8 Days in Myanmar

Myanmar: a Culturally rich experience

Earlier this year while traveling around Thailand, we had gotten a taste of what visiting Myanmar, formally known as Burma, might be like. We visited a Thai town near the border and took a boat down the Moei river, the body of water that separates the two countries. As we glided over the water, our guide explained to us that there were still active land mines all along the Myanmar side. That day we spoke with refugees, visited a local school, and experienced the stark contrast between the two cultures.

Eight months later, upon touching down in Yangon, I was immediately struck by the intense juxtaposition between the old and the new; the rich and the poor; the peacefulness and the chaos. Colonial buildings disintegrating from lack of upkeep were intensified by markets stalls and street vendors out front. Eight days in Myanmar truly opened my eyes to the rampant strife in parts of the world and some of the wildly disparate ways human beings go about their daily lives on Earth.

After a quick visit to Yangon, the former capital of Burma, we headed to the countryside to motorbike through the ancient ruins of Bagan as far as the eye could see. Inle lake, however, was a true depiction of one of the most utterly raw cultures in existence. Starting at sunrise, we took a long-boat tour of the lake and stopped at a silver smith's workshop, visited a long neck tribe, explored a floating market, cruised through a local fishing village, went to a cigar making shop, ate a local Burmese style meal, stopped at an ancient pagoda, boated through a floating garden and toured a floating monastery.

Needless to say, returning to our safe haven in Phrapradaeng felt comforting and reassuring after eight days in Myanmar.