Myanmar: On A Wing And A Prayer

Our latest start yet off of the ship. I hear it had something to do with the tides as we came up the Andaman Sea

Against their wishes, I had the boys do a couple of hours of school work since we were not expected to leave the ship until after 4pm. They moaned and groaned but will thank me later! They got enough work done that they hung out with their friends for hours before we were allowed off the ship. They even hunted down our inter-port student from Myanmar and wrangled some face cream off of her. It supposedly helps cool the skin in the extreme heat of this country. It's so popular that the unique designs made on the face have become all the rage for everyone who use it.

Finally got the "all clear" from Myranmar immigration around 7pm and we caught one of the last shuttles into Yangon about 90 minutes away.

My first impression as we maneuvered the narrow, unlit roadside was that this is a vastly different country than we have ever encountered!

Along the way we passed at least 4 small pagodas all lit up and glistening in gold leaf. The small communities we drove through had several restaurants and stores and open air homes that were so busy with activity that it was as though there was a party going on and we were not invited : (

Some roads were paved, some were gravel and the one where we almost hit a water buffalo was dirt. There were all kinds of transportation...cars, buses bicycles. The ones that caught my attention most were the trishaws (a large tricycle that is decked out with a side car which carries 2 people, one sitting forward, another backward). And then there were these pickup truck type vehicles. The back end was open but had a roof with a clearing of about 6 feet. A wooden bench lined the inside perimeter. We saw these trucks spilling over with passengers. Some hanging off the sides and others even riding on the roof!

I learned that Myanmar was once the 2nd richest country in Asia. Probably during the years they were a British colony. 1968 brought independence and government turmoil. A couple of actions put into motion quickly to practice their separation from the British...vehicle traffic moved to the right side of the road and all English schools were closed.

The language barrier is greater here than in any other country we have visited but it's is still manageable for the most part.

The shuttle bus dropped us off in front of city hall around 9:30 pm. The tour company that is in charge of many of the SAS trips had a liaison there to field the thousands of questions of hundreds of SAS passengers. To help ease the confusion, Chris simply asked if he could borrow his phone to call a hotel.

Most of us are "playing it by ear". We have places in mind that we want to visit but only the really smart people made arrangements in advance. We are not in the smart category. We have 4 days in Myanmar and we allowed Jeremy, who has been aching for more "independent travel", a glimpse into that reality.

Only armed with info on where we "might" go during our Myanmar Odyssey, we headed off to the first hotel that took our reservation...the Summit Parkview.

Situated high and to the left, our upgraded deluxe room overlooked The Shwe Dagon Paya, which is at its most brilliant at night. We were ecstatic about our hotel "find". It was a suite complete with living room bedroom and kitchenette but the steep price was much more than we expected. First lesson in "seat of your pants" traveling...all surprises, especially the ones that can break your budget are possible at any time! Set reasonable expectations and enjoy the ride ; )