The end

Southeast Asia in the numbers:

• 9 countries
• 27 cities
• 10 dives
• 2 bouts of food poisoning
• 24 flights 
• 6 bus rides
• 4 ferries
• 11 massages

All in all, I can say it was FREAKING AMAZING. I feel so luck and blessed that I had the chance to go on this wild adventure and see so many incredible places. The highlights for me were Laos - the whole country. Myanmar, too. And Thailand, and Cambodia, and Indonesia, and Vietnam, okay fine....the whole trip! I have a feeling I will be going back some of these places. It was just so great. Did I mention it was great? Just a quick update on the map and I'll sign off until my next big trip! Thanks for following me around the world :)

Gili Trawangan

The journey is almost over and I think I saved the best place for last! Five days on the pristine white beaches of Gili Trawangan is definitely the best way to end the trip. I'm staying at Trawangan Dive, a great hotel, restaurant and dive shop. What more could you ask for? I met a colorful Welsh fellow on the ferry ride over whose birthday it happened to be, so we had a couple of beers on the boat. He invited me to the hostel that he owns for drinks later which turned out to be a great way to meet some people and have a fun night bar hopping around the island. I wisely planned to go diving on day 2 in the afternoon, so I was able to sleep off the previous night's festivities. My first dive here was amazing! We saw two black tipped sharks, loads of sea turtles and lots of fish. One of the turtles was as big as a car! After my dive, I wandered down the main road and noticed that Gili Yoga had a vinyasa class starting in about half an hour. What a great was to end the day. I think I'll have to make a habit of it while I'm here.

With water so clear and diving so convenient, I went diving everyday while in Gili T. Staying at a dive shop was the best decision! All you have to do is sign up, hop in the boat, and 10 minutes later you're at the dive site ready to backward roll off the side of the boat. I dove Shark Point, Sunset and Turtle Heaven and saw lots of sharks, turtles, cuttle fish, garden eel, a moray eel and tons and tons of fish. It was some of the best diving I have experience anywhere in the world.

Liz, my dive master from the first day, wanted to show me more of the island the following day. I went along with him for a bike ride around the island to a great sunset spot. Gili has amazing sunsets! I could stare at those skies everyday for the rest of my life and never tire of it. After the ride, I went to an Indonesian cooking class at Sugar and Spice. It was a lot of fun and the food was SOOOOOO good! We made Mie Goreng, Gado-Gado, Chicken Taliwang, Fish in Banana Leaves, Peanut Sauce with Tofu and Tempeh and Kelepon which are these weird little green balls filled with palm sugar and rolled in shredded coconut. Yum!

I went out with some guys I had been diving with a few nights and enjoyed the Gili night life to its fullest. I even ran into a friend from Chile who happened to be travelling around this part of the world too!

On my last morning, I woke up to an email from the booking agency I used to book my boat back to Bali to catch my flight home saying that the boat at 9:00 was cancelled, but not to worry because I had been issued a ticket for the 10:30 boat. I went to an internet cafe to print my ticket and reported to the appropriate boat check-in. The guy looked at my ticket and said "Boat is full, You needed to check in 48 hours prior." I argued with him to no avail, took a deep breath and decided that the worst that could happen is that I got stuck in Bali for an extra day. Boo hoo! I called the agency back with a little edge in my voice and about 30 minutes later, after running out of both phone credit and charge, I had a new boat ticket at 11:20 back to Bali. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make my 4 PM flight, since it's an hour and a half to Bali and another hour and a half to the airport from the jetty, but luck was on my side. I got to the airport around 2:30, checked in and began the long journey back to London. 

Bali

After ten days of athletic activities in Laos, including trekking, ziplining, rockclimbing, kayaking and more, I needed some R&R. Bali delivered! Finding a restaurant on my first night that had queso lured me to TJ's for dinner. It wasn't the queso from El Paso Country Club, but it wasn't bad for Indonesia! I woke up early the next day to travel across the island to Tulamben to dive the USS Liberty shipwreck.

I'd never had the chance to dive a wreck before, so it was pretty cool. The boat was a US Marine ship sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1943. It was pretty broken up in the original blast that sunk it, and over the past fifty years has moved a bit due to a volcanic eruption, but you could still make out parts of the ship, the anchor, some ladders and other boat stuff. The coral that has grown on it makes it a really popular hangout for fish and turtles too.

I spent the rest of my time in Bali basically laying on the beach, hanging at the gorgeous pool at The Stones in Legian and pretending I was on my own honeymoon with myself. I even ordered room service and stayed in bed watching movies one night. I wandered around Seminyak and browsed the shops there, but there is no room in my backpack for anything else. The shopping really looked great though!

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng once held the reputation as Asia's party town where backpackers died at the rate of 20 per year from heart attacks, broken necks and drowning. Nestled on the side of the river, tourists would rent old tractor inner-tubes, plop in the river and bar hop down the shores to makeshift parties where opium and mushrooms were favored to beer Lao. In 2012, the government cleaned things up and most of the bars closed. Well, it's been three years and five of them have snuck back on the scene at a more mellowed-out scale. Tubing is still hot, but it reminds me more of tubing down the Guadalupe outside San Marcos than legends of the past. Trade the Jell-O shots famous in Texas for Malibu and pineapple slushies and you've got the scene I encountered in Vang Vieng. The day was loads of fun and I survived it with little more than a bruised foot and a hangover. 

Aside from tubing, Vang Vieng is known for endless options for outdoor adventure. Traveling in Southeast Asia is a bit like summer camp for grownups. My favorite activities at camp were usually those that involved a harness or a gun, but since I think the idea of an American shooting a rifle is a bit of a sensitive subject in these parts, rock climbing sounded like a fun option. I booked a full-day rock climbing tour to Sleeping Rock, just 15 minutes from town. My muscles haven't been this sore in years! It was an awesome day that ended with a completely unsafe climb to the top of a peak that I rapelled down landing on the banks of the river. The scenery from the top was gorgeous, like the rest of Laos. This place is seriously the adventurer's paradise. 

Vientiane

After Yangon, I wasn't too excited to go to another big city on my last day in the country, but Vientiane wasn't so bad! For one, it's not as hot here - today has a high of 97, but it's only 82 right now. That's cool enough for a walking tour in my book! I started my morning with a pastry from the Scandanavian Bakery around the corner from my hotel, iHouse. I got a late start because I don't need to leave for the airport until 7:15 and needed to fill the hours somehow (so an HBO movie kept me in bed until 9:30). After fueling up at breakfast, I hit the pavement en route the Patuxai Monument, Laos's answer to the Arch de Triomph. The monument was built with cement donated by the U.S. intended for a new runway back in the days of the secret war. Instead, the Lao government directed their efforts towards a giant middle finger (or arch) to the French in celebration of their independence. I didn't climb up to the top because the city doesn't really seem like one worth taking the stairs to the top for the view. Just not that much to see. 

I continued on my stroll to That Dam, an old misplaced stupa in the middle of a traffic circle. The stupas in Bagan eat stupas like this one for breakfast, so being the spoiled little stupa voyeur I am, it didn't really excite me too much. 

Wat Si Saket seemed like a good next stop as it was nearby, so I popped in for my weekly temple visit. It was pretty, but still doesn't hold a torch to anything in Myanmar. Gosh! That beautiful country ruined me for the rest of Buddhism. 

Though I couldn't go in, I tried to pay a visit to the president at his royal palace afterward. Instead, I just took an awkward picture through the gate before I was seen by security. 

Lunch at Sputnik Burger was the answer to my desire to avoid Lao food. Their Beer Lao Tempura Tilapia sandwich was delicious. I didn't really understand the restaurant's communist James Bond space theme, but the food was great! Feeling like my walking tour had pretty much exhausted the sites in Vientiane already, I opted for some shopping. The guidebook had recommended T'Shop Lai Gallery so I headed over to check out the handmade bath products with little intent to purchase. Twenty dollars later...I have a new collection of organic natural bug repellent, butterfly pea and kaffir lime shampoo, coconut oil and lip balm. I'm sure I needed this stuff, right? With five hours to kill, I decided a book shop was a good next stop. Monument Books around the corner was a bit of a disappointment. Usually I walk into a book store and can't leave without at least two or three books. I didn't really want to spend five hours with any of the pickings in the shop, so I went to Joma Cafe to catch up on my blog. Blessing in disguise! Laos has kept me so busy I was three cities behind. I needed a taste of the Parisian influence left behind in this city where the cafe culture has hung on strong. Now I'm all caught up in time for Bali! If only I had a book to read on the beach. 

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a town they say that you can do all kinds of fun activities or nothing at all.  I went for the lots of activities plan and had a really good time. After a long shower to get the overnight bus off me, I met up with Maree and Jeremy, an Australian couple who had been on the Gibbon Experience. We had breakfast at a great little French cafe called Le Banneton before bargaining with the tuk-tuk drivers for a fair fare to get to Kuang Si falls. We talked one down to 40,000 kip and satisfied that we were paying the right price, we were on our way. The falls were with the $5 trip! There is a large sun bear sanctuary on site too which was a nice surprise. The bears were so cute!

We also got the chance to see what monks do in their free time - and it's not praying!

For dinner, I met up with my new buddies at the night market for a street food feast. There are rows of stalls with all you can eat for 15,000 kip (or about $2). You literally just fill up a bowl with as much as you can, hand it to a lady to cook it all up on a frying pan and voila! The good news is I've been in Asia long enough that it didn't make me sick either!

We shopped around a bit in the market after we ate, but it had my fill of souvenir shopping, so I didn't pick anything up this time. The next day, I joined Jeremy and Maree again for a kayaking trip to the Pac Ou Caves. It rained most of the day, but since we were already in the river, it didn't really matter. The caves were full of thousands of Buddhas that are taken there annually in some ceremony in October. I think that makes my fifth or sixth cave (I have lost count at this point) on this trip. I've said this before, but now I'm really caved out. 

Huay Xai

I made it to Laos! This part of my journey was never part of the original plan. I should be in Nepal right now volunteering with orphan novice monks. Sadly, the massive earthquake that shook Nepal on April 25 interfered with those plans and the volunteer organization I was meant to be working with has suspended operations until July. I was really looking forward to the project in Nepal, but I guess I'll just have to go another time. With three weeks before my flight back to London, I decided to spend two of them in Laos and end my trip on the beaches of Indonesia. I crossed the border into Laos from Chiang Khong to the town of Huay Xai. Huay Xai is a miserable little town on the Mekong River that is known for little more than being the place to catch a boat to Luang Prabang and home of the Gibbon Experience. All that I cared about was the Gibbon Experience. What is that, you say? A dream come true! That is if you dream of flying through the jungle on zip lines suspended 140 m above the ground and sleeping in treehouses for three days. I certainly do! I opted for the Waterfall version of the Gibbon Experience where you also get to swim in a pretty awesome waterfall for a while. The other options include a 2 day express trek and a 3 day classic trek where you are more likely to see gibbons. Monkeys are cool and all, but I like swimming in waterfalls more. Especially in this heat! 

The hiking was a bit more than I bargained for, but I'm always down for some exercise. A few weeks ago when Sarah and I were in Khao Sok and went trekking, our biggest fear was leeches. We had been warned that they could be lurking in the shallow water we waded through in streams and in the caves. Nobody warned me before coming on the Gibbon Experience that there could be leeches so I was in an ignorant bliss until a leech lodged itself in between Lauren's toes. The little British girl handled it surprisingly well, allowing the guide to detach it and light it on fire with his lighter. It bled quite a bit, but overall seemed like a pretty minor incident. I felt much better about the presence of leeches after that - and it's a good thing - because only ten minutes later, I slipped on a rock while crossing s stream and two leeches found their way to my ankle. One of them didn't have much of a chance to latch on, but the other little bugger got a nice lunch out of my ankle. Aside from a weird looking purple spot, I'm not much worse for the ware. Result: I'm no longer afraid of leeches! How's that for conquering your fears? I don't particularly want another one to snack on me any time soon, but if he did, I'd be happier than if, say, a mosquito carrying malaria bit me (which let's be honest, is pretty likely where I am). I probably should have picked up some malaria tablets before I came. 

We had some visitors to the treehouse on the last night. I heard some rustling and thought there was some sort of critter nearby. I woke up Lauren who didn't seem to care much and rolled over and went back to sleep. I, on the other hand, was on high alert. My backpack was already safely inside our tent-fort-mosquito net, so I figured all that the little critter could be after was the trash or our leftover dinner which we'd tried to put away as well as one can when living in a treehouse. Turns out, he was also safely inside our fort which I discovered this morning based on the hole chewed through my backpack pocket where a bit of peanut brittle had been. So happy I didn't turn on the flashlight to check things out to find a rat in my tent! A couple of leeches and a tree rat were totally worth the rest of the exhilarating experience. I'll put up some better pictures once I have a chance to pull them off my camera. 

Like all good things, the Gibbon Experience had to end. Fortunately for me, I made a few friends who were carrying on in my direction on the overnight bus to Luang Prabang. This bus experience was even worse than the last from Inle Lake to Yangon. I traded one puker for three this time - all in the sleeper bed right above mine! These poor children couldn't stop barfing all night long - for twelve hours straight. At one point, something wet dripped down onto my arm and the bed where Monty (pictures in the center above) was sitting. I'd like to believe it was just water, but am pretty sure that's just wishful thinking. All I know is I am glad that is my last overnight bus!

Inle Lake

Another early morning flight made for another full day of touristing. The whole getting up early thing isn't so bad! Maybe I can try to keep it up when I get home. Imagine all the things I could get done if real life was as exciting as vacation. I wake up here everyday with a list of things that I want to do that is longer than feasibly possible, but seem to be doing a pretty good job of ticking the best ones off. On the agenda for day one: (1) rent a bike, (2) book a hiking trip for tomorrow, (3) visit the Mingala Market, (4) bike out to the countryside to Bamboo Hut for lunch, (5) go wine tasting at Red Mountain Winery. 

It's a bit cooler here than it was in Bagan, but it's still really hot. My guide yesterday told me that Myanmar people don't go outside from about 11-4. I should really take a page from their book. The lunch spot I picked, Bamboo Hut, is about a 5 mile ride from Nyaung Shwe off the highway. Following a tip from another traveler, I decided to make the journey part of my day followed by wine tasting. Myanmar isn't known for their wine (surprise, surprise) but I figure wine falls into the category of "local cuisine" so if I didn't give it a try, I couldn't truly say I had tried all that the Myanmar kitchen has to offer, right?

In a not so unfortunate turn of events, it started raining about ten minutes before I reached the winery. While it soaked me to the core by the time I arrived, the rain also gave me an excuse to drink more than the meager tastes in my $2 flight. Though the wine wasn't extraordinary,  it was certainly better than riding my bike the five miles back to my un-air conditioned hotel room. Of the four wines in the tasting, the Sauvignon blanc was the most drinkable, so I ordered another glass to pass the time. 

Day two was even better than the first. I went on a hike with a local guide whose name I forgot five minutes after he told me it. Something like Dooooh, but I'm probably way off. We hiked out into the hill country and visited a cave where a lonely monk was meditating. I thought I was done with caves after that creepy, crawly experience in Thailand or the weird Disney-cave in Kuala Lumpur, but this one was kinda cool. I totally understand how a dark, quiet cave at the top of a hill outside a tiny town near a lake would be a good place to meditate. We hiked on through a Pa-ho village where loud music drew us toward what turned out to be a wedding party. Doooooh exclaimed, "we are lucky!" I didn't understand why we were so lucky, since neither of us knew the bride and groom, until I realized that we were being invited to the party. The betel-chewing grandfather of the bride gave us a tour of the wedding party, asked us to take pictures with him, asked us to take pictures with the bride and groom, and then even asked me to take a picture of him and the newlyweds on my camera. I'm not sure why he wanted me to have his picture, but I've learned the best policy here is not to ask questions. 

After strapping my hiking shoes back on, we heard back to the hills to continue our hike. By noon, we were tired and ready for lunch, just as we reached a Daung Yu village. Myanmar has 142 different ethnic groups which all have different cultures and speak different languages. My guide could understand most of what these two groups said, but apparently they didn't understand the language he spoke very well. No matter! He was able to ask the woman who ran the bamboo hut we came across to make some delicious Shan noodle soup (which he kept calling salad for some reason). Two local guys sitting next to us kept motioning for me to try their rice wine which I declined twice. Doooooh had a different idea, and encouraged me to give it a try. There was some awkward hand gestures exchanged between the four of us, lots of smiling, and then shots were poured. After a few more, we bid our new friends adieu and continued on our hike. Doooooh was in a chatty mood for the rest of the day and shared stories with me about his two girlfriends, the military government and the poor education system in Myanmar. I imparted that I had been teaching English in Thailand for the last three weeks which encouraged him to take me to the school where he used to take English classes. Despite my requests that he not interrupt the class, he walked right into a class session and told the teacher I was an English teacher (eek!). I had a short chat with the teacher and some of the students while trying to get out of taking over the class for the day. Finally, I got my way and we returned to our trek. I had no idea trekking would be such a cultural experience! Myanmar continues to amaze me every day. 

On my third day in Inle Lake, I took a boat tour with the same boat driver who had taken me out to my luxurious lakeside resort, Inle Resort, last night. We began the day at 7:30 so we could make it to the five-day market. The five-day market is a market that rotates around the lake to five different locations every day. On the way there, we passed by a number of fisherman paddling their boats with one leg attached to an oar while handling their nets. The market was near Shwe Inn Tain Pagodas where over 1000 stupas have been dedicated to various people. Without receiving any explanation from signage or otherwise, my best guess is that it was a sort of beautiful cemetery. 

It wouldn't be a tour without a few compulsory workshop visits, so our next stop was a gold and silversmith where I got suckered into buying some silver earrings in the traditional Shan style. They are really pretty and unique looking - and I got her down 3000 kyats with my skillful bargaining powers. Next up was a umbrella and paper-making workshop. The local artisan showed me how paper is made while her adorable two-year-old daughter pretended she was pounding bark to make the paste that ultimately become paper. I was interested in buying a parasol here, but haven't figured out how I plan on getting that home. They are so pretty though. I might look again in Yangon where I can ship things more easily. 

Our next stop was Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, a fairly unexciting pagoda where women weren't allowed to go up inside. I didn't stay long there for obvious reasons. We then visited a lotus, silk and cotton workshop. I never knew that you could spin lotus fiber, but I guess that's the point of visiting these places. You learn something new every day! The lady showing me around said the lotus scarves were 8 times more expensive than the pure silk ones. When she was showing me their shop at the end of the visit, I inquired how much one of these knobby brown scarves ran. The small one I picked up was $160 - and it wasn't even soft or pretty. I opted for a cheaper, prettier blue silk scarf for $15 that I will actually wear. I'm glad I brought a lot of cash today, because this $15 tour quickly turned into much more than that! 

I got Trey a gift at our next destination, a cheroot cigar factory. Cheroot is similar to tobacco and is grown locally in the area surrounding Inle Lake. As I walked in, one of the young girls rolling cigars handed me a basket full of little cheroot cigarettes and a lighter. Though I don't smoke, I gave it a try. After about three puffs, I already had a buzz and bought a pack for my brother and went on my way. Not for me, but I'm sure Trey will enjoy the souvenir (as long as it makes it through customs). 

The floating gardens were the next destination on our journey around the lake. The name is a bit of a undersell, as they are really floating farms. Acres and acres of loofah, tomatoes, lotus and other vegetables I couldn't really see grow in rows like any other farm, only everything is floating. The farmers all tend their crops from boats, paddling along with their one-legged oar. Finally, the tour came to an end at Nga Phe Chaung Monastery which, to be quite honest, was a bit of a disappointment. Lonely Planet described the place as home to jumping cats that had been trained by the monks in residence. For probably the tenth time while in Myanmar, Lonely Planet failed me. The cats used to jump three years ago when that guidebook was written. Now, they are sleepy cats who no longer jump. 

Lonely Planet needs to get someone out to Myanmar and do a rewrite of their guide. It was written in 2013 after the country had just opened up for tourism. A lot has changed in those three years and I've continually be let down by the dated, incorrect or lacking information in the book. The good thing about this country, however is that it's easy to play things by ear and figure out your path along the way. This has been a bit of a challenge for the planner deep inside me, but has also been exciting. I never know what to expect from my day and am constantly pleasantly surprised. 

Bagan

Today marks the first day of my tenth week of travel. What a trip it has been so far! Myanmar hasn't disappointed with its gorgeous sunsets, plentiful temples and curious people. Although I was only in Bagan for two nights, when you wake up at 4:45 to catch the sunrise, you really get more out of your day. I rented an e-bike for the morning to venture out to see the temples before the bike tour is booked for the afternoon. Having little (or no) experience on a scooter, I was a little skeptical, but two minutes into the ride, I decided I'd found my new mode of transportation. It may not have much power, but the e-bike is fun! The receptionist at the Floral Breeze Hotel gave me a map of Bagan and circled all the hot spots. She also pointed out the best place to watch the sunrise. With map in hand and the key in the ignition of my little scooter, I headed out across the hot, red Myanmar countryside. Upon arriving at the first temple on my journey, I realized I had mixed up Shwezigon Paya with Shwesandaw Paya and didn't get to see the spectacular sunrise I was hoping for. Can you blame me? The names are practically the same! Nonetheless, it was pretty cool to be there at 5:30 am and have the whole place to myself. 

To avoid boring you with the details, and since I know very little of them anyway, I'll just show you pictures of the rest of the temples I visited along the way. 

Shwezigon Paya

Htilominlo

Ananda Temple

Thatbyinyu (to be posted when I have better wifi)

Bu Paya (to be posted when I have better wifi)

Shwesandaw Paya (to be posted when I have better wifi)

Dhammayangyi (to be posted when I have better wifi)

Sulamani (to be posted when I have better wifi)

Pyathada (to be posted when I have better wifi)

Returning to my hotel at 9:00, I felt like I'd had a full day already. Nine temples in four hours really takes it out of you! I opted for a nap by the hotel pool until I couldn't take the heat any longer (30 minutes) and returned to the comfort of the AC in my room. 

I fueled up for my afternoon ride with a healthy lunch of lentil soup and tea leaf salad at The Moon in Old Bagan. Myanmar food is pretty unremarkable, especially after spending a month in Thailand, but they make great lentil soup. The herbal tea leaf salad had also become a staple of mine in nearly every meal. It's got a great mixture of crunch, rang and spice combined together for a perfect start (or main part) of every meal.

The afternoon ride was extremely hot - 100 degrees - but if you tried not to think about the heat, it was a nice ride. We visited some local villages, a lacquerware workshop, some temples and a monastery. One of the villages had only recently gotten electricity installed in the last year. They have four wells that provide the water for the whole village. Life here is really different!

The trip ended with a cruise on the Ayarwaddy River at sunset. Having ridden over 60 km in the past four days, I treated myself to a massage at the hotel before retiring for the night. Great day in Bagan!

Chiang Rai

I'm back in Thailand! I liked it so much, I had to come back. Actually, it's just a short stop on the way to Laos, but I hadn't spent much time in the north, so it's a welcome one. Chiang Rai province borders Myanmar and Laos and is home to a number of hill tribes. I arrived in a holiday, so missed the chance to visit the hill tribe museum where I could have learned about them, but hopefully I'll get a chance to visit a few tomorrow. When I arrived, I first headed to the bus station to find out how to get to the Laotian border. My original plan was to spend the day here today, go on a overnight 2-day hike tomorrow and the next day, and catch the bus up to Laos in the afternoon. Unfortunately, although buses run until 5, the tuk-tuk drivers that cross the border go home and I would be stuck in Thailand until the next morning. That just won't do! I have a tour to catch early the following morning and a border crossing would certainly interfere. Alas, I have to stay another night at Le Meridien instead. What a pity! After a few (like 4) bad hostels and guesthouses last week, it's totally worth it. I'm really not a very good backpacker. At least I'm getting SPG points!

I decided to figure out the plan for the next day later and do some sight-seeing. First stop, Wat Rong Kuhn, AKA the White Temple. What a weird place! It's gorgeous, don't get me wrong. It also has some modern elements tied in, like xmen figures and other superheroes hanging about (literally, their heads are hanging from trees). A big bridge over a pond representing hell beckons you into the temple. As you cross the bridge, skeletal hands reach out of the water as if trying to drag you in. Quite dramatic. 

After a fair bit of searching and negotiation, I sorted out a guide to take me trekking on day 2. What the internet doesn't tell you about traveling alone during low season is that tourist agencies don't want to run a tour for one. Either they won't do it, or they will charge you for two. I was able to finagle a price of about 1 1/2 people so that I could go for a hike. I skipped the typical elephant ride part of the tour because I've already ridden two. That's probably enough. The hike took us through several local hill tribe villages, a tea plantation and by a waterfall. It was unbearably hot, but I survived the day. Coming back to the pool at Le Meridien was quite the reward.

 I paid a visit to the night market in the evening which was pretty meh. Same ol' same ol'. I picked up a pair of elephant print shorts to replace my missing pajama bottoms (wherever have they gone?) since I'll be sharing a tree house with strangers for the next three nights. Now I'm on the local bus to Chiang Khong where I'll catch a tuk-tuk across the border to Laos. This bus reminds me a lot of the bus I took a few years ago in Ecuador from Quito to Baños - only with  fans attached to the ceiling! Yay for $2 bus rides (it was really only $1.92, but who's counting?). I just hope it leaves the station before anyone takes the open seat next to mine. 

Yangon

I arrived in Yangon at 6:00 AM exhausted from a restless night in a bumpy 12 hour bus ride. Luckily, my hostel let me check in, so after having some breakfast, I went straight to bed. Feeling more rested after a nap, I went to 999 Shan Noodles based off Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet's recommendations. This time LP was right. For just $2.10, I had delicious sticky rice noodles and a lime juice. Feeling energized, I was ready to get back to touristing. Looking at the map, I realized Sule Pagoda was a short walk away so I paid it a visit. Maybe I've been spoiled by amazing pagodas this past week, but it was nothing special. Apparently, it's older than Shwedagon Pagoda, the city's most famous pagoda, so I guess that's cool. It also supposedly has some of Buddha's hair inside. Ew. 

Everyone says that the Circle Line Train is a must-do attraction in Yangon. Since I was only 15 minutes away and wanted to save the other pagoda for sunset, I walked over to Yangon Central Station to board the train. For just 50 cents, you can ride the whole circuit around the city. I was a little skeptical about riding a train for three hours, but figured I didn't have anything better to do, so I'd hop on a get a taste of the local flavor. The first interesting thing I noticed is that everyone faces forward despite the seats facing inward. Little old ladies and wrinkly old men pull their legs in Indian style or squat on their haunches so their whole bodies face the front of the train. Some even trim completely around with their back to the center facing outward. This can be a bit weird if you sit the "normal" way, since the guy next to you is breathing into the side of your face. 

The next interesting thing to happen, and I'm using that word generously, was when a 50ish-year-old man jumped off the moving train as it was nearing a station, pulled up his longhi, pulled out his longy and started to pee on the tracks. I guess he couldn't wait! Another interesting thing about the train was the variety of goods available for sale. It's almost as if you could skip the market all together and just ride the train until everything you needed had come to you. Cheroot cigars? Of course! Mango? By the dozen! Lychee? By all means! Live chicken? Ice cream? Rice snacks? No problem! Or if you're feeling a bit more ambitious, you can exit at the Danyingon stop, which much like the train market in Bangkok, was set up on both sides of the tracks and cleared out of the way when the train approached. As soon as we departed, the vendors were back in the tracks selling their wares. 

And for the last interesting thing that happened on the train: a little girl got on and sat down next to me. She had a little bag of snack with her that she was quietly munching on. At first, I didn't really pay attention to what she was nibbling - until I noticed it was crickets. Lots and lots of seasoned crickets. She looked as if she was really enjoying them too, pulling off each wing individually and putting them into her mouth, really savoring every bite. So, as the train rolled back into Yangon Central Station, I assessed the past three hours of my day and decided that this trip is on the list of top things to do for tourists for one of two reasons. Either, the people who do it haven't even been on a train in their lives or there isn't much worth seeing in Yangon, so convincing tourists to sit on a train for three hours might distract them from wondering what to do all day. Either way, it was pretty boring. I'm glad I had a book. Since it started raining just before sunset, I decided to hold off on Shwedagon Paya until the next day. After 9 days in Myanmar, I am a bit tired of Myanmar food, so I went to Union Bar & Grill for some international cuisine. I ordered a Caesar salad and spinach ravioli. It was decent, but not amazing. I was just happy it wasn't rice and curry. 

I finally had a morning to sleep in, so I didn't set an alarm today. Thin curtains and no AC sort of ruining that plan, however and I was up at 7:30. Oh well. After breakfast and packing, I took a cab to the pagoda. Every cab driver in the city I have come across has tried to talk me into a Yangon city tour ranging from $60 to $80. I feel pretty good about walking everywhere yesterday, spending only 50 cents in the train and my $3 cab to the pagoda this morning. There is another (in my opinion better) pagoda next to Shwedagon Paya called Maha Wizaya Pagoda. Before walking in, I was making a mess of wrapping my longhi around me when a little old lady came up grabbed the cloth and took over. I was immaculately wrapped in no time! It's amazing how flattering a longhi can be when it's done right. I liked this pagoda more than its famous neighbor because there wasn't anyone there, unlike the crowded Shwedagon Paya. Also, it had a weird mystical forest inside with a unicorn and what looked like Dorothy's house from the Wizard of Oz on the ceiling. Not sure what that was all about, but it was different!

So long Myanmar! You've really been lovely!

Mandalay

Before getting to Myanmar, I got a taste of what traveling there is going to be like. Two nights before my flight I received an email from Asian Wings, the airline I was flying to Mandalay, informing me that my 11:00 AM flight had been moved to 6:30 AM. The trouble with that is that my flight from Bangkok to Yangon where I was connecting for the flight to Mandalay was on a different airline and wasn't supposed to arrive in Yangon until after the next flight left. So...what do you do? Book a new flight! Air Asia wouldn't let me change my flight within 48 hours, so it was my only option. Good thing flights in Asia are cheap. 

After making it to Mandalay, I took a badly needed nap. I needed energy before my 20 km bike tour that afternoon. Grasshopper tours didn't disappoint! We traversed through the ancient capital of Ava seeing centuries' old pagodas stopping along the way for a roadside snack of fried tempura with chickpeas and some sort of spicy dip. We also passed by some villagers cutting down bamboo to later weave into sheets that are used as walls for their houses. The next town we reach after Ava was Amarapura, known for weaving. We visited a silk weaving workshop and saw some women in action at the loom making ceremonial longhi with beautiful designs. After that, it was onto U Bein bridge for sunset. We paddled out into a boat to watch the silhouetted figures of monks crossing the bridge on their way home for the evening. I enjoyed the tour so much, I've decided to do another one before I leave to see another side of Mandalay. 

To give my legs a rest, I hired a driver on my second day in Mandalay to see the sites within the city. The day began with a visit to a gold plate workshop where I saw how gold plate is made. As so many temples, pagodas and Buddhas are plated in gold, this is a big industry in Myanmar. We then paid a visit to Mahamuni Paya which houses a giant golden Buddha where devout Buddhist men (but not women) can pound some gold plate onto the Buddha themselves. This makes for a rather bumpy looking Buddha, since your average man isn't an artist at such a craft. We then got to see some more local artisans at work with visits to the stone carving district, a 

- wood carving workshop, and the jade market. While it sounds like the guide was trying to get me to spread around my western wealth by taking me to a bunch of places where you could potentially get suckered into buying things, the proprietors actually didn't bother me at all and I was able to walk away empty handed. There is no room in my luggage for souvenirs at this point. 

With the majority of our visits to see local life covered, we started back on the pagodas and monasteries beginning with Shwe In Bin Kyuang. This beautifully carved teak monastery was quiet and very peaceful. There wasn't another tourist in sight! The only other people I saw were monks meditating or going about their daily chores. 

Next stop was the flower market, an important part of Myanmar life due to the extent of alms giving in the way of flowers  for the Buddhas. It was a very busy and colorful place. We then ventured on to the Royal Palace, which was quite the complex. After having visited the Grand Palace in Thailand, the Forbidden City in China, and the Royal Palace in Cambodia, this wasn't as ornate or impressive, but I'd still be happy to be a princess there! While I was wandering around, a group of teenage girls and their mother approached me and asked for a picture. I assumed they wanted me to take their picture. When I went to reach for the camera, one of the girls passed it to her mother while she looped her arm through mine to have our picture taken together. I'd been getting lots of stares throughout the day as the Burmese probably don't see too many blonde girls walking around. What a trip!

Next stop was Golden Palace Monastery and Atu Mashi Monastery, side by side and yet very different. The former was a teak carved monastery with two gilded Buddhas within behind a barrier with a big sign forbidding women to enter. The latter, an enormous white-washed and golden building with an enormous empty hall housing a smallish Buddha statue. My celebrity continued within Atu Mashi Monastery where I was surrounded by about 20 children of varying ages who seemingly wanted to practice their English on me. I snapped a picture with them before leaving too.

My favorite stop of the day was next up: Kuthodaw Pagoda. This site is known to be the world's largest book. Surrounding the golden stupa, there are 729 marble slabs contained within their own small stupas which make up the entire 15 books of the Triptaka. Another 1774 slabs containing commentary encircle Sandamuni Paya next door. The vast number of mini stupas reminded me of the cemetery in Buenos Aires full of mausoleums. 

I got a lesson on Buddhism from a betel nut chewing monk at our next stop, Kyauktawgyi Paya. From the bits I could understand between his gross spitting and broken English, within the pagoda is a  giant Buddha made out of one slab of marble weighing 900 tons. He walked me around the complex, spitting out historical facts and red juice for about 20 minutes and then told me he wanted a donation so he could buy a new robe. I figured I'd be forking out some kyat at the end of his tour, but was shocked when he asked for $20! Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for me, all I had on me was the equivalent of $5 which I gladly handed over. It's not every day you get to have a monk spit on you!

Last stop of the day was Mandalay Hill. On our drive up the hill, we stopped for a photo at a standing Buddha whose arm points out towards the Royal Palace. We also attempted to stop and see a reclining Buddha but the doors to the pagoda were closed so I could only catch a glimpse through cracks in the walls. The view of all of the stupas filling the city and countryside around Mandalay from the top of Mandalay Hill was a great way to end an exhausting day. 

Power outages are very common here.  In the past 36 hours, there have been two. The first one was just before I laid down for a nap at my hotel. The outage was bread though thanks to generators backing up the entire hotel. Same thing happened while I was having dinner at Diamond Ring Indian Restaurant. They immediately ran outside and turned on a generator. I guess when you run a business and power outages happen daily, you've gotta have a back up!

Feeling I had a full day of the Mandalay sites on my second day, I opted for an off-the-beaten path bike tour on day 3. Since I had already done one tour with Grasshopper Adventures and had another one scheduled for the next day in Bagan, the manager gave me a nice discount. I'm happy I went for the ride. What was meant to be a 13 mile ride turned into an 18 mile ride to the local market and through the rural villages surrounding the city visiting a bamboo fan workshop, a mushroom farm (it's not what you're thinking...unless you're thinking of normal, boring mushrooms, in which case, it is) and a great little roadside tea house where we are all kinds of deliciously fried Myanmar snacks. Another lone traveler from Canada, Mike, joined the tour. He was flying out to Bagan later on the same flight I was so we decided to have dinner so that neither one of us had to dine alone. I hope meeting people is this easy for the rest of the trip!

In parting, I leave you with my final Mandalay discovery. The airport doesn't have air conditioning. To give you a feeling for what that's like, imagine yourself inside the dry sauna at your local YMCA. I say YMCA over 24 Hour Fitness or Equinox or whatever shmancy gym you might belong to, because this airport is more on the budget side of things (see a over re: no air conditioning). Then, schedule every flight in the country on every airline at approximately the same time so anyone flying out of Mandalay today is sharing that sauna with you. It's 97 degrees F/36 degrees C with a heat index of 111/44. I'm exaggerating of course, because it's low season and there actually aren't very many people anywhere, but the airport is still too hot to deprive passengers of their right to AC. 

Where in the world is Cameron?

Hey y'all!

I hope you're enjoying my stories so far from my three month adventure around Southeast Asia. I'm just finishing the 8th week of my 13 week trip. Only five weeks to go! Take a look at the map below to see where I've been so far.

My original plans included three weeks of volunteering in Nepal. Due to the earthquakes that devastated the country on April 25 and again on May 12, the organization that was hosting my project has suspended operations in the region until later this summer. As much as I would like to help the country in their time of need, it looks like I'll have to go to Nepal another time.

Since I'm not going to Nepal anymore, I've decided to stay on for those three weeks and travel to Laos and Indonesia after Myanmar (which was a part of the original plan). Watch this space for more updates about my adventures!

Chiang Mai

I just got into Chiang Mai and fell for a taxi trick at the airport. It cost me 160 baht to get from the airport to my hotel where in Bangkok it cost me 180 for a trip three times as long. Lesson learned. Next time I'll walk waaaaay out of the airport before saying yes to someone who looks all official with her smart little clip board. Oh well...it's only $5 after all. The owner of the company running the tour I am going on tomorrow, Jungala, came by the hotel to prep me for tomorrow. After informing me that I will be going on a completely different (but cheaper) tour than the one I booked, he warned me to bring mosquito repellent since Chiang Mai is known as the part of Thailand most prone to dengue fever. I could feel them biting me as he was talking and promptly ran upstairs to apply bug spray when we were done. Since I'll be out from tomorrow morning until 5 o'clock the next afternoon, I ventured out towards the river from the charming Sri Pat Guest House to see what all the Chiang Mai hype is about. First stop was Ginger & Kafe, a short walk from my guest house for some delicious red curry before a relaxing massage and calling it a night. I may not have seen much of the town, but at least I enjoyed my first evening in Chiang Mai!

Elephant riding in the river

The guide came for me at 9 AM the next morning to begin a two-day overnight trek into the jungle. We started off with a visit to a local market for any last minute necessities before heading to an elephant camp. After a leisurely ride for about half an hour which took us through a river while on elephant-back, we hopped back into the truck to go see a waterfall. My traveling companions for the weekend are two Belgian girls, a guy from Japan and an English guy. I'm glad I'm not the only solo traveler so I have someone to talk to. 

After the waterfall, we began our 7 mile hike to a Karen village. The Karen people are one of Thailand's hill tribes that still live very traditional lives away from the cities. The only way to get into the village is by foot or a treacherous scooter journey on steep trails. When we finally arrived, we were greeted by a group of boys and young men playing a game similar to volleyball but without using their hands. It reminded me of the way Brazilians play on the beaches of Rio. The Belgian girls and I watched as the two guys in our group attempted to join them. After about five minutes, the villagers demoted them from the court to playing with the kids on the side. 

"Home" for the night

As it got dark, a number of other villagers stopped by our tree house to sell bracelets, visit us (probably out of curiosity) and say hello to our guide who is from the village. He invited his "uncle" - which I gathered means literally every man older than him unless he has fifty uncles - to come play an instrument made out of a coconut attached to a bamboo shaft that resembled a banjo of sorts. After he played for about half an hour, the silence was broken by the sound of children singing in the distance as part of a honeymoon ritual going on in the village. The hike really exhausted me, so I turned in for a night under a mosquito net on a mattress in our tree house. 

Karen villager getting water from the river

The next day was very busy! Starting off with a two hour hike back to "civilization," we reached the starting point of a trip down the river in a bamboo raft. This is Thailand's version of floating the river like we do back in Texas, complete with drunk people partying and all! After our rafting trip, we ate Pad Thai for lunch and headed back into Chiang Mai. 

Wat Chedi Luang

My flight wasn't for another three hours, so I decided to walk around the old city a bit to check out the Sunday Walking Street and some of the temples. I managed to see Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phra Singh and some other smaller one I don't know the name of. While I was at Wat Chedi Liang, I got a blessing from a Buddhist monk. He gave me a bracelet to wear to resemble the blessing and splashed some holy water on my head. Not a bad way to cool down! The temple was in the midst of a big offering ceremony to bring on a good monsoon season. It was packed with people offering flowers in masses for a good harvest. Sadly, after spending some time strolling through the Sunday market, it was time to head back to Bangkok. I think I definitely made the most out of my weekend though!

Kuala Lumpur

After three weeks in Thailand, I was approaching the point where Americans aren't welcome to stay without a visa. Rather than paying the Thai government more baht, I decided to hop over to Malaysia to avoid having to get a visa. It doesn't hurt that nonstop flights on AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur are cheap. As soon as I arrived, the most exciting thing about the trip hit me. It wasn't the smell of Malaysian cuisine or the fact that I scored a five-star hotel for $40. No, it was the fact that I was alone. For the first time since March 25.  As an extremely social person, this may seem a bit odd that I was so excited to be alone, but every once in a while (say 42 days) sleeping alone is a necessity. Sorry, future husband.

The Petronas Towers

After sleeping in for the first time in weeks, I walked out into KL's muggy humidity and straight into the Pavilion Mall across the street from my cushy room at the Prince Hotel. I should treat myself to private getaways more often. It's great! Upon arrival, I felt like I was back in LA. I spotted a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and The Counter in the first ten minutes. After caffeinating and gorging on a grilled cheese and half-and-half onion strings and skinny fries, I wasn't ready to leave the AC, so I wandered over to what turned out to be the nicest movie theater ever. The $20 ticket price is worth it for the Pavilion Mall Gold Class theater. I snuggled into my reclining chair with feather blanket and touch-button waiting service for two hours of side-splitting laughter watching Pitch Perfect 2.

KLCC Park

After getting a fix of dirty American indulgences, I was ready to wander around a be a good little tourist. I walked on the sky bridge over to the Petronas Towers and sat in the park nearby for as long as I could bare the heat (5 minutes). Somehow I ended up back in the air conditioned mall at Sephora soon after. 

These little pancake-like things were delicious!

To make up for my lack of cultural experiences during the day, I went on a walking street food tour with Charles, my trust guide from Food Tour Malaysia. Their Off the Eaten Track street food tour is highly recommendable. I ate all kinds of delicious things, none of which I know the name of. I also tried Nasi Lemak, the national dish of Malaysia, which I thought was pretty gross. I'm not a fan of the anchovy flavor in the sambal. 

Stinky Stinky

The other exciting yet gross thing I ate was durian. If you've never had durian before, don't. It smells so bad that its banned in most hotels and I was told it is illegal in Singapore. Don't quote me on that though; I haven't fact checked it. Regardless, it tastes slightly better than it smells, but since it smells horrid, that's still not good. 

Batu Caves

On my second day in KL, I explored the Batu Caves, just outside the city. The first cave I entered was really weird. It was sort of like a Hindu version of It's A Small World inside a cave that is also a temple. On the bright side, it was cool inside the cave. The main attraction at the caves is climbing up a really long stair case to a less Disney-like cave. For the Hindu people, this trek is a sort of pilgrimage. There were a number of pilgrims with their babies who had an orange chalky substance smeared all over their bald heads. It was a site to see watching the family carry the babies suspended in a cloth hanging from long bamboo polls hiking up the stairs while wild monkeys played around them.