LIVING IN ASIA: October 2013

After several trips to Myanmar, my mom and I decided we wanted to explore places that were more 'off the beaten track'. We read through our old travel books, looking for lesser known places with hidden beauties, and created a three week journey filled with train rides, villages, hiking, guest houses, tribes and, most importantly, some amazing Burmese locals.

Lashio to Hsipaw

Red earth, bursting with lush green vegetation, golden pagodas, Palong tribal women, monks, muddy boys playing, cows crossing the road... After a beautiful journey into the town of Hsipaw, we headed to the old Hsipaw Palace where the last Shan Prince and his Austrian wife, Inge Sargent, lived. The last Shan prince and Inge both attended university in America and quickly fell in love. They got married in America, but the prince (who had never told Inge he was actually a prince) wanted Inge to come live with him back home in Burma. So, the newlyweds arrived by boat in Yangon and were greeted with crowds of locals. She turned to her husband and said "someone very important must be arriving". It was only then that he told her the truth that he was the prince of Hsipaw.

We took an early morning local bus with market goers, hill tribe women and pineapple sellers to Kyaukme. The bus was chaotic and colorful. A pyramid of pineapples filled the back of the small bus, baskets were perched on market girls' laps, elderly women chewed on betel nut and young school children sang songs. Surprisingly I fell asleep despite all the noises, the pineapples pricking my calves and an indescribable view from the bus seat that made it hard to put my camera down...

In Kyaukme we spent the day trekking through cornfields and rice paddies. We passed by small villages with proud locals who would grin from ear to ear (literally in the photo below) when they looked at us foreigners. We stopped by a small hut on the side of the rice paddies and cooked Shan noodles and shared our meal with a local farmer.

Early next morning my mom and I explored the markets of Kyaukme, picked up some bananas and water, and headed to the local train station. We boarded the 6 hour train ride from Kyaukme to Pyin Oo Lwin, our bag of bananas hanging overhead and cameras in hand, as we waited for the train to pass the famous Gokteik viaduct.

After visiting Pyin Oo Lwin, where we met the last grandson of the King of Burma, we headed to Mandalay. We drove straight to the U Bein Bridge for a typical sunset photo shoot. We rented a paddleboat and meandered in and out of the bridge’s wooden structures. Monks strolled down the bridge, market goers walked cautiously with baskets on their heads and fisherman remained calm and patient.

To capture the charming, golden morning light, we woke up early the next morning to take part in a monk procession at a monastery near U Bein Bridge. Imagine a couple hundred monks, ranging from all ages and sizes, lined up with their lacquer-ware alms in hand, waiting to be served Burmese delicacies, curries and tamarind sweets.

After an overwhelming photo opportunity, we made our way to another monastery, bursting with color, life, laughter, and many young orphans. Here, novice monks played football, sweat staining their orange and maroon robes and the sun tanning their muscly bodies.

We then traveled to Kalaw, passing many Pa’o tribes, pagodas and vibrant markets, on our way up the mountain. We spent the day bathing elephants at a local elephant conservation, which was a sensational experience to be at one with nature.

The next day was a big Buddhist festival in Southeast Asia and along with all other Buddhists, we dressed in our longyis and went to the local temple to pay our respects. Kneeling on bamboo mats we listened to the head monk preaching sermons and watched locals offer gifts to the monks. After the ceremony we wandered off to a room full of novice monks, who were feasting on delicious curries and vegetables, so concentrated that they barely realized we had entered the room.

Our last destination was Inle Lake, undeniably our favorite place in Myanmar. We spent a day in Nyuang Shwe and the rest on Inle Lake, mainly winding down from our vividly hectic journey, but of course still exploring new monasteries, fisherman towns and local orphanages. Inle is surreal; a lake surrounded by mountains on either side, fisherman perched on lacquer boats, butterflies flying around, floating vegetable gardens, teak stilt homes, bamboo river gates, elderly women smoking cheroot, monks swimming and a tranquil silence that is hard to find in the routines of our active lives.