And it begins... Myanmar!

Part one of our journey around SE Asia took us to the country of Myanmar, west of Thailand.  We flew into the city of Mandalay, but our true destination was Bagan, a city covered with over 4400 temples, pagodas, stupas, etc.  (And yes, I now know what all of those mean.)  This blog includes some of my favorite pictures from the trip.  Enjoy!

I stayed at my coworkers house the night before heading to Bangkok to begin my trip... here I am packed and ready to travel!

Peace out, Bangkok!  Next stop, Myanmar!

We flew AirAsia, which is the budget airline of Asia.

Our first traditional Burmese meal!  We ordered fish and fried chicken, and it was served with rice, a tomato dish, green bean dish, and bamboo shoot dish.  Everything on the table was bottomless, and it was delicious!

We walked along the moat and this local fell in step with us... We were waiting for him to try to sell us something, but we think he was really just happy to be walking down the road with some Americans!  He posed for this photo and told me to take a picture.  You can see he is wearing skirt-like thing called a longyi, which almost all men and women wear in Myanmar.

Two novice monks walking down the street, in front of a building with the flag of Myanmar.

In Bagan, we found a restaurant and this little girl kept coming over to see us.  Such a doll.

More Burmese food.  Top to bottom, left to right, we have fish in brown sauce, spicy dried shrimp, carrot salad, green tomato salad, and chicken curry with eggplant.  Yummmmm.

Dhammayangi Temple, built in the 12th century by a king so cruel, if he could fit a needle between the bricks, he would chop the hands off the builders and then kill them.  Yikes!  As soon as he died, the building project was abandoned, which is why the spires on top were not completed.

The bricks in Dhammayangi Temple.  No cement was used, and you really couldn't fit a needle between the bricks!

Buddha statue inside a temple.  The Buddha statues in Myanmar looked really different, painted white and wearing burgundy robes.

We picked up a tour guide along the way, and here he is explaining the view to Emily.  His name is Muang Pa, he is from Bagan, and he is a hoot.  We really enjoyed his antics and tour of the temples.

Emily and I driving our e-bikes down the dirt path between temples!

Another option from the e-bike is to travel by horse carriage to visit the temples.

Bagan!

Sunset over Thatbinnyu temple with Maung Pa.  He's showing off the flag of Myanmar on his shirt.

We joined Muang Pa again before the sun came up for sunrise.  We were rewarded with this view.

We got to watch the sun slowly light up the thousands of temples around us.

Good morning, Bagan!

Muang Pa had all sorts of ideas about pictures we should take, and what poses we should strike.  

Muang Pa took this picture for me and was pumped about how it turned out.

A man working his ground in Bagan with wooden implements pulled by his cattle.

Local breakfast was a mysterious soup (tasty) with potato and onion pastries and pastries made of ground rice flower.  It was a perfect, tasty breakfast to fuel our day of temple hopping.

The Burmese Buddhist days of the week.  I was born on a Monday, so my animal is the tiger.  Rawr!

Burmese people wear sandalwood paste on their faces to protect your skin from the sun.  We had the opportunity to partake in this custom, and we went for it!

Fried peanuts, sesame seeds, stewed green tea leaves with little shrimps - a Myanmar snack.  Served up in a pretty lacquerware bowl.

Apparently, Bagan is the lacquerware capital of the world.  Lacquerware is created using this timely process of covering the piece in lacquer made from tree resin, then handcarving a design and filling it with a natural color, covering with a new layer of lacquer, and repeating for each color.  The result is a lovely, intricate design usually depicting Buddhist scenes or pretty designs.

Do we look Burmese?  We think we do!

Standing with my cheek up to the fingernail of the biggest Buddha statue in Bagan.

Ananda Temple, with Muang Pa giving Emily a big hug.  Don't worry, Sean, he kept it appropriate!

Ananda Temple

Muang Pa took us to lunch, which consisted of a full, bottomless, traditional Burmese meal for 3500 kyat.  That's $3.50, ya'll!

In Myanmar, everyone chews betel nut wrapped in what I believe to be a tobacco leaf.  It stains everyone's teeth and mouths a dark red color.  It smelled like sunscreen, and tasted like sunscreen.  I chewed on a tiny piece for about 5 seconds before spitting it out.  Burmese people chew them all day long.  Muang Pa went through a whole plastic bag during our all-day tour.

Burmese puppets, used for traditional puppet shows.

Bagan!

Me on the e-bike!  Let me explain: Foreigners are not allowed to rent motorbikes in Bagan, so they've found a loophole - an electronic powered bike that works like a motorbike but also has pedals.  It's a great way to get around to all the temples!

This isn't the best photo, but I was trying to capture the image of the woman carrying a large basket and blanket on top of her head.  The women in Myanmar were able to balance crazy huge baskets and bowls on top of their heads.  Amazing!

Being in Myanmar made me grateful for infrastructure.  The road between Mandalay and Bagan was a one lane wide strip of asphalt, and extremely bumpy.  When a bigger vehicle was heading our way, we would pull over for them to pass.

Here was where our van stopped for a potty break - at a little restaurant on the side of the road.

Another traditional Burmese meal.  Not only did we have a vast array of dishes every time we ate, but the dishes were different at each restaurant!  We got to taste all sorts of new flavors, and we were happily surprised with how delicious everything was!

Night market in Mandalay

Our free AirAsia shuttle from Mandalay to the airport had their seats covered with t-shirts.

This is a map of the airport in Mandalay.  It had one landing strip, and just 6 gates in use.

Burmese writing is very circular, and so very different from Thai writing.

A perfect portrait of two different cultures standing side by side: Emily on the left and a local Burmese man on the right, wearing the traditional longyi.

Bye bye, Myanmar!

So there you have it, folks.  One country down, five more to go.  Next up, Cambodia!  I'm going to do my best to keep you updated along the way. =)

Just 46 days until I'm on America soil...