Myanmar

Making Paan

Betel Nuts

Betel Leaves

When I landed in Yangon, the first thing I noticed were a couple of porters with deep red lips.  It didn’t look like lipstick, I wasn’t sure what it was going on.  When I spoke to the porter, he smiled and it was hard to hide my disgust, his teeth were stained dark red and they didn’t look at all healthy.  He turned from me and spit into the garbage can bright red liquid.  Reminded me of chewing tobacco but clearly they weren’t chewing tobacco. Continue reading →

Mya-Tha-Lun Pagoda

We arrived in Magway after lunch.  We were picked up by trishaws and taken to Mya-Tha-Lun Pagoda.  I noticed that Viking had pu in their daily overview that it was made of solid gold bricks.  Someone asked about it and the guide said that it wasn’t made with solid gold bricks.  He thought someone at the Lonely Planet guide books missed something in translation and it got published as being made of solid gold bricks.

After seeing the pagoda we got back on our trishaw and headed to the market.  I have to admit, I pity the poor trishaw drivers.  When they signed up for this, did they know what the big American tourist looked like?  They certainly got their workout for the day peddling our tour group around.

I love a local market.  Call me strange but no matter where I go, I want to see their market whether it be a grocery market or an outside local market.  It gives me an idea of what they eat, Here in the states, the healthy items are aound the perimeter with the other 80 percent of the market – processed food.  It is different in every country.

In southeast asia, most shopping is done at the local market and fresh often means still alive.  You can have your chickens beheaded and defeathered in front of you or you can take home and do yourself.  Fish, prawns and crab are usually floopping around in shallow water.

At this market we learned about shrimp paste.  In Burma, shrimp paste is like ketchup is to Americans.  It can be put on almost anything.

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We sailed again this morning to Minhla and visited a fort constructed by two Italian brothers to protect the Royal Burma from the British.  Our tour guide gave a lengthy lecture on the history of Burma and the series of wars with the British colonists.  I will sum it up by saying, ulitmately the British defeated the burmese capturing the fort in 1885.

Minhla Fort

Minhla Fort

Minhla Fort

The weather has really suprised me.  In the morning, it is cold.  I had to put jacket on when I went to breakfast.   It gets warmer throughout the day and by mid-afternoon the temperature rises into the high 80’s.  I cannot imagine what it is like during the summer.

Although it is cool in the morning, it is hardly cold yet the natives are all wearing coats, sweaters and hats.  They are dressed as if it is winter and I am in shorts.

The moring tour started out with archeoligical sites nceint Thiri-ya-kittiya, arheologiical site that is the former capital of Pyu civilization which existed from the fifth to eighth century.  The tour guide told explained something that I had been wondering for years – the difference betweent a pagoda and a stupa.  A Stupa is solid – like a potatoe, it is solid and you cannot go in it, a temple is hollow and a pagoda is like a dumpling – it has many things including stupas and temples.

Along the way we learned how they made palm sugar. Continue reading →

This morning I left Yangon for Pyay where the Viking Mandalay was docked. On our way out of Yangon, we passed by Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.  Besides the gate, there wasn’t a lot to see but the Burmese, Aung San Suu Kyi is a hero.  I remember first learning about her back in 1990’s.  I had seen the film “Beyond Rangon” which was about an American who witnesses the military crack down and abuse of power.  I became interested in Aung San Suu Kyi and her courage to fight for democracy.

You can clearly hear the adoration in people’s voices when they talk about Aung San Suu Kyi. They call her “The Lady”.  You see her picture everywhere. I almost feel she is considered a saint.

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Central Train Station

After our group tour in the morning, they let us off at a market a few minutes walk from the hotel.  The market was geared towards tourists selling statues, baskets, wooden carvings and fabrics.  I had learned a long time ago that when I purchased items on vacation and it seemed like a good idea, I would get home and wonder what possessed me to buy them in the first place.

I decided that it was time to do something a little different. I headed back to the hotel and asked our tour guide about the Circle Line Train.  She corrected my by saying “Circle Train” and confirmed the station was just a few blocks away.  The Circle Train goes around the Yangon in a big circle.

As I walked on the bridge over the train station I couldn’t help but notice that the station had seen better days.  Off to one side were abandoned cars being reclaimed by the jungle.  I am not sure how much maintenance had been done on the trains or rails since the British left.  I was looking at another time. Continue reading →

The Shwedagon Pagoda is an amazing sight.  It dominates Yangon’s skyline and can be seen from almost everywhere in the city.  At night, it is lit up.  I am not going to try to convey the story behind it because it isn’t a story that you can sum up in a few lines and quite frankly not sure I could convey the story.  I will say that it is a major buddhist site that goes back 2,000 years with the pagoda being built and rebuilt and added to.

It is a major religious site.  Rudyard Kipling described his 1889 visit to this pagoda.  Hillary Clinton also visited it as well as President Obama.

Continue reading →

Yangon airport

I landed at the Yangon airport after a 40 minute flight from Bangkok.  When I saw the aiprort, I thought this is it?  I would call it the main terminal but I couldn’t because that would imply there was an additional terminal.  Later the tourguide commented that this was the new aiport which opened in 2007.  I guess they weren’t expecting the upcoming changes.

Before leaving the terminal I exchanged money.  I handed over a new $100 bill and was given a 2 inch stack of Kyats (pronounced chats).  The exchange ratio is close to 1,000 Kyats to 1 US dollard.  I must admit that there was something gratfiying about being handed this big stack of cash but I quickly put it in perspective telling myself that I was basically carrying around 100 $1 bills. Continue reading →

I am geting ready to go to Myanmar.  I am learning wordpress.  So far so good.  I am hoping I can share my thoughts and photos via the site.