When the Night Comes ....

Where would I be without the beloved Germans and the Swiss??

I have no clue.

I woke up yesterday not really knowing what on earth I would do during the day.  Luckily, two lovely German girls sat beside me at breakfast and told me they were going to the movies at 10am .... perfect, a movie for 1000 Kyat, or about $1.20. Considering it's about ten times the cost at home, plus a second mortgage for the cinema food, it seems like a good idea.  So we all hop into a taxi and scoot off.\

Snow White ... but not the Disney version; it's Snow White and the Hunstman. I can't remember how long ago it came out at the theatres at home, doesn't matter though, I didn't have time for it anyway.  I thought it would be either stupid, or almost unwatchable .... good to be wrong.  Half way through, it felt like a better version of Robin Hood with the seven dwarfs making a special appearance towards the end.  A good way to spend two hours, and ironically, 10 minutes later, I could have bought the movie on the street from a vendor, obviously a ripped off version.  Oh to be in Asia ...

We walked around the main Bogyoke Aung San market for awhile, and slowly made my way back to the hotel for my camera and a rest. The last thing I had left to do was the ultimate revenge .... go back to Shwedagon Paya at night and finally have my camera at full strength, with batteries that aren't at 2% power. So, off I go, walk to the main part of the city and take a not so crowded city bus to close to the area. Then I slowly walk up the steps with the shops on either side, like a religious experience in itself.

What a night.  Beautiful weather, cool night air, pretty much rain free and I very slowly walked around the massive complex and relaxed for pretty much three hours. Many, many little nooks and crannies to explore, the time went by so slowly, with this massive golden stumpa right smack in the middle. So peaceful, quiet and relaxing. One of the few times I've felt that relaxed and at ease without a concern in the world. No kids badgering you, no postcards salesman, just the small amount of locals, meditating monks and tourists on a perfect Sunday night Towards the end, I wander over to a place where there was a stunning view of the entire Paya, and meet some nice Germans and a guy from Switzerland working in Siem Reap in Cambodia at a development organization. Mattias, Andreas, and Lily. We share a great chat, then a taxi back to town, then some beers near their hotel.  Fantastic end to a fantastic night. Can't get over how fast it took me to walk back to my own hotel at midnight with no cars or people on the streets selling things everywhere. What usually would take about an hour it was done in about half that time.

So that's Myanmar.  Everything I wanted to do, I did, except that one day in Mandalay I missed the sightseeing due to Diana and Rhea dropping by for a visit.  They say you can't have it all ... they're right. I guess I have to someday come back. It will probably look very different by then.

Airport ... then to KL .... airport hotel .... Kuching, Malyasia tomorrow afternoon.  See you then.

The Only One ...

Well, I decide, what the hell, don't worry about the downpour that just stopped at 9:30 am, I'm not sitting here all day long doing nothing. So I take a taxi to the ferry port for the quick skip over the river to Dalah, with the general plan to take a pick up truck trip over to Twante, the mission from the moment I got here a lifetime ago.

Things get in the way .... they sort of have a tendency to do that.

I'm the only white guy on the entire massive ferry and people have a talent to point that out.  Once again, huge amounts of chickens are all tied up and inside wooden baskets, others are selling the standard fruits, and everyone gets on and off as if tomorrow is December 21st, 2012.

We get off on the other side, and EVERYONE is waiting for me and the other billions of people. They want me to hop on their motorbike, or their bicycle side seat, so I have new friends without even trying, over and over and over. I smile and keep walking. I figure I mid as well sort wander around the market that everyone tells me is so fantastic, but I have a tricky time figuring out where exactly it is.  Maybe in fact every street is the market??  I sort of think that I saw the pagoda that they tell me about?? Either way, I just wander around the streets and everyone is friendly.  I can easily see why that area was devastated by the cyclone back in 2008. There is no shelter or high ground and the road infrastructure is basic at best, so it makes sense you would have needed permission to visit this area of the greater Yangon area by the bosses around here. The houses must have just been simply knocked down and submerged, then rebuilt with anything you could find.  So many people smile and say "Mingalaba" (hello) and everyone wants their picture taken, as it comes as no surprise they don't see Westerns or tourists often. I think I saw another Asian group of three tourists from Japan or Korea, and that was it.

Soon I bump into the same people over and over, as I realize I've pretty much walked around all these unnamed streets.  Then, I walk past a makeshift restaurant and everyone is watching the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics, so I sit down, drink down a litre of water and join in the viewing. Very nice break or time-waster, whatever you prefer to call it.

Then I say so long after about half an hour, and keep walking the way I came from the ferry port, but then notice a building of the National League of Democracy (NLD) and say hello to the people selling the party souvenirs. They were very nice and then a young guy tells me to come in . I find out it is a school and charity building belonging to the party that was opened in February.  I ask if Aung San Suu Kyi is here, since I rang her, and we all laugh.  The funny part is, we go inside, they ask me if I'd like some soup and low and behold, there is a lady who looks almost exactly like her.  The young man who welcomed me in, had a magazine with Aung San Suu Kyi  picture on it, so I took a picture of the lady posing with the magazine. How cool/weird is that?? I ask them about the electronics store on the bottom floor of the red house from yesterday. They seem to think that in fact I was right, the store and the house do in fact match. I almost feel better about it.

The economics lesson that the school has at 2 pm then 3 pm is about to start, so I take some more pictures of the people, sign their guest book and say goodbye. Almost like a happy family for an hour or so, then off to do something.  What that something is ... I didn't know yet.

I bump into a bicycle driver on my way back to the ferry and I ask him about Twante, and the pottery shops that are there. He tells me that the pottery shops are closed in the wet season and they open in November or something like that. Someone else had sort of mentioned this, but I thought they were just lying. I figure since I told him first that I'm taking the  ferry back to Yangon, he'd be less likely to be lying, but my suspicions were still lingering.  Either way, the rain came down almost as I got off the ferry back in Yangon, so maybe the extra wild goose chase just wouldn't be worth it.

So, I did the most elegant of alternatives and wandered into the first luxury hotel ever built here, the colonial Strand Hotel. I was thinking about having a meal or a drink, but looked at the prices and just wandered around the art gallery near the foyer. Then sat down and read the newspaper (God Bless the International Daily Tribune) until magically the rain stopped.

All in all, I probably took about another 300 pictures ..... the most lasting impression of this country is that you can visit all the temples and pagodas and anything else, but the people still make the place what it is.  Everyone wants to smile, say hello & pose for the camera. It's like I have magic potion or something .... that's when you remember you're not at home. Whose nice to me out in public at home ?? ... yeah, something is definitely strange and wrong about this.

Tomorrow ... no clue ..... probably a good thing if today is any indication.

:o)

Random things I should type before I forget ...

1.  When young people ask you where you are from, and you say Canada, they are very disappointed when you tell them you don't like Justin Bieber.  He is huge here .... so much for being isolated from the world. The power of the web and radio is still able to penetrate any regime.

2. The very first day I'm walking around Yangon and an old John Mellencamp song, "The Authority Song", is being played on a loudspeaker, with the chorus on a continuous loop. The chorus goes : "I fought authority and authority always wins (repeat)". I think it's rather strange but funny to hear this in a country where the military was 100%  in charge for so long (and really is even today)". My local friend says the song is for a local Myanmar beer and the song's lyrics are just a tiny bit different. It tells people to drink this said beer, since it is the best. Not sure if it's more funny, ironic or more like black humour. Tell me what you think.

3.  So U2 writes a song "Walk On" in 1999-2000 that was apparently banned here because it refers to Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle for democratic rights.  They name a coffee brand U2 anyway. Pictures and billboard proof will eventually be shown. Even the bands colours, red and white match from the last three tours .... Hmmm ....

4. Don't judge places by distances ... time is more important. Especially when the highways can be driven at 40 km/h maximum.

5.  Supermarkets have lots of variety of food ... but not much cereal.  It's actually quite amazing what they have here despite the crappy gov't they've been subjected to. Only other problem is that their ice cream bars are pretty bad.  But not bad enough to eat four the last two days .... Maybe THIS one will be better!! NO!

6.  Gold leaf is a big deal here ... more than any other place I've been to.

7.  So here's the deal, you MUST under all circumstances give people perfect, crispy, brand new looking US dollar notes. You get crappy, old, look like they've been through a war notes back in return. When you exchange Myanmar notes back to US dollars, they are NEVER nice ones back. You are NOT in control, if you think you are, you are in denial, and I don't mean the river in Egypt.

 8.  Stray dogs are everywhere, but luckily they don't really bother you, unless they are chasing each other like it's a war, and you just happen to be in the way.  Meanwhile, ads or pictures for Angry Birds are everywhere too, ..... but they are much safer. So much for being isolated from the rest of the world for the last 50 years. If you are over 50 .... you probably don't understand the second part. It's not worth worrying about.

 9.  Probably the thing I will miss most about Myanmar is just people making eye contact and then smiling.  Many times guys will yell out "Tall Man", "Strong Man", or "Superman". One out of three ain't bad. Or some will say "Handsome" ... well, yes, I have two hands. When walking around shops or shopping malls the girls like to make eye contact, smile and laugh/talk with their co-workers.  Not sure if I'm THAT funny looking, or their standards are really, really low. It would probably kill them to know I'm almost old enough to be their dad.

10. More than any other country, sometimes it's really, really difficult to figure out how old the younger people are here ...... people who look 15 could easily be 23???  Kinda like David Thompson, except I know how old everyone is. 

11.  If Yangon had been your introduction to Asia, probably not a good move.  Yes, it is a massive cesspool in some places, but it has more character than many places I've been.  Don't worry though, satellite dishes are everywhere in the city.

12.  Not sure what was more amusing ... hundreds of monks using cellphones, or one monk who was using an ipad to take pictures on Mandalay Hill or Bagan (or wherever it was).  Someone was lucky enough to report that she saw an entire group of monks in one internet cafe all playing "World of Warcraft" together.  Now THAT would be a funny picture to capture. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that one.

13. Call me stupid, but it seems the ethnicities of Chinese, Burmese, and the various faiths of Indians get along quite well in the major cities. Too bad the other minority peoples in the outlaying provinces are still fighting the army near the borders. Very sad.

14. The easiest way to make sure it won't rain is to bring an umbrella. I think I was about 50% successful with that strategy.  After 10 seconds without one, you are drenched pretty much from head to toe.

15. When tourists start to flock to Bagan without the tourist infrastructure ... boy look out.

16. If the market vendors had already cut up mangoes, like in Bangkok .... boy I'd be in big trouble with my stomach. Blessing in disguise, although the lovely people at my hotel cut them up for me at night.

I'll probably think of the other stuff soon .... stay tuned.

Land of Confusion & House Arrest -- The Shocking Truth :o)

So, the tour is over, and I had to do at least a few things before I switched hotels, since our tour hotel was relatively close to Inle Lake, and Shwedagon Paya Pagoda.

I got into a taxi, and got dropped off at the Sedona Hotel, overlooking the city lake and home of the big house, the house of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy, who was sentenced to 20+ years of house arrest.  Ran around the general area, there was a makeshift amusement park and then slowly I walked down the walkway lined with benches and flowers, to see the main attraction. The house is red, with a distinctive red roof (this was told to me by many knowledgeable people) and I was pretty sure there was only one possibility. The funny part, as I walked down the actual road that led to the front of the house, there was an electrical shop on the bottom floor called Yandayar Industries or something. Weird :o) .....  The huge amount of barbed wire around it and officialness of the house was still comforting that I didn't waste my time. After all, the map told me I was in the rest place.  Genesis, Bryan Adams, and I all together in one place.

Anyway, after that slight bit of confusion I headed back down to Shwedagon Paya, and walked around the pagoda on my own, seeing all the comings and goings of the area, as it is always a very busy place regardless of the time of day.  [I was going to return again last night, but the rain was just too much, so I hope either tonight or tomorrow night will work out]  Then ... BOOM !! at noon the rain came and I told myself it was time to get back to my tour hotel and switch back to the Motherland Inn where I first started WAY back on July 10th .... I've been waiting to do some more things around town, but again this morning the rain is back, so I'm trying to figure out how and when I'm going to find the time to take the simple city ferry over to Dalah and motor over to Twante.

Not sure what is better .... sitting here doing nothing, feeling well, or sightseeing and getting stung by the humidity and then feeling like crap. Hmmmmm ....

Mid as Well Jump ! Jump! Go Ahead and Jump ... the lost Cats of Eddie Van Halen

So, back in Yangon ... I tried a stupid internet place last night, but all was futile.

Our day around Inle Lake was amazing, luckily the rain held off, the sun stayed in the clouds so all day in an open canoe/boat was safe from sunstroke, windburn and getting drenched.

Inle Lake is kinda like Bagan ... you can see a bunch of pictures, but until you are there, there really isn't any comparison.  We started off at our town dock, followed the river inlet, then finally as we entered the lake proper, perfectly placed was a few fishermen with their traditional nets and boats. Like the hand of God put them there as we were going by, just to make them happy.

We sped off, heading south and passed through a series of narrow rivers, amongst the reeds along the coasts where the villages are.  We first stop off at one village, looked at some very impressive ruins of .... wait for it ....  more temples and stupas !! and met a bunch of interesting villagers along the way back on our walk.  Despite seeing houses on stilts in A LOT of places, these villages are not that much more special. Can't figure out why .... maybe it's just because the lake is soooooo large, and pretty much all the houses have to be like that. Some stilts are short, but some are very, very tall; even the workshops and other industries that are at the lake are on stilts too.

Sliversmith workshops, a cigar factory, a silk weaving/loom factory were more stops, and then the most ridiculous temple tourist trap you've ever seen. Once upon a time, there were these five magnificent tiny golden Buddha statues, as since they were so holy, followers were expected to take extra gold leaf and put them on top of their bodies.  So, after decades later, they resemble something in between marshmallows or the Michelin man.

Next stop was lunch ... and then in the late afternoon was the grand finale ..... the Leaping Cats Monastery. A few decades ago, some monks at a large temple/monastery were bored and they decided it would be fun to train cats to jump through hoops. So they did .... I thought it would be either something amazing, or something completely anti-climatic.  I had seen pictures before, and talks about it from a lady at a Travel Cuts Talk. The latter case won.  They basically jump through the hoops just for food and after one trick for each cat, that's pretty much about it. Even worse, it wasn't even a monk who led the silliness, but instead an older women.

So much for getting all excited over nothing. Remember that rule about keeping expectations lower than a snake ???  Then again, I finished the day off with around 600 pictures ... edited them down to around 300. All of them are of the pretty good variety.  Cheaper than shopping of course :o)

Well, as I said in the beginning, I'm back in Yangon, the one hour flight was again a much better alternative to a 15 hour bumpy bus ride.  Feeling fine still ... for now. But being back in the big city and his heat and humidity will be different from what these old bones have been used to for a week.  A few things to do in the next few days ... but nothing compared to the tour. We have our final group dinner tonight and then we all scatter back to where most of us belong.

Talk to you soon .... maybe tomorrow, but don't count on it. Have to have something useful to say first.

:o)

Red Rain -- The Cave with 8000 Buddhas ... or was it 10 000 ?

Around Kalaw and Inle Lake  -- Day 22

Sometimes too much of a good thing is bad, sometimes too much of a good thing is still good, sometimes it just leaves you in awe.

I think I witnessed somewhere between the second and the third one.

Off to go, we leave Kalaw in the morning, with the hotel staff waving goodbye as if we are the most important people in their lives, despite the fact we were there merely 16 hours or so.  We trek on a one way drive through some gorgeous fields of rice, lots of cabbage which was brilliantly in an expansive blueish hue with harvest mode in full flight, and farmers driving on the side of the road with their beasts of burden.  Again it was raining pretty much the entire day and with the red dirt from the fields and the sides of the road gave the surrounding colours extra contrast.  Almost felt like northern Queensland, in OZ.

Then we arrive at this town, visit its morning market, before heading off to this amazing cliffside cave that extends around 100 metres into a limstone mountain, completely and utterly filled with tiny, small, medium, and massive, massive statues of Golden Buddhas. Beautiful steps take you from one cavern to another, to another, and then you get a higher up view of a the entire beginning complex  You try to appreciate Buddha 8765 as much as 2345, but then it just gets tougher and tougher. At least the view from the clifftop was more than impressive enough.

How do you properly convey the cave? Don't bother, as the pictures can't really do it justice either. But, like a fool, you try anyway.  Luckily it was miles better than the one I saw on the Mekong River in Laos in 2008, but that's really not saying much. This was just insanely incredible, it felt like you just found a golden treasure than someone has hidden away years ago, but then your guide tells you the Neolithic people who lived here  thousands and thousands of years ago used this to escape from the heat and the animals. So the specialness kinda melted away right after that. So, an hour later, we descend down on the elevator (modern meets traditional) and go back the same way we came on the highway. The trip down was just as impressive as the way up, so that was a blessing.  Workers in the fields, animals everywhere, farmers loading or unloading their crops of cabbage was more than interesting and slowly we arrive at Inle Lake, at a place called Nyaung Shwe.

Silly me, I was going to have a nice walk around the small town before dinner, but then I lay my head down for a rest after another 8-9 hours on the bus, and boom, a three hour nap kicks in. That's ok though, big day tomorrow. If I'm really lucky, I'll wake up early to see the monks pass by our hotel at around 6am, walking in a straight line of about a 100-200 or so, getting fed rice by the locals. Then, we are visiting the lake and fishing villages in the surrounding area. The last real day of sightseeing, which I'm really looking forward to, plus one secret surprise that I won't get into now.

So I hope the cool rainy weather stays like this, so the heat doesn't complicate things like it usually does.  The heat will be back in Yangon after a few more days.

Hey Hey We're the Monkeys -- Cuts Like a Knife

A long day ... but not too bad considering everything that has happened. An early morning, we left at 7am, with a 10 hour trip that could have been easily longer.

Sad to leave Bagan, but it was done ... back westward.  A few stops along the way, we visited a farm-plantation where we saw locals making palm seed oil, palm seed booze, & peanut oil, not to mention some fancy face paint ( I think, it was too long ago). Then we visited a small village that our tour leader was determined to find again to drop off some photographs from his last stopover awhile back, then we made the slow trek up the mountains. Near a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, are the 700 steps to the top of Mount Popa, a majestic peak that has a .... wait for it ... a temple on top!!  So, we must again take off our shoes to enter, but then the real fun begins.  Dodging the million or so monkeys that inhabit the area, plus their feces and urine on the steps. Yahoo !!  In spite of all that crap, you get to the top and it is an amazing view, more than worth it.  The annoying part is, the steps are covered by an inverted "V" shape roof, and if the monkeys aren't physically sitting by the steps or the railings, they are chasing and bounding off the roofs like maniacs and creating a chaotic racket.  But awwwwwww ... from the pictures they look so cute.

We survived the ups and downs of the mountain, and had a great simple lunch, greatly aided by the lovely lady trying to rip us off while selling her mangoes and pineapples. So, my warm up for lunch was an entire sweet, juicy pineapple and the tour guide had a machete for the soon to be devoured mango. Others were saying "Keep the mango for dessert!!" ... I was thinking, we could be killed in an earthquake in five minutes, the mangoes can't wait. Especially for less than a dollar for both !!!  C'mon now, it so obvious, plus the noodles are old news at any rate.  So the machete did the job, and it was soft and perfect ....

Up, up , and up some more we went until about 5pm.  That's when reached Kalaw, a small dot on the map. A tropical rain forest high in the mountains, and it's too bad we couldn't see the full views from the road since the clouds were the HQs of the driving rains. But it was really nice from time to time, when we could see the occasional valley, or the odd rice field. But I must say, it's a very nice hideaway from the heat. The British once upon a time made a army station up here to escape from the heat of Mandalay and the other areas.  Almost looks like Switzerland, just with Burmese ... and minus the cheese.

We leave early the next day. Another rumoured long day on the bus. We descend upon Inle Lake tomorrow. The last real stop before we fly back to Yangon ....  gotta go ... sleep is asking to come out and play.

:o)

Bagan Part II -- Happy Wanderer -- With my Knapsack on my Back

It's funny when you have no idea what you're going to do on a given day; sometimes nothing planned is the best plan of them all.  After I left you all the other day I had this notion that I was going to go for a walk. Where? Somewhere .... that's all I knew. So I just started with this vague notion I was going to walk down to the river, even if this "river" place was an alleged 20 minute bike ride away, and I was just on foot. I went this way, I went that way, saw another pagoda/temple (whatever it was) followed a road a long way, saw three more pagodas all lined up, and just took in all the crazy little things that happened alongside the side of the road.

Just simple things. Like people carrying this or that on their heads, motorbikes passing by with people waving when they realized I was just taking random photographs, a cool hanging root tree here and there, more funny trucks going by, and then realizing if you just walked a little more, you could take a picture of the pagoda within a window of a bunch of trees on the photograph's frame.  After about a hour and a half, I realized I should just walk back to the hotel-resort were were at.  But then something pulled me in to walk down a road I had been on earlier, but a little further, and to the left.  Low and behold, THAT is where the Ayeyarwaddy River was, sitting right in front of me.  What a place to hang around for awhile. Families were doing laundry in the river, others were swimming, canoes and boats were just sitting there, just ready to be painted onto a canvas with other picturesque things like bridges, trees, and fishing nets. Not to be forgotten, another amazing golden pagoda was up on the hill nearby, giving everyone a majestic view of the riverside.  A real good chance just to relax, and let the late afternoon sun past by still without its usual oppressive heat.  By 6pm ... and around 3.5 hours later, it was time to head back.  Dinner was at an Italian-Burmese restaurant, right beside where we were staying, table on the sand lined street, which was a nice touch. The only snag is, it took about 2 hours to be served, and not much was going on.  Too bad ...

Fun, Fun, Fun and the Temples of Low Men.

Some people like to go to Ireland in the summer and complain how much it rains, despite commenting on how green it is.

Some people go to New York City, and marvel at how many skyscrapers there are, and yet don't seem to be bothered in the least.

In Bagan, you go there to specially see the 3000 temples and pagodas, and hope the 2999th one is just as exciting as the first one.  So, if you don't like them, it's simple; don't go in the first place.

Luckily, the heat sort of stayed away, and I felt strong pretty much the entire day. It was around 32C or so [as prayed for] and despite the heat, we were very, very, very lucky compared to most other times of the year. A few weeks ago on a G adventures tour, it was 48 C. So, it's all relative !!

A number of times we went to certain areas to climb, and get a load of the view. Other times, we just entered them for the temple itself.  It is slowly getting tougher and tougher to get excited about seeing yet ANOTHER massive statue of the Buddha, but I suppose it beats marking exams.  So, it's all relative !!

After 10 specific stops, most of us were pretty beat up, thank goodness I felted stronger than most, but that's more of a byproduct of having lots of rest back in Mandalay.  The water supply was more than enough, and luckily I felt normal the entire day.  There's not much more to say, some of the temples look identical, some almost look like cathedrals from far away. The pictures will say more than I could ever type, but the fact it had rained here certainly made the greens and the other colours much more vibrant than usual.

Everyone climbed up one last temple for the sunset, a large group were they're before us, and it was ok as sunsets go, but the breeze was another welcome friend.  The biggest feeling was that we had a wonderful day in a dreamworld, during the low season when tourists weren't crawling everywhere around us all day long, and the heat cooperated.

The Holy Trinity of traveling Myanmar .... good times, less people, and no sunstroke.  To cap it off, we had dinner at a local families house. Our tour leader knows of a family, and each time he is in town, the group eats there. Nice touch, even if the house is in the middle of a sand road where street lights were installed not that long ago.

I can just imagine what will happen when this place really becomes a tourist mecca like Angkor Wat is in Cambodia, or all the Mayan ruins near Cancun. Boy, this place will turn upside down in comparison .... which is ironic since the townspeople had be completely be uprooted 20 years ago after an earthquake in 1991.  Ten days to move from one area to another ... gov't orders, and each person got around five dollars in compensation. 

And you thought you had it tough.

So, today, I woke up, and noticed I had missed breakfast. It was almost 10am !!  Good problem to have, as no one was really determined to do a huge amount more. Doing more sightseeing is pretty pointless if you aren't in an air/con bus trooping around. Most of the bikes I can rent are pretty rickety, a bit on the small side and don't go very fast anyway, and the distances are quite far. The horse and buggy aren't that much faster .... a dip in the hotel pool is coming up fast. Cold water and pools do mix after all ...

Tomorrow, we are off to Kalaw. Not my friend's house, but hopefully something just as good.

Life Is a Highway .... more like the Long and Winding Road

Ok, so you see the map of Myanmar, do some fancy estimation, and figure that from Mandalay to Bagan is around 150 km or 175 km maximum. Then the boss tells you it will be about a 7-8 hour bus ride, since we can't take the boat this time of year.  It's suppose to be the drier season, but there's flooding, I have no clue ... anyway.

So, we take the brand new "Yangon-Mandalay Expressway". The ironic thing is, express isn't really the proper word. Yes, it's new, yes it is pretty much perfectly flat, but the fastest you can go on a modern bus is around 36 km/hour.  You're wondering, how does the idiot know this without peering over the driver's shoulder. Well, there are markers on the highway, every 100 metres, and it took around 10 seconds at full throttle. So, do the math, and you get around 36.  The best part is, we take the cut-off heading west off the main part of the road, and we slow down to around 20 km/hour or so ..... there should be a volleyball tournament around here, the bumps were amazing.

The good news is, we arrived after 6 hours or so, and we're staying in a real swanky looking place. Tomorrow we conquer as many temples and stumpas that our day allows.  There's only around 3000, as the entire area is a national archeological park. The really good part is that it is really cooled down due to the rain. It barely rains at all here, so instead of 40+ Celsius, it may be low thirties instead. Fingers crossed ... it's so frustrating when you are in a dream like landscape and the elements are always conspiring against you.

Tomorrow, we MAY just win.  Basil Fawlty would be proud, of couse, only if he was here.

Day Two is kinda a free day to see the other stuff we don't see tomorrow. Most likely by horse-buggy and peasant tour guide. I'll take the rains for that day ... ha ha ha ha.

Starting to rain again. The positive conspiracy is about to continue.

Always Something There to Remind Me -- Take a Walk

Back in the game ... I was finally convinced by around 11 am this morning that things were as close to normal as possible, so I headed out to wander the streets, and markets, and the hustle and bustle of Mandalay.

The fact that the call to prayer at 5 am got me up again didn't bother me in the least, as I've had broken extensive sleep this whole trip, but it's certainly a nice touch to remind me I'm not at home.  Three mosques are nearby the hotel, and everyone up here in the north seems to get along, which is nice to know, despite all the tension near the Bangladeshi border.

I was planning to get a taxi and motor around the places the rest of the group did yesterday, after seeing their pictures, I am glad I did what I did instead. I just wandered around the local produce and flower markets, then walked down to the river, which was more than educational as to how some people live in the world. Shacks along the river boats, pretty depressing, but everything just blends into everything else, and you get used to it. Every corner, every inch of area has a person, a story, a job, an image that could be captured on camera.  Second by second something funny happens that doubles as someone's reality.  You'd have to be there, I guess.

Also walked along the fortress moat, until I could see the Mandalay Hill, then walked back towards the bustling market area where our hotel is near. If I was more energetic and got up early, I would have gone all the way around, but alas, there's not much in the inner complex of huge significance that we haven't sort of seen already. Most of the 1.5 by 1.5 km complex is off limit to the public, and there is a small oval area you can walk around. Rodney from England did it, and said he said around for 5 hours before he got his hair-cut. He's in his 60's, so that's pretty bloody good in my book.

Spent after dinner with one of the German girls at the Myanmar Marionette Puppet show. That was very, very good, much smaller and intimate compared to the water puppetry I saw four years ago in Hanoi, Vietnam.  The puppets were much bigger than usual, and it is an art form they've been trying to revive the last 20 years or so.  Most of the time you just saw the characters, but towards the end of end vignette they raised the curtain, so you could see the puppeteers doing their thing.  Mostly elderly people doing the show, but a few younger ones who will hopefully keep it going.  Good fun for an hour an a bit, for around $13 US.

Tomorrow ... early to rise and a beautiful 8 hour public bus ride to Bagan .... thank goodness for air con in the bus tomorrow ... just have to hope that Mr. Tummy plays nicely along too.

Bagan ... the land of 3000 temples and pagodas .... they had a lot of time to rock back in the good old days. 

Cool on the Hill - A Lesser Known Beatles Song ...

Hey ... I wish I could say a huge amount of stuff about Mandalay, but I can only do half the job. The stomach-intestinal somersaults are back, so today was a bit of a downer.  Fingers crossed I'll bounce back again.

Yesterday was very good, despite the early morning start. The flights over the country were amazing, especially seeing all the pagodas and stumpas dotted around the hills of Bagan and coming into Mandalay. The airport was a solid 50km out of town, the only problem is, the brand new road which looks immaculate is still bumpy here, there and everywhere, so it still takes an hour or more to get into town.  But the nice thing is, we stopped at a bunch of places of interest, so the commute in was good.  We saw just not any old Buddha, but the biggest jade Buddha of them all, and a couple of other temples. Then some woodcarvers & tapestry workers at the their store/shop, and then poor old guys who pound gold-leaf into micro-centimetre thickness.  There was also the wooden king's palace that had been moved (yes, literally moved block by block) during WWII. Not to be outdone, we visited the so called "Biggest book in the World", the sacred Buddhist scriptures all encapsulated, page by page, into hundreds of small white stumpas. Something like 720 ... but then another complex has a copy of this original into more than a thousand stumpas .... so which is really larger; the original or the copy. I don't care anymore .... but I was nice enough to help a poor lady who was given four twenty Canadian dollar bills, which were completely useless to her, as we really don't exist on the world stage, despite the fact our dollar and the US dollar is pretty on par. I almost gave her the equivalent of 20 dollars in local currency, so she'll have to find some other CDN shmuck to help her with the other three. (who goes around handing out $20 CDN bills? ... I didn't ask).

We finished off the evening by taking our bus up to Mandalay Hill, which overlooks the entire region. We almost saw our first sunset of the trip, but the cool breeze was worth it's weight in gold.  Beautiful view of course, overlooking the expansive plain. Lots to look at, people to watch, and local young kids who want to talk and practice their English.  A good end to the night, before our two hour wait for our food at dinner. Less said the better ...

So, this morning, before the day started, I realized Mr. Stomach was going to be playing games. I wanted to do the touring so much, but realized it was best to stay back and rest, which I did. Just had dinner, which was my only real meal of the day, so I hope tomorrow promises to be better. The plan is to take a motorcycle tour of the places my group went to today, so the fear of "missing out" is lessen by a bit.  But I won't have the chance properly wonder around the city on our "free" day. Like a little kid missing out on Christmas Day morning with the presents and stockings ... it's not the same on Boxing Day.

Wish me luck ... another guy on the trip is dropping out due to health problems. I hope he's the only one, it's too amazing around here to come all this way, just to bow out.  Worse case is I have another day of rest, and continue onto Bagan.

Don't worry ... I'll be fine. I think ...  :o)

I'll Be Back Upon My Feet -- I Wanna Rock and Roll (and Bump Around) All Night ...

Ok, I know, it's been awhile, but for good reason.  The tour has started, long days, and things to do. But the REAL days start tomorrow.

Day Three in Yangon started innocent enough, that would be Thursday the 12th over here, and I decided to run around the city again, to places I hadn't been the other day.  Boy, it was humid, and I figured it was survivable. Wrong again .... got back to the hotel early and had a good lay down. For around 36 hours ....

First time I've ever had heat exhaustion or sunstroke in a long time. Probably Barbados in 1981 ??  Anyway, I was sick, but in a semi-controlled way.  Didn't eat much, but I did drink, and lost lots of water in the process. Enough said.  Lying in bed, I'm thinking, "Oh God, Why are you doing this AGAIN??"  The inevitable question I ask most summers .... with the faint realization that soon I'll be ok, and I'm just a wimp yet again.  But luckily, the pills worked, the sleep helped, and I was very thankful I had the time to rest before we started our tour;  I knew for certain the tour wouldn't have much time for being sick, being on the go all the time from the start.

Then I realized the next day the REAL culprit !!  It was indeed Friday the 13th (cue the dramatic music !!).  The next day came, I felt pretty strong again, and off I go.  My tour leader was in the hotel lobby and suggests I take the Circular Train ride that goes all around Yangon's Northern regions.  For just one US dollar ... what a deal.  For three hours, there you are, amongst the locals in a rickety old train car watching the city do its thing.  I might do it again before I leave, that's just how good it was.  Almost a holiday in itself, if you have the guts and patience.  People selling fast food from their head plates, crates of live chickens on another ladies head, then the young fruit vendors, the odd monk here and there, the friendly old Chinese local man who tells you everything you'd ever need to know, it just goes on and on. Basically, it's everyone you'd want to meet, all for a buck; and of course I stick our like a sore thumb. Perfect.  I get back, feeling it's nice to finally accomplish something on my own again, and walk across the street to the new tour hotel. How easy is that?

 It's a relatively small group, just 10 of us, everything is great. Five older people, some younger, and most are very, very well travelled.  People from England, Germany, a retired Italian school principal, (don't worry Iona, I'm behaving), an Aussie gal, and a Czech lady who lives in Melbourne. Our tour leader, JP is originally from Norway, but he's probably travelled the entire world, and I literally mean the entire world about 7 times over. He basically has done it all on all six continents, and makes me look like a pre-schooler in comparison. Now that's who you want to lead you !!

The last two days were pretty amazing. We went back to the Shewdagon Paya Pagoda the first morning, in the rain, and what a different place it is compared to night. Interesting though nonetheless, and some local kids even were able to steal about 50 000 Kyet from JP without him even realizing it ( that's about $65 US !!) He just smiled, and said that will be his donation for the entire trip then, and no one else will get anything ...

Off we raced sort of eastward to Bago, and since the weather was raining, we bypassed it and set off for the Golden Rock at Mt. Kyaiktiyo, which took about 5 hours.  I had seen pictures of this place in the lp guidbook, and it seemed simple enough. You hike up a hill, overlooking a town, and there it is.  Not exactly .... sometimes you just never realize what you've signed up for.  We get to the mountain "base camp" (no, it's not Everest ... ) and hop on this old truck, where most of us are on the back, in the open, sitting on these hard wooden seating planks that go across. Did I mention it was rain hard?  Anyway, up and up and up and up these winding roads, bumping along and we think "How much longer is this silly thing .... these 6 km couldn't seem much longer" but they were. We finally get off in the middle of nowhere, and start the long, steep climb up. It was pretty tough and the fog/clouds/mist was pretty thick, so naturally it adds to the mystique, the mystery, the suspense and the confusion!  But eventually after about an hour, we reach the top and there are these amazing fancy hotels. Our local guide had told us last Christmas 60,000 people had stayed up here all night for a big Buddhist party, and we were wondering where they would all fit?

But anyway, we finally get to this rock on the side of the cliff. Pretty impressive, even if we can barely see it. No view downwards (and we are very, very high up) but luckily before we left, at least some of the clouds have lifted (or at least moved slightly) and the colours changed immediately. So, it WAS worth the bother.  We walk down a slighlty different way, through some villages and the kids and locals were all happy to see us.  We scoot our way down the bump mountain again, and luckily the brakes didn't fail us again.  We get to our guesthouse for dinner, and all is good in the world.

Today we conquered Bago, but as we left our guesthouse, the road was blocked due to a bus being overturned by the side of the road.  Not good at all .... but the beautiful thing is, we just had more time to roam around the local village to visit more people, and take lots of pictures.  Finally, all had soon been cleared, and off we go to the usual assortment of temples, restored palaces, pagodas and larger than life reclining Buddhas. Not tired of them yet ... or hopefully ever.  Last stop, a British Commonwealth  War Cemetery, which of course looks pretty much identical to any other Commonwealth Cemetery around the world.  A bit of familiarity is always good. Half were British, the rest were Indian, Nepalese and local Burmese colonial troops. 27,000 Soldiers in all were honoured, but most remains were never found.

So far, the best part of the trip, is all the impromptu stops all the way around the countryside, whether it is watching workers in the fields, stopping by villages, and today at 8:45 am dropping by a school just before the kids had started the day.  That was priceless ... right at 9am, the whistle blows, all 200 kids within 10 seconds (in the meantime being completely distracted by us for 15 minutes) were all in perfect class rows, ready to sing their anthem and other school songs. Better than German efficiency ... the Berliners would be proud. That's the people ... not the donuts I mean (apologies to JFK).

Tomorrow we fly up to Mandalay ... the real heat is on.  But we wake up at 4 am to catch a 6:30 am flight, and avoid the 13 hour bumpy bus ride.  The plane is the only way to stay sane around here. In the words of my dear friend Monika, from Germany who I roomed with in my first hotel dormitory .... "I love this country ... everything is so complicated and difficult compared to everywhere else".  She's right, and I'm so glad I wimped out and decided to do it the easy way.

Ciao for now ... next stop, Mandalay, and not the fancy hotel in Vegas. That's for wimps !!

Where (most of) the Streets Have No Name // Here Comes the Rain Again ...

Do you think Bono and Annie Lennox could do a duet??  If anywhere, it could be here in Yangon.

We arrive yesterday, and of course, using my best idiot skills, I chose the slowest customs line by a mile, and eventually get my bag from the carousel which was still going round and round and round the conveyor belt.

But we check into the Motherland Inn, about 15 of us, and eventually get settled in.  Then a bunch of us from all corners of the globe decide to go out for dinner about 8pm.  It's pitch black, and we try to find a restaurant. Luckily a guy from Indonesia has an iphone with GPS-like capability, so despite no street lights anywhere, and pretty much no street signs, we eventually find a great little place near the center, and eat our hearts out (little did we know, most of the streets in the heart sort of have signs).

The beer is strong at 8%, and the food is good, very good, and very cheap.  If you are ever going to get ripped off with food or taxis, this is the place.

Wake up in the morning today, not really knowing what would happen, but luckily bump into the same guys with the iphone, and we wonder around for awhile. The train station is at the heart of the city, but at 11am, the ticket booths literally have no one there. It's a ghost town, kinda funny actually.  I eventually leave them to explore the city.  Wow ... what a mix of familiar and not familiar. Some street alleys in between major tall buildings are a marvel to stare down. There's a large golden stupa right beside the gov't buildings and banks, and looks impressive from a pedestrian overpass.  I luckily wonder into the tourist information building (which was quite bare, but helpful, sort of, and I bump into an Italian guy I was with the night before and his local friend.  I stick with them for pretty much the entire rest of the day, wandering around the incredible markets, especially amazing were the shops where the workers are sewing things in the middle of walking customers. Same with jewelery makers, blow-torch tradesman, and a bunch of other tradesman. We have lunch, a rest for the exhausting heat, and then we show the local guy how to use the web, set up an email account, and we pay him back for his translation work that way.  The Italian guy had to leave after we were using the internet at 6pm and "POW", the perfect, hot, blue sky has been replaced with another torrential downpour. Sound familiar??

The local guy and I brave a public bus (suited for people four foot and under if you don't have a seat) which was a blast if you like hanging out with the locals, and head to the big attraction in the city; the Shwedagon Paya Temple/Pagoda which is something to behold.  We get to go in for free with my eventual tour, but I want to go on my own anyway ($5 US for tourists, free for locals) and marvelling at the golden wonder is worth it, even if my camera battery had run out of power!! Stupid me ... my fault, but not really.

Luckily by the time we get halfway through our visit, the rain sort of stops, and I almost slip on the slippery walking area about 7-8 times.  Finally, we are still drenched, but decide to take a taxi back to the hotel to feel human. I thank him for the day (I understood maybe 70% of what he says, but still invaluable) ... I hope his studies on Psychology come in handy around here. He says the field is new in the country, about only 15 years ... considering the screwed up gov't they've had, I'm not surprised.

Dinner and the taxi ride .... I'm not going there. I'll just say the walk home was free, after figuring out a few things in the dark, and dodging the endless supply of large stray dogs wandering around the city.

So, tomorrow ... I was thinking of doing a bunch of things ... but it's complicated. I'll try to stay close to the city for two more days. A boat here, a bus there ... nothing too fancy. I'm kinda disappointed in myself, not being overly brave or bold, but the logistics just aren't here right now. Maybe after the tour ... maybe.

I just hope my eventual hotel for July 14th clues into who I am. I visited the hotel first thing in the morning. According to the nice lady at the desk, G Adventures doesn't exist, and neither do I. Oh baby this is going to be a blast ... 

It's Raining Again & then, .... Prepare to Qualify ...

If you grew up in the 80's and played Pole Position in the old arcades, or grew up in Eric Lum's living room, you'll know what I mean.

Up at 7am again, .... and Supertramp's old song is back in my mind.  But not a downpour, just there. A long, long, boring day that must be done, no point complaining. Wait for the truck taxi to the pier, hop on the ferry, only to find out we travel to a different pier nearby, so I'm very,very, very glad I didn't buy the return ticket the lady wanted me to buy four days prior. She would not have been there, and I would have felt stupid once again.  I win ... sort of.

The boat was just 20 minutes, only to wait almost a hour and a half for the mini-bus back to Bangkok. A long 6 hours weaving from lane to lane, stop here, stop there for gasoline yet again. Then weave around traffic dangerously close until I realize life is easier if I simply close my eyes.  There! Much better .... ignorance is bliss.

By 5pm we sort of enter the urban perimeter, drop off someone at the airport, then inch ourselves closer and closer to the center. You think traffic is bad at home ... it doesn't touch a candle to this.  Then the funniest thing happens, I ponder [like so many other Asian cities] that each intersection looks so much like the next, over and over. They're all interchangeable.  No point of reference over, and over, and over again.  But maybe any Asian coming to any North American city might say the same thing? I'll have to ask a few friends ...

But then the driver drops us off ... "Khao San Road!!" he sort of says to us; I think in 7 hours, we couldn't understand a word he said, or vice versa, but it all worked out in the end.  So I think ... "Khao San Road ... really??  I don't see it at all ... I've only been there countless times"??  Then someone else in broken English points and says, "And Soi Rambutti is over there". Really ??  I felt so stupid, and walk in the general direction, and ponder where on earth I am. Then it hits me like a sack of hammers ... "Oh THAT's where I am, even closer than I though"!  I thought he was dropping us off at the eastern end, like I usually am. But we are at the western end, exactly where I've walked past at least 10 times. Oh well ... problem solved.

After checking into to home, and shower for the first time in what seems like forever, I realize in 3 times being here, I've never taken any pictures of Khao San Road. I guess now is the time .... the infamous street full of crap I don't need to buy, and too much food I could.  Fresh mangoes are calling, but they could have been better. That's the job of the next half a hour .... then dinner.  I have no idea how prevalent Pad Thai will be in the streets of Yangon, so I'll have it from the street vendors just once more. Just in case ... if you know what I mean.

Tomorrow .... a new stamp in the old passport, a new world. No Burger King, or McD's, or KFC. Let's hope that's a good thing.  Fingers crossed once more.

I Wish it Would Rain Down .... Down On Me.

Breakfast .... and we all wake up to a torrential downpour. No big deal, it is the wet season after all, but boy, this was a BIG one.  I had seen the forecast long ago that we would have thundershowers here, and it had subsided until today .... and oh baby, it came down all at once. Phil Collins would be certainly proud of this.

It took about 3 hours to subside, but then the most miraculous thing happened .... the entire beach afterwards was somehow completely cleaned up.  Maybe the tide took all the driftwood and other crap away ?? Maybe the hotel staffs really cleaned up the entire beach before last night's dinner, and I didn't notice while I was away?? (There are chairs and tables all along the beach each night, like most beachy places) Either way, it was like a new place around here.  I can't think of any other time where this strange miracle has happened.

It's still not white though, but had a wonderful long walk along the wide expanse of low tide. Felt very relaxed and weird at the same time. If I had arrived this morning, yet wet, I'd have a completely different outlook on the place.  That's the peculiar thing about being on the road.  Each stop is merely a snapshot of an eternal place ... a different day, week, month, season or year and it's a altered place.

Go figure .... despite the transformation, there was one casualty; the elephant riding kinda got cancelled. I can't imagine the elephant camp being functional with this type of weather. It had to be too dangerous, going up and down the soft, steep hills which are everywhere, so I rationalize. Either way, I've done it before, and it didn't justify doing it again. The free walk along the beach was nicer anyway. Ok ... so I will admit it, I'm a cheap bugger.

Tomorrow, back to the urban jungle. One night in Bangkok and then the real trip begins ....

That's the Way, A-Huh, A-Huh, I like it, A-Huh, A-Huh, That's the Way I Like It.

KC and Sunshine Band almost showed up .... but there were enough clouds though to confuse them, and I think they got lost. Sorry if you weren't around in the late 1970s ... you didn't miss too much.

Anyway .... I don't know how many times I've sat on a stupid boat, smelt the gas fumes, get a bumpy ride along the waves, let my stomach do somersaults over and over and over, get salt-water up my nose, and think .... What am I doing here ? ... Why am I doing this stupid charade yet AGAIN !!!!  Don't I ever learn???  Apparently not.

Well actually, today was good. Very good in fact. The bus ride to the bottom tip of Koh Chang wasn't very good for the stomach, but the rest of the trip was pretty much thumbs up.  The clouds were completely over Koh Chang, but luckily just south where we were heading, it was sunny and full of blue sky. Although every once in a while we would pass over a dark cloud and get poured on, but that was just twice.

We arrived at a couple of islands, Koh Rang, and Koh Wai, and had some very good snorkeling. Twice we stopped at a tiny rocky island in the middle of nowhere, and stopped to see the coral and fish. Some of the best soft coral I've seen in a long time. Lots and lots of fish, which was helped by people bringing lots of food with them. So, a few times hundreds of fish were around us, not caring we were in the way of the food.  And believe it or not, the snorkel-mask didn't leak ... thank God ... although I had to swim with my man-made flippers, as they didn't have my size, and they charged extra for them anyway !!  :o)

We stopped at a couple of beaches with to-die-for scenery. The greens, and light greens, dark greens combined with the blues to create some colours that brought me back to the 2010 trip when we visited Krabi in the south. The only difference was in Krabi, we had the limestone rocks everywhere, where here we didn't. It was almost as pretty as the days of snorkeling in El Nido in the Philippines, but not quite. Have to go back to the PPS JUST to double check. I'm probably right though ... (hate to admit it).

They feed us very well, twice, which was nice ... pineapple at every corner, rice, very spicy ground/grilled pork, then BBQ chicken, veggies and pineapple on satay sticks just as we were to head back. ... What made it even better was that the above mentioned absence of salt water in my mouth and nose made it taste even better. The little things make it sooooooo much better.

Usually in the low season, standards go down the toilet on tours like these, but not with this trip.  We were lucky that way. A group of Aussies were in Koh Samet the other day, and weren't so fortunate. They made good company for the day.

Tomorrow .... Elephants .... born to ride and born not to be wild :o).

Only other thing to report is the sun burn was kept to a minimum, I think.

I'll find out tomorrow when I wake up.  Things change the morning after, or so I recall.

Gotta go ... instant noodles buffet is back on the menu I think.

Life's a Beach and then they Lie ... Koh Chang Hat Sai Khao Beach

Well, the pictures looked impressive, the hotel's pamphlet and website looked amazing, so they call it Whitesand Beach.  Then you get there, and think: "Is this all"? ... not very white, more like a dark beige, and then you say "Oh well, make the best of it". Walked up and down the beach, the longest on the island, and feel ripped off, but tomorrow, I'll hop on a boat and go to the outer islands just south. They are supposed to be even more amazing, but I hope they are.  The next day I'll go trekking into the jungle, and go see the elephants, so today is a lazy day.

Last night was pretty lazy too ... I took a nap. For about 17 hours ... I think I needed it, I just obeyed my body, had a nap at 4:30pm, and then realized, "Oh, it's midnight ...., go back to sleep". I find that 's the most effective way to have a very cheap dinner.  But my place is very, very nice, so I mid as well take advantage of it. I realized very quickly that there's not a huge amount of excitement around here, but then again, it is low season, and the clouds are everywhere. Ho Hum ... the consequences of being at so many amazing beaches around the globe. Moral of the story, ... keep expectations lower than a snake, it's better that way.

Talk to you soon ...

Just had dinner, a buffet of instant noodles from 7-11, the ones that were left over from my equally amazing buffet lunch of noodles. Oh boy, living high on the hog indeed, what would Donald Trump think?? Finally went for another long walk on the beach. I went a little further north, past the rocks at Independent Bo's bungalows.  The funny thing is, I took my camera with me, just to give me something else to do, and the pictures will probably make this place look really idyllic, peaceful, and full of beauty. But in real life it's a much less. I'm trying figure this all out, and I think I should just give up.  Friday night and things are still a little mellow, so I'm back at the internet place across the street from my hotel.  No long naps today, only maybe 3-4 hours instead of the marathon yesterday. I sort of feel rested, and I just hope we get to some real white sand beaches on the trip tomorrow. Fingers still crossed.

Still cloudy all day long, same same, but different day. Sunburn can't get off the ground as of yet ....but many more days of UV to come :o) 

Eye of the Thai-ger -- One Night in Bangkok

So, that was an interesting night. A cultural, spiritual, athletic and tourist experience wrapped up all in one.

I thought I knew what to expect, but it was so much more.  Eight fights, lots of cheering, front row seats, and maybe around 200 pictures. For now, before the editing occurs.

I had thought about this the first time I was Koh Samui, those four years ago, but ran out of time, so I figured after running around the riverside, the only real thing I hadn't done yet which is quintessentially Thai was to go to the Boxing Arena. Funny thing, the last time I wanted to see a fight, it was Canada Day, 1997, in Australia, when Tyson bit Holyfield's ear off. What a disappointment that was .... and to be honest, I have no interest in UFC or MMA, but this was extremely entertaining on so many levels. Luckily I was on the lowest level, right by the action.

Three levels of seats, the upper one was caged off, full of rowdy die hard fans, the second one was above us, uncaged, mostly old guys trying to place their bets to who knows who, and then us at ringside, the obvious tourists.  The lightweights came first, as the first three or so fights were pretty tame, then the real guys came next.  But even still, the biggest guys I think were 130 pounds, but boy, they were cut.  Too many things to say, too many funny moments to capture onto pictures, but a hoot all around.  They pummel each other for up to five rounds, then at the end, they make sure they're ok.

Then the next fight, the next bunch stretch in the corners, do their Buddhist prayers in each corner, stretch again, and off we go again.  Fight after fight after fight.  So many times I can't keep track of who should win, except for the occasional knockout, who cares, I'm on vacation. I'm not supposed to know.

Got to get to bed early, wake up at 6:30am, leave at 7:30am ... everybody had fun tonight, and everyone will Wung Chang tomorrow night ... (that's a reference to a silly 80's tune, a few letters switched around ... but I degress)

Bye for now ... Happy Fourth of July to all the Americans out there ... in the other land of a white, red and blue flag.

Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For ..

Well, my flight was delayed an hour getting into Bangkok, then the fun began to find the Airport Express Bus, what I used the last two times I was here.  After about an hour, I find out it no longer exists, and I have to take the metro/skytrain link which was very, very fast and cheaper than the bus. Even faster than the skytrain at home, but then I needed to take a taxi to the guest house.  I hate haggling over a taxi, but I found another guy who was going my way.

I was very lucky, I left my lonely planet guide on the front shelf of the ticket booth at the airport metro station, and the attendent was nice enough to find me and gave it back on the platform. Wow ... I needed it, karma from years gone bye helping me out, or so I rationalize.

Got into the hotel at around 12:30am. Got a decent sleep, about 7 hours .. now just organizing the next couple of days.  Looks like thunderstorms everywhere ... oh well. C'est la vie. 

Time for breakfast, I'm starving, but the weather is bearable and muggy. So at least that's good.

Looks like I'll be in Koh Chang for 4 days starting tomorrow ... just booked a nice place on the beach online. Low season rates, not a huge difference, but a good difference nontheless.  If the weather is crappy, and not real beachy weather, there's lots of hiking to do, and since Chang means elephant in Thai, I might have to go riding on a old friend. They say they never forget and maybe I won't either.  Finding the brakes on those things is tricky if you don't speak the local language :o)

Also contemplating going to Muay Thai Boxing tonight ... roughly sixty dollars (1800 Baht), and since I haven't seen it before, I mid as well do something new this time around.  Rumour has it with the ticket I can buy from the hotel, you get to go behind the scenes, and get to meet and have pictures with the boxers ... who knows what that will be like.!!

Bye for now .....   :o)

The Day Before and the Day Of ... D-Day is Here

Vancouver ... 2:09 am  ... soon I will be squished again.

I hate packing. I'm pretty good at it, I've had enough practice in the last 25 years, but I still hate it anyway. Maybe it's the size 13 shoes (size 48 for you Europeans) that take up so much space. Maybe it's because there are so many little things to remember, or maybe it's the simpler issue of never, ever, forgetting something really, really important. I packed about 80% of the stuff two months ago, when I was either bored, or procrastinating on my marking. But, it still took about 5 hours last night and today to really organize it all. Everything is suppose to have its own little place, but I can't remember these places now.  Getting old, but at least it's not just me. Happy Canada Day indeed !!!   :o)

You search around without trying ... Oh THAT's where the old destroyed, duct taped blue bag is, with the batteries, the secondary camera, the electrical plug converters, ... this, that, and all the other things. Good thing I accidently stumbled upon this vital junk. It hadn't moved since I put it there on the computer table when I came home last September. Where else would it have been?

Then there is the real stuff. For example, know where your bloody passport is AT ALL TIMES (yeah, yeah, I know). Keep your US cash perfectly protected, straight, and not folded. Oh, and don't forget the nail cutters, the only ones that actually work, not the other ones I bought in Samoa!! Then there are the band-aids, the mp3 player that no one in their right mind would ever steal, their AAA batteries (a bunch were left over from last year that I forgot about, and they expire in 2017, Thank God!), when does it ever end? What else is hiding?

The good news is, I finally bothered to find out which plug converters they use in Myanmar/Burma. Apparently, they are the kind I least figured they would be. The same rectangular type they have in the U.K. and in China. Strange bed fellows indeed ... figure that one out? For Malaysia, I'm good, no problem there, the two pins it is. Don't forget to put BOTH in your little new blue sack. Keep up the good work, Captain Obvious.


Then, I feel like a complete imbecile while watching the Euro Cup Final Football match. Which toque should I bring? There's gotta be some dumb Canadian joke in there somewhere.  Will two toques be better? Will it really matter? Who brings two toques to the bloody equator? Well, apparently me and come August 14th, I hope this feeling of stupidity will make perfect sense when I find myself at 4000 metres or 14 000 feet at 5 o'clock in the morning up Mt. Kinabula.  Oh I can't wait to be right and listen to the advice I was given.

After all the planning, and jogging my memory of all the things I need to do, it still seems weird that I'm gone today. It's not denial, it's just that strange feeling that you'll be having your last sleep in your bed for 54 days. A bed long enough that I can actually fit in. The last bowl of cereal, the opening of your OWN fridge, is almost like a spiritual experience, and being able to read street signs without thinking. That's what will be gone. Done it before, I will just have to do it again, with a smile.

I was on Google Maps last night. How did we ever live without it? I mean really? I was scoping out the very narrow streets around my first hotel in Bangkok, just so I know what I am up against when I arrive around midnight, July 3/4. There were of course the Thai and English signs, then the tuk-tuks, and the 7-11's at every street corner. Then there's the young English tourist who is fingering the Google cameraman very blatantly. Poor cameraman, he's just doing his job!!  It's like I've never left. The only thing that is missing is the smells, the noise, and then it's 100% complete.

If only the humidity's moisture doesn't get inside my camera's sensor again, for the third time in a row, I'll be a happy camper. It's a long story, and I don't even know the beginning each time. Anyway ... attention all mango shakes and Pad-Thai vendors, I'll be there in about 30 hours. Stay fresh ... I'll need you when I can't fall asleep that first night, my first pit stop near Khao San Road Market.  I still had two one Baht coins lying on my dresser drawers that I re-found just hours ago in my room.  Feels like free money, that, and the 15 Hong Kong dollars I found scattered around my room, in the piggy bank, and nearby my stash of pennies and dimes. They've been there the entire time, for a year or more, and I was oblivious to their presence, so I'll bring them too. I'll keep up my accidental brilliance.

The question remains ... how much can I buy at the Hong Kong airport for 15 HK dollars ... I'll be there a couple of hours ... I can't rememer ... it's been an entire year. Hopefully something worth eating ... or another  mango smoothie at the Pacific Coffee Company. Wait ... they cost  $35 HK. That's one thing I CAN remember.