SE Asia Archives - Wandering North

Asia Mongolia-Kuwait-Bahrain trip 2025 South Korea

Hello Kitty to the Rescue: A Layover in Seoul

I don’t know why, but in the last few years my travel planning has become a little bit more chaotic. I used to book my trips many months in advance, and I would spend time refining the itineraries and learning phrases in the local language and getting organized. But more recently I find myself booking the trips with just a few weeks’ notice. I still make a good itinerary, but it all feels a little rushed. I don’t think I can conceive months in advance of actually being able to take time off work, but then something happens and I just need a holiday and then I book it without much planning. This was one of those trips.

I had decided that I needed to go somewhere, and I decided to go to Mongolia. But I didn’t just want to go to Mongolia, I wanted to try to visit a couple of other countries. And that’s what I tried to do on this trip. I decided to go to Mongolia and Kuwait and Bahrain. I’m aware that Mongolia is nowhere near Kuwait and Bahrain, but it made for an interesting itinerary. And it started with an overnight layover in Seoul South Korea.

This was my third or fourth time visiting Seoul, although each of those visits has been on some sort of long layover. I’ve never actually taken a trip just to see South Korea. I probably should, but this would be another layover visit.

I don’t love Seoul. I know that Seoul is very popular but, overall, I am not enamoured with it. It does make for a good layover though. I appreciate its excellent public transportation and its affordable accommodations, and that there’s lots going on day and night to fill your time. As much as I don’t love it, I was happy to be back for my layover this time.

*Arex: the fast train into the city. Of course it has a cute mascot.*

I arrived at 4:00 PM and I would have to leave again at 9:00 in the morning, so I just had an evening. I booked myself into the Hostel Drip & Drop, which is conveniently located in Myeongdong and right by the Euljiro 1(il)-ga metro station. I took the AREX Express train (which is only slightly faster than the other train) into the city with my backpack and walked to the hostel and dropped it off.

Before I say anything else, I have to say how impressed I was with this hostel. I have fantasies of designing the perfect hostel because there are so many of them that just have design flaws, like having no lighting options between pitch black and blinding white or showers in shared bathrooms with no place to take off your clothes or hang them up outside of the soaking wet shower. This hostel was close to perfect.

It had an immaculate sleeping quarter. I opted for the girls’ dorm and it was one of those ones where every bed is a pod with a proper curtain, a shelf, lighting, and a comfy mattress inside. For the first time ever, I had a little bunk with a window in it. This hostel also had an adjoining room where there were lockers to put your backpack and your shoes, so you would take off your shoes and get your pyjamas, or do whatever you needed to do, and then you could either go into the room with the beds or into the shared bathroom. What this meant was there was no possibility of anybody in the sleeping room rummaging around in their bags, or getting dressed, or crinkling plastic bags because all of that happened in another room. I’m sorry if you’re not here to hear about effective hostile design, but I was very excited by this. And it was $56 Canadian per night. Not exactly dirt cheap, but pretty close.

I don’t know why it’s called Drip & Drop except that it has something to do with coffee and they do provide you with a coffee pour-over situation and they had a pour-over station in the common area. I mean, that’s pretty great. The downsides were no kitchen, and the common area was very sterile and didn’t really invite one to hang around, but that’s OK; I wasn’t there for long. I would 1000% stay there again.

Once I was finished admiring my hostel, I set out into the city. I decided to wander along the Cheonggyecheon, which is sort of a man-made urban river that runs through the city lined with pedestrian and bike friendly spaces with benches and sculptures. It’s a really wonderful use of public space and provides some serenity into what a busy city is otherwise.

I meandered around taking exploring the streets. There appeared to be some sort of festival happening geared towards children and there were a lot of inflatable things and children’s activities. I have no idea what was going on but it did make for some fun photos. It was blisteringly hot in Seoul, so, to cool off, I lingered by the fans set up outside next to some inflatable children’s water park set up for the event, until I realized that a single adult lingering near strange children is creepy.

I wanted to visit a cigar lounge before it got too late (and I needed an escape from the weather) and so I went to the Resolver Cigar Lounge. It was walking distance from my hostel in a commercial building. The lounge was a little bit difficult to find and I nearly gave up and left but finally I found it and it was worth the effort as it was a beautiful lounge. Dimly lit with comfortable leather chairs, excellent cigar accessories, and a sophisticated atmosphere. I visited the humidor and picked out a Plasencia Alma Fuerte – a cigar made at the Plasencia factory I had previously visited in Nicaragua. They had a decent selection of Cubans and some non-Cubans but the prices were very high, and this was the cigar that I decided best fit my budget and palate. The only downside of the lounge, if there was one, was that it was very quiet. There were a couple of other groups of men smoking cigars, but it didn’t have a very social atmosphere. I’ve noticed this a lot with cigar lounges in East Asia which is that people don’t really seem that inclined to talk to each other. Everyone seems to kind of keep to themselves.

By the time I left the lounge it was dark, but that did nothing to reduce the heat and humidity. Sweating profusely, I walked back to the area near my hostel to visit the Myeongdong Night Market. I was delighted to have a night market to go to. At first, it was terrific to walk around the area with the market. The neon signs were twinkling, throngs of people were out gawking at the stalls and eating things on sticks and there was food and merchandise for sale throughout the streets. It was a fun atmosphere. Except now not only was it hot, but it was hot and I was walking past stalls frying up food and producing clouds of hot greasy air.

I quickly became very uncomfortable. I also desperately wanted to eat something but, as is always the problem with night markets in Asia in my experience, it’s very difficult to find anything vegetarian; plus, I had forgotten to get cash from the ATM. After a while I just needed some air conditioning and relief from the weather and that’s when I saw it, like a beacon calling to me. My savior. Hello Kitty.

I love Hello Kitty and I’ve been wanting to go to a themed cafe forever. And there it was: a two-story Hello Kitty café, open late and artificially ice cold. While I was thankful for the air conditioning, I will say that the interior of the Hello Kitty cafe was so brightly lit that I felt like I was in some sort of alien spacecraft, but I was happy for it. I bought two food items that I’ve never had before and will certainly never have again which was a dragon fruit iced tea and a mango cake that was shaped like an actual mango inside a hard shell. It was delicious; or maybe I was just hot and famished. I sat by the window by myself, my eyes ringed in smudgy black eyeliner; I was looking goth-adjacent smelling of cigar smoke and thoroughly enjoying my Hello Kitty meal.

After that, I took one last spin around the market and then went back to my hostel for a shower and asleep. In a few short hours I would be up again and heading back to the airport to fly to my next destination: Ulaanbaatar.

*Temple at sunrise. Headed back to the airport*

Asia Laos Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Weird and Wonderful Buddha Park

Thing I had most looked forward to in visiting Vientiane was Buddha Park, a tourist attraction that is basically exactly what it sounds like, a park full of Buddhas, but it much cooler than it sounds. But first I had to figure out how to get there.

Buddha Park is located about 25 kilometres outside of Vientiane. It is possible to get there by a bus and I consider doing that, but everywhere I went in Vientiane I kept seeing these little signs attached to trees offering a day tour to Buddha Park and a few other sites in a tuk tuk for $10 by a man called Tungchai. It seemed like a good price and exactly what I wanted, but I questioned whether it was a good idea to message a stranger based on a piece of paper nailed to a tree and agree to go anywhere with him. But the more I saw the signs, the more I thought, ‘surely this person can’t be a killer, or they wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.’ I messaged the fellow on WhatsApp and arranged to be picked up the next day.

*I mean, it’s laminated. That means it’s legit, right?*

It was a great choice. Tungchai arrived the next day on time in his tuk tuk with one other guest. I can’t recall the name of guy who was on the tour with me, but he was a pleasant fellow from Australia with a strong accent who was in Laos on business and had decided to do a bit of sightseeing. I’ll call him Mick. We chatted throughout the day about different places that we had travelled and about where we were from. When I told him I was from Canada he was quite excited because he is a Mormon and had heard about Mormon settlements in British Columbia, Canada where polygamy was allowed or ongoing; he had strong feelings about polygamy and how it should be legal for religious reasons. It was interesting to have that conversation as I’ve not encountered someone who had that belief before in a Mormon context. I took a very open-minded stance and just said that I think that relationships can come in all sorts of configurations and who is anyone to judge, although I had some concerns about the legalities and practical effect. He also told me a story about his son being in prison for homicide. Interesting chat, and he was good company for the half a day that we spent together.

We made a few stops throughout the day. We visited Patuxai (the victory arch commemorating gaining independence from the French), Pha That Luang. the golden temple, and the COPE centre, all of which I had visited the previous day on my walks, but I had no objection to revisiting them. And then it was on to the Buddha Park.

Buddha Park was started in 1958 by a Thai Priest/Sherman named Bunleua Sulilat. His faith was sort of Buddhism influenced by Hinduism as I understand it. He built the park and filled it with statues of Buddhist inspired and deities. Zero set along various paths surrounded by greenery. It was raining when we went, which gave it a magical feel. Even better there were only two other people visiting at the time. The idea of a park full of Buddha statues could sound kind of cheesy, but there’s something about this place that’s just weird and wonderful. The statues are just so odd. You want a giant pumpkin with an angry face that you can walk into and enter a representation of hell? It’s got that. Do you want a guy tugging on the leg of a giant grasshopper? It’s got that. Do you want a statue of various a multi faced Hindu with multiple arms outstretched so that it looks like a carnival ride? It’s got that too. The place is just amazing.

On the way back to the city, we stopped at a couple of other temples. It was a very fun half day trip with good company and interesting stories from our guide, and I never tire of running around in tuk tuks.

And then I was back to visiting Vientiane on my own. I’ve covered the rest of Vientiane in a different post here. The next day I would take the train to Luang Prabang.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

Bagan on Two Wheels

I had spent my first day in Bagan seeing the main temples on a tuk tuk. That was a perfect introduction. I basically saw everything I needed to see, complete with sunrise. Had that been my only day seeing Bagan it would have been fine. But a second day was perfect. For my second day I decided to strike out solo on an ebike.

I knew prior to going to Bagan that ebikes were a common way to see the temples, but I couldn’t find any concrete evidence of what an ebike in Myanmar was. Most people told me it would be a regular bicycle but with a motor that you could turn on to help go up hills. That sounded ok. I ride a bicycle. But they were wrong. This is what an ebike is in Bagan:

It is an electric scooter – like an electric Vespa. It is nothing like a bicycle and everything like a motorcycle or motor scooter. This may not seem like a big deal, but for me it was. I don’t drive. I’ve never tried it. Never had a license. Never experienced control of a motorized vehicle. I’d never used a key to start anything. I was in a wheelchair briefly after a bad accident and even that was manual and not electric. So the idea of controlling a key operated, electric vehicle on two wheels was crazy.

Of course I tried it.

The guy at my hotel spent an agonizing 10 minutes trying to explain to me how to operate it. It was hard to get a handle on the speed and turns, but I got it eventually, and rented a scooter for the day, which cost the equivalent of about $5 Canadian. Helmets not provided.

The scooter was…amazing. It went quite fast; up to 80 km/hour, though I stayed at around half that. The experience was one of the greatest I have had. I felt so free. I went so fast, zipping along the paved road with cars and other vehicles (ok, they were going faster). I could cover so much ground and go wherever I wanted. I felt like I finally understood all of those 1950s rock songs about cars. I had found the open road and it felt like home. I started to fantasize about returning to Canada and getting my motorcycle license, joining a gang, and getting a tough nickname…at that point I nearly wiped out, so I decided to focus on the task at hand.

I went up and down the two main roads, stopping where I liked. Whenever I saw a temple in the distance that I wanted to check out, I simply left the road and bounced along the sand or a rocky path. This allowed me to see a lot of smaller temples, many of which were free of visitors. I also visited a small market and some paths around villages.

I went to one temple cluster and a man there was sweeping, which was, at it turns out, his job. Sweeping sand off of temples that sat in the middle of an expanse of sand. He spoke a little English and showed me a flight of narrow stairs up to the top of one of the temples. I climbed up and sat in the shade of the stupa, smoking a Burmese cheroot.

The man came to join me and we chatted a bit. He asked me about Christmas. His daughter was born on Christmas but he didn’t know much about it. I tried to explain about Santa, which sounds so crazy when you really think about it.

I stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was really just a collection of plastic tables and chairs and a bunch of portable cooking equipment. Great food. Unbelievably inexpensive.

I went back to one of the bigger temples I had seen the day before as it had a bunch of stalls selling crafts and textiles. I bought a scarf and watched a woman with multiple neck-elongating brass rings around her neck weaving fabric.

Eventually I was exhausted and went back to my room for a rest before meeting the Italian man I had met on the boat from Mandalay. He picked my up on his ebike and we went to New Bagan for dinner but only after finding the perfect temple from which to watch the sunset. He knew there was one perfect spot and we drove around asking people until he found it – it was the same one I had stood on the previous morning to watch the sunrise. I suppose there is some balance to that.

I finished the evening back at my hotel, sitting along the Irrawaddy River, enjoying a cigar until I began to doze.

The next morning I caught a super early flight to Yangon and began slowly making my way home.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

On the Temple Trail in Bagan

Bagan is the reason most people travel to Myanmar and I was no exception. Over 2000 temples dating back to the 11th C dotted over a small area. It is flat, so in any direction the skyline is punctuated with stupas, some glittering and others stone, rising up to the sky. They are everywhere and the area isn’t particularly built up, so it is easy to feel like you are off on your own on, discovering an ancient civilization.

There are two Bagans: Old and New. The Old Bagan is in the archeological zone and the New Bagan is a small city, where most of the hostels, hotels, and commercial stuff is. I decided to stay in Old Bagan because I liked the idea that I was steps away from the wonders I traveled there to see. I will say though that there are only a handful of hotels in Old Bagan, they are a bit expensive (by Myanmar standards), and there is nothing to do in the evening, so as a solo traveler it may not have been the best choice, but my hotel was so lovely that I didn’t mind.

I stayed at the Bagan Thande Hotel, which is really like a collection of cottages on beautiful treed grounds along the river. The room wasn’t special but the setting was. The night I checked in, I sat at the outdoor bar and restaurant and smoked cigars in the dark, while live music was played. Very nice.

But that first night I also had to make plans for the next day to see the temples. One has options for visiting the temples. You can walk to some, but they are spread out so some sort of conveyance is needed. The options are: taxi, tuk tuk, bicycle, ebike, and horse drawn carts. A taxi would be dull. A horse cart would be slow and bumpy. Bikes would be fun, but hot and exhausting. And I was initially nervous about the ebike, so I went with the tuk tuk. It was a good option. I didn’t really have to decide what to see; the driver just took me on a 10 hour trip around to see all of the best temples.

We started at 5:30am so I could climb up one of the temples to see the sun rise. A lot of other people had the same idea, so there was about 20 of us standing in the dark, cameras ready, watching the sky lighten. People are annoying, but I had some excellent 60s lounge exotica music that i listened to on my headphones, which set the mood. (Ultra Lounge Mondo Exotica to be precise. Cheesy and awesome.) I felt like handing out breath mints to the other sunrise chasers. A lot of bad breath first thing in the morning it seems. But that did nothing to dampen the beauty of watching the sky turn orange and seeing the temples revealed.

Wonderfully, as the sun came up, about 20 hot air balloons rose into the air, adding a certain whimsical aspect.

It was wonderful. But it got better.

The temples are incredible. They are big and small, gold, white, ochre, and stone. Each with Buddhas inside and some with elaborate interior paintings. Some were very busy with tourists and people praying. Others I had all to myself. Some were just off the main, paved road, and others were reached only down sandy and rocky paths.

They are all a bit similar, but I found each so enthralling that I didn’t tire of them. I loved the architecture and the decoration, the incense and offerings. They felt sacred, even when hosting dozens of camera happy visitors. (Me included.)

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

We also visited a market in New Bagan…or maybe it was in Nyaung U (a small, nearby town). It was a really good market. Handicrafts, vegetables, candy, meat, and fish. I walked every row and walked away with a traditional tattoo device (basically a long, ornate, metal stabby thing) and a marionette head that is so creepy i’m not sure i can keep it in my home.

I walked down one row and came across an area where men and women were sorting the fermented tea leaves that form the basis for many of the delicious salads in Myanmar. They do eat tea here and it is great when mixed with sesame, ginger, garlic. I said to them how much I liked laphet thoke (pronounced la-pay toe), the main tea leaf salad. Or rather I said “Laphet thoke?” And when they smiled and nodded, I gave a thumbs up. My attempt at making a connection. I didn’t exactly learn much Burmese ahead of time. At that moment, a teenage girl eating a plate of tea leaf salad while working, stood up, brought her plate over to me, and popped her spoonful of tea leaves into my mouth. Now that’s hospitality.

More market wandering and then I was back on the temple trail.

My day was supposed to end with me watching the sun set from a temple but I was exhausted. Plus, I mean, I saw the sun rise. A sun set is basically the same thing in reverse, so I returned to my hotel in the gloaming and fell asleep while smoking a cigar in a chair by the river. An amazing day. The next would bring more temples as I set out on my own.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

Boat to Bagan

As I had already taken the train in Myanmar (from Yangon to Mandalay) I decided to go from Mandalay to Bagan by boat. There are a few options and the prices and vessels are all quite similar. You leave Mandalay at 5:30 am or so and arrive in Bagan about 11 hours later. Many of the trips also involve stopping at a village along the way. I took the Alliance Myanmar boat and that was its itinerary.

The boat ride was pleasant. On the main level were very comfortable seats and air conditioning. On the top level was a bar and covered table seating and an area in the sun with reclining chairs.

It went by quickly. There was the initial excitement of watching the sun rise over the Irrawaddy River, then breakfast.

After that i smoked a cigar and watched dilapidated vessels sail by, as well as small fishing boats and a lot of boats set up to look for gold in the river. People waved at us as we passed.

Near Mandalay and Bagan, the landscape was heavily adorned with stupas and Buddhas. In between it was flat and dry.

The stop at the village was a nice interlude. The village grew peanuts, which they shelled and offered to us raw and boiled. They made hats, which were for sale. Mostly, we were shown around. Everyone was so friendly. I’m guessing (i hope) they get some money from the boat company; we were told not to give money to anyone unless buying something.

We arrived in Bagan, right on schedule, just as the sun was setting. I took a taxi to my hotel. En route I could see the silhouettes of dozens of temples that I would explore the next day.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

Mandalay day one

Mandalay does not make a great first impression. Stepping out from the train station, it didn’t have the charm of Yangon. The buildings are newer and unattractive. There are a lot of wide, busy roads. The traffic is orderly, but motorcycles are allowed here (unlike Yangon) so it is busier. It just didn’t have charm that I saw.

I decided to walk from the train station to my hotel. Maybe 25 blocks, but it felt longer as the walk was just not that scenic and the blocks were long. I did see the moat and walls around the palace, but they were several lanes of traffic away.

As I got nearer to my hotel, I did pass a street that had a lively market and street side food vendors started appearing, but I still wasn’t that taken with it.

My hotel was decent though. The Hotel Aurora. I picked it because it had a good location and a rooftop restaurant. My room was so nice, with a fluffy bed, excellent shower and loads of free toiletries (all of which are now in my bag). I know those things may seem commonplace, but I usually slum it a bit more, so I was happy. I checked in early and took a moto taxi to the palace.

The Mandaly Palace is a big central palace complex dating to the mid 1800s. It is a fine place to visit, but many of the buildings are identical, so I didn’t feel the need to stay long.

I took a tuk tuk to the base of Mandalay Hill, which is a long climb up 700+ stairs, past and through temples, stupas, etc. It is am exhausting but picturesque journey. Annoyingly you have to take shoes and socks off a lot on the climb as you pass through sacred sites (that’s what i get for wearing boots), but it is all quite pleasant aside from my boot unlacing and scrambling over sun-scorched tiles.

The top gives views out over the city.

When finished, I took an outdoor elevator down about four floors to a parking lot where my tuk tuk was waiting.

I had him drop me off back at the palace and I walked from there.

Here is what I realized about Mandalay on the first day: 1) things are really spread out, so walking, while possible, is a long and hot business; 2) moto, tuk tuk, bicycle, and car taxis are everywhere but you have to haggle to get good price; 3) there are an ASTONISHING about of pagodas, temples, and stupas here. They are everywhere. Imagine that every cafe in Seattle or Vancouver was replaced with a gilded, ornate temple. It’s a little overwhelming.

From the palace i walked down a quieter street and happened upon a cafe by a marionette theatre, where I bought a ticket for the evening performance. I also met the puppet master, a thin and old-looking 89 year old man. Any references to the 1980s horror classic were lost in translation.

I had lunch at a sidewalk stand (another glorious bowl of noodle soup for less than $1), walked some more, and spent the evening prior to the puppets on the rooftop of my hotel chatting with a Dutch couple traveling south east Asia for six months.

I took a tuk tuk to the theatre. The show was good. It had a band playing traditional music and they did various marionette scenes of dance and animal antics.

After the show I did not want to walk the ~20 blocks back to the hotel so I took a “taxi”. Most of the other audience members had pre-arranged their transport so the cars and tuk tuks out front were taken. But there was another option: A man with a rickety bicycle to which was attached a side car. He said he would charge 2000 kyat. (That’s a little less than $2 cdn.) Done. I hopped into side car and off we went. Slowly. The man riding the bike was old. He may have been as young as mid-60s, but he looked about 80. But he peddled me all the way to my hotel through traffic. I must admit to feeling a little uncomfortable having not only a human being, but a senior citizen, cycle me home. The longer we rode, the higher grew the tip I felt obliged to pay, until, when he dropped me off, it had reached 5000 kyat. I felt he deserved it and it absolved me of my awkwardness.

The rickshaw man who ferried me home from the theatre

And that was day one in Mandalay. I went to bed with no idea of my plans for the next day.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

The Road to Mandalay

There are various ways to get from Yangon to Mandalay. Car. Bus. Boat. Plane. Train. I opted for the slowest way: the train. I did a lot of reading about the train beforehand and while many said it was great to be able to see the countryside, the general consensus was that it was slow, unreliable, and uncomfortable. I agree it was slow, and it did take longer than scheduled, but it was an excellent experience.

I walked to the train station, which is very central, for my 5pm departure.

My train ticket. I was a little concerned to see a portion of the price allocated to life insurance

The train has the usual classes and I went for the sleeper option, given that it was an overnight train: forecasted to leave at 5:00 pm and arrive in Mandalay at 7:00 am. In fact we arrived at 9:30 am.

The sleeper car had four bunks and I was sharing it with a family of three from Portugal. I’m sure they were not thrilled to share their space with a stranger, but they were pleasant. I had been allocated one of the top bunks, which was fine for sleeping, but it gave me no widow access and no ability to even sit up, so I spent most of my waking hours in the dining car.

The dining car was awesome. It was all local guys, save for one local woman traveling with a monk. They served water, soda, beer, and a surprising array of food, including at least one vegetarian dish of fried noodles and vegetables. The windows were open and, amazingly, smoking was allowed. I was in heaven. I lit up a small cigar at first and no one complained, so I proceeded to smoke two large cigars, while I watched the scenery pass by. I have always wanted to smoke on a train but figured that time had gone. It made the ride not only pleasant, but splendid.

They played music in the car – Burmese pop songs – and often the servers would sing along, which was also true when a Burmese version of “Eye of the Tiger” came on. I joined in periodically. I was joined at my table for a couple hours by a local guy who spoke decent English so we chatted.

Throughout the ride, people would walk the length of the train selling bananas, chips, water, and various snacks.

The scenery was mostly rural, though still punctuated with gold stupas.

About an hour after dark, I settled into my bunk, which was comfortable enough. They provided a pillow and sheet. The car was not air conditioned but there was a fan and the windows opened, though the ticket taker advised us keep the windows and door locked at night. The ride was bumpy, but that is to be expected for a poorly maintained colonial rain line. It was not, however, so bumpy that I couldn’t sleep. I slept fine, save for when we reached a station; when, each time, as far as I could tell, our train collided with another train.

I awoke early and went back to the dining car where I warmed myself with some tea and watched the sun come up as people tilled the soil with oxen.

The last three hours of the trip did pass slowly as I kept expecting that our arrival was imminent. Had I known the length of the actual trip I would have been less impatient at the end. But the approach to the city was interesting as it grew more populated. The houses were different. Sort of wicker looking with geometrical patterns.

Finally, we arrived at the station with little fanfare, but it was the final stop so when everyone else was getting off, I too took my leave of the train and stepped out into the bustle of the central Mandalay station.

I am so glad I took the train. I don’t think any other transport would have been so pleasant and interesting. No misadventures, just a great ride. And, yes, I did listen to Frank Sinatra singing “The Road to Mandalay” more than once to mark the journey.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

Across the River to Dalla

Day two in Yangon was to be a day without an evening, as I was scheduled to take the 5:00 train to Mandalay, but I was determined to pack as much in as possible before then.

I skipped the free breakfast at my guest house and opted to spend about 75c for a bowl of excellent soup at a stall at a street market. A far superior option. I walked around the market taking in the scenes I never tire of: people selling fruits and vegetables (familiar and exotic), fish, meat, flowers. I then spent the next few hours doing more aimless market wandering.

I also walked through this huge indoor market, which had 3 or 4 levels of shops selling clothes, housewares, spices, jade…everything really. I also scoped out the train station for later.

I my plan was to take the short ferry to the other side of the river to Dala or Dalla, a more rural area with villages and more temples. The ferry ride was fun. I found the terminal and the huge crowd of people waiting for tickets (a little less that $4 round trip), but I was ushered to a desk just for foreigners, which was a nice gesture, though it seemed unnecessary, particularly as I was the only apparent non-local on the boat.

The ride was only about 10 minutes but was pleasant and I chatted with a fellow who was on his way home. At the other end I declined the offers for taxis and set out walking, which was very pleasant for a while. I stumbled upon cute houses and picturesque scenes, but after a bit I realized I had no idea where to go, so I flagged down a tuk tuk and hired him to just drive me around.

That was nice:the breeze and just taking in sites that were pleasant to drive by but nothing that was amazing, though I could ask him to stop when I wanted to take some pictures.

I ferried back and had a cigar at the same cigar-friendly bar as the previous day before, which I figured would be my final moment of comfort before my overnight train journey to Mandalay.

Two days in Yangon was enough to see what I wanted to see, though there is certainly more. I am, though, happy to return there before I leave Myanmar. It is a city that I am quite content to hang out in.

Asia Myanmar (Burma)

Yangon: Arriving in Myanmar

I’ve been thinking about going to Myanmar for a number of years. The first time I looked into going they still didn’t have ATMs and almost no wifi. Things have changed and I am glad that I came here when I did because I can see it is going to get more developed and more touristy, like its South East Asian neighbours. So far (as I write this I have been here 4 days) I love it here. Interesting and beautiful, so far it does not seem as hectic as parts of Vietnam or as poor as parts of Cambodia. And it feels different. From the thanaka with which so many men and women decorate their faces to the wearing of the longyi to the eating of tea leaf salads, Myanmar seems to have its own feel. Again, these are my first impressions after a short time.

But then again, my first impressions may be mistaken. See my attempt to buy ice cream, below.

I arrived in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) via a long flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong. I had gotten an e-visa ahead of time, so i was through immigration in 5 minutes with no questions. Taxis were plentiful and their prices fair (i didn’t even bother to haggle). It was after midnight as we drove through the streets to my hotel: the Chan Myae Guest House.

I was quite happy with my lodgings, even though it was a sharp 8 floor climb to my room. Simple, but clean and with an excellent location. I was able to walk everywhere. And walk I did for my first day in Yangon. The centre is a delight for strolling with faded and mossy colonial buildings, strings of laundry, and endless street side food vendors.

I took a lot of pictures.

The food vendors are wonderful. I haven’t yet had a restaurant meal here. Tables of women mixing up noodle dishes, soups, salads, fried things, curries, yogurt drinks, tea, and juice stalls. Each one seems to have a specialty and everything looks delicious.

I have had really good luck with the soups. They will combine the ingredients as you direct into your bowl and you can just point at what you want. Then, if they see you are low on broth or noodles or onion or whatever, as you are eating, they will offer top ups. Nothing costs more than $1 (cdn). Plus, i have been going to the ones where the monks are eating, so I can just point at their vegetarian dishes and order that.

I have had one odd culinary experience. It was scorching hot and i was on foot and i thought, “Ice cream. Ice cream would revive me.” So I went to a corner store and bought a vanilla ice cream. I unwrapped it and took a bite and very quickly realized that my ice cream was not vanilla, but DURIAN. I cannot express how shocking it is to expect sweet and creamy vanilla and get instead the intense oniony putrescence of durian.

So I walked and I ate. I went in search of coffee, which was a bit of a mission. This is tea country. There are a few “proper” cafés but they are certainly not in abundance. Twice I aksed for coffee and received some sort of international delights french vanilla bullshit. And twice I flet guilty for thinking that it actually tasted pretty good. I’ll have to turn in my coffee snob card upon return to the Pacific Northwest.

I visited the Sule Pagoda, in all of its glittering splendour. It was magnificent, thought i can now say that gold stupas are ubiquitous here. Nevertheless this was Myanmar stupa no.1 for me, so it was special.

I toured around more on foot, past buildings of note. One street (I forget which one) had rows of book stalls and book shops, so I picked up something for the road.

In the afternoon, before taking on my next pagoda complex, I settled in at the bar at the classically colonial Strand Hotel, which was gorgeous and, most importantly, cigar friendly. Thankfully, it was otherwise empty, so i snuck a selfie or two.

My energies restored, I walked to the Shwedagon Pagoda complex. It wasn’t far from where I was but the 37 degree heat made it seem farther. By the time I arrived, I was hot and tired. I was not too tired, however, to have a secret race again a blonde woman across the street from me also walking to the pagoda. I won. Heat or not, I was still able to appreciate the beauty, but even my eyeballs felt burnt as I took in countless, gleaming gold and white stupas. There were so many people there but many appeared to be locals or visitors from nearby. Nothing I saw in Yangon was overrun with, well, people like me. A few backpackers here and there. The odd group of seniors, but they were few. It was nice.

Perhaps because there are not tons of tourists here, local people are not in the habit of hassling them. No one yells out to get a massage or follows you down the street trying to sell you stuff. Everyone is just pleasant. It isn’t too crowded – even the traffic is organized. Surprisingly for a former British colony, they drive on the right hand side of the street, but the steering wheels are on the right. Motorcycles are banned in Yangon, which may be why the traffic is not crazy.

Somehow I had done all of that by 6:00 pm and on 2 hours sleep. I went back to my room with plans of going out again in the evening, but promptly crashed. It was a great first day in Myanmar.

Asia Indonesia Indonesia Trip 2017

Denpasar on Purpose & Kuta by Accident

Ubud is lovely. Nearly a paradise. When I arrived I thought I never wanted to leave, but by day four, i was ready to move on. The centre is sort of phony in a perfect sort of way. Inviting restaurants and bars and shops for tourists, English speaking staff, abundant taxis, juice and gelato stands, walkable, clean, easy … and after a day, a bit dull.

I flew to Denpasar for one day and night and realized only then how happy I was to be in a new city. A real city. Dirty, crowded, busy. With a momentum of its own that did not centre around me, the visitor.

The airport is in Denpasar, so if you are going anywhere in Bali you will likely pass through, but most people don’t stay. I would have skipped it myself but I didn’t want to be in a rush to get through traffic from Bali to make a flight. So i took an uber from Ubud (a complete rip off compared to a regular taxi, as it turned out) to Denpasar and checked in at my accommodations: the Nakula Familiar Inn. The rooms felt like your Grandma’s neglected basement spare room, but there was AC, private balconies, and a nice courtyard with places to hang out. And it was about $20 a night and walking distance to most sites. Plus, the manager was great and gave me a map and meticulously marked the best walking routes and stops along the way, after she applied magical healing oil to my finger that i had just slammed in the car door. So A+ for service.

I walked through the flower market, which was busy all day (i walked past it again in the evening) with women selling flowers and petals for use in the little palm frond offerings that are placed at least once a day at every temple and altar, on the sidewalks in front of shops, and on the dashboards of cars. Women set these out, add some food item to the flowers (a candy or cracker) and sprinkle it with some holy water or oil. When they are stepped on or ravaged by monkeys, they are replaced.

From there it was a short walk to the main market, Pasar Badung. It did have a floor of gifty items, but was otherwise a proper market with fruit and vegetables, seafood, textiles, and housewares. It smelled very bad in places, as good markets often do. I browsed around but didn’t buy anything.

I walked to the bird market. Hundreds. Thousands? Of birds in cages for sale. Some common, like chickens and pigeons, most exotic and colorful. I mentioned in a previous post that people hang bird cages everywhere, along the streets even, usually with one bird to a cage. Apparently there are bird song competitions, and also pigeon training, and cockfights. I don’t like seeing all the birds in cages but it was interesting to walk through.

On the plus side, i saw this urban turkey, hanging out in an alleyway.

From there i visited the Pura Jagatnatha (temple) and the museum, which were both nice, but at this point in the trip everything is starting to look the same.

It was then my plan to walk about 2 km to the Bajra Sandi monument. I waved off the offers of taxis. I was content to walk. And, at first, i was. I walked through residential streets. I found a nice vegan restaurant.

But then i realized i was lost. I had gone too far to backtrack, but i couldn’t find my way and no one spoke English or understood my attempts at Indonesian. I would have paid anything for a taxi. It was hot and i was exhausted. I ended up walking 20 km that day. But there were no taxis. Finally, nearly in tears, i went into a bank and found a teller who spoke a little English and who drew me the most detailed and accurate map that got me to the monument. I would send him a thank you card if i knew his name, or that of the bank, or what street i was on.

I arrived at the Bajra Sandi monument completely wasted, but it was beautiful in an imposing and evil sort of way.

I explored its nooks and crannies, then managed to get a taxi. I gave the taxi driver a business card for my hotel which had the address, phone number, and a map. He said he knew where it was. I had no idea how long the drive should take, i had gotten so twisted in my walk, but it seemed to be taking a long time. He said it was the traffic. I then noticed that the area looked more rural that i had seen. He said it was a better road. I then noticed a lot of fancy shops and restaurants and wondered why i hadn’t see them earlier. Finally, he pulled up on the correctly named street at the correct number…but it was not my hotel. Only then did i discover…he had driven to the right address in the wrong city. We were in Kuta, not Denpasar. I don’t know why it happened, why he didn’t see that the business card clearly said “Denpasar”, but there we were. It took another hour in heavy traffic to get back to Denpasar. At least i saw another city, i guess.

But that basically took up my evening. I just had a cigar and went to bed. I am currently at the airport in Jakarta, awaiting a flight to Taipei. And so ends my trip to Indonesia. It has been a good one. I could see myself returning some day to the country, but to visit other islands. Right now though, i am happy to move on.

Tag: SE Asia