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This trip is the most unforgettable for me as it marked my first solo backpacking adventure without a real itinerary, enabling me to truly embrace spontaneity. I will forever cherish Myanmar for granting me that experience.
Why Myanmar?
While studying Sociology at George Mason University, I had a professor named Dr. John Dale who wrote a book titled 'Free Burma' which he made mandatory reading for his students.
Dr. Dale was telling us about his time as an activist in the wild world of Burma, which is now called Myanmar. He talked about how amazing and brave the Burmese folks are, even in the midst of the country's political chaos. His stories got me super interested in the country that wasn't visited often, compared to its neighboring country, Thailand.
After starting my career at Emirates Airline in 2015, I finally had the opportunity to go on my first vacation. Inspired by John Dale's book, I decided to explore Myanmar. I had 2 weeks to explore as much as I could. I packed a backpack's worth of clothes and booked all bed and breakfasts and small hotels via booking.com and had a general idea of where I wanted to explore.
The capital of Myanmar and where I flew into - Yangon.
Out of respect for the preserved Buddhist culture, I kept all clothes modest (knee length, and a jacket to cover shoulders) throughout this trip. I also rewore a ton of outfits, since I only packed a backpack's worth of clothes!
Yangon was so fun to hang out in for a few days - I felt really safe and absolutely loved the city. It reminded me of Kathmandu a lot!
As soon as I arrived, I quickly noticed how kind the Burmese people are. They're so welcoming and accepting of foreginers. Although I received a ton of stares, they weren't rude about it and some teenagers even tried to practice their English with me!
The Burmese love their La-Phet-Yay (လက်ဖက်ရည်), which means milk tea. I drank it every day for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes an afternoon snack. They offered me a cup of tea everywhere I went. You will probably see a tea cup in all of my pictures throughout this blog!
I rode the city train ($0.25) to get a better view of the outskirts of Yangon. While on this train, I met an older Swiss man and since we were the only two foreigners on this train, we struck conversation and had lunch together afterwards.
He essentially told me his life story while I had nothing eventful to share. He has been living in Yangon for the past year, learning the Burmese language and trying to assimilate. He told me he was going through a painful divorce and Myanmar was the only place where he could find peace and feel away from it all.
The Burmese food is so good if you like spicy style curry! They use a lot of peppers! But unfortunately, I did get food poisoning twice during this trip. My new Swiss friend told me that food poisoning is extremely common in Myanmar and even had Stemetil on hand with every meal. He was kind enough to give me some of his tablets for my trip (ended up being a godsend)!
Myanmar has thousands of temples and pagodas, and I wanted to see as many as I could on this trip. In Yangon, their infamous Shwedagon Pagoda is said to be worth $3 billion dollars! I decided to go right before sunset and I'm so glad I did because the Burmese volunteers let me help them light their candles and sweep their floors!
Bagan - the ancient city with over 1500 years of rich history.
I flew to Bagan via Asian Wings airline. Ive rode a ton of questionable aircraft throughout my travels so this didn't phase me but beware, it was a bit... janky!
I hired a local cab driver to take me around this part of the country! His name was Schwe Schwan and I absolutely adored him. I met him at the Bagan airport and I'm so glad I was paired with him.
Schwe Schwan is one of the happiest people I've ever met and is one of the key reasons why my trip to Myanmar was so meaningful. More on that shortly.
Bagan was breathtaking. I can see why its the highlight of many people's trips to Myanmar. So much history. So many pagodas. It was all breathtaking and fascinating. I truly felt like I stepped back in time.
I was wearing red lipstick this day and a girl who was selling souvenirs at one of the pagodas kept pointing to my lips. I figured she liked it and so I pulled out my Mac Ruby Red lipstick and gifted it to her. Her face lit up and immediately put it on! She looked beautiful.
Speaking of beauty, did you know that Burmese people wear this yellow paste on their cheeks called Thanaka which dates back to the mid-11th century? It is made from a certain tree bark and is known for its antioxidant properties, sun protection, and anti-aging!
Schwe Schwan's sister showed me how to make it when I was invited to his family's home one day. Tree bark, water, and a slate slab where she rubs the bark on and it develops this yellow paste.
Bagan is known for the infamous hot air balloon scene during sunrise. Although it was the biggest struggle waking up so early, I have to admit... it was all worth it!
Breakfast was my favorite meal in Myanmar! After sunrise, Schwe Schwan took me to his favorite breakfast spot where we had mohinga, a traditional dish made with noodles, fish broth, fried egg, and other garnishes. Sooo good. Burmese food is so unique and I loved it all.
I stumbled upon an orphanage (which I didn't know was an orphanage initially) a few blocks away from the guesthouse I was staying in. I randomly walked through the gate thinking I could just peek inside, thinking it was a local school and quickly was spotted and ushered to come and meet everybody. The all-boys orphanage was run by local monks and it was home to boys ranging from 4-18 years old.
They got a good laugh at me attempting to play a Three Doors Down song on the guitar for them.
I ended up having SO much fun with them and stayed all day and night!
Dinner time was fun! Lots of boys to feed and they had a great system set up. After dinner, they had meditation time for an hour before it was time for bed.
Inle Lake - worth the trek.
Inle Lake is about 6 hours away from Bagan and the drive was very bumpy due to unpaved roads throughout the country. If you get motion sickness easily, I encourage you to fly there instead!
I asked Schwe Schwan to stop A LOT because the windy unpaved roads kept making me nauseous. It took us 8+ hours to get to Inle Lake. We got to stop at some local markets where I was able to grab some snacks and fruits.
When we made it to Inle Lake, I absolutely LOVED learning more about how the people lived and thrived off this lake system in the middle of the country. They are typically known as the Intha people, a local tribe who live in villages on stilts and follow long standing traditions.
Schwe Schwan's family lives in this region and he invited me to his home to meet them and I was so thankful for that. I love how welcoming all Burmese people are, but especially his family. It is a core memory of mine spending time in his home.
Leading me to his family home.
First thing when entering: tea and peanuts. This is the most welcoming and generous offering to a guest. I can't say it enough, but the Burmese people are the best.
Saying bye was so hard. They walked us back to the boat and waved goodbye as Schwe Schwan was rowing us out. Despite not being able to speak to them, its crazy how much you can understand and communicate via body language.
Last stop - Kalaw Region.
This was the only part of my entire trip that I researched and knew I wanted to go to. That is because it is where the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp is, which I just saw is now permanently closed.
The drive from Inle Lake was about 2-3 hours so not bad, but again, the windy roads was not enjoyable. Kalaw is a very mountainous region so the change in elevation didn't help either!
Kalaw is known to have a Nepalese influence in their traditions and foods. The lumber industry is prevalent in this region.
Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp was run by a local group of family and friends who came together to preserve a large forest where native vegetation could grow to provide the rescued elephants an undisturbed and natural living habitat.
Elephants in Myanmar are notoriously known for being hunted down and killed due to the country's poaching problem and selling of ivory tusks, their skin, and their meat.
The rescued elephants were so well taken care of by their local mahouts, a person who tended to them every day. The bond between an elephant and their mahout was beautiful to see. I loved that they don't use any chains and allow the elephants to roam free.
I appreciated that they didn't allow visitors to ride the elephants, a common tourist activity in other places that I always found questionable. I did get to feed them and help bathe one with their mahout!
This was truly one of the best trips I've taken and to this day has made an impact on me and how I view the world. The resilience of the Burmese people, facing immense challenges due to ongoing political turmoil, left a lasting impression on me. Despite their hardships, I encountered individuals who found joy in life's simple pleasures, took pride in their long-standing heritage, and welcomed tourists with open arms.
I'm thankful that almost 10 years later, I'm still able to look back at all the photos I've taken, light the new and upcoming Namaste candle (inspired by Nepal), and relive my memories through writing this blog post.
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