flight that was delayed only 15 minutes. We boarded the small propeller plane and set off for Bagan. Dragon air turned out to be quite nice. They offered us complimentary food drinks, tea, coffee, and it was only a 2 hour flight.

In no time at all we arrived at the small Bagan airport! We were caught off guard when two young girls bombarded us with a sign saying we need to pay an environmental fee of 25,000 kyat per person. Huh? Had I read about this on the travel blogs? I didn’t recall. At first we were annoyed but once it was explained to us that this fee would get us an access card for all the Bagan temples, we understood. The money would help the upkeep and maintenance of the temples. It made sense. They had an earthquake about 4 months ago which damaged some of the ancient temples, so they needed repairs.

We found a nice taxi driver who quickly got us to our hotel- Thurizza! Oh, such a nice breath of fresh air after Yangon and that last hotel. Driving though Bagan we could see how much more peaceful and calm it was compared to the crazy city of Yangon. Dirt roads and no high rise buildings- this looked nice! Temples and pagodas galore!

Thurizza was a lovely hotel with a rooftop restaurant and bar, surrounded by flowers and nice greenery. Our room was a good size and we were happy to have a nice hot shower! Bagan- I think we are going to like you—-

yahku a bhhoet nhuatsaat (goodbye for now in Burmese),

Kinz

Keeping up with Kinz

These are a few of my favorite things….Live, Love, Travel

buddha

The Conners take Asia, 3.0. New places, New adventures….

From Rats to Riches…

Magical Mandalay to the Post-Apocalyptic Capital

Yan-Gon(e) Goes My Passport…