I didn't have a flashlight and my friend's was dying, so we decided to just lay down where we were. Not that we had any other options. It was a little after 3am and nothing was open even if we had been able to see it. We felt around for an area that didn't give off the impression that it had recently served as a toilet, lay down and drifted off to sleep. Five minutes later I … [Read more...]
A Burmese Train — Seeing Myanmar in Slow Motion
First of all, it was hot. The temperature outside was around 40 degrees Celsius and it felt like twice that in the cramped car. We were near a window so we figured we would get a nice breeze once the train started moving. We didn't realize that the train would never really start moving. It crawled along so slowly that the only way you could get any breeze was to stick your head … [Read more...]
How to use a toilet
Finally a hotel considerate enough to inform me how to use a toilet—all these years I've been doing it wrong. When I think of all the slips and falls and wet shoes and bruised butt-cheeks that could have been avoided........But, seriously—why is this in English? Are western tourists really the problem? … [Read more...]
Welcome to Shwebo Mr. ATM
The next two hours were pretty uneventful and even relatively pain free, since my knee caps had been thoroughly liquefied by this point. We did pass a road construction site on the way and had to wait for a bit as a group of slaves broke up rocks with hammers and placed them into the roadway by hand. I know, I know--they are not slaves, they are volunteers.You see, … [Read more...]
Arrival in Mandalay
Once at the station, we boarded our bus to Mandalay and it actually was quite luxurious compared to the one we were just on and just about every other bus I would ride for the next month. The main perk you get when you pay more money is one seat per person and the fact that the bus doesn't stop to pick up every single man, woman, child, dog, chicken and goat standing by the … [Read more...]