In the Land of Golden Smiles: 1 of 3

The Land of Golden Smiles. That's how travel books describe Myanmar. After the whirlwind six-day trip to three historic areas of the country, I now understand why our Southeast Asia neighbor earned the title. Not only was I greeted by smiling faces wherever I went when I was there, I can't help but also smile whenever I recall the adventure that was Myanmar. 

Sitting in front of the computer now, my fingers dancing on the keyboard, I am having a tough time deciding on how to write about the trip. There are too many details, too many colors, too many sights, scents, and sounds that I would like to include in this post-trip reflection of sorts. 

And even if I am able to write everything, it still would be far from really understanding how phenom the journey was. One has to be there -  to feel it, to experience it. 

Borrowing a thought from the book I was reading during the trip, one has to push aside certain worries and concerns for a few days and just "participate" in the now. 

So I've decided that I am just going to about certain things about the trip that really stand out for me. If people were to ask me what I would remember most about the trip, what brought a smile to my face in the land of golden smiles, these would be it:

1.) The friendly monk at Shwedagon Pagoda. It was already close to 8PM when I arrived in Yangon. Travel buddies Chris, Reg and Sarge landed in the morning. After dropping my stuff at the hotel, I took a cab to Shwedagon Pagoda to meet up with the guys. The place closes at 10 so there weren't that many tourists anymore. It didn't take long for me to find them. With them was a monk who gave an impromptu tour of the marvelous shrine. The guys told me that the monk just started conversing with them and became an unofficial tour guide. It was great because he knew the place as if it were his own home. (It probably is.) He showed us certain areas, explained certain details which we wouldn't know about on our own. For example, thanks to him we learned of specific locations at the pagoda where you can see the 76-carat diamond at the top change color when you take a step forward or sideward. He even knew that we would probably want a souvenir group photo with the pagoda in the background. After the tour, we offered him a small token of gratitude. He declined. Instead, he said that if we really wanted to help, we should just donate the money in support of monks education. He then left us and proceeded with his next activity, probably give another tour to another group of souls visiting the pagoda.

2.) Cycling for a day in Bagan. The flight from Yangon to Bagan was very early. Thankfully, Air Bagan was a good flight. After a brief rest at the hotel, the guys and I freshened up and prepared to see Bagan. Whereas Yangon was much cooler and more urban with its paved roads, concrete structures, busy people, Bagan very much had the countryside feel which I really love. On our first day, we rented bikes to explore the ancient city. We pedaled our way around from Shwezigon Pagoda to the markets in Nyaung U to the first few temples lined up on both sides of the road leading up to Old Bagan. A lot of follow tourists decided to see the city the same way. The roads seem safe since there weren't that many motor vehicles anyway. We were sweating under the heat of the afternoon sun but I guess that's part of the experience. The reward for the almost whole day of biking was a magnificent view of the plains of Bagan from the top of Htilominlo Temple. We were hoping to catch the sunset, but it was too cloudy that day. But the cool wind up in the temples and a fantab view of Old Bagan brought a perfect ending to the day.

To be continued...