Loose of Limits

Did you read Tom's thoughts on Burma? No? Well, you should. Check them out here . And now, our full wrap-up of all the best and worst parts of our time in Burma. We call this, 'The Good, The Bad, The "Are You Effing Kidding Me?!?!" But, like last time , when we reviewed India, we'll start with "The Bad," then move on to "The 'Are You Effing Kidding Me?!?!'" and end with "The Good." (We're idealists, remember?)

If you want to catch up on our Burma posts before you read our wrap ups, click for Yangon , Mandalay , Kyaukme , Bagan and Inle Lake . When Steph and I planned on traveling in SE Asia we both wanted to go to Burma. When I travelled there 10 years ago (see previous post here ) it was one of the best traveling experiences of my life so I was excited to share it with Stephanie. I was also eager to see how the political changes in the country have benefited the Burmese people, if at all. I was pretty skeptical that the announced political changes recently would have much of an impact on the country's people, but once we arrived, I was happily proved wrong. There was a noticeable difference in the openness of the people. When we checked into our guest house in Yangon there were posters, calendars and even a clock of "The Lady" (Aung San Suu Kyi) everywhere. I also immediately noticed how the people seemed a lot more relaxed and at ease. There were people hanging out on the...

Sometimes, a place just isn't as impressive in real life as it is on paper. For us, Inle Lake in Burma was one of those places. You have to hear that with a few things in mind:  We're just 2 people with opinions. We had some overcast weather while we were there, so we didn't really get the views we wanted. We didn't do our homework in reserving a boat and guide for the day and I think we could have done a lot better. No matter what we say, you have to visit Inle Lake when you go to Burma. Before we went to Inle Lake, I was expecting to get lots of shots like this:

Note: This is the first batch of photos we've edited with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. We hope you like them! (The shots were taken on our old camera, the Canon G10, and, occasionally, our Lumix TS-20 Tough.) Bagan , an ancient city located on the Irrawaddy River, is the "must see" place in Burma for a very good reason. It's red sandstone landscape is dotted with thousands of stupas built in the 9th to 13th centuries. These stupas were built by generations of Burmese kings. If ever in Burma, you have to go there, but be aware there will probably be lots of tourists in the town and you may have to plan ahead to find good lodging at a decent price. We had a really hard time finding a place to stay and were a bit dismayed when we showed up at 8pm (after the bumpiest 6 hour bus ride ever) and were told that our hotel had lost our reservation. We tracked down an available room (a family room with 3 beds) at Eden Motel in Nyaung U (one of the 3 towns you can s...

After our trekking in Kyaukme, we were exhausted. (Read about it here .) We had been hiking over 6 hours a day in hot weather and had restless nights sleeping in the smokey houses of the villagers so we wanted a relaxing place to visit. We decided to go to Pyin Oo Lwin , which used to be a British hill station. They call these places "Hill Stations" because they are at higher elevations and have cooler climates. In colonial times, the Brits would spend time here when it was very hot in the rest of Burma. It turned out to be a nice, cool break for us as well. 

True story. Adorable children is one of the many reasons why our time in Kyaukme was the highlight of our time in Burma. The other reasons? Read on, Reader Friend. We knew we wanted to spend a few days trekking while we were in Burma, but we wanted to avoid Kalaw and Hsipaw, popular backpacking routes that we've heard are crowded with hundreds of other trekkers. (Side note: When Tom was in Burma  10 years ago, he got super sick in Kalaw and couldn't go on the trek he had planned, so we were hoping to avoid a repeat of that experience.) Luckily, our friend, Karen from San Francisco, had just visited Burma a few months before us and had highly recommended Kyaukme (pronounced Chow-may), just south of Hsipaw, and a trekking guide, Moe Set. Her email about Moe Set was absolutely glowing and talked about how people like Moe Set are going to change Burma. So, with that kind of recommendation, our plans were set and we hopped a bus from Mandalay (read about our time in Manda...

After Yangon (read here ), we decided to head to Mandalay and booked a VIP bus to get there. Lucky for us, it was one of the nicest bus journeys of the entire trip (cold towels, a hostess, and free water and snacks). We didn't want to get off! U Bein's Bridge Sneak Peek In Mandalay, we met two motorcycle taxi drivers at the bus station who were really funny and charming and who managed to convince Steph, despite her previous rule of "no motorbikes," that we should go with them. They took us to our hotel, Mother's World, and turned out to be really nice. On the 20 minute ride, Steph and her driver, Cinco, bonded so we booked them to take us around the sights of Mandalay the following day.

When I first met Tom (NINE YEARS AGO THIS WEEK!), I was amazed by how much of the world he had seen. I'd never known anyone who had traveled as much as he, and it was a dizzying prospect. (Read about some of his past travels here .) So I took notice when he told me that, of all the places he had traveled to, Burma was at the top of the list. He said that Burma was the most interesting place he had ever visited - that the contradiction of the Buddhist community ruled by the military police provided a fascinating culture. Since then, I've been devouring any information that came my way about Burma (or Myanmar, as it's officially known) and hoping I would make my way there some day. Because Tom loved it so much around the first time, and because I have been so eager to experience it for myself, we knew Burma was on our must-do list for The Trip. In case you're wondering, Tom and I choose to call the country Burma, though you'll find it on maps and offici...

I usually get most excited to travel to places I've never been. I look forward to see the sites for the first time, try new foods, have unique experiences. This time around though, one of the places I am most excited to go to on this trip is a country I have already been - Burma, or Myanmar. I visited Burma for two weeks in June, 2003, and it left such an impression on me that I have been wanting to go back since. I want to see how it's changed, but mostly, I want to go with Steph and experience it with her for the first time. I'll give a little background to Burma because it is like no other place I have been. Bagan, Burma