Our Myanmar Adventure!!!! Well, you had a bit of an update from Steve a while ago and I had better finish off writing about Myanmar, one of the most amazing countries we have ever been in. As Steve mentioned, he was out of commission for a few days, which is not fun when you are only in a country for a couple weeks! But he made it on the worst 10 hour bus trip, he was such a trooper!!! Our travel in Myanmar only consisted of 5 places; Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Kalaw and Inle Lake. They are the 'main' places on the tourist trail and since we only had 2 weeks we thought it best to hit the main sights. It was a harder decision because Bagan and Inle Lake also have a tourist fee which goes right into the hands of the government, which, for obvious reasons, does not make one feel the best knowing the political oppression in the country. But we determined that by going as local as possible we can put more money directly into the hands of the people, which helped weigh out the cons of going.

So, after the tamples of Bagan (and the 10 hour bus ride that started at 4:30am) we saw the amazing mountain area of Kalaw. We stayed in a guesthuse called the Golden Smile, run by and Indian family whose sons are trekking guides. One of the more popular activities for tourists is to do a 2 or 3 day hike to Inle Lake from Kalaw. That was in our original plan but with Steve still weak from the stomach bug we decided to just do some day hikes. I was lucky enough to do a day hike and had a guide all to myself. I learnt stories from the Hill Tribe people, saw villages, amazing scenery and was able to ask a million questions to my Burmese guide! We then started talking about music and movies and while he loves slasher films (not my cup of tea!!), we both love Nirvana and other rock bands. He also asked lots of questions about Canadian geography as he is in University for a degree in that field. Steve was feeling much better when I got back so we booked another hike for the next day with a couple of friends we met. It was fun but loooong, we were tired afterwards!!

However, on that hike we had the great fortune of meeting a Burmese man who runs a non-government organization in the rural areas of Kalaw. He pulled up in a 1934 Jeep (yup, that was the date!!) left by the British in the First World War and proceeded to have a chat with us about a few things. Turns out, he was imprisoned in the late 80's for a while, in solitary confinement for 1 month, has studied in England and the U.S. and believes that change can, and will, happen in Myanmar. Yes, in a country where your neighbor could be a government informer and you can go to jail or a camp for any little thing, we met a man who openly spoke about change and democracy. He had the loveliest smile and the best humor. He invited us to visit his home and some of their projects. You would have thought we were with a rock star (only better)! Every village we pulled into (in that old open jeep!!), he was greeted with warm smiles and treated like a king. He has helped to arrange a cease-fire between the military and villagers and we met rebel leaders, went to a wedding, ate great food, smoked cigars and got to ask so many questions. Here was a man who, through peaceful means and education, is making a difference for so many people. In actuality, he should be in hiding, scared about going to jail. Instead, the military salutes him, villagers think before using guns and he preaches that you cannot take revenge on those that hurt you, there must be more love and understanding. It was one of those days that knocks you over and you just listen to the stories in awe and amazement. I was able to see first hand someone making a difference with his words and actions instead of with force. We saw villagers who now had wells in their villages instead of walking 2 hours to get water everyday and children who can go to school through work that his organization does. It was inspiring to say the least.

Side note!!!! Now, I know this is a longer blog but I want to paint the picture for you of people paving the roads up to Kalaw. This is a windy, switchback road up a mountain. It is just wide enough for 2 buses to almost knock mirrors off when they pass eachother. We go up at about 20-30km/hour which means we are NOT covering much distance. Along the way, we saw people repaving sections of the road... manually, except for a roller. Here are the steps, as far as we could tell!

1. Dump a pile of boulders, about 1 foot in diameter, in a pile on the side of the road. Men then use sledgehammers to brake the big rocks into smaller rocks.

2. Using wicker baskets placed on their heads, women carry the smaller rocks to another pile where they proceed to break those rocks into gravel sized rock with hammers.

3. They then rope off a small area of the road and lay the gravel in. All the while, trucks are trying to get past and it is hot as hell up there on the mountain.

4. Time to melt some tar. Yup, in oil drums they melt tar with a fire and use watering cans and ladels to distribute it evenly on the gravel patch.

5. Then they use the roller to pack it all tight.

And... repeat. They have these stations all the way up the mountain. You see where they are sleeping in makeshift camps (men, women and children) until the job is finished. It was just surreal watching the work involved. I will NEVER complain about the little bit of outside work I have to do. It was quite humbling especially when the workers would flash that lovely Burmese smile at you and wave.

One last day in Yangon before heading back to Bangkok. We were super lucky and met a fellow Canadian and we hit it off and spent the day together wandering the streets, getting stared at (the men there thought Steve was "the MAN" with 2 women!!!), sampling street food and wondering when we will be able to return (sooner than later I hope!!!). People often have no electricity (Steve and I often had no water and good thing we had headlamps) or don't know when they will get it, are rationed for petrol and are not even able to travel freely in their own country. For a country that has, and still is, experiencing a human rights crisis and the gap between rich and poor is so great, it is one where you want to come back. People are doing their very best to improve their lives, live the best they can under the eye of Big Brother (which is alive and very real there). When we asked our friend in Kalaw what we can do to help when we leave Myanmar, he responded by telling us to share what we saw with others, to write to the international community to put pressure on the government and to never forget the people we saw. We will never forget those huge Burmese smiles, the sing-songy hello of "ming-gala-ba", the men and women in sarong-type longjys(sp?) and the feeling of a country ready for change.