Kalaw to Inle, with a smile

Most people go to Kalaw for the well-known trek to Inle Lake, a popular destination in Burma. It's a fairly popular route, considering the small number of tourists that Burma sees annually. I read about trekking the (personally preferred) path-less-traveled further north in Hsipaw (pronounced Sipaw) but I wanted to trek and time was of the essence making Kalaw the best option. I realize this is yet another tragedy of life: Wait, what? I have to choose amongst the amazing places to explore?, but such is life :) 

This doesn't meant Kalaw or the trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake was any less worthy, because as you read on, I hope you see it as fantastically as I did. Despite my use of the word touristy, let me preface that the visual associated with that term in Burma is drastically different from that of any other place I've been in SE Asia. During our trek, we were just a few folks in the fields amongst the farmers. Since writing about Burma I've used the expression 'peaceful and serene' quite a bit and I'm using it again for Kalaw and the trek beyond, because that's exactly what it was.

Marjie didn't trek with us because, as she likes to say "This (as she motions to her body), does not trek!" Luckily, Tanya the cool Canadian we met in Yangon was in Kalaw and would take the train with Marj to Inle Lake, where we'd meet up at the end of our trek. Thus far, the bus rides from this country were mundane, however Marjie sat next to a nice Japanese guy, Nicky, who likes to trek, making the duo of Paul and I a welcomed trio.

Upon arrival, we quickly found the guesthouse recommended by Tanya, Eastern Paradise, based on the deliciously large breakfast served every morning (clearly Tanya has her priorities straight). Paul, Nicky and I immediately set out on search of a trek for the following day. We had 2 choices to make: 2 or 3 day trek? and, what company? The first place we went to, on the recommendation of Lonely Planet, was closed. Carrying on we approached Ever Smile, also recommended by LP, so we went on in. 

It was here we were welcomed by Thu Thu (pronounced Toto) and her 2 children in their early teens, with smiles that melted my heart. We met in Thu Thu's home, also serving as home to her business, not uncommon in SE Asia. I'm no guru but I do know a thing or two about gender-related issues in SE Asia, and I can assure you that women are not treated or viewed equally. So, the fact that Thu Thu was managing her own company and acting tour guide, was impressive. I soon learned everything about this woman was impressive. Her husband died 9 months ago and was running the business and her family on her own. She was honest, unpretentious and true from the beginning - simply refreshing to be around. She also cut up some mangoes for us, and I love anybody who feeds me. After a couple of minutes of chatting, I looked at the guys with a look that said "we have to go with her!". No convincing necessary as they shared the same look! 

After speaking with Thu Thu about the trek options, we chose the 2 day trek with an overnight stay at a Buddhist Monastery - this would be the first time sleeping in such accommodations for all 3 of us. Excited, we went home to pack and rose the next morning to fuel up on the awesomely large and delicious breakfast that Tanya spoke of (she was delightfully right!), said good-bye to Marj and Tanya, and were off.

Because we chose the 2-day route, a taxi dropped us off at the start point in a small farming village. We soon learned that the "trek" was more of a walk, set amongst aesthetically amazing landscape. The dirt, a deep, rich, rusty red color contrasted against the green, grassy hills, made for quite the sight. I must've exclaimed "This dirt is unbelievable!" about a million times....who would have ever thought dirt could make such an impact! The dirt was not the only impressive factor, as there were clearly some good agricultural practices being used. We walked amongst beautiful, significant crop-producing fields, potato being the most prominent. Running through a bit of the land was a still existing railway built by the Brits - I guess they left something positive behind ;)

This trek may have been light on hills but it was heavy on the culture, just 1 of the aweomse aspects of this walk. Thu Thu shared a childhood story of a village fire induced by fighting causing everybody to flee, leaving everything behind. Her family walked all night and arrived in Kalaw, where Thu Thu remained alongside her Aunt until present day. Sadly, the fighting still exists. About one month prior to our arrival, Buddhist monks were burning mosques in the same region, causing many Muslims to flee. Thu Thu's sister still lives in their childhood village and opened her home to those who'd fled the fighting. This was very dangerous as checks were made, home to home, to determine if anybody was protecting Muslims. Luckily, they didn't get caught. Sound hauntingly familiar? Yes, it does....a little too much like history repeating itself.

"Break time" was announced in one of the ethnic minority villages of this region, Padaung. The women of the tribes wear brightly colored head scarves - an array of pinks, reds, oranges - each tribe distinguished by a different color. We were seated on a low, wooden bench where grandma served us peanuts, tea and vegetable curry with rice. Some of the neighbors came by to check us out and were impressed with our appetites and lack of fear in eating the local food. With this, grandma extended the invite for us to sleep over any time we were in her village which was very generous and quite common to SE Asians. I actually would have loved to stay with her, even for a night - the things we would have learned. Grandma showed us her weaving skills as she sat on a low stool and hand-wove on a traditional, wooden "machine", for lack of a more accurate word. She was weaving a satchel bag, a common product amongst the tribes. 

A little segway visit at the local elementary school, we saw one story school with rooms divided by cement walls. Each grade consisted of 8-15 students and all taught and taken care of by one teacher. And teachers in the western world think they have it bad! Thu Thu explained that teachers receive such a small salary from the government, barely enough to live off of, leaving little incentive to become a teacher. 

"Lunch time" - I was loving the announcements made by Thu Thu, who alternates employing villagers to provide meals during her treks to give all an opportunity for income. The man who made our lunch of vegetarian noodles, was very generous in his helpings. Stuffed and tired, nobody hesitated when Thu Thu announced "nap time" after lunch! 

Continuing on after lunch at an easy pace, Thu Thu at the back of our single file line, suddenly exclaimed "SNAKE!" This caught our attention and as we all turned around we got a good view of a snake about 4 feet long. Paul asked Thu Thu what would happen if one of us had been bitten and she answered "5 minutes after a bite, you die". Paul followed up with google only to learn that Burma "is home to 52 venomous species of snakes – more than any other country in the world" (that was verbatim from Paul's blog post....thanks, man). So the lesson learned here is don't get bitten by a snake in Burma.

Each break was "just a break for 5 minutes" and 45 minutes later we were still on break, eating snacks and chatting away. Thu Thu was just so full of knowledge and beyond willing to share; during afternoon break, over sunflower seeds, we got a run-down of the healthcare system and the many NGO's in the country providing health support. Super interesting, but too much to get into here.

The last 15 minutes of the days walk became a bit damp - Paul, always prepared for a pickle, offered me a poncho or an umbrella. I've never been one for a poncho (they make me so hot) so I took the umbrella and thank God I did. Let me preface by stating that backpacking isn't all glitz and glamour folks, as some may believe. In a hurry, or simply forgotten, that poncho hadn't been aired out since the last sweaty rainfall. It smelt awful, and I give Paul cred for wearing it anyway. 

At the monastery, we met the one monk living there for over 30 years. He had a stroke a few years ago and is now paralyzed on one side. Locals take care of him but because he can't teach or take care of anything, this monastery is no longer a home and school to young monks, as it once was. 

Once settled in to our humble abode, the 3 of us made our way down for dinner....or shall I say feast. Thu Thu had prepared dinner fit for a village: 11 different dishes, 10 of them vegetarian, along with rice and lentil soup. We couldn't fit it all on the table! We hung out for a few hours (btw: Nicky was a really interesting guy; 34 years old and already had been to 60 countries) staying out of the company of another group of trekkers staying there. This group of Americans had gotten a reputation amongst the Burmese guides on the trail from their partying the night before. They carried their partying ways to the monastery that night as well, quite disrespectful in this setting. Anybody who knows me knows that I love to party with the best of them, but there's a time and place for it. I wouldn't place Buddhist monastery amongst them. Therefore, we chose to keep our party to 3, with the main beverage being hot tea.

We woke up to another royal meal, packed up and paid a visit to the monk to say thank you and to make a small donation to the monastery. He answered a few questions I had as I was curious about the differences between Burmese and Thai Buddhism. The last few months at my village temple in Thailand, it had become a bit of a trend to go to Burma to study, making this visit additionally interesting. The most striking difference to me is that women can touch the monks in Burma, unlike Thailand where women cannot and must sit below them while speaking to them. It was nice to be eye level with him and to touch his hand while he blessed us.  

A bit more hilly terrain with more of a "trek" atmosphere, we walked for half the day and got to see more of Burmese every day life. I think it's fascinating that traditional farming methods, including ox/cow carts to till the fields, are still being used. Much more laborious, but much more culturally cool. I also find the clothing in Burma fabulous. Longyi's, a long wrap-around skirt garment a bit like a sarong, is worn by both men and women everywhere, while doing anything. Holding on to culture is a beautiful thing. 

At the end of the trek was a restaurant where we ate lunch and waited for a family who would be joining us on our boat ride up Inle Lake. While waiting, we shared a beer and watched the restaurant staff play dta-kraw (they even play sports with the Longyi). It had been a nice 2 days but I was looking forward to the boat ride to the Northern part of Inle Lake to spend the last night with Marjie, before she made her way to Bangkok, en route to Seattle.

Time was flying by too quickly.

Temples, Ruins and Sunsets, oh my!

Bagan, the City of Temples. I must admit that although I was excited about Bagan, as I feel for any new place I visit, Buddhist temples typically don't impress me. It's more like: some do, many don't. In Europe, I can walk in and out of churches all day with my mouth open in awe and a permanent 'wow' experession on my face. Some say it's because I'm Catholic and while yes, I am a believer, to say I'm very religious is an overstatement. So why is it that St. Peter's Basilica in Rome exuded such powerful emotions that brought me to instant tears, yet Buddhist temples have done little for my soul? Whatever the answer is, Bagan changed my feelings.

After a poor night sleep on an overnight bus, we arrived in Bagan at 4am instead of the anticipated 6 am (early arrival? This place is so strange, in a good way). Disoriented and disheveled, we were offered horse and buggy rides to guesthouses in town, but luckily two other tourists informed us that town was a mere 500 meters from the bus station. So we strapped on our packs and set off on the inevitable search for a place to rest our heads at night. After too much walking in un-Godly heat (fyi: profuse sweating at 5am is a red flag for unbearably hot afternoons) we decided to stay at Schwe-nadii Guesthouse. Rooms weren't ready, so to kill time guesthouse "staff" suggested we get ourselves a view of the sunrise via a seat on top of a particular temple we'd need a horse and buggy ride to get to. The price was unnecessarily high so we said we just wanted to stay close and suddenly there was a spectacular sunrise temple nearby. This was our introduction to the awesomely sassy Mao-Ba, who didn't work there but somehow ran the show and was always good for a deal.

Taking Mao-Ba up on his second, more reasonable suggestion, we went to a small, nearby temple for the sunrise. It was so small we couldn't find the stairway entrance, when a woman showed us the way to our first taste of climbing these ancient ruins. As I slowly ran my fingertips along the old, stone walls and hunched over to fit through the narrow, steep stairwells that led to the break of daylight, I felt alive. At the top, taken breath and all, I couldn't get over the vastness of it all; we were mi-nute beings amongst thousands of ruins reigning in on history dating back thousands of years. Additionally pleasing was that we were alone with the exception of one tranquil monk and a few of his dogs. At that moment, I felt more at peace than ever before.

This was the first of many awe-struck moments over the course of 2 days in Bagan. I was consistently taken away by stories told by the temples, leaving in me an invaluable appreciation and respect for its history, beliefs and those who built it. The only somewhat comparable world wonder that I have seen, and loved, was the beyond impressive Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Yet, Bagan was more special to me simply because I felt something more special....one of those gut intuitions that are inexplainable.  

Afterwards, we visited Schwezagon Temple - large, in charge and made of gold, similar to Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon however much less known and "important". Yet to me, Schwezagon was far more beautiful and provided a such serenity that its counterpart lacked. We were the only folks there, alongside some beautiful birds that made for some fantastic photography, another contrast to the busy Schwedagon. It kind of felt as though this temple was there solely for us...maybe that's why I liked it so much.

Once rooms were ready, naps were calling. We eventually got ourselves motivated to venture out in the afternoon and see some temples, via bike. For fuel, we hit up a tea house for Shan noodles and bean salad, staples I'd begun to get used to, where we scored some unexpected entertainment. We named him Whippersnapper, a 12 year old boy that was the typical young and adorable tea house server, but he was extra special. He would lean his arm on the table, bend over and get close. Then he'd look at you with his scrumcious smiling face, seemingly sweet, and after each item ordered he'd stand up straight, face in the air and scream out the order for the food preparer to get busy. Then he'd lean back on the table, smile and say "ok" as in, "what's next?". He had an efficient system and it was super cute to boot.

Full bellied and ready to go, we set out on day one of temple sighting and well, what a day. It was a never-ending plain of greying black and white temples and red-bricked ruins at every head swivel - simply spectacular. Excited for and impressed by each one, we stopped at most and amongst the favorites were ones we could climb. The best things in life must be earned, and I appreciate something that makes me work to experience its unique beauty. The first temple of the afternoon was also a little "shop" to a nice man selling paintings. I bought one I really liked but did so largely because I liked him. I thought the art was unique, but as the day went on I learned that many temples were host to sellers selling tourist stuff, many of them painters! Maybe not as unique as I thought, oh well!

Bagan is most known for sunsets over looking the temples, and based on what I've said I'm sure you can imagine that the best view is at the top. The first night we climbed Schwezadawn Temple (lots of Schwez-ie type words going on, I know), the most popular sunset location. An over ridden with tourists, yet pleasant spot, Paul enjoyed the sunset by photographing it and chatting with people he'd met previously on his travels (the world gets smaller and smaller) and Marj and I enjoyed it while chatting about how lucky we were. After an afternoon of biking and temple sighting we felt we had earned a dinner splurge and found ourselves eating Nepalese later that night at a place called Wonderful Tasty. And that it was.

Determined to check the big temples off our list, the second day we set out at 5am to beat the excruciating heat. After getting lost in the temples, Paul and I settled in at one of them just in time for sunrise, while Marj hung back to take her notes. Many of the temples look similar making it hard to distinguish between all of them. Paul was certain that the temple was one we had climbed the day before and I was certain it was not. I supported my opinion to the max, as we all should, and I ended up being wrong. This is not something I brag about, but just to give you an idea of how many there are and how impossible to see them all!

In preparation for a full day biking temple to temple, we parked in a tea house for a carby Burmese breakfast of fried dough and fried samosas. While we are on food, I'll share lunch as well. A lovely lady Marj and I met traveling in northern Thailand had recommended a vegetarian restaurant named, "Be kind to animals the moon".....I can't make these names up guys. We randomly stumbled upon it while my stomach was yelling sassy things at me to eat. Of course there was excitement at the realization that it was the place recommended by Jenny and once we settled down and ordered (FYI: the tomato curry was off the chain!) we saw a veggie restaurant across the street with a sign that read "Lonely Planet doesn't talk about us yet, but lovely people do, be kind to animals the sun" (the "sun" part, I may have made up). We felt so bad - if time permitted we would have liked to give them a fair chance, but not possible. If you ever get to Bagan, please check it out and let me know how it was!

Food diversion complete, now back to temples. Each temple's existence came with a unique story, often involving Kings. One provided us with a little story of our own, with goats instead. We originally thought the goats were friendly and looking for food, but soon learned that daddy goat simply didn't want us in there and expressed this by butting his horns into Paul, consistently, until we left. He even followed us to the temple "lobby" where we were waiting out a short rainfall, and butted Paul until we exited the temple completely. I think daddy goat may have been the King of our story!

Interested, while slightly uncomfortable, this led us to a local Burmese family living outside the temple who provided us shelter under a tree near their hut (they welcomed us into the hut, but it was so tiny I have no idea how we would've fit). What to do whilst hanging out in the rain with people you can't verbally communicate with? Pictures, lots of pictures. We thanked them for shoo-ing the goats away and carried on, once again getting slightly lost on the dirt turned mud roads, as we chased a sunset at Baludi Temple. This is not a well known temple which meant few tourists. Paul went on ahead, while Marj and I made it to a nearby temple that offered a great view and a "free" tour guide. The guide was a 13 year old girl who did give a great tour as we brick-climbed the outside of the ruins, barefoot. Brick by brick, she guided me up rather than a plummet to my death, and shared a bit of her life. She spoke great English, is number 1 in her class and aspires to be a doctor - she gives free tours and sells post cards for now, to help her family get by.

It was an active, fun-filled yet exhausting day and we were ready for bed - Marj didn't even make it out for dinner! We had learned by this point that while electricity in Burma exists, it comes and goes as it pleases, and well, it pleases to go often! It had been so hot since our arrival in Burma that we had splurged on rooms with A/C, but the splurges had proven unworthy when electricity went out constantly. An entire night with not even a fan equals schweaty mess - although I had a few nights like that during my service in Thailand, it never gets easier. But Schwena-dii knew how to entice people with A/C including a generator for night time emergencies....thank you Mao-Ba! We all slept very well that night :)

With an extra day in the area, we decided to spend it in Pakoku, a town about 30 km away which had been recommended by a cool German traveler, Max, whom we met in Yangon. We respected his travel style so trusted his opinion and it just happened to be the weekend of a religious festival. The actual holiday was the following day, leaving us to pre-celebrations. Similar to Thailand, there was a lot of food, markets of clothes and gadgets and a few sketchy looking rides, all surrounding a temple that was heavy on the glittery decor, full of people making merit.

We came aross a booth proudly supporting the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, an opposing party of the current government. I was both surprised and impressed with the boldness of this booth, as a few years ago the people manning it would have been arrested and held as political prisoners. It was a sign of change and a freedom of expression, something the Burmese have been denied for a long time. I bought a t-shirt of Aunty and as we left, one of the booth-manners scurried after us with a little extra something sporting the NLD logo. When I said I didn't want to buy anything else, he looked surprised and said he was giving it as a present. Nicest.people.ever.

While strolling along, Paul spotted a pirate ship ride and immediately exclaimed "we have to go on that!" I love rides, so I was all "yeah, let's do it". Right. So we get in and there is no security belt while six Burmese teenagers manually rocked the ship to get it swinging. Eventually a machine kicked in that made enough noise to wake up the dead but gave the guys a break to leisurely sit on the boats edge and flirt with the girls behind us. Across from us, sat a 2 year old on his moms lap and didn't blink an eye. All this while my stomach jumped around and I thought we were sure to fall out!

We spent the rest of the day checking out a monastery, temples and a market where fruit was weighed via an traditional scale. Back in Bagan, we had time to catch one more sunset at Baludi, easily the most gorgeous one I'd seen there. We had an easy night and were up early the next day to move on to the next destination, Kalaw. Sad to leave Bagan, I felt blessed for the opportunity to experience its beauty of many levels, and excited for the next adventure.