Author Archives: Bryan Ballweber

Myanmar Part 2: Astounding Beauty

After a few hours of a bug riddled sleep we caught our bus to Mandalay. Interestingly, the tourist buses are quite nice but the roadways can barely accommodate them. There are still dirt highways, which were in the midst of being upgraded, and single lane bridges/roads.

When reaching Mandalay we could already tell it was a bit more lively and culturally diverse than Yangon. The people appeared to be a pretty fair mix of Asian descent and Indian descent, with an obvious mix of religions as well. Like everywhere else people were super excited to see us. Thanks to Obama’s visit in ’08, Americans are especially welcome! Hillary did us a favor too, as she was sometimes mentioned by the locals. Everywhere we looked people were smiling at us, saying hello, and teaching their young children to say hello. We found a nice place with a room on the roof that gave us some good views of the surrounding area.

The first day we ventured to Mandalay Hill and the palace. The Hill is the highest viewpoint in the area and made us work for the great view. Once half way up the hill you begin a 45 minute barefoot walk up old stairways because the hill also serves as pagoda and monastery. The palace sits at the city center surrounded by a large stone wall and moat, and still serves as a military base. At the entrance we ran into a tourist who filled us in on what there was, and was not, to see inside. It didn’t sound worth the price, so we skipped out. Where most people are fair to tourists, the government price gouges tourists in every way they can find. That evening we cruised through the pretty empty night market which most interestingly displayed a huge array of old books. These covered all sorts of educational subjects including engineering, business, programming, and much more. The books had to be 15-20 years old at the newest. We dug all through them as it was a fun discovery. Quantum Mechanics anyone?

(Just a quick shot of some of the books)

The following days we just people watched. There are tons of cafes with cheap dishes and free Chinese tea. The fantastic food won over Megan’s heart from the very first day in the country. However, the few times we got dishes that weren’t fantastic, they were pretty bad. Some of the best and worst food of the trip so far. While having dinner at a street stall one day, a taxi driver was really chatting us up and told us a good joke.

“We call a person that can speak two languages bilingual, we call a person that can speak many languages multilingual, and someone that can speak only one language, they’re French” -taxi driver

Finally getting tired of my long hair, I attempted a haircut. After the entire salon staff got over the excitement that Americans were in their shop and the stylist painstakingly made me look like a white, old Asian, Megan had to correct it back at the hotel with tiny mustache scissors. I did get 2 scalp massages with the cut though, which were worth the three dollars I paid!

Eventually we were back on a bus heading to Inle Lake. Like many of our other bus rides we arrived at 4 a.m. We stayed that day at a new, clean hotel which was good since Megan started to feel a little under the weather and barely left the room. The town next to Inle Lake is quite small with not much to do. It was interesting to see the immense boat loads of vegetables coming into the docks for export from the floating gardens.

(Some of the unloaded egg plants)

We found a boat guide and arranged a full day tour. We headed out to the lake early the next morning through a canal. As we reached the lake it was a sight to behold. The smooth, glassy water reflected the blue layers of mountains that surrounded the lake on both sides. White cranes swooped down over the water and tended to their nests in small puffs of grass while enormous, brightly colored dragon flies zoomed all around us. Traditional fishermen in wooden canoes dotted the lake and larger boats of vegetables passed on their way to town.

The fishermen have a unique way of working. They balance on one leg on the end of the canoes and leverage a paddle between the other leg and their side to row the boat. While they row their hands are free to tend to the fishing nets.

(fisherman)

As we progressed we saw the floating gardens. They literally piled dirt on lake vegetation and then planted crops on top, using long bamboo poles as pins to hold the floating mass in place. These gardens look like fields you would see on dry land except you see locals in small canoes paddling through the rows tending to the crops. Amazing!

(floating garden)

On the lake tour we stopped at a textile shop where fabrics were woven from cotton and silk, but most notably were scarves woven out of fibers they extract from lotus flowers. Very soft and nicely scented! Next stop was one of the better markets we have seen in Myanmar since it was well stocked with souvenirs and locals running around buying food, getting haircuts, and possibly stocking up on betel nut. To date this might be the most we have seen of the addictive betel nut. People walk around with mouths stained blood red, spitting everywhere, sometimes narrowly missing our feet. This used to be common throughout SE Asia but it is very slowly fading away.

(Selling some green beans and tomatoes)

Next we visited a cigar “factory” with two ladies making cigars faster than ever, and another lady smoking a cigar telling us what they were doing. Sounds like most jobs back home, but I won’t go there! We saw the making of long boats like the one we were riding in. They had a nearly complete boat and one that was 40 years old and being repaired. Pretty amazing craftsmanship. It takes about a month to make one boat by hand. They use the abundant teak wood for nearly everything there.

(Nearly finished boat)

Next stop was a huge pagoda in the middle of the lake. After seeing so many pagodas this didn’t excite us too much, but as we were walking around it a crowd started forming behind us. Megan felt a bit uncomfortable, but then a monk stepped forward and started talking to us. He was helping all these people learn English and they were super excited to practice with us. As we were talking to the monk, a few of them were circling us like vultures trying to take photos. I asked if everyone wanted to take a group photo, and they all erupted with pure excitement. This must be what superstars feel like. During the photos Megan had a girl cling to the side of her like a magnet. Quite the memorable moment.

We dropped in on a silversmith shop where they made jewelry with silver they themselves extracted from stones. Silver and precious gem stones are mined all over this area. Megan was excited for what was next. I think nearly everyone has seen these tribal women on the cover of National Geographics: the “long neck” women with the numerous gold rings used to stretch their necks. They had a small shop where four of the women were weaving cloth by hand, the most impressive weaving I have seen on this trip. It would have been nice to hike to their village and see them in their home environment instead of jammed into the back of a tourist shop, but the season and our time wouldn’t allow for that.

(Kayan women)

Before leaving for Yangon the next day, an old lady from our family-run guesthouse gave us bags of fresh green tea as a parting gift. The small family run places always outdo the new fancy hotels! Let alone the breakfast at 4 Sisters Guesthouse was by far the best we had in Myanmar.

The bus to Yangon was the cheapest of all the buses we took in Myanmar, and somehow seemed first class compared to the others. We had snacks, water, soda, and a stewardess to top it off. Heck yeah! Still we arrived to Yangon at 5 a.m. Megan and I spent a few days just walking around checking out some more pagodas, parks, food, books, and the people. One day while looking at books a guy walked up to us and warned us of money exchangers that rip off tourists (which we were aware of). Megan and I got suspicious as to what his angle was, but he caught our skepticism and told us that he is an English teacher. He chatted up a storm through the book shop and led us back to his classroom. He was super nice and even bought us a couple of sodas while he asked about current slang and phrases. After his class arrived, which was predominately tourist police with a few monks, he asked us to keep talking so they could learn to listen. Before we knew it we were teaching the class, but not about grammar or phonetics, we taught about credit cards, mortgages, and interest rates! These services are just being introduced into the country and the teacher prodded us with questions. Our lengthy lesson even included figures on a whiteboard. I am sure we confused the hell out of them, but none the less the teacher was appreciative of our visit.

Experiences like these and everything that encompasses Myanmar at this time is what I think most people are looking for when traveling Southeast Asia. The country is astounding, and we feel honored to have been guests there.

Back in Bangkok we have been hanging around the tourist central, Khaosan road. The world renown “backpacker ghetto”. This was quite the shock after being in Myanmar, but we have adjusted.

If you have made it this far I applaud you as this is a long post. Enjoy the pictures and know that we appreciate you sharing in our experiences with us!

Life @ Pai and a little Chiang Mai

From a speeding van to slow moving train we made it from the Cambodian/Thailand border to Bangkok, and up to Chiang Mai. The train was super relaxing, and it was our first time riding in one since Germany. We only have fifteen days to spend in Thailand on this first go-around, so we jumped up North to visit Chiang Mai and Pai (pronounced ‘Pie’). After roughly 34 hours of travel since leaving Siem Reap, Cambodia, we had a quick break in Chiang Mai before taking the local bus up to Pai. Upon inspection, the bus looked like something that had been broken down and sitting in a junk yard for the last twenty years. Nervously jumping on literally as it was leaving the station we found a couple of comfy seats, and I have to say it was one of the best bus rides we have had. There were only a half-a-dozen people on it so we had room to sprawl out a bit, and the driver was sane.

(Bus to Pai)

Pai feels like a little hippy town pulled straight out of Colorado. In fact, the only people we met randomly were Americans either from Colorado or with some connection to Colorado. Megan and I almost didn’t want to leave as we spent some time cruising the area on a scooter, taking a cooking class, and relaxing to the art and music scene. When cruising around on the scooter we got to venture up a super steep road to a viewpoint. I thought I was going to have to kick Megan off the bike so I could get to the top. At that point we really thought we should have gotten a bigger bike, but everything after that was easy as Pai. Now it did make sense why the bike rental place offered insurance on the scooter. We saw foreigners all over the place wrapped up in bandages and covered in road rash. Apparently this location is where a lot of people try driving a scooter for the first time (it was only $3.30 to rent). Traveling around we saw waterfalls, Wats, elephants, a canyon, and some amazing scenery. One of the best things was a juice stand we stopped off at. Hoping to fend off lunch just for a short period we stopped at a small place on the way to one of the waterfalls. As we sat down this lady, who was super happy to see us, brought us over some juice and a bunch of fruit, boiled potatoes, and nuts. Megan immediately asks how much it costs, and she says it is whatever you want to pay, pointing at a donation box. Lunch! The fruit was grown in her garden and was all amazing. I think in the end we might have had a bit too much sugar from all of it, but it was nearly better than some of the sights. She had a rather large guestbook for us to sign and it was packed with excited and happy customers. Venturing farther we eventually ran across what might as well have been pole barns with elephants in them. Elephants are always nice to see, and Megan just reverts back to a kid getting super excited. She got to feed one of them a papaya which only made the elephant next to it upset. Seeing the elephants really has more of a downside than anything though. Most, if not all, of them don’t lead the best of lives and these ones in specific are just chained to a post unless they are giving a tourist a ride down the road. 🙁 For these reasons, plus a few more, Megan and I haven’t visited the elephant camps.

(Megan feeding one of the elephants)

On a happier note we had an amazing experience taking a Thai cooking class. We started our day off by visiting the local market where we learned about some of the different veggies, herbs, fruits, and other goodies. Getting back we started immediately cooking; making a fried dish, curry, dessert, soup, appetizer, and salad. After each dish we would sit down and eat it. By the end of the day we were stuffed. It nearly felt like Thanksgiving. I think we will keep an eye out for another class in the future. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

(Papaya Salad and Fried Spring Rolls)

Because of our time crunch, we hopped on the local bus back to Chiang Mai. There are tons of Wats all around town, and some different street markets throughout the week. The night bazaar is absolutely huge. You need more than one night to go through it all, but they have some awesome pad thai for about 30 cents. In one day we biked all around town and ventured through the bazaar. By the time we made it back to the hotel we crashed. That was a long day, let alone a bit too much shopping for me. On top of the bazaar there is the Saturday street market, then the Sunday street market. All sorts of handicrafts and great street food! One night Megan was craving a veggie burger, which we couldn’t find, but ended up having burgers at a little hole in the wall. It ended up being a late night there as we sat and talked to the owner for hours. The owner, Bill, was from just outside of Denver where he owned a real estate appraisal business. He retired and moved to Thailand three years ago, and recently started a little restaurant. He doesn’t hold much faith in Social Security, but he provided us with a bunch of insight to the Thai culture and opening a business. It was sort of funny as the next morning another retired exPat from Idaho caught us at breakfast and talked our ears off.

While walking around we did purchase some durian fruit to finally try it out. The smell is really bad, but I found the taste to be boring. Megan thought it was pretty horrible. I say try it once and then go buy some mangos! Aside from the plentiful fruit we were super stoked to hit some really good book stores here. We quickly swapped a handful of books for new ones. Hopefully they last us a couple of weeks, as we are heading down to Bangkok to catch a flight out to Yangon, Myanmar. We will spend two and half weeks there, and then fly back to Bangkok to spend another thirty days in Thailand.

(One of the many Wats in Chiang Mai)

Just a note, it might be a bit longer until our next post as we don’t expect to have internet, or have a good enough internet connection in Myanmar to leave updates.

The Kings Birthday

The last week has been quiet and relaxing. We spent six days down by Sihanoukville, Cambodia. This area is purely known for its really nice beaches. It was also a great time to enjoy some food. Megan and I started every morning pretty early with a nice little breakfast and hurrying down to the beach. Typically there were only a few people on the beach up until noon, so it was a good time to enjoy the beach and do some quality reading. Every evening on the beach all the restaurants and bars would have a bbq out front. Megan and I took good advantage of this having squid, barracuda, and prawn (big shrimp). I thoroughly enjoyed the squid myself, so if you have a chance to try bbq squid you should. Megan found that one restaurant had an awesome veggie burger, and I would have to agree as it was the best I have ever had.

Once the weekend started tons of locals started showing up. As we found out that Monday was the beginning of the Kings Birthday, and it lasted for three days. It was interesting as most of the locals stayed to one side of the beach, but many of the establishments stopped doing happy hour or food specials. Also, all the people that walked the beach selling stuff were quite irritated with the influx of Cambodian tourists. I am guessing that is because they wouldn’t pay the prices asked for their wares. Megan made a fun relationship with a little boy, Ben, that kept trying to sell us bracelets and later roman candles. He stopped by to talk to us every evening.

While the beach was pretty full we rented a scooter and ventured off to some of the other beaches. North of us there were a few other beaches but they were run by Russians, and we had overheard they were not as pleasant. To access the beach you had to be staying at their resort or stick to a small section that was occupied by a bar. South of us was a nice quieter beach built more for the backpackers. If it hadn’t been for the higher food prices there we would have stayed there.

Part way through our stay we had a front come through that brought a little bit of rain, but even better is that it stirred up some waves in the water. This might have been one of Megan’s favorite things while we were there. She was like a little kid in the water, but so was nearly everyone else. All the locals would walk out to about knee height, and when a wave came in they would do a little hop. It was hilarious.

Aside from all the people watching, reading, relaxing, and good food there wasn’t much else. Since then we have made an overnight bus trip up to Siem Reap, but we will cover that in another post. All the pictures up until now should be up in the gallery. Cheers!

Southern Laos, an Unexpected Experience

Savannakhet, what can I say. There wasn’t much going on here, but it had quite a bit of French architecture still around. There was a temple that we biked out to that had some of Buddha’s bones there. An important thing for many people in the area. The town can boast for its two room dinosaur museum, where a very energetic lead archeologist gave us a small tour including the back room where they work with bones. In this town could also pick up a delicious sandwiches for cheap, especially if you didn’t mind having pig liver.

Laos has been full of surprises at every turn. We left Savannakhet for Pakse on a local bus. The difference between local and VIP buses is that the local one stops every 100m through a town instead of every few kilometers to see if anyone else needs a ride. Extra money for the driver, and slow progress for the rest of us. As we were getting close to Pakse the bus pulled over at a “bus station” and dumped all the tourists off telling us this was our stop. We were 8km from town and 15km from the bus station. Conveniently a tuk tuk was there and could take us the rest of the way for more than what our bus tickets cost us. With no good choice the nine of us got in and he started down the road until we made it to a gas station where he demanded money so he could get gas. A couple immediately payed up but Megan and I threw up a stink and wouldn’t pay until the end. No one else decided to pay either. After five minutes of arguing most of us unloaded all our stuff to try and find a different ride. The tuk tuk never got gas but took his few people to their destination. We went up to a guy with a pickup truck to see if we could get a ride and he was super nice and helped us out. He wouldn’t even take money for giving us the lift to town. We made our way to the bus station where 20 of us and a motorbike crammed into a tuk tuk that drove us to Ban Nakasang, 3.5 hours. It stormed on us for part of the way so we had a good time just trying to stay dry. Once we made it to our destination we got a ferry to the island and quickly scoured for some food. It was a long day.

We had a nice bungalow on the riverside and enjoyed a nice day in our hammocks reading. Relaxing! Getting up early the following day we hiked over to the neighboring island Don Khone. We made our way to a small beach area with a few restaurants and only one other tourist where we were invited over for a free lunch. The very happy local offered us snails, sticky rice, and hot chilli sauce. Being polite we tried them and I found them pretty tasty, but it was hard to pull them from their shells with a toothpick. The local had a blast talking to us even though we only understood about ten percent of what he sad. The other tourist that looked most excited about the snails ended up taking a boat ride with us to see the Irrawaddy dolphins when a local fisherman offered us a ride considerably cheaper than anything we could have booked. This was pretty amazing. The river was full of eddies and rapids surrounded by lush islands. As you made your way down the river you would see a large group of water buffalo going for a soak, fishermen bringing in a nice catch, or large reed patches swaying to the wind. On the opposite side of the river is Cambodia and all the official tours included a permit to venture into their area, something we didn’t have. When we reached the area where sightings normally occur we were dropped off on a rock in the middle of the river in Cambodia while the fisherman went to get gas. Fortunately we were able to see the dolphins but they were about 100m away. While on this rock we had three other Cambodian tour boats come over and unload a bunch of excited people. The tour operators didn’t care that we weren’t legally there but were concerned we had been abandoned. All the tourists took our pictures as we were clearly more fascinating than rare dolphins that are nearly extinct. Moments later our fisherman was on his way back over. The ride back was nearly more enjoyable than going out. There were times you were speeding through some rapids but at the same time you felt as though you were motionless in speeding water. If anything just the boat ride itself was worth the price. After arriving back at the beach we made our way to the Somphamit waterfalls. This area was like a small canyon with copious amounts of waterfalls, but we could see how it becomes one massively wide waterfall in the wet season. You will have to check out the pictures.

After making our way back to our bungalow a local ran up to us excited telling us they were having a free BBQ next door. Invitation accepted! They had quite the party going, and some delicious grilled pork that was butchered fresh that morning. Makes sense why we heard all the squealing early on. Enjoying ourselves we asked what the occasion was, and all we figured out was that one of the guy’s brother had or did something. He wasn’t even there with us? We were at the pre-party. A couple of hours later we headed to the other side of the island where there were a lot of people and we were the only small group of Westerners. Bit awkward at first. One guy said we first must give a small gift to someone. We were led up some stairs to a balcony where a bunch of old ladies sat next to a small table adorned with flowers, money, food, and other things. I was the first to walk up having no clue what to do, but I got on my knees and put 10,000 kip (about $1.30) into a small gold metal bowl. The ladies put a small flower on it and said something, so I bowed lower folding my hands together in a traditional way of showing respect and saying thank you. Then they handed me a bag full of some kind of food that ended up being ground sweet corn wrapped in sticky rice and then wrapped in a leaf. Everyone else followed in suit. With snacks in hand we made our way to the lawn to have a seat on some bamboo mats. Already stuffed with BBQ we were hoping to just drink, but they ended up serving us tons of food that we had to eat. Food comma! The evening went spectacular as we enjoyed a party we didn’t understand, had good food, beer, and a very unique experience.

We spent another day relaxing, looking for books, and scheduling our next bus ride that took us into Cambodia. We did make it across the border, but found that if we hadn’t had a guide the officers would have been very difficult to deal with, as we witnessed with some others. We had a guide and only cost us $2 more in the end. Had everyone done that we could have shaved a couple of hours off the crossing. Did I tell you how hot it is in the middle of nowhere between to small shacks? We are currently in Phnom Penh, but I will leave the post where it is for now and pickup on the rest later.