dreamxinfinity

Oh yeah. Just wanna add a detail. Most of the times when we go to shops/ stalls (applies for Burma, Cambodia, Lao), the shopkeepers will try to sell us things at a “low price” for “lucky money”, ie to make the first sales of the day for good luck. I used to think it was a complete scam— that they would say the same line to every potential customer, but there were a few occasions where we bought stuff, and the shopkeeper actually used the money we gave to touch/ hit their goods, hoping for good luck. I was kinda amazed when I first saw it….. Haha. So yeah, guess the “lucky money” they ask for can be genuine, thou not all the time.

Another thing.. People there make the smooching sound with the mouths to ask for something. Like if they wanted more tea, they’d do it (& its pretty loud too! We tried to learn it but failed) and the waiter would come. Kinda funny how its so common there but if done elsewhere, it’ll prolly be taken as being rude.

Yes yes. That’s Myanmar for you :)

(ps: dont have any pictures of that day so I grabbed this picture of Chinatown off Google) Day 20- Kevin flew off that morning because he had his flight booked a day earlier than we did. On the other hand, we went to the Aung San Boyoke Market along with Brenda, one of the girls we hung out with the day before. Finally it was open. We actually missed it twice. Once on army day and once on day 19, which we have no idea why it was closed. But it turned out to be pretty disappointing anw, most shops were selling jade and antiques. Wasn’t my idea of a local market at all. Boo. That evening we two set off for Chinatown and I loved it there! Tried so many kinds of street food and actually spent less than we would on a normal meal. We were stuffed, man. Hehe. Had to get rid of all our kyats before we flew off so I was trying to get a watch just as the shopkeeper was about to leave. Felt bad to make him unpack the boxes just so I could find a watch I liked, which I did. With the rest of my money, I got us an icecream treat. Gr8 way to end the last night in Myanmar :)

(ps: dont have any pictures of that day so I grabbed this picture of Chinatown off Google)

Day 20-
Kevin flew off that morning because he had his flight booked a day earlier than we did. On the other hand, we went to the Aung San Boyoke Market along with Brenda, one of the girls we hung out with the day before.
Finally it was open. We actually missed it twice. Once on army day and once on day 19, which we have no idea why it was closed. But it turned out to be pretty disappointing anw, most shops were selling jade and antiques. Wasn’t my idea of a local market at all. Boo.
That evening we two set off for Chinatown and I loved it there! Tried so many kinds of street food and actually spent less than we would on a normal meal. We were stuffed, man. Hehe.
Had to get rid of all our kyats before we flew off so I was trying to get a watch just as the shopkeeper was about to leave. Felt bad to make him unpack the boxes just so I could find a watch I liked, which I did. With the rest of my money, I got us an icecream treat. Gr8 way to end the last night in Myanmar :)

Day 19- (p/s took no pictures that day so here’s a picture of e room we were staying in. Messy I know. It was so warm too. & the mosquito nets used at night only made it worse.) Arrived at Yangon, took a nap & spent the day walking around town with two other girls from the dorm. They spent so much time in the CD shop tryna get some copies of language discs for a good deal, but ended up having serious miscommunication (I think) that led to nothing good out of it. Funny how the shop had copies of almost EVERYTHING (from software like microsoft, photoshop, to games and apps for phones, to even more random software such as how to hack other people’s wifi password &whatnot) but was totally functioning as a legal store, smacked right in the city centre. Haha. Wouldn’t see this in Singapore, for sure. Had dinner with another girl that night, by the streets with super super tiny chairs. One thing we all love about Myanmar is that they serve tea everywhere. Even at the smallest street stalls, as long as they have tables, we will never fail to find teacups provided along with pots of tea — an extra reason for us to stay on and chat till we’re good to go :)

Day 19-
(p/s took no pictures that day so here’s a picture of e room we were staying in. Messy I know. It was so warm too. & the mosquito nets used at night only made it worse.)

Arrived at Yangon, took a nap & spent the day walking around town with two other girls from the dorm. They spent so much time in the CD shop tryna get some copies of language discs for a good deal, but ended up having serious miscommunication (I think) that led to nothing good out of it. Funny how the shop had copies of almost EVERYTHING (from software like microsoft, photoshop, to games and apps for phones, to even more random software such as how to hack other people’s wifi password &whatnot) but was totally functioning as a legal store, smacked right in the city centre. Haha. Wouldn’t see this in Singapore, for sure.
Had dinner with another girl that night, by the streets with super super tiny chairs. One thing we all love about Myanmar is that they serve tea everywhere. Even at the smallest street stalls, as long as they have tables, we will never fail to find teacups provided along with pots of tea — an extra reason for us to stay on and chat till we’re good to go :)

Day 18-
The day we met Elise, a girl who was traveling alone at that point and seemed to have similar travel routes as us. Really friendly girl. Ended up talking for a bit. Just like that, we picked up a new traveller before we left Bagan for Yangon.

Day 17- Caught the sunrise at the same place we did the day before and set off on our bicycles to the local market. It’s prolly my favourite market in Myanmar, packed with stalls selling lacquerware, wooden carvings, other local products that never fail to engage my eyes. Also got ourselves a bracelet (or two) at the huge temple we stopped by on the way back, vivid images of the temple and women trying trying to sell us goods showing up in my mind as I type this. Speaking of which, I get a bracelet for every country I’ve been to, and so far I have 4, all of which mean something to me. Shall make a picture of the ones I have, and post it here after my travels. I got the best deal for the bracelet anyway, managing to haggle down the price to be the lowest amongst us three :) good job, jm. That required a lot of patience. Haha. Took a nap and continued the day on our bicycles, taking the dirt road that was impossible to cycle in some parts — Our bikes would sink into the soft sand and threaten to throw us off the bike as we slid. Prolly the hardest bike trip I’ve had, but a different experience, I guess. With one of the huge temples set as the destination for sunset, we also dropped by a few sights along the way. In the end, we had to leave minutes before sunset, just so we could cycle back with whatever little light there was. Took a wrong turn somewhere, somehow, cycled down the bumpy main road in the dark and made it back home. Felt so blissful to have a bottle of sugared drink in our hands after that. Sweet!

Day 17-
Caught the sunrise at the same place we did the day before and set off on our bicycles to the local market. It’s prolly my favourite market in Myanmar, packed with stalls selling lacquerware, wooden carvings, other local products that never fail to engage my eyes.
Also got ourselves a bracelet (or two) at the huge temple we stopped by on the way back, vivid images of the temple and women trying trying to sell us goods showing up in my mind as I type this. Speaking of which, I get a bracelet for every country I’ve been to, and so far I have 4, all of which mean something to me. Shall make a picture of the ones I have, and post it here after my travels. I got the best deal for the bracelet anyway, managing to haggle down the price to be the lowest amongst us three :) good job, jm. That required a lot of patience. Haha.
Took a nap and continued the day on our bicycles, taking the dirt road that was impossible to cycle in some parts — Our bikes would sink into the soft sand and threaten to throw us off the bike as we slid. Prolly the hardest bike trip I’ve had, but a different experience, I guess.
With one of the huge temples set as the destination for sunset, we also dropped by a few sights along the way. In the end, we had to leave minutes before sunset, just so we could cycle back with whatever little light there was. Took a wrong turn somewhere, somehow, cycled down the bumpy main road in the dark and made it back home. Felt so blissful to have a bottle of sugared drink in our hands after that. Sweet!

Day 16- Arrived in Bagan 3am in the morning, slept in and basically did nothing in the day except get food and pop by a lacquerware store. Later, we caught our first sunset on the top of a temple (which we had to climb up, literally). Pretty cool. That happens to be my fav temple too. Explains why I chose this picture. Anw, the view overlooking temples was really pretty. Felt so peaceful to be sitting up there and taking in the view. If not for the crazy afternoon heat, I think I wouldn’t mind staying up there all day. Also have to add that there was a kid trying to sell us carved wooden bottle openers up on the temple, and we had quite a few interesting conversations with him. Prolly caught it on video. Wait for it. I actually liked one of the bottle openers, but it was unpractical and too bulky to carry around. So, sorry to disappoint! Maybe I’ll get it if Im back one day :)

Day 16-
Arrived in Bagan 3am in the morning, slept in and basically did nothing in the day except get food and pop by a lacquerware store.
Later, we caught our first sunset on the top of a temple (which we had to climb up, literally). Pretty cool. That happens to be my fav temple too. Explains why I chose this picture. Anw, the view overlooking temples was really pretty. Felt so peaceful to be sitting up there and taking in the view. If not for the crazy afternoon heat, I think I wouldn’t mind staying up there all day.
Also have to add that there was a kid trying to sell us carved wooden bottle openers up on the temple, and we had quite a few interesting conversations with him. Prolly caught it on video. Wait for it. I actually liked one of the bottle openers, but it was unpractical and too bulky to carry around. So, sorry to disappoint! Maybe I’ll get it if Im back one day :)

Day 15- Decided not to waste another day here (slept thru half of day 14) and rented bikes to start on the bike tour Lonely Planet recommended. Im really glad we did it because it made me enjoy Mandalay and it was a crazy experience. Apart from driving on the roads next to cars, trishaws, bikes, lorries, the traffic was basically coming from everywhere. Especially at junctions. Im glad we survived. Haha! Got to see a temple, went past fancy old European styled buildings (in the picture) that are now monasteries, tasted super yummy coconut donuts, got across a river and reached the beach. Spent the late afternoon in an open air cafe with surprisingly, the best wifi we ever got in Myanmar, protected from what seemed like a sandstorm outside of it. The air pollution there is one of the worst man, got a sore throat that took ages to go away. Thanks for the memories, Mandalay, but i was glad to be leaving that town that night.

Day 15-
Decided not to waste another day here (slept thru half of day 14) and rented bikes to start on the bike tour Lonely Planet recommended. Im really glad we did it because it made me enjoy Mandalay and it was a crazy experience. Apart from driving on the roads next to cars, trishaws, bikes, lorries, the traffic was basically coming from everywhere. Especially at junctions. Im glad we survived. Haha! Got to see a temple, went past fancy old European styled buildings (in the picture) that are now monasteries, tasted super yummy coconut donuts, got across a river and reached the beach. Spent the late afternoon in an open air cafe with surprisingly, the best wifi we ever got in Myanmar, protected from what seemed like a sandstorm outside of it. The air pollution there is one of the worst man, got a sore throat that took ages to go away. Thanks for the memories, Mandalay, but i was glad to be leaving that town that night.

Day 13- Trekked back to Lily’s, fell into a small river along the way and had a stunning view of the mountains that seemed to be moving away from us when we stopped and looked up from our treks. It was also on that day that we once again experienced the friendliness of the Burmese people; an old man came over to talk to us while we were at Mr Shakes, told us stories of him and his daughter and at the end of the day offered to give us some old Kyat that he had kept. There’s just two of them in the picture, which I managed to fit into my diary, but there were also coins that dated back to the 1950s that were given to us. Apparently you can still use the notes, but you prolly need to give big stacks of it to pay for something (Even a can of drink costs at least a few hundred kyats). I remember him saying a bus to some other town used to be merely 80 kyat or sth? And now we were paying close to, or over 100 thousand for buses. Inflation. Crazy crazy. Haha. But thats not the main point of the story anyway. The main point is that Burmese people are lovely. I think I made enough of this point.

Day 13-
Trekked back to Lily’s, fell into a small river along the way and had a stunning view of the mountains that seemed to be moving away from us when we stopped and looked up from our treks.
It was also on that day that we once again experienced the friendliness of the Burmese people; an old man came over to talk to us while we were at Mr Shakes, told us stories of him and his daughter and at the end of the day offered to give us some old Kyat that he had kept. There’s just two of them in the picture, which I managed to fit into my diary, but there were also coins that dated back to the 1950s that were given to us. Apparently you can still use the notes, but you prolly need to give big stacks of it to pay for something (Even a can of drink costs at least a few hundred kyats). I remember him saying a bus to some other town used to be merely 80 kyat or sth? And now we were paying close to, or over 100 thousand for buses. Inflation. Crazy crazy. Haha. But thats not the main point of the story anyway. The main point is that Burmese people are lovely. I think I made enough of this point.

Day 12- contd Checked out the small village afterwards, taking only a while because it was pretty small. Spent the rest of our time sitting by the balcony, talking about random stuff till it was dark. After dinner, the little girl brought us out to the backyard to see tea leaves being processed, which was pretty cool. Watched the sky full of stars, figured out constellations with the app on Kevin’s phone & had the little girl join in the fun as well. When we were back, the host showed us photo albums and proceeded to dress us girls up in traditional costumes. Had a lot of fun :) What really made the whole homestay experience a memorable one was how we had fun and laughter together despite the language barrier. Had to communicate using hand-signs and what not because the minorities there didnt even speak Burmese, let alone English. But at times language barriers can pull people closer rather than push them apart, because they have to find other means to bring across ideas, while trying really hard. &Most of the time it leads to lots of laughter :) Memories.

Day 12- contd
Checked out the small village afterwards, taking only a while because it was pretty small. Spent the rest of our time sitting by the balcony, talking about random stuff till it was dark.
After dinner, the little girl brought us out to the backyard to see tea leaves being processed, which was pretty cool. Watched the sky full of stars, figured out constellations with the app on Kevin’s phone & had the little girl join in the fun as well. When we were back, the host showed us photo albums and proceeded to dress us girls up in traditional costumes. Had a lot of fun :)
What really made the whole homestay experience a memorable one was how we had fun and laughter together despite the language barrier. Had to communicate using hand-signs and what not because the minorities there didnt even speak Burmese, let alone English. But at times language barriers can pull people closer rather than push them apart, because they have to find other means to bring across ideas, while trying really hard. &Most of the time it leads to lots of laughter :) Memories.

Day 12- One of my best days of travel. The six of us embarked on a 5 hour trek to a village, but both Davids and Emily turned back halfway at the third village because they werent planning to do the homestay, leaving the three of us to continue our hike forward. It was pretty tough for me going upwards and downwards thru the mountains, trying to keep with with the tall people (took me close to two steps for every one step they took, lol). Plus we actually didnt have a guide so we had no idea if we took the right or wrong way, the longer or shorter route. We had to go based on our guts when there was no one to ask. There were quite a few highlights of the trek. The first being us playing with this kid at the third village while waiting for Teresa to get more water. Taught her how to do a hi-5, a twist and thumbs up. Really adorable. The other kids that passed us were too shy to come up to us, choosing to wave their hands at us crazily behind the fences. The second hightlight of the day was Kevin saying “Can you imagine if we see the other group with the guide that was just behind us on the other side of the mountains?” and right at that moment we saw the same group right across us, mountains away, climbing up. For a moment we thought we were gone. Hahaha. We made it, still. We either took the longer route (with shade, thankfully) or the group was going to the other village and so had different paths. Third. Just 20 minutes before reaching the village, rain clouds appeared and Kevin went “hope it doesn’t rain”. Guess what, lightning and thunder came seconds after, followed by really big droplets of rain. Kevin was the jinx, man. We prohibited him from saying any other things that sounded bad. Haha. Shared a poncho with Teresa but got drenched anyway. Managed to get a bit of shelter along the way, sharing the spot with two locals and their cows outside in the rain. Other smaller highlights on the trek include us passing by watermelon fields, with huge watermelons lying all over, waiting to be picked and kids shouting bye bye because they didnt know hello (no idea why). So yup. Made it to the village and got brought to a guesthouse where we took a nap after lunch :)

Day 12-
One of my best days of travel. The six of us embarked on a 5 hour trek to a village, but both Davids and Emily turned back halfway at the third village because they werent planning to do the homestay, leaving the three of us to continue our hike forward. It was pretty tough for me going upwards and downwards thru the mountains, trying to keep with with the tall people (took me close to two steps for every one step they took, lol). Plus we actually didnt have a guide so we had no idea if we took the right or wrong way, the longer or shorter route. We had to go based on our guts when there was no one to ask. There were quite a few highlights of the trek.
The first being us playing with this kid at the third village while waiting for Teresa to get more water. Taught her how to do a hi-5, a twist and thumbs up. Really adorable. The other kids that passed us were too shy to come up to us, choosing to wave their hands at us crazily behind the fences.
The second hightlight of the day was Kevin saying “Can you imagine if we see the other group with the guide that was just behind us on the other side of the mountains?” and right at that moment we saw the same group right across us, mountains away, climbing up. For a moment we thought we were gone. Hahaha. We made it, still. We either took the longer route (with shade, thankfully) or the group was going to the other village and so had different paths.
Third. Just 20 minutes before reaching the village, rain clouds appeared and Kevin went “hope it doesn’t rain”. Guess what, lightning and thunder came seconds after, followed by really big droplets of rain. Kevin was the jinx, man. We prohibited him from saying any other things that sounded bad. Haha.
Shared a poncho with Teresa but got drenched anyway. Managed to get a bit of shelter along the way, sharing the spot with two locals and their cows outside in the rain.
Other smaller highlights on the trek include us passing by watermelon fields, with huge watermelons lying all over, waiting to be picked and kids shouting bye bye because they didnt know hello (no idea why).
So yup. Made it to the village and got brought to a guesthouse where we took a nap after lunch :)