Remember those Chance cards in Monopoly (the ones that every other player seems to draw more than I do), including the wonderful "Bank Error in Your Favor: Collect $$ from the Bank"? Yeah, well life just made up for my monopoly curse in a major way.
A bit of backstory: since Matt is impossible to shop for (all i really want is biking related, and thus too specific and expensive usually), my folks decided to buy Lia and I a night in a nice hotel while on our little trip as a birthday/graduation present. We decided to use this generous offer to cover 2 nights at the Koh Chang luxury resort, Aana. Their funding limit got us 2 nights in the "Delux" room, which is the cheapest one available, and we decided to treat ourselves to a 3rd night on our own dollar.
And then Fate invervened: we showed up at the resort, which exceeded our expectations from the start, and were promptly shown to a Villa with a private balcony replete with a jacuzzi. I kid you not.
Needless to say, all of our grand plans to explore the island (which is really, really beautiful) quickly changed to exclude most of the activities not contained within the "relax at the resort in our private jacuzzi" heading.
Thank you Mom & Dad, and thank you Fate. You've all truly outdone yourselves this time.
ps: Pictures of Myanmar are coming, we promise, but connections and computers are frustratingly slow on the island. The pictures will be worth the wait, we promise.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Burma Knows Temples
We have been in Southeast Asia for almost 13 weeks now. We have seen temples. We have seen Buddhas. In fact, we have seen so many temples that they are almost becoming commonplace, and now we don'talways stop and stare, but rather admire from afar, and continue on our way.
BUT. We had not yet been to Burma. BURMA knows temples.
Bagan - a flat deserty land with hundreds upon hundreds of brick red temples littering the landscape. If you are lucky (and we were lucky)the keymaster (random man living next to the temple) will show you how to climb up tiny bat filled tunnels to the top. The best part - it's completely DIY - it's as though Matt and I on our 80 year old beachcruiser bikes, fighting the sandy goat trails from temple to temple, were the first people to discover Bagan.
Sagaing - a short (and rather hectic) motorbike ride out of Mandalay, we were in another world - one where red and pink robes (pink is for the nuns) are the outfit of choice, and you can walk barefoot on shady, leafy paths to temples high above the smoggy city air. If I knew how to meditate, I would have. A lot.
A few other interesting factoids about our Burma experience thus far:
1. It is awesome.
2. Instead of giving change, which no one EVER has, you might get, oh I don' t know, a packet of instant coffee mix. Or mints.
3. People here call Matt "beautiful" a lot. It's rather disconcerting...
4. We are apparently minor celebrities here? SO far just today, we took pictures with maybe 20 different Burmese people, including 5 monks, at their request.
5. We ate the best chapatis I have ever had just now, including mutton curry and dahl, for $1.60.
While there is sadness here, there is also joy and light, and the people are amazing - we have met tons of locals and NO travelers...strange, and refreshing, and only in Burma.
BUT. We had not yet been to Burma. BURMA knows temples.
Bagan - a flat deserty land with hundreds upon hundreds of brick red temples littering the landscape. If you are lucky (and we were lucky)the keymaster (random man living next to the temple) will show you how to climb up tiny bat filled tunnels to the top. The best part - it's completely DIY - it's as though Matt and I on our 80 year old beachcruiser bikes, fighting the sandy goat trails from temple to temple, were the first people to discover Bagan.
Sagaing - a short (and rather hectic) motorbike ride out of Mandalay, we were in another world - one where red and pink robes (pink is for the nuns) are the outfit of choice, and you can walk barefoot on shady, leafy paths to temples high above the smoggy city air. If I knew how to meditate, I would have. A lot.
A few other interesting factoids about our Burma experience thus far:
1. It is awesome.
2. Instead of giving change, which no one EVER has, you might get, oh I don' t know, a packet of instant coffee mix. Or mints.
3. People here call Matt "beautiful" a lot. It's rather disconcerting...
4. We are apparently minor celebrities here? SO far just today, we took pictures with maybe 20 different Burmese people, including 5 monks, at their request.
5. We ate the best chapatis I have ever had just now, including mutton curry and dahl, for $1.60.
While there is sadness here, there is also joy and light, and the people are amazing - we have met tons of locals and NO travelers...strange, and refreshing, and only in Burma.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Well, we're officially in Myanmar (country #7!), and Matt's 2 pairs of underwear have held up admirably.
This is a country like no other that we've visited. Aside from the government-imposed restrictions on internet access (that's why this post is being copied & pasted by my mom - Thanks Pam!), already a few things are abundantly clear.
1) Other SE Asian countries may like their temples, but Myanmar LOVES it's temples. We must have seen 100+ temples in the last 12 weeks (has it really been that long? wow.), but nothing I've ever seen compares to the Shwedagon Temple in Yangon (do a google search for it, it's amazing). It's got something like 1800 carats of diamonds adorning it's "hti" (top spire), and is said to be covered in more gold than is contained in all of the vaults in England. Burmese people are known to exaggerate, but if you saw it you might actually believe this one.
2) The people here are amazing. We've only been here a few days, but already we've met more friendly, helpful people than we could have ever expected. Maybe it's just because there aren't that many other westerners who come here, but the locals seem genuinely excited to see you and greet you with a friendly "Min-ga-la-ba" (hello) and a big, red, betel-stained smile. On our first day in Yangon, I (Matt) wasn't feeling great and went back to rest at our hotel, and almost immediately a local English teacher approached Lia and took her on an all-day tour of some of the less well known and harder to reach sights of the city. Anywhere else you'd be suspicious, but here such an encounter seems genuinely motivated by good-natured friendliness. We also spent a day with a local English class, where we were peppered with questions by young Burmese kids spending their Sunday voluntarily attending classes, and were treated to far too much food by our hosts:
first the abbot at the monastery fed us, then we were taken back to the teacher's home and her family fed us. This is all in addition to the breakfast we'd had at the hostel, and all consumed before 11am!
3) Men here wear skirts. Well, they're actually called "Lungyi's", but they look like skirts. As further evidence of the Burmese people's honesty, since Lungyi's have no pockets people here actually walk around with their wallets, car keys, or just straight-up wads of cash hanging out of waist of their lungyi's and don't give a second thought to at being stolen.
4) Matt looks silly wearing a Lungyi.
That's all for now. We'll try to keep updating the blog via Pam in the future as the circumstances warrant.
This is a country like no other that we've visited. Aside from the government-imposed restrictions on internet access (that's why this post is being copied & pasted by my mom - Thanks Pam!), already a few things are abundantly clear.
1) Other SE Asian countries may like their temples, but Myanmar LOVES it's temples. We must have seen 100+ temples in the last 12 weeks (has it really been that long? wow.), but nothing I've ever seen compares to the Shwedagon Temple in Yangon (do a google search for it, it's amazing). It's got something like 1800 carats of diamonds adorning it's "hti" (top spire), and is said to be covered in more gold than is contained in all of the vaults in England. Burmese people are known to exaggerate, but if you saw it you might actually believe this one.
2) The people here are amazing. We've only been here a few days, but already we've met more friendly, helpful people than we could have ever expected. Maybe it's just because there aren't that many other westerners who come here, but the locals seem genuinely excited to see you and greet you with a friendly "Min-ga-la-ba" (hello) and a big, red, betel-stained smile. On our first day in Yangon, I (Matt) wasn't feeling great and went back to rest at our hotel, and almost immediately a local English teacher approached Lia and took her on an all-day tour of some of the less well known and harder to reach sights of the city. Anywhere else you'd be suspicious, but here such an encounter seems genuinely motivated by good-natured friendliness. We also spent a day with a local English class, where we were peppered with questions by young Burmese kids spending their Sunday voluntarily attending classes, and were treated to far too much food by our hosts:
first the abbot at the monastery fed us, then we were taken back to the teacher's home and her family fed us. This is all in addition to the breakfast we'd had at the hostel, and all consumed before 11am!
3) Men here wear skirts. Well, they're actually called "Lungyi's", but they look like skirts. As further evidence of the Burmese people's honesty, since Lungyi's have no pockets people here actually walk around with their wallets, car keys, or just straight-up wads of cash hanging out of waist of their lungyi's and don't give a second thought to at being stolen.
4) Matt looks silly wearing a Lungyi.
That's all for now. We'll try to keep updating the blog via Pam in the future as the circumstances warrant.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Encounters of the Monk Kind
Why are monks so fascinating to Westerners? I don't know. But they are. In Luang Prabang, the Buddhist heart of Laos, monks are treated as minor celebrities, both by tourists (who can get out of hand with the picture taking papparazzi style, unfortunately) and by the locals alike. The monks, often only 12 years old or younger, seem somehow larger than life...a vision in orange.
While they seem as though they come from another world, they don't. And while we all know this, it's still so strange to see monks doing things that the normal plebeians of the world also like to do. Here are some interesting monk activities, which I like to call "Encounters of the Monk Kind":
- Monks writing emails at the internet cafe (and repeatedly asking me how to spell words like "capital")
- Monks riding motorbikes (usually side saddle on the back)
- Monks smoking cigarettes
- Monks videotaping various tourist sights
- Monks doing heavy lifting for various temple improvement projects
- Monks using payphones (mom, take me home, I've had enough of this eating twice a day business)
- Monks taking pictures (of us!)
- Monks planting trees
- Monks taking a bath in the hotsprings
- Monks doing laundry (so easy when you only have one garment!)
- Monks riding the bus wearing ski hats with a poof on top
- Monks shopping at the market for silver goods (or, more likely, just looking)
- Monks carrying umbrellas to block out the sun (they have no hair to protect their heads!)
- Monks giving out soymilk to tourists (huh?)
As simple as these activities are, they become somehow magical and ethereal when a Buddhist monk is doing them. Makes us want to sell all our earthly possessions and join a monastery.
We left Laos today and are in Bangkok, spending the night and taking a flight out in the morning for Yangon, in Myanmar. I'm not sure how often we'll be able to update the blog (if at all...they government blocks blogger I believe) but we'll do our best. If it's anything like Laos, we'll be extremely happy....
While they seem as though they come from another world, they don't. And while we all know this, it's still so strange to see monks doing things that the normal plebeians of the world also like to do. Here are some interesting monk activities, which I like to call "Encounters of the Monk Kind":
- Monks writing emails at the internet cafe (and repeatedly asking me how to spell words like "capital")
- Monks riding motorbikes (usually side saddle on the back)
- Monks smoking cigarettes
- Monks videotaping various tourist sights
- Monks doing heavy lifting for various temple improvement projects
- Monks using payphones (mom, take me home, I've had enough of this eating twice a day business)
- Monks taking pictures (of us!)
- Monks planting trees
- Monks taking a bath in the hotsprings
- Monks doing laundry (so easy when you only have one garment!)
- Monks riding the bus wearing ski hats with a poof on top
- Monks shopping at the market for silver goods (or, more likely, just looking)
- Monks carrying umbrellas to block out the sun (they have no hair to protect their heads!)
- Monks giving out soymilk to tourists (huh?)
As simple as these activities are, they become somehow magical and ethereal when a Buddhist monk is doing them. Makes us want to sell all our earthly possessions and join a monastery.
We left Laos today and are in Bangkok, spending the night and taking a flight out in the morning for Yangon, in Myanmar. I'm not sure how often we'll be able to update the blog (if at all...they government blocks blogger I believe) but we'll do our best. If it's anything like Laos, we'll be extremely happy....
Monday, November 9, 2009
Laos, now in picture format!
A few pictures to help you all visualize what we've been up to here in Laos the last few days.
First, Lia learned how to ride a scooter. She's a natural.
Next, on to the capital city of Vienetiane. Our expectations had been lowered substantially by less than glowing reviews from other travellers, but we turned out to really enjoy biking around the city, having a unique massage experience (see below), and visiting a golden temple that impressed even two people with serious "wat fatigue."
Finally, on to Viang Vieng. Most come for the booze-centric tubing, but we had a great day exploring some amazing caves and Matt somehow summoned the nerve to dive headfirst from a 15meter tree limb into a truly idylic aquamarine bend in a river. (That's me, above the topmost limb. Lia describes me as a "jumping gibbon," which I quite like, actually.)
The Vientiane Massage Story
Are all massages made the same? Are all saunas made the same? Can YOU picture yourself getting a massage in a monastery compound? After you read this story, you will have all the answers. It even has a happy ending (tee hee).
It was a typical massage quest on a relaxed day in Vientiane, Laos, the quiet capital city of the country. We spent a day there before heading further North, and, for lack of anything more enticing to do, decided to look for a massage.
"Hey, check out my book, it says you can get a massage at this temple, " said Jeni.
"Really? AT the temple? With monks everywhere?" asked Lia.
This was a mystery we just couldn't resist, so we headed off on our rickety rented beach cruisers for the mysterious massage/sauna/prayer temple complex. After pedaling for a while, we reached a sandy road/path (there are many of these in Laos) off a main paved road. There was a wat-like archway at the front of the path.
Inside the complex, monks were going about their daily business. Sweeping, chanting, drying the ubiquitous bright orange robes in the sun. Smoking a cigarette near the potted plants (why is it always so strange to see Monks doing things that everyone else does? I'll never know). We asked them:
"Sauna? Massage?" Nods. Smiles. Points.
"Black hut," he says.
"Khawp Jai!" we say, and head off down a path. After pedaling a little while through the sand and lush greenery, and more robes drying, we come to a hut. It is, in fact, black from the huge stream of smoke/steam pouring up from a steel barrel below, opened on the side. It is frothing a pungent herbing mixture.
We say hello to the men up above on a deck. We are handed sarongs of suspect cleanliness and told to change. Due to the language barrier, it's unclear how much we are supposed to disrobe. We ask ourselves, "Can one really be semi-naked in a monastery? Really?" We decide...yes.
We are all ushered into a tiny room that is filled, and i mean FILLED with steam from the barrel below. It's so hot! It's blinding! We can't see anything so run into each other, coughing and sputtering. Within minutes, we are soaked.
We emerge into what before was the Laos heat and now feels like aircon. We drink salty hot water and stew in our own sweat for the requisite 15 minutes before being ushered to massage, um, tables, on a little veranda. I had to control my thoughts to avoid thinking about how many sweaty bodies had lay where I was about to put my body.
We are pummeled and punched and cracked (every vertebra, baby) until we are sweaty balls of jelly, while our masseurs laugh and tell jokes to each other in Lao. Sound awesome? It was!
We biked home in relaxed bliss, waving to the monks on our way out. Not your everyday spa experience!
It was a typical massage quest on a relaxed day in Vientiane, Laos, the quiet capital city of the country. We spent a day there before heading further North, and, for lack of anything more enticing to do, decided to look for a massage.
"Hey, check out my book, it says you can get a massage at this temple, " said Jeni.
"Really? AT the temple? With monks everywhere?" asked Lia.
This was a mystery we just couldn't resist, so we headed off on our rickety rented beach cruisers for the mysterious massage/sauna/prayer temple complex. After pedaling for a while, we reached a sandy road/path (there are many of these in Laos) off a main paved road. There was a wat-like archway at the front of the path.
Inside the complex, monks were going about their daily business. Sweeping, chanting, drying the ubiquitous bright orange robes in the sun. Smoking a cigarette near the potted plants (why is it always so strange to see Monks doing things that everyone else does? I'll never know). We asked them:
"Sauna? Massage?" Nods. Smiles. Points.
"Black hut," he says.
"Khawp Jai!" we say, and head off down a path. After pedaling a little while through the sand and lush greenery, and more robes drying, we come to a hut. It is, in fact, black from the huge stream of smoke/steam pouring up from a steel barrel below, opened on the side. It is frothing a pungent herbing mixture.
We say hello to the men up above on a deck. We are handed sarongs of suspect cleanliness and told to change. Due to the language barrier, it's unclear how much we are supposed to disrobe. We ask ourselves, "Can one really be semi-naked in a monastery? Really?" We decide...yes.
We are all ushered into a tiny room that is filled, and i mean FILLED with steam from the barrel below. It's so hot! It's blinding! We can't see anything so run into each other, coughing and sputtering. Within minutes, we are soaked.
We emerge into what before was the Laos heat and now feels like aircon. We drink salty hot water and stew in our own sweat for the requisite 15 minutes before being ushered to massage, um, tables, on a little veranda. I had to control my thoughts to avoid thinking about how many sweaty bodies had lay where I was about to put my body.
We are pummeled and punched and cracked (every vertebra, baby) until we are sweaty balls of jelly, while our masseurs laugh and tell jokes to each other in Lao. Sound awesome? It was!
We biked home in relaxed bliss, waving to the monks on our way out. Not your everyday spa experience!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Laos = Same same, but different....
There are many images that come to mind when thinking about Southeast Asia: dust, bright colors, motorbikes, smiles, water, rice paddies, animals, frenzy, heat etc. Laos has all these things, but different.
First, the water: We spent 4 days on Don Det, an island smack in the middle of the Mekong. The Mekong is different from other water we've swam in so far because it's opaque and murky, really wide, and dotted with Waterfalls. We spent some time tubing down (3 hours to go 4 km?) and eventually got used to the fact that we couldn't see our limbs one inch beneath the water. Plus, some guy on a boat followed us and sold us beer as we went, so what could be better than that?
Second, the colors: While other southeast asian countries we've traveled in bring to mind a mishmash of different colors all mixed together, Laos is green. SO very green. Green and brown. Allllll shades of green - emerald and lime, kelly green and all the rest. Other colors get muted by the green. It's wonderful.
Third, frenzy....wait, what Frenzy??? I've never been so relaxed EVER...Laos is distinctly live and let live, slow-paced (we regularly wait 1 hour for food in restaurants, you'd think we'd learn...) and we love it.
Fourth, heat: So not hot. Remember Hanoi? Borneo? Yeah, Laos isn't even close to hot like that. We just spent 3 days motorbiking around the Bolaven Plateau in the South...I even had to wear a sweater. A sweater!!!
Five, the animals: There are as many animals as people here...and they are, well, happy! Plus, its piglet season on the Bolaven Plateau.
Six, the smiles: There are so many. EVERY child we passed on our motorbike waved and yelled a hearty "Sabaidee!" and we yelled back and waved until our arms hurt.
Seven, the motorbikes: One difference here...in other countries, Matt pilots the bike - here, I do :) For part of the time at least.
Off to Vientiane tonight and then Northward from there....Myanmar in 9 days!
First, the water: We spent 4 days on Don Det, an island smack in the middle of the Mekong. The Mekong is different from other water we've swam in so far because it's opaque and murky, really wide, and dotted with Waterfalls. We spent some time tubing down (3 hours to go 4 km?) and eventually got used to the fact that we couldn't see our limbs one inch beneath the water. Plus, some guy on a boat followed us and sold us beer as we went, so what could be better than that?
Second, the colors: While other southeast asian countries we've traveled in bring to mind a mishmash of different colors all mixed together, Laos is green. SO very green. Green and brown. Allllll shades of green - emerald and lime, kelly green and all the rest. Other colors get muted by the green. It's wonderful.
Third, frenzy....wait, what Frenzy??? I've never been so relaxed EVER...Laos is distinctly live and let live, slow-paced (we regularly wait 1 hour for food in restaurants, you'd think we'd learn...) and we love it.
Fourth, heat: So not hot. Remember Hanoi? Borneo? Yeah, Laos isn't even close to hot like that. We just spent 3 days motorbiking around the Bolaven Plateau in the South...I even had to wear a sweater. A sweater!!!
Five, the animals: There are as many animals as people here...and they are, well, happy! Plus, its piglet season on the Bolaven Plateau.
Six, the smiles: There are so many. EVERY child we passed on our motorbike waved and yelled a hearty "Sabaidee!" and we yelled back and waved until our arms hurt.
Seven, the motorbikes: One difference here...in other countries, Matt pilots the bike - here, I do :) For part of the time at least.
Off to Vientiane tonight and then Northward from there....Myanmar in 9 days!
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