Halong Bay

Our tour to Halong Bay was bitter sweet. The weather sucked. Coldest weather here in 100 years. Did not make for the best kayaking. We paid enough that we had a private 3 storey wooden junk for just the 2 of us. That was sweet. We had a cook that made amazing food despite his attitude. Our guide was also not the best. When we first arrived at the bay we thought we had it made. Lounging on the upper deck of our boat that usually holds 14 people. However, I think the crew took this to mean vacation for them. They soon seemed to take over the main cabin. Watch Vietnamese TV very loud. Then the Vietnamese dance party started. Loud abnoxious music. I must be getting old. Oh well the food was great. We had a beautiful cruise and it was not that cold yet. That night after stopping at the "amazing cave", appropriately named. We had our first kayak. We were very surprised when our kayaking guide said he was not coming with us. He just pointed the way. We headed on the path he told us to take. We thought it was great when we got cheers from another boat that turned out to be our old GAP tour crew. They had been looking for us. They were only on the bay for 1 night. Great to see them 1 last time. We thought we were doing great at staying warm and not getting wet. Then the kayak turned bittersweet. When we entered the cave and little lagoon area we were told to kayak (which was beautiful) a speed boat came by with a boat load of tourists. We thought their wake was rude. Then to our surprise he turned around and put the engines on full and came right at us. The bastard was trying to tip us. Luckily I have done enough rapids in a canoe and kayak to handle it. However, he soaked us with freezing water. We were just happy not to swim. But no so cool. When we told our guide he laughed and said that was a rare occurrance. The sleeping was cold but luckily we could steal blankets from other rooms so it was OK. The next day we had more TV while the crew slept in our area. We finally drew the line when at10am the loud Vietnamese dance music came on again. I could not even talk to Addi across the table. She finally got up and told them enough. All of a sudden they realized that was it. No more music and only the occassional quiet TV. We then found out we had to pay for all drinks. Oh well. The second morning we went out for2 hours of freezing kayaking on rough water. Our guide wanted to stop at some caves but we had no shoes. He did not tell us. Again disappointing. My feet were white and numb from the cold water. He said we go too fast and wanted to tack on another hour. We were going fast to get it over with. We said no. Go to the boat. After lunch he said 2 more hours. We said no. He said yes and we firmly said no. Instead we got 2 bottles of wine and drank and played cards all day. At least it was peaceful since there was no more music. We then enjoyed our boat and tour. All of a sudden today the crew and guide were nice (they knew it was tip day). We had another 3 hour ride around the bay (on thejunk) a good lunch. We only tipped the crew $30 for 5 of them since we thought they sucked. The guide only got $25 which he seemed to wait for more. Too bad. Overall, it was great to see the bay. Too bad we did not feel it was worth the money due to the crew. Sonya:)

Hanoi, Vietnam

We are currently in Vietnam. Things here in Hanoi are quite quiet compared to usual due to Chinese New Year. I guess it is like Christmas day. We missed the big celebrations by a day but they have a long weekend until Monday. I think I am happy most things are closed since I can't imagine the chaos around here when things are in full swing. Crossing the street in the "quiet time" is hard enough. I think I will be in shock when we get back here next Tuesday. Last night after checking in to our hotel we walked the old quarter of Hanoi. Most everything was closed and it was challenging even to get a place to eat. However, we never seem to starve. We made it an early night and played Mehjong most of the night. Addi and I bought a great set in Vientiane (which I might have said in my last blog). Quite a game, I love it. Byron get ready!:) Today we got up and went to the Ho Chi Man Mosolium (not spelled right). It was quite facinating and the security was out of this world. No hands in your pockets, metal detectors, no talking and walking in the order they tell you. It was neat to see a body that has been embalmed for 34 years now. Then we saw his living grounds (which I only skimmed). Starting to get burnt out of tourist areas with too many lines. Addi and I hit the hills and took advantage of the cool walking weather and the "quite time" to tour the city on foot. We did a bit of shopping. Got amazing gortex coats for $46 each (since the North Face factory is in Vietnam). If they are fake they fool me and that is all the matters. Also bought some new bags for our second checked luggage pieces so we can get our shopping home. We found a good spot for lunch, then went to the water puppet theatre here. I guess Vietnam is famous for water puppets. The music was interesting and very traditional. I can't believe those were the women's voices and the instruments were facinating. The puppets were cool too, but the 45 minutes was definitely enough. Glad the acts were short and went fast. We had a group snack to chat a bit more then drank a bottle of wine with Bharti (one of our favorite people on the trip). Tomorrow it will be sad goodbyes to our travelling group. It was a good bunch. Our Halong Bay tour guide is picking us up at 8:30am tomorrow. But kayaking in the rain with a high of 10 degrees will not be quite what I pictured. Oh well tomorrow calls for good weather then the cold moves in. Hopefully we can suck up as much goodness as possible tomorrow. Sonya:)

Vientianne Still.....

We are still killing time in Vientianne. Definitely not one of my favorite cities. It has great restaurants but nothing else much to do. We have a late afternoon flight to Hanoi so we are stuck here again for most of the day. We are starting to get ancy and bored and are ready to move on. We went out drinking last night at a fancy Italian restaurant so we could get some good wine. We managed to polish off 2 bottles. That helped the time pass. So that was a ton of fun. I also bought a Majong (can't spell it) set. So a couple of women on the tour are going to teach us how to play this morning. Should be a good way to kill a few more hours. Hanoi should be a good time but crazy. It was Chinese new year there the last couple of days, so I guess most things are closed. Not sure if I will get a chance to get on the internet there if most things are closed. I am sure the last day we are there after Halong Bay we will be able to write some more. Tomorrow the moseliums and the water puppet show. Then off to kayak Halong Bay for 3 days. Take care and lots of love, Sonya:)

Vientianne

We are currently in the Laos capital city of Vientianne. It is not a very exciting place but it gives us a good excuse to rest and relax for a day or so before the craziness of Vietnam. We fly into Hanoi tomorrow. Only a week left. Boy, how time flies. We loved the rest of Vang Vieng (not sure if that is spelled right but too bad). It is a crazy hippie backpacker haven. We ate dinner at the best place called Jack Johnson's. It had low tables on elevated bamboo platforms with lounging mats and small backs to lean on. So you could literally lie down while you ate and drank. We ordered buckets of drinks. We got pails vodka and lemon (real squeezed lemonade), they were fabulous. We could have easily spent a few more days there. Cheap and fabulous. Too funny that most bars and restaurants play reruns of the show Friends all day everyday. I was told that but it is still funny to see. Yesterday we kayaked the Song river. It was a lovely kayak. However, I got injured doing something stupid. The guide stopped at this 35 foot high swing over the water. Everyone else went for a swing and it looked great. So I decided since I love heights this would be great. However, I am not sure what happened. When I jumped off the platform the swing slipped right out of my hand. I don't even know what happened. I hit the water on my side so hard it knocked the wind out of me. I came up gasping. When I finally got my breath it was fine. However, I am still getting stiffer all the time. I have a bruise down my entire left side of my body (which is rare since I usually don't bruise). I think I also bruised a few ribs and now have a stiff neck. Oh well serves me right. I just hope I will feel better in a couple of days for kayaking in Halong Bay. I guess it is better then regretting missing out if I never tried it. Dan (the best active release therapist in the world) I hope you know you are going to have to fix me up when I return. The rest of the kayak was beautiful. Huge towering limestone cliffs on both sides of the river. We even got to see 2 huge water buffalos having sex beside us on the river. Like an episode of animal planet up close and personal. The locals were howeling too. After a great curry for lunch we drove for 4 hours to Vientianne and had a great group dinner last night. This morning we went to Wat Sisaket here. The oldest temple here. They are just starting to fix it up so it was in bad repair. Now we will have some lunch and relax. Take care everyone. Love, Sonya:)

VangVien Laos

We are currently in VangVien Laos. We had an amazing day of driving today. Since I have been car sick on the crazy roads I got to sit in the super cramped small seat near the front. Even though my ass was killing me and my knees were up in my arm pits, it turns out I got the good seat. Everyone else had no view or air and were feeling sick too. I was OK and had a great view. Spectacular mountains (or hills not sure if they are big enough to qualify as mountains but they are big). We wound through the mountains and had breathtaking views of valleys and valleys of untouched jungle. It was truly prestine and untouched, like nothing I've ever seen before. Last night turned out to be quite a great night. Addi took me to a fancy restaurant on the main strip of Luang Prabang. We drank a bottle of wine and had great burmese curry. Not hot like Thai and more like a peppercorn stew. It was fantastic. We ended up meeting the owner of the XL elephant sanctuary near Luang Prabang. It was interesting to hear how he is helping elephants and taking on old ones. After the bottle of wine we were feeling good and decided to head up town for more drinks. We ended up at the wine bar in town for more fabulous drinks. The wine bar had excellent red wine in amazing huge glasses. We met the Lao owner of the bar and chatted with him about owning a business in Laos and how much Luang Prabang is changing (and how fast too). He mentioned that many local Lao people can not afford it there anymore which in turn means many of the monks are not getting enough alms (food) to eat. Tourism is such a bitter pill for these people. This has been my first trip where I have been so conscious of how much tourism impacts these areas. Just seeing the difference between Thailand and Myanmar and Laos is amazing. In Thailand everything is for tourists. I have read how many religious and significant cultural ceremonies have lost their touch due to them being done for tourists every night instead of on the dates they were intended for. I have made a policy this trip to always ask the locals for pictures before taking them. It is not fair for these people to be freak shows for our photo albums. This also opens the door for conversation and they usually do not mind. It really bothered me the other night on Phusey hill when a monk I had met earlier in the day (OT) was sitting on the hill enjoying a peaceful moment with 2 younger monks and tons of people were just taking photos of them without asking. Crowding them, it just did not feel right. I went over and he remembered me for my tattoos (which is also why we talked earlier). We introduced ourselves by name (since we didn't before). I asked if we could take a picuture and he said no problem and thanked us. Then he told Addi to come over by him and get some pics of the younger monks in the woods. They turned out spectacular. The bright saffron robes with the green trees. Nice treat those other tourists did not get. It was great. It really became apparent again the next morning. We went to watch the monks get their alms. Just watching the other tourists made us sick. They were in all the locals faces and when the monks came out they were jumping in front of them with their cameras and chasing them down the road. We decided not to be those people and sat and watched the moment. I only took one photo when they were down the road and infront (the line was great to see). I asked our tour guide (who was a monk for 6 years in Luang Prabang) how the monks feel. He says they do not mind at all he just wishes people would not jump infront of them. I guess the rule is not to interfere and no flashe. But that certainly was not the demonstration we saw. I guess I can see Laos' hesitations to opening its boarders to tourists. They are trying to keep their religion sacred and place rules and restrictions. It is very difficult when the people here are so poor and will do anything for a dollar (and who can blame them). Money corrupts so fast. Anyway gotta run. We are kayaking the song river in the morning and then off to Vientianne tomorrow night for a couple days. Take care, Sonya:)

Laos Catch-up

We are currently in Luang Prabang Laos. It is an amazing city/town. The entire downtown is a UNESCO world heritage site. We have been here for 3 days already and I could easily spend a ton more. I know it has been a while since I've written an update but there has been no power in Luang Prabang for a few days now. Only sparadically in the evenings and then the internet cafes are packed. So today is the first day it made sense to send an update. Although the internet here is really really slow. Like Burma again. Anyway, it has been a crazy couple of days. We headed out of Thailand by boat from Chaing Khung. It was a crazy and terrible weather day. What an adventure. It was torrential downpouring with rain all day. So we had all our gear and had to take an open uncovered wood boat across to the Laos and then do customs. We had to lug all our gear and it was rather cold. We then took our stuff by tuk tuk to the peir and caught our private slow boat. After that is was OK just cold and windy on the boat. The slow boat was amazing. We got a private guide and boat just for our group. Comfy seats and they put the sides down to keep the rain out. The boat had good seats and a table for everyone. They even had coffee mix (which is a 3 in 1 instant coffee that beats the regular coffee here). Although Laos has better coffee than Thailand or Burma. We spent our first night in Laos in Pakbeng. An amazing small town with only one strip of stuff. I got a rain poncho so I knew the rain would clear the next day. It was crazy getting off the boat in Pakbeng and climbing the rock cliffs with our stuff in the rain. It was good though. The town had amazing charm and great Indian food. Fabulous!!! The next day the weather was much better and we enjoyed the cruise down the Mekong river. Too beautiful. Large limestone formations jutting out of the river. Rice and peanut fields along the water and hills and hills of jungle. Amazing Laos. Very unpopulated and wild. We arrived in Luang Prabang around 4pm. We did a great group meal and loved the food again. Laos definitely caters to veggies more then Thailand. Yesterday we toured Luang Prabang all day. We started with a tour of the palace museum then had a free day. Barti, Addi and I went to some of their famous temples and did a ton of shopping. Not as cheap as Burma but cheaper then Thailand and I love the stuff. We climbed Phousy hill in the middle of town for sunset. Amazing views of the rolling hills and rivers. The fields and town panormic. Great stuff. We always crack up since our Thai tour guide keeps calling it pussy hill. Too much. On the way down we found another amazing temple with a buddha foot print and other great buddhas and caught some monks doing their nightly chanting. Then the night market. Today we started early to watch the monks in town at 6am collect their alms. All the locals line the streets on bamboo mats and give the monks in their saffron robes their alms (sticky rice and fruit and other food). Then we had an amazing coffee and made it back to our guest house for breakfast. We headed up to a Moung village at the top of the hills and did a 4 hour jungle trek down to a spectacular waterfall. One of the best days yet. The jungle was beautiful but wet and slick due to the rain. The waterfall was a greenish colour (like a glacier lake almost due to minerals). There were so many levels to the waterfall with dense jungle around it (breathtaking and spectacular). We are currently heading out for a fancy dinner. Addi is buying and taking me out on the town. Take care and I will see everyone way too soon. Love, Sonya:)

Chaing Kong - Almost in Laos

Well we are in Chaing Kong tonight. Right on the Mekong river. Just over the river is Laos. Tomorrow morning we board a small boat over the Mekong and go through Laos immigration. Then go to the pier to get a better boat to go down the river to Pakbeng. I guess we will arrive in Pakbeng at 4pm. Then onto Luang Prabang the next day. Two days on the Mekong river should be fun. We will be on a wooden boat with a squat toilet and nothing else. We will get a packed lunch box of the usual fried rice and veggies. We are currently shopping for snacks. I will see if I can find one last diet coke here. There was no diet soda in Myanmar and there will be none in Laos. So water it is for a bit (which will be good for me). I need to get rehydrated again anyway. The long car rides I try not to drink water since they really only stop at designated areas. We left Bangkok a couple days ago on the overnight train to Chaing Mai. It was much nicer then the train in Myanmar, no mice or cobwebs even. They had servers that brought coffee and dinner orders. The bed were great. An upper bunk and lower bunk. The rocking of the train was annoying but besides that very comfortable. My only problem was they woke us up for coffee at 6am which would have been fine if we had arrived at the designated 7am but the train was slow and we did not get in until 10am. So a bit more sleep would have been good. We decided to do a Thai cooking course in Chaing Mai for the day. Similar to the one I did before with Joanne. It was great. We make Tom Yum soup, Pad Thai, Green Curry, Stirfried rosemarry and bannas in coconut milk for dessert. Lots of good eating and finally some spicy food (they always tone down the food here for white people). At the end of the course the instructor took us to the local market to teach us about the foods and what they look like. At night we went to Wat Suthet (the large temple on the hill overlooking Chaing Mai). I have been there before but it was amazing to see the monks perform their nightly chants. We got blessed with holy water by another monk and enjoyed the experience. It is still one of my favorite spots. Last night we did not sleep too well since someone at the hotel woke us up at midnight banging on the wrong door. Then some drunk morons next store started screaming and playing caps against the wall at 2:30am. I was a real pleasure this morning and when they put meat in my lunch and I had to send it back again. However, I cheered up when I saw the temple (I think it was called Wat Rang Khun). It is an all white temple an artist in Chaing Rai is currently building. I have seen pics in the past and really wanted to see the place. There are amazing skeleton hands reaching out of hell with crazy faces and really elaborate details on the temple. We actually saw the artist and went through his art gallery too. Of coarse I bought a print to support the temple. The cloudy backdrop of today was perfect for pics of this temple. I will try to post one later. So I was happy after lunch. We arrived in Chaing Kong around 4pm. We are having group dinner and a briefing before we head to Laos tomorrow. Take care... Sonya:)

Off We Go Again

We started our second GAP tour today. We did a canal ride this morning. It was overcast in Bangkok and the water was rougher than usual. Then off to Wat Pho for the 3rd time. It was great to have a tour guide this time. Learned a few more details about Thai Buddhism. Just finished a great lunch at a veggie restaurant and are now going to tour Koh San road one last time for some shirts. Off to catch the overnight train to Chaing Mai tonight. Going to take another cooking course there tomorrow. Then off to Laos. I will write whenever I can. Love, Sonya:)

Some Additives About Burma That I Missed

I forgot to mention more about the Moustache Brothers. I did not want to write about them from Burma since all outgoing mail is scanned for certain words. The Moustache Brothers were the comedy troupe we went and saw in Mandalay. They were blacklisted by the government years ago for making political jokes. As a result they can only perform for tourists in their home. Crazy stuff. No Burmese people are allowed to hire them and they can't work anywhere. They were amazing guys and are super brave even with so much suppression. 2 out of the 3 of them went to jail for years because they told a political joke at an outdoor event. They still speak up nightly about the government and all the things the government does and hides from tourists so you don't see it. They still have some good jokes about the government too (like why do you leave Burma to go to the dentist, because you don't want to open your mouth in that country.....ha ha [or something along those lines]). We took some videos of their show and we hope to figure out how to post them. It is great to see such strong people who stand up for what is right even when the consequences can be so harsh. It is too bad the rest of their family go on the blacklist with them so their wives and sisters are also part of the show. Well I guess that is another blurb... I thought I had more to say but I can't think of what it was now. Take care, Sonya:)

Start Of The Next Tour

Today we transferred hotels to the Royal hotel in Bangkok. Not as nice as Silom Serene where we have been staying. We meet our next tour group tonight and start our next itinerary tomorrow. The Royal hotel is right on one of Bangkok's canals near Koh San Road (the backpackers area). It is good for me since I have never been to Koh San Road before and I have always meant to check it out. What a zoo. So many shops and bars it is great. Starbucks and all the comforts of home, only with the Bangkok heat and smog. Cheap internet is another bonus. I posted a couple of pics from Burma. I had more to do but due to the memory size of the pictures it took approx 10 minutes to load each one and it was costing way to much on the computer I was on. I will try to post more when I return. Last night we met up with Anne (our tour guide from Burma) and her friend Saigan. We had a blast down on Patpong 3. We spent the majority of the night at patio bars drink way too many pitchers of margaritas. It was great. Around 11:30pm they had a great drag queen show right down the middle of the street. They roll out a red carpet so you know there will be a show. We only headed off the road for a bit to grab some food half way through the night. Overall, it was a great time! We paid a little bit this morning for the fun, but that will at least make sure we do not party too much again too soon:) Off to the next tour. Love, Sonya:)

Bangkok Day 2 - Jan 27th

Well, Bangkok has been a fun break from touring. It is nice to have a couple of days to relax and chill out. Yesterday we headed out and had a 2 hour thai massage. I think it was enough for me. The woman had every muscle in my body turned to mush by the time she was done. Her force got harder and harder. I think they enjoy watching people wince. It was great in the end. No need to do yoga if you could get a thai massage everyday. After our massages we headed down to a patio bar in Patpong. We drank a couple of pitchers of margaritas and chatted with some Ottawa boys. People watching down there is fabulous. We cut ourselves off after a couple pitchers since we are hitting the town tonight with our tour leader from Burma. She resides in Bangkok and we got along really well and decided to hit the dance bars tonight. Should be a good time. We hit the night market after but only bought a couple small things. I think over my last 2 trips I’ve bought almost everything they have there. Besides that Bangkok is WAY more expensive then Burma or Laos will be. Vietnam is also supposed to be cheaper. Today we got up and headed to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson is a famous American who brought high end Thai silk to the world. He put 6 traditional Thai houses to Bangkok and put them together into a beautiful home. There is also a lovely garden there. It is one of the places here in Bangkok I have not toured in the past. The strange part is the Jim Thompson disappeared in the 1060s on a trip to Malyasia. No one knows what happened to him. I bought a couple high end silk items. It was a great tour and they explained a lot about Thai architecture which we really enjoyed. Since then we have had a couple drinks and a nice Mexican meal. The Mexican place had a great live Jazz band. Strange combination. We have a couple more hours to chill before we head out. Tomorrow night we meet up with our next tour group. We start with some Bangkok temples and then catch the over night train on Monday to Chaing Mai (North Thailand). I hope everything is well back at home. We have heard that winter is in full swing. We would never know it here in Bangkok. The smog and heat is unbelievable. It will be nice to get to the cooler temps we got used to in Burma again. We read that Laos and Hanoi are much much cooler. Sonya

The End Of Burma Continued - Jan 26th

The small town on the edge of Inle Lake was great. Again I felt so bad for the people. Inle Lake is a huge tourist destination with few people there. When we went for dinner later in the evening the woman and her children were very happy to have us. The kids were too cute. We walked the entire town chatting with many locals. The next day (Jan 24th) we did a boat tour of the Lake. Inle Lake is the second largest lake in Burma. 70000 people live on the lake. They are known for their famous one legged rowing fisherman and their floating gardens. The fisherman row their boats with one leg while standing so their hands are free to use their nets. It was a great site to see. Addi has a movie of the process. The floating gardens, the people make a mixture of soil and a binder (gum of some sort) and other materials to make the dirt solid and float. They use bamboo poles to hold the dirt in one place. They have huge gardens of tomatoes and cabbage and cucumbers and other crops. So smart. We were also amazed that the children run free on bridges and around the homes. No safety gates there. Side note: It is actually amazing to watch the kids in the entire country. I do not think I ever heard a kid cry. Most kids take care of their brothers and sisters. 6 year olds taking care of 1 year olds like it is nothing. Never crying for toys and things, just living. And their smiles and enjoyment of their days is an inspiration. If we could all only be that content with so little. Playing with a stick or an elastic was hours of entertainment for many of them. But they all seem to stick together and hang out. Even the poor ones stuck selling postcards at the temple always seemed to have a smile for you. It was a great honour to be able to help so many people there. My group kept making fun of me for buying so much. Most things were under $1 so if I bought 2 things a day big deal. I think some of them were a bit too cheap. I think it is great when so little for me can impact someone so much. I think it is the least I can do. Back in Inle Lake…. Our first stop on the lake was to see the long neck women from the Pandoga tribe. They use brass metal rings to protect their neck adding rings through the years. Great photos and an amazing site. They loved my tattoos and I loved their jewelry. A body modification exchangeJ From there we went to a weaving shop. Inle Lake is the only place I’ve ever heard of that does Lotus weaving. It was a painstakingly long process where they break the stems from the lotus plant to pull out long fibres and then weave and dye them into scarves. However, each scarf takes many days to get enough fibers for one scarf. The scarves cost $45-$80 which is an unheard of amount there so you can imagine the work. Of coarse I had to splurge on one. What a cool idea (a real lotus fibre scraf). They also did silk and cotton for much much less. Then off to a blacksmith shop. Watching the men pound and fold steel the old fashioned way. What a physically demanding job (reminded me of the gold leaf place). Great to see. Reminded me of old samurai movies when they make the swords (they were making knives from old engine parts). Reuse and recycle is an amazingly resourceful way there. Then a stop to a cigarette (charoot) making place. The women rolling smokes make $1 per day. They get 1 kyat per cigarette (1000kyats is $0.80) so you can imagine how fast they roll. Gives a new meaning to blunt rolling. We had lunch at a restaurant on the lake. Great views and good food. The tomato salad in Burma was my favorite. I am going to work on duplicating it when I get homw. After lunch we visited a floating Buddhist temple where the 5 main buddhas have so much gold leaf on them they are just blobs now, but the people of Inle love them. Then we went to the jumping cat monestary. The monks have taught cats to jump through hoops for treats. Quite a site. I took a video of this feat! That night we went out to the fanciest restaurant in town. Addi and I wanted some wine. For a bottle of wine and a 5 course first class traditional Shan dinner with an amazing view and setting of the river we paid under $40 (and the wine was most of it). Yesterday we flew back to Yangon early. Addi and I invited Jackie to our date with the monks. The three of us jumped in a cab to make our way to a small monestary we were invited to, so we could teach the monks English. They were very excited to see us and happy we kept our promise to them (how could you not, now that would be some bad karma!). It was a great afternoon. We learned a ton about their way of life and they learned about ours. They could not believe we did not live with our parents still (in Burma you live with your extended family forever). They invited all the locals from down the road that take English there at night too so we met the entire neighbourhood. It was a very moving and fabulous afternoon. We did not want to go but we had to meet out group to tour the Schwedegon pagoda for sunset. We got a lot of e-mail addresses to keep in contact so they could keep learning their English. One example of how great the people were. One girl’s brother died 3 years ago from liver disease and her mother died last year. She is now studying zoology at university so she can teach poor people to fish and have a better life. Talk about not feeling sorry for yourself. Later we met our group for sunset a Schwedegon pagoda. Beautiful. Talked to another ton of monks there. Then off to the famous Stand hotel for a drink and a fancy dinner to end the group tour. However, after many happy hour margaritas Addi, me, Jackie and Anne went to a strange “fashion show” bar to continue our bender. We ordered a bottle of whiskey and some cokes and watch fully clothes Burmese girls walk on a stage and every so often a guy would jump up on stage and give one girl a flower lay and everyone would clap. In between “fashion shows” as we called them, some girls sang karaoke. Very fascinating. We loved it! Then we caught a few hours of sleep before returning to Bangkok today. Now we are going to head out for a 2 hour Thai massage (not sure if the masochist in me is ready but here we go). Then some great green curry and off to Patpong for some drinks. Should be good! Take care everyone and lots of love, Sonya PS. The rest of my posts should be on my blog.

Back In Bangkok Jan 26, 2008

It is quite a culture shock to be back in Bangkok after being in Burma for the last 2 weeks. I used to think Thailand was a nice and kind country but it really does not compare to Burma. Bangkok is hectic and dirty and we have had more people already try to scam us today then our entire time in Burma. I still love Thailand but luckily I know the tricks around here. We flew back from Yangon early this morning. We were both very sad to leave Burma. I am truly amazed at how much that country touched me and how immensely kind the Burmese people are. You never have to worry about being scamed or anything being stolen, it just does not happen there (or very very rarely). I am going to write many letters to the government when I return. I know they think they are helping with their economic sanctions and travel warnings but they are really only hurting the Burmese people who really do not deserve anymore pain. The government has tons of money from China and all new cars and weapons. They even built a brand new capital with all new buildings just for themselves (worried the USA will bomb them they abandoned Yangon). I can't tell you how many Burmese people say they blame themselves for the sanctions and the lack of tourists because the protested. That is very unfair when they have every right to protest peacefully and to speak up. Now they are having huge economic despair (for an already super poor nation). Everywhere we went it was like Addi said Grand Bend on May 24 weekend and no one showed up. All the restaurants are open and they are just dying for tourists. There were very few tourists anywhere and the people are really hurting. All of them were incredibly thankful to have us and again truly the most spectacular people I've ever met. Kind smiles everywhere you go. They want to talk to you just to learn and to see what it out there beyond their country (unlike other Asian countries where they always want you to pay them). I truly hope more people will consider going there since it is a great place, very safe, and cheap and your visit will make a difference in many peoples lives (if you don't stay at government run places). We were very lucky that GAP only gives about 15% of the cost to the govt and the rest to the people. The costs were truly amazing. Most huge frest meals were between $1-$2 and everything to buy the same. So the last few days..... After Bagan we hit the road, and what a long bumpy road it was. We drove for 12 hours one day to get from Bagan to Kalow. I think we could only go about 15 miles an hour. The road was attrocious. I was SO car sick (which has not happened since I was young). There is only one poorly paved lane and when cars come you stop and drive on the shoulder to get around. Still amazes me how people there all work together so few people are hurt considering the conditions. We made one stop that day at Mt Popa. It is a huge "Nat" site. Nats are spirits that the Burmese believe help them with superstitions. The only problem at Mt Popa is the Macake monkeys (can't spell it). They are quite aggressive. We each brought an umbrella so when they come towards you you stomp the umbrella and they leave. It was another 777 stairs with no shoes. I think my feet are getting stronger now. Not so much pain anymore. At the top of Mt Popa is a Buddhist shrine. Not the nicest one but another great view. Besides that we drove and drove and drove. In Kalow we slept and ate the hugest meal for $1.80. But once again my stomach was not happy. Not too bad but not great. I am glad to say that since then I have been OK. I think my body is finally adapting. I think it is the cooking oil they use. The next day we drove to Inle Lake. It was another 5 hour driving day. We stopped half way at the Pindaya caves. It was spectacular. 2 conected caves with over 8000 buddhas in the caves. There was even a small meditation opening you had to crawl to get into. Only 200 barefoot stairs there. Then a great lunch before we finished the drive. Inle Lake was great. Small town on the edge of the lake was quiet and peaceful. We wondered the town and found a vegetarian restaurant and ate there (my tummy was thankful). I am going to post this and continue since I as not sure when my internet hour is up.....

Bagan Jan 21st

We are currently in Bagan. It is amazing here. Over 2000 temples in a 42km2 area. It is spectacular to see the scenery here. We did a great temple tour yesterday with our group. We had a tour guide and it was great to hear the history of many of the places. Some of the temples are gold and some are brick and others are white. The 3 main types are stupas, temples and monestaries. It is a truly spiritual and incredible place.Today is our day off from the group. I (Sonya) started the day splurging with a baloon ride over Bagan. What a spectacular view. It was amazing to see the temples at sunrise from above. Also the Arawati river. We also had champagne which set a great tone for the day.Addi and I rented bikes and have been touring in the heat. We have went out to some remote temples and enjoyed some peacefulness all by ourselves. Nice to get off the main path and really enjoy the scerenity of the area. We also met some locals who took us for a great tour of their village. We saw some women weaving and saw how they press peanut oil. Some older woman gave us huge homemade cigarettes. Too funny. We bought more sand paintings because they were too kind. The people here never cease to amaze me.Tonight we are off to see a marionettes show. It is supposedly quite impressive. Our last night in Mandalay seeing the Moustache Brothers was really funny. Saw some great traditional dance. Quite a show. The cruise down the Arawati was also good. It was a long boat ride but good enough. I got another bad bought of stomach that night but I love Ciprofloxin. Cured me up by morning. Glad Caleb gave me his extra doses. I think I will need them.Addi and I are enjoying some wine right now before we return the bikes. I can't wait to share pics with everyone. Hopefully intranet will be better in Bangkok. Myanmar is going by too fast.Thanks again for all your great messages.Love,Sonya:)

Mandalay Jan 18th

Well we made it to Mandalay on the train a couple of days ago. I wrote a huge e-mail yesterday with all the info and when I hit send the computer crashed. I hope to have better luck today. This will be the last update until next Friday. E-mail in Bagan and Inle Lake are not so good. By the way, thanks to everyone who wrote. It is great to hear from people back home. Sorry I will not reply until Thailand, internet is too slow here. The train ride to Mandalay was 15 hours with the locals. It was great but long. We were in first class which means reclining chairs and lots of leg room. Regular class had hard benches and people are packed in there. The train was not the cleanest and the fans on the ceiling are full of cobwebs and do not work. The windows were so dirty you could not see out of them. We tried to clean ours but it was no use. We even had mice as visitors along the way:) We bought a mickey of rum and gin for the ride (at a whopping $0.70 a bottle). That helped pass the last few hours. The people were amazing and the scenery was great. I was surpised the time actually flew by. When we got to Mandalay we checked into the hotel and went to Chipoti corner to eat. The Chipoti (Indian Flatbread) was served with vegetable and potato curries. 4 of us ate with water to drink for 1500 kyats ($1.35). Amazing food. Too bad that night Addi and I got some bad stomachs (probably was something we ate from one of the locals on the train). At each section of the train locals jump on the moving train and sell what they have made and then jump off when they are ready. Quite something to see. Yesterday we toured the ancient capitals of Myanmar. We started the day in Anapura by walking the worlds longest Teak bridge (1.4kms). It was beautiful. Then stopped at the largest monestary in Mandalay. Home to 1400 monks. We saw them have their morning meal. So 1400 monks line up for rice and food. Amazing to see. Then we drove to Saiging where we went up Saiging hill for a great view of the Irawati river and Mandalay. We visited an amazing temple where all the buddhas are carved right out of the side of the mountain. They say we are in a cave but it did not look like a cave to me. Behind the Buddhas were beautiful glass mosaics. Then we went to another temple with great views of the river. Then to a nunery to see how the female version of the monks live. Very amazing and peaceful people. After a lunch of rice and veggies (still trying to settle our stomachs) we took a boat ride down the Irawati river to Mingun. This is where one of the earlier kings tried to build the worlds largest stupa. After the base was built there was a huge earthquake in Myanmar and the people thought this was a sign that the stupa should not be built. It isnow the worlds largest pile of bricks with huge cracks from the earthquake. In Mingun we also saw the world's second largest bell. It was huge. I had more fun playing with the kids behind the bell. They loved my tattoos and came to hang out. They were so sweet. There were about 6 of them from 1-7 years old. The oldest spoke a bit of English. I stayed until my group said we had to go. Then one last temple in Mingun. It is on the cover of the Lonely Planet Myanmar. It is an all white temple. Very different style then most. Amazing. The kids in Mingun spoke good English but really followed trying to sell stuff. I guess there have not been any tourists lately so they are pretty desparate. Too bad they are all so beautiful and helpful. Last night we went for a fancy dinner that cost 7500 kyats ($7). It was an upscale restaurant to be good to our bellies. They even had diet coke (which you do not find here). No McDonalds (but they have MacBurger), or other chains either. I am going to hit send and finish this in a minute since I keep getting a virus warning.... Today we got up and we had a free day. So Addi and I got up around 6am (feeling much better) and went and toured the morning produce market. What insanity! There were huge piles of fruit, vegetables, chili powder, curry powder and other items as far as the eye could see. It was crazy. The locals still love us so we wandered around soaking in the surroundings. We stopped at a small noodle stand and ordered 2 coffee mix (an instant coffee with mild and sugar in it that taste like a cappacino, best coffee for this country). Too bad this stand served it with milk instead of water a bit too sweet and thick for me. We wandered some more and stopped at an Indian breakfast stand where we had 2 more coffee mixes (with water this time) and Addi had a flatbread and Dahl. Then headed for breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we hired a taxi to take us to some temples and hanicraft shops. We had the taxi for 3hours for $3 each. It was great. We started at an amazing teak temple. One of the only original pieces of the Mandalay palace. The king moved the monestary outside the palace walls before the palace was bombed in WWII. Very cool! It was beautiful and a very moving and scerene experience. No one was at the temple except for us and a couple monks (who again loved my tattoos and talked with us a bit). We sat in the temple and had a fabuloud moment of peace. The next stop was another temple where the buddha has had so much gold leaf put on it that it looks all globular and fat and crazy. They say it has 15cm thick of gold leaf everywhere but the face. Crazy looking. We could not get a good look since there were many locals praying there and we did not want to be rude. We did tour the shopping stands there and found some beautiful embroydered Longi (the traditional Myanmar skirts, like a sarong without the opening). We also saw how people made Tenaka there. Tenaka is the white face paint they wear that come from a certain wood ground up. It opens the pours and protects from the sun. We then stopped at wood carving shops, gold leaf buddha making shops and shops where they make gold leaf. It was amazing to see how much work goes into these items for the price. It really give you respect. Then back to the hotel. We are going to eat after this and meet our group at 4pm in the lobby to go and climb Mandalay hill for sunset. I am debating if I will do the climb. 900 stairs does not bother me but in my bare feet? All of the temples here are starting to pay a toll on my flat feet. In Thailand and other countries you only remove your shoes to go into the main temple hall where the buddha is but can wear them for the other parts of the temple. In Myanmar there are no shoes allowed in any part of the temple complex. So I have been walking up all kinds of stairs, on rocks, dirt, bad ground and for long period of time. I really want to climb Mandalay hill so I might climb up and take the elevator down (I feel too much like a whimp taking the elevator all the way). However, we still have a ton more temples in Bagan (the main reason I took this trip) so my tour leader says to save my feet we will see. After that we go and see the Moustache Brothers (a local comedy troupe). I guess they have been in trouble in the past for political humour so now they only "reherse" out of their home. Should be interesting. Tomorrow we catch the boat to Bagan. We cruise the Irawati all day and then we are in the land of a thousand temples. I can't wait! This country just gets better all the time. Oh yeah, I got an e-mail today saying I won the GAP photo contest I entered and won a trip to Greece that has to be used in 2008 and a bunch of camera gear. I hope it is not a hoax. Too bad I have no more vacation. I guess I will have to think about a leave of absence or see if I can give it to someone. Take care and lots of love, Sonya:)

Bago and The Golden Rock - Jan 15th

Hello there everyone, Well I wrote my first blog the other day from Myanmar but it bounced back and would not take it. I guess I can not use my blog until Thailand. So I am reverting back to e-mail instead. We arrived safe and sound in Myanmar on Sunday. What a spectacular country. We absolutely love it here. If anyone got my first e-mail I am sorry if I repeat. I do not think it was sent though. The people in this country are truly the kindest, happiest people I have ever met. They have been treating Addi and I like queens. People here love to talk with us and especially love me because of my tattoos. They are truly facinated with them and they all come up smiling to talk and ask questions. It is truly amazing how many people here speak perfect English. I think this is my favorite country I have ever visited so far. On Sunday we went and explored Yangon by foot. Our tour did not start until Sunday night. We walked all over. We got amazing huge plate of Veggie Indian Bryiani for 900 kyats ($0.80) each. Our entire meal was under $2. Then we went and did a walking tour of the main area. They have a great temple and stuppa in the main traffic circle called the Sule Paya. It has great buddhas with neon lights over their head. The temple work is fabulous. We met some monks at Independance monument in the gardens near the main circle. They asked us to join them for a tea so they could practice their English. It was a great experience. They were really great. They invited us to come and teach English to the other monks at their Monestary a week from Friday when we return to Yangon. I think it will be a great opportunity. Later in the afternoon we took a taxi to see a large reclining buddha temple a bit further across town. It was huge and amazing too. The feet still have the 108 teachings of the buddha but in a different form then I've seen before. We met our group a bit later. Small world there are 4 retirees from Toronto with us and one retired teacher from San Francisco. A good group over all. Our tour leader is around our age and is very knowledgable of Asia. Yesterday we headed out of Yangon for the "golden rock" for the night. It is a temple high on top of a mountain. It is built around this rock that is hanging over the edge of a cliff that was painted gold and is considered one of the most religious sites in the county. They believe the hair of the buddha holds the rock in place. It was a 6 hour drive to get to the hills. We stopped in a town called Bago at another temple with 4 huge buddhas sitting back to back. It was built in the honour of 4 sisters who never married. They believed if any of them ever married their respective buddha would crumble. One did marry and her buddha crumbled many years later in the 1930 earthquake (so it was fixed). When we got to the bottom of the hill we had to take a truck 1/2 way up with the locals. They crammed at least 60 people in this truck with 2x4s for seats. It was crowded and like a crazy roller coaster ride. I was happy to be in the front row so we could stand up and hold on to the top of the truck. Then we had to walk 45 minutes up hill to the top. We stayed at a hotel at the top of the hill with breathtaking views of the mountains. The temple was amazing and the people were so happy. Many locals travel there on pilgrimiges at least a few times a year if they can. It is great to see so many children and families playing and hanging out. No kids ever seem to cry. Everything is still super cheap. 1L of water is $0.25. We watched the sunset at the temple and finished the night off with a great meal at the hotel. Today we woke up early and went and watched the sunrise at the temple with the locals. It was only me and Addi. It was great to chat with so many people again. Then we toured down. This time I had a horrible but adventurous truck ride down. I was in the middle of the 60 people and could not even put my knees straight out so I had to tuck them unded the 2x4 and people in front of me. Going down we had to brace ourselves with only one hand to not slide right off the seat. My feet were asleep and my hands cramped for the 45 minutes but overall I loved it. We stopped again in Bago at another huge reclining buddha and just arrived back in Yangon an hour ago. We are off to dinner in a bit and the grocery store. We have an unairconditioned 15 hour train ride with the locals tomorrow to Mandalay. Should be interesting. Then up to the north of the county. I will try to write if I can but I hear e-mail is even worse there. I really hope this one actually makes it out. Take care and lots of love, Sonya:)

Myanmar - Oh My:) Jan 18th

Well, we made it. No blogger access here so I am just dropping a quick note to let you know that all is well. We are loving it here in Myanmar. Our flight was delayed this morning so after only 4 hours of sleep (because we got to our hotel at midnight and had to leave at 5am) we waited at the airport for a few hours. By the time we arrived we were so sick of traveling. However, we had the best day here in Yangon. The people of Myanmar are the nicest I have ever met on my travels anywhere. We started out with an $0.80 lunch. It was a huge heaping plate of vegetarian briyani (Indian food). It was truly fabulous. Everyone here is facinated with my tattoos so they all love to stop and talk. After lunch we did a walking tour of the downtown corridor. They have an amazing temple called the sule paya in the middle of the main traffic circle. Very interesting. The walking tour passed city hall and many other main buildings. We also saw a huge monument in the main gardens. While walking back from the monument we met a couple of monks who wanted to learn English so they offered to buy us a tea and practice their English. We went to a local tea house (the main social place for Burmese people). It was great. The "tea" was a strange coffee mixture with condensed milk (not so good). We talked for a couple of hours. They invited us to their monestary to teach all the monks english when we return to Yangon (so we took them up on the unique opportunity). So Addi and I have a date with a monestary of monks on our return. They said they like to get to practice on real foreigners, it helps them learn quicker. After that we toured out to see a large reclining buddha that was amazing. It was nice that is was in a large building so we could take pictures. Then we toured back up town to the main temple and went inside. The main pagoda was amazing. Sorry to run but we just got back to the hotel and we have to meet our tour group in 2 minutes. I don't want to be late. Take care and know we are safe and having a great time. We love Myanmar so far! Sonya (& Addi too)

Finally On Blogger

Well we are back in Bangkok, hence why Blogger is now up and running. Burma's crazy control freak government has most internet sites blocked, luckily Dofasco e-mail is under their radar. I am going to go back and post all of my Burma messages on my blog today. If you have read them already then please just skip them. At the end I will add another post with an update for the last few days. High speed internet is so amazing. I forgot how painful slow crashing dial up is. The entire country of Burma only has 1 server and you have to use back door sites to access anything. I had many a computer crashes while I was there. Thanks to again to everyone who wrote me. I love to hear from home. The love from everyone reminds me why I truly am blessed to have such a great life back in Canada. I will write more after my back posts. Lots of love to everyone, Sonya:)

Hong Kong Airport

Well we just finished our first 16.5 hour flight to Hong Kong. I think I figured out why it used to stop in Vancouver first and then connect to Hong Kong. 16 hours is about 6 hours too long. My ass has never been so sore. It also did not help that Air Canada messed up our meals so all 3 meals we got a bun and some fruit (since they only had meat dishes). Oh well, I have to figure out how to contact them before we return to make sure they have it right for that one. We are waiting for our connecting flight to Bangkok right now and have 4 hours to kill. We are both very tired since it is now 4am for us but 5pm for them. My body is starting to wake up, I hope I will be able to sleep when we get to Thailand at 11pm. We are off to Yangon, Burma first thing tomorrow morning. We fly out of Bangkok at 7am again. So not much time for sleep tonight either. However, any sleep will be welcomed after this never ending day. So now the worst is over and the fun can begin. Take care and we will keep posting whenever we can.

Getting Ready

Well it is finally sinking in that we are heading out this Friday. All of the major preparations have been completed for our journey, now we just have our packing to do. It will be a bit different packing for this trip since we will be heading further North through Laos and Vietnam. Some travel guides said to pack warmer clothes since it is cooler in these regions. I have been watching some weather networks and they say the weather is between 25 and 35 in these regions right now. However, this is more difficult then just packing for 40 degree Thai heat. I guess it just gives me an excuse to bring more clothes with me. It is hard to believe that next week at this time we will be getting off our 16 hour flight for a 7 hour stop in Hong Kong. Then off to Bangkok and Rangoon the next day. We saw a great "Don't Forget Your Passport" episode on Burma a couple days ago that have us ready for our journey. Today I will start researching vegetarian restaurant for most of our stops. I have heard it is much more difficult to get vegetarian food in Laos and Burma. In Thailand they accommodate the vegetarians almost anywhere (sometimes with a bit of communication difficulties). So I have found a few websites to copy down info from. However, finding these places once we are there is a whole other story. I am also going to do my best to get some English maps of the larger cities we are visiting. This may help tremendously. Anyway, off to finish up some trip research. Take care....