Yangon days

Back in Yangon after three beautiful days in Bagan. Our days in Bagan were unbelievably good, peaceful, and happy.

I’ve smiled and laughed more than I have in ages this past week and I don’t want to go.

It feels good to be back in the beautiful city I’ve called home for the past month, but also somewhat sad to realize this is the last day I’ll have in the country (for a while). I don’t know when life will take me here again, but I’m hoping it will be someday soon.

Tomorrow, early a.m. I’ll be on my way to back to Thailand.

Burma thank you for being wonderful, challenging, and rewarding! Thank you for all the smiles, the generosity, and for sharing yourself with me. Beauty is everywhere here and I feel incredibly blessed to have had the chance to live, work, and play here for the past month.

“Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment — the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.” – Jorge Luis Borges

Goodbye for now

Currently in the Don Mueang International airport. Off to Yangon in just two short hours.

In Yangon, I feel my real adventure awaits.

Thailand has been a real blessing in my life so far and an entirely beautiful experience. In Thailand, I appreciate the kindness, feeling safe, the small comforts (from coffee to wifi), and most of all the moments I fell in love with the place (too numerous to count). In the midst of the coup, the curfew, everything, Thailand has given me a chance to explore a place without much restraint and for that I am thankful. I’ll be back again in 28 days, but for now, I feel sad to go.

Monsoon days, heat waves, and all are waiting for me in Yangon (and the rest of the country) and I’m ready. Its truly a strange thing to be living out a long time dream of mine. Burma//Myanmar has been in my thoughts and dreams for years and it doesn’t seem real that I finally get to go.

I’m off to explore another new place and throw myself in to something I deeply care about.

Internet won’t be available most of the time, so, for now . . .

Just adventure well.

“To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self…. And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.”- Soren Kierkegaard

Bits + pieces, Bangkok

 

Going to enjoy this city one more day before (*hopefully) flying to Yangon tomorrow.

Yesterday’s activities included a visit to the Chatuchak weekend market (apparently the largest market in the world, or Asia? or something. . . ) and I had the time of my life. I was so in love with all the beautiful things and the opportunities to people-watch that I didn’t know what to do with myself.

For now, I’m ready for the next adventure and the next new country!

Travel, glorious travel, you’ve been good to me so far.

Memories

“Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” -Saul Bellow

Back to Bangkok

This is a little of what my day back in Bangkok looked like.

I’m staying at this really quite (cheap and clean) hostel outside the city (*When I say quiet, I mean it too. I think I’m the only guest here).

The trip from Koh Tao (ferry –> bus –> train –> tuktuk) was very long and exhausting, but I still managed to spend most of my day traveling around and seeing new streets in Bangkok. So far, I’m really impressed by this city. It is full of far more surprises than I imagined and I am glad to be back for a little bit longer.

Grand Palace | Bangkok, Thailand

When I landed In Bangkok, I realized I had no idea what I had to see and do in Bangkok. I stepped off the plane and realized I should have done more research. In talking with friends who live there, everyone said I had to see the Grand Palace. I did. It was beautiful, but I have a really hard time at most popular sites, temples, monuments, palaces, etc. I don’t know why, but that’s just the way it is. It was hot, it was crowded, and I’m really glad I went. I leave the lovely Koh Tao today for traffic, noise, and excitement. Bangkok round two, here I come! Most travelers in Koh Tao these days are heading to Koh Pha Ngan for the full moon party and in order to avoid the crowds and the mess, I’m going back up north to the big cities and enjoy these next few days in Thailand.

Travel notes –> the in-between places

I often find when I travel between two places, I’m more distracted by all the in-between places I’m passing through than my final destination. I’m often not too upset when something goes wrong in my original travel plan because I know that in the end, either an adventure will come of it or I will get the chance to discover a new place.

For example, the other night while I was traveling –> Bangkok –> Chumphon station –> bus –> ferry –> Koh Tao, I wanted to stay in Chumphon longer, wanted to stop at every train station and see what that town was like, etc.

I guess, I’m just easily distracted, but I feel this way most everywhere I go.

Traveling by train in Thailand is such a pleasant experience. Up to this point, most of my train experiences have been in Europe or India (*the two extremes of train travel), and so far, I think I choose Thailand. My India train experiences have certainly prepared me for a good deal in life and even though I have oddly grown to love traveling by train in India, I’ve found  in Thailand, I can relax, breathe deeply, and sleep for more than an hour without being interrupted!