Jodhpur and Barli, Rajasthan, India March 27th-31st

Jain carvings

Our drive continued through the desert land of Rajasthan. Although it took us five hours to drive a mere 180 kilometers due to road conditions, there was never a dull moment for our eyes. Whether it be a spontaneous goat herd crossing or overtaking a motorbike with five people and/or a crateful of chickens, there never seemed to be a lack of entertainment. Along the way, we visited the largest Jain temple in Rajasthan. The innately decorated multi level temple was a true thing of beauty – 1444 pillars, 72 chambers and thousands of statues of Jain angels surrounded you. Not one square inch of the marble structure remained uncarved, leaving you with an overload of visual stimulation and beauty!

As sunset approached, we finally reached the outskirts of Jodhpur, the city famous for its indigo blue houses and enormous Maharaja fort. With empty stomachs, we headed straight to our Taj Hotel for dinner and an early bed time for the kids. In dire need of an alcoholic beverage, I attempted to check out the nightlife scene in Jodhpur, yet was strongly discouraged by the hotel staff to not walk around by myself at night. Instead, I bellied up to the hotel bar with a slew of Rajasthani businessmen at my side, making for an eventful evening and interesting conversation!

Back to dosa for breakfast time, as uttapam sadly wasn’t on the menu. Somehow I figured out a way to survive and hopped in the van to the Mehrangarh Fort. Built in 1459 by the city founder Rao Jodha, the towering fort provided beautiful views of the blue city and access to dazzling rooms of the palace converted into houses of impressive collections of paintings, weapons, jewelry, palanquins and opium hukkas! Accompanied with an informative audio guide, the tour provided insight into the astonishingly wealthy lifestyle of the Jodhpur Maharaja’s. We finished the tour with a stroll through the impressive four level flower and tree gardens. As the day continued, the temperature only rose until it reached a staggering 108 degrees. Once again, pure joy came with a quick afternoon dive into the impressive swimming pool.

Anxious to meet my own personal maharaja, we headed to the current palace for dinner with the hopes of catching a glimpse of a possible husband to be :) Sadly, the current residence separates itself from the Taj’s Sunset Pavilion restaurant, yet as we walked up the spiraling staircase to the top of the palace,e I no longer had men on the brain. Instead, the stunning view of the city and luxury of dining atop a palace was only topped with an absolutely delicious Indian feast. With bite after bite of spinach and corn kebabs, Rajasthani spiced fish and spicy potatoes, the thought briefly crossed my mind not to order the famed gulab jamun for dessert. My family giggled at this notion and I quickly changed my mind. Thankfully so, as this gulab jamun was definitely the best of India and perhaps my favorite dessert of ALL time! Just as we were leaving another table was seated atop the palace, yet for two hours we could call it ours! What a night…

With a solid school session in the morning, we were back on the road again by midday. Only three hours passed before we were at our destination for the next couple nights. Barli, exactly midway between Jodhpur and Jaipur, boasts a rich history of maharaja lodges and local battles. We pulled into Fort Barli, an old home of the maharaja converted into a heritage hotel. Within no time, several local village women decorated our arms with the popular Indian wedding tradition for women—henna. As we sat in the peacock chairs, women quickly covered our arms with intricate detailed designs of flowers, symbols and more. With our arms laid out to dry for the next two hours, a famous local astrologer came into the fort to read our palms and create our birth star maps. Hindu’s deeply believe in the work of an astrologer—they predict and select spouses, wedding dates, new jobs and more for people. The kids volunteered first. The astrologer’s mouth literally dropped as he read Tess’ fortune due to her perfect alignment of the sun and the moon in her star chart. Good things to come for that girl! The poor astrologer had no idea the firing squad of questions that would come once my turn rolled around. I told him my birth day, time and place (somehow he hadn’t heard of Kewanee) and he got to work. With my left palm open for viewing, he took what seemed like hours before he provided information. With Venus as my strongest planet, the astrologer predicted a strong love connection in the next few months. My inquisitive cousins and aunt interrogated the astrologer for exact dates and details before I could get a word out. Thankfully so, as he predicted that I will meet my husband somewhere between April 3rd-August 10 of this year and he will not only be a businessman, but a white one! Who knew? The astrologer continued to answer career path and future residency questions, leaving me satisfied and anxious to meet some men in Israel!

The excitement continued as the owners offered the entire family to dress up as in full maharaja (kings) and maharani (queen) gear. The owner brought out a massive sari collection, head jewels, bangles, necklaces and earrings to create the entire ensemble. Within minutes, we emerged from the ladies room to see our two stunningly handsome maharajas in front of us. After several royal family portraits, we participated in the traditional bamboo stick dancing around the courtyard with a lovely musician family leading the way. It was a wonderful night, as I danced around the court yard in a royal sari, beating my bamboo sticks in unison with the local music. The party continued throughout the night, as India beat their arch rival Pakistan in the semifinal of the World Cricket Match. For a rivalry that makes the Vikings and Packers look like best friends, the defeat of Pakistan sent the entire country into celebration mode—letting of fireworks, partying in the streets and more. Definitely a special night to remember in India!

Narlai, Rajasthan, India March 25th-March27th

We woke the following morning sad to leave the true paradise of the UdaiVillas, yet excited to see more of the land of kings.  We climbed into the van for a drive through the countryside of Rajasthan.  Brightly colored saris and turbans stood out against the dry, arid desert of the land.  Our large passenger van often shared the road with wild boars, camels, elephants and ox—a novelty that never seemed to wear off for me.  We passed through many villages celebrating Holi, the Hindu festival honoring the triumph of good over evil.  The tradition allows children to throw colors on each other and their elders, making for a truly festive and bright drive through the rural communities.  Our patient driver often had to pay young pranksters to avoid our car getting a spontaneous painting of bright green, red and purple.  En route to Narlai, we stopped at the famous Kumbhargarh Fort built along the Mewar and Marwar dynasty border.  With a 36 kilometer protective wall, the 15^th century built fort is in marvelous conditions.  Once used as a hunting getaway lodge for the maharaja, the fort still boasts of looming lions, tigers and panthers in the vicinity!

After a sweaty walk through the fort, we were treated with a DVD viewing of my first Bollywood film for the remainder of our drive to Narlai.  We arrived in the village of 6,000 with a delightful welcome at our home for the next two nights.  Fort Rawla, a 17^th century fort converted into a beautiful heritage hotel offered the most comfortable beds in months.  We slept like logs and woke up ready to see the village Saturday morning.  The walk provided much excitement as we dodged aimlessly roaming wild boars and piles of dung from countless animals.  School children on break anxiously approached us, eager to practice their English they so diligently practice in class.  We wandered through the streets, greeting the locals and truly understanding what life in a small Rajasthan village feels like. 

The afternoon heat began to wear on us, meaning an afternoon dip in the pool is just what we needed.  After the cool down, we hopped into an open air jeep for a safari trek to the lone lake in the middle of the desert.  With a coffee in hand, we enjoyed a perfect twilight view of the surrounding Aravali Hills and surrounding villages.  In the distance stood the sacred mountain of Shiva, easily spotted with the massive marble white elephant standing atop.  Our jeep dropped us at the bottom of the stairs and the climb began!  The thousands of stairs were worth it, as the view from the top was absolutely spectacular.  However, the fiery orange sunset was somewhat overshadowed by the thousands of colored turbans spotted in the city center of Narlai.  We knew we were missing quite the party, so we grabbed one last view and trudged our way back down the mountain. 

The last day of Holi is never a party that you want to miss in Narlai and thankfully we made it down just in time.  Every man over the age of thirty donned an all white outfit with splashes of pink, accessorized with a bright neon pink turban.  Not only were they dressed to impress, but every man carried their own opium pipe and wooden stick.  Chanting and singing, the men circled one another raising their wooden sticks in the air and their opium pipes to their mouth.  It was quite the scene!  I graciously declined a drag of the opium, yet thoroughly enjoyed the party unfolding before my very eyes.

The excitement continued through the night, as our evening transportation arrived in front of our hotel to escort us to dinner.  As we opened the gate doors, three ox driven bullock carts stood waiting to shuttle us to our secret location.  We bumped along through town, stopping to enjoy local musicians and gazing up to identify the perfectly seen constellations.  We stepped out of our bullocks, to a stunningly beautiful step well, used for hundreds of years by the local villagers.  Our hotel had decorated the step well with hundreds of oil lamps, leaving you with an incredibly magical feeling.  We enjoyed a spectacular multi course Indian meal, with an ambiance like nothing I’ve ever experienced.    As the owner of our hotel versed us in Narlai history with rhythmic Rajasthani music in the background, I truly felt as if I had been transported back to an ancient time.  With full stomachs and smiles on our faces, we piled into an open air jeep for our ride back to our home away from home. 

Udaipur, Rajasthan, India March 22nd-24th

UdaiVillas Hotel

With a quick layover in Mumbai, we finally landed in Udaipur, part of the northern state of Rajasthan.  Known as the “Venice of the East” and the “City of Lakes”.  Surrounded by the Aravali Mountains, Udaipur is famous for its magnificent palaces and scene stealing beauty in the James Bond classic “Octopussy”.  Within minutes of landing, the four main lakes of the city surrounded us, as well as the Monsoon Palace, Summer Palace, City Palace, Party Palace and the current maharaja residence palace.  Our greeter Tony welcomed us to Rajasthan, the land of kings, a major improvement in his mind, as Kerala is known as the land of coconuts.  Tony enthusiastically recommended the best places and dishes in Udaipur, including my soon to be favorite gulab jamun.   

We took a sharp turn onto a candle lined street with a stunning palace in our front mirror.  Never could I have imagined that this would be our home for the next few days.  The UdaiVillas, an Oberoi property, not only wowed in appearances, but we devoured each and every morsel of food at our Indian feast that night.  Blended spinach with corn, butter chicken, tandoori lamb and double garlic naan!  My eyes opened wide as I just happened to notice the highly recommended gulab jamun on the dessert menu.  After some heavy arm twisting, I ordered the Indian staple and my mouth began watering as I tasted the first bite.  The gooey fried milk ball is soaked in a sweet syrup, flavored with a bit of cardamom, rosewater or saffron!  Believe me when I tell you it is heaven in a fried ball!

Our guide picked us up bright and early, as there would be much to see of this splendidly romantic city.  Founded in 1559 by the Maharaja Udai Singh, this naturally protected city overcame attempts by many Mughal rulers to conquer.  We stopped first at the imposing City Palace,  towering over Lake Pichola and still looking festive from a recent royal wedding.  A true structural wonder built with granite and white marble, the palace offers superb views of the city and a quick realization that it is good to be maharaja!

After a few hours of marveling at the palace on the lake, we headed to the Garden of the Maidens.  Carved marble elephants lined the pathways, as sacred banyan trees and over 100 varieties of roses leave much to admire.  The kids and I enjoyed a productive school session in the heat of the day, as I’m getting spoiled with a swimming pool at the completion of our lessons.  The true Udaipur highlight came with a sunset boat cruise on the stunning lake.  The perfect afternoon light illuminated the facades of the various palaces and I could only imagine the possibility of a future romantic trip back to Udaipur. Although, Tess is quite the cuddle partner! 

For dinner our last dinner in Udaipur, we were welcomed into the home of a local family and cooking extraordinaire!  Within minutes of our arrival, eight of us packed into our host’s jeep en route to the local vegetable market.  We once again blended with the locals, as vegetable stands were safely guarded by the local cows and goats in the road!  After some fresh spinach and okra purchases, we all headed into the kitchen for a play by play demonstration of the Rajasthani specialities—chick pea flour dumplings, stuffed okra, chicken curry, chappatis and spinach!  In true Indian fashion, we didn’t eat until 10:30 pm but kept ourselves busy with wedding albums and conversation.  A truly great way to experience the culture and enjoy a delightful feast, we said goodbye to our hosts and got back to the hotel just before midnight.

Kerala, India March 17th-22nd

After a whirlwind tour of Delhi, we boarded a flight to Kochi, the port city in the western state of Kerala. Fort Cochin is a conglomeration of its many visitors from the past 600 years—the fishing nets of the Chinese, the synagogues of the Jewish settlers, the stores of many Portuguese traders and Dutch cemeteries still remain today. We wasted no time getting acclimated with the Kerala culture, as we dropped our bags and headed to the theater for a pre-dinner show. We walked into the Kathakali theater just in time to see the actors diligently applying their elaborate make up and costumes. Kathakali, the classic Kerala dance and play style, emphasizes extreme facial expressions and body movements to express emotions. Imagine Mr. Bean wearing bright green face paint, adding a couple hundred pounds and using his eyes to tell the story of the triumph of good versus evil! These guys were unreal!! Inspired, we couldn’t stop the eyebrow movements and facial expressions (more like a lip twinge in my case) to “speak” during dinner. I thought my incredibly large eyeballs would give me the advantage, but Megan quickly won the title as the family Kathakali actor.

The following morning, we all hopped into the van anxious for our Kerala cooking class in a local woman’s home. I warned my party, as well as many locals, that I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an experienced chef, unless you count Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese (I would!). The entire country let out a sigh of relief, as we quickly realized it was more of a demonstration than an active participation class. We benefitted from a delicious lunch with local specialties, all of which were properly cooked with no one injured. Nothing follows a good meal like a little shopping adventure and that’s exactly what we did, as we perused the shops of old Jew Town. Antiques, MC Hammer pants, a great book shop and much more filled our time for hours. Our time in Cochin ended with a delicious feast and music show at the Malabar Junction where the love affair continued with the Indian cuisine!

After a traditional dosa breakfast, our guide picked us up for an early Saturday morning surprise. Told to cover up, we knew nothing of what was in store for us. Within twenty minutes, we pulled up to a large fair grounds looking field, decorated with streamers and gold garland. Passing a crate full of multi colored chicks, our guide led us towards the sound of a “battle of the bands” type concert. As we turned the corner, 17 ornately decorated elephants stood in front of us, all holding up 4 choreographed dancers each To top that off, live musicians battled back and forth in front of the elephants to honor the great Lord Shiva! Hundreds packed into a small area to witness the Hindu festival.  As you can imagine, we fit right in with our jaws on the floor in complete awe.

After an eventful drive, we arrived to our home for the next 24 hours--a houseboat on the Kerala backwaters.  A network of windy rivers, lagoons and canals, the Kerala backwaters stunningingly beautiful scenery nourishes the surrounding rice paddies and coconut groves.  You can't be the scenery and it was only topped off by a coconut upon arrival and three delicious meals.  The setting proved conducive for plowing through India novels and countless games of everyone's favorite card game, UNO! We ate like king and queens, slept wonderfully and was sad to depart our house on the water. 

Uttapam = Delicious

Fortunately, we didn't had to head far as we stayed at a Kerala backwaters resort for the next two nights in Kumarakom.  Advertised as "perhaps paradise on earth", the Kumarakom resorted boasted two swimming pools, traditional Indian dance shows and great school rooms!  The true highlight of this time came with the introduction of two of my favorite Indian foods so far--uttapam and halwa.  Uttapam, a traditional breakfast food, is the Indian style pancake mixed with onions, tomatoes and green chilies.  With a little tomato chutney or vegetable sambhar instead of butter, it is the perfect breakfast treat!  Halwa is the perfect (until I found galub jamun, more to come later) after dinner dessert.  Made with either pumpkin, carrot or pineapple, the thick pudding made with butter and sugar required double helpings at the dinner buffet ;) Yum and yum!

Delhi, India March 14th-March 17th

Humayun's Tomb

India Gate

After an incredibly appreciative upgrade to a business class seat due to a long layover, we finally descended upon Delhi to a sky full of bright lights radiating from the home of  12 million.   Delhi encompasses two very different worlds, the Old Delhi and the New Delhi, which present entirely different yet delightful experiences.  After a delicious breakfast buffet at the stunning Imperial Hotel, we spent our first day exploring the spacious New Delhi designed by the British.  With tree lined massive avenues and a precise grid system layout, the new city wows you immediately.  We stopped first at the India Gate, the famous national monument of India commemorating 90,000 soldiers who died in World War I.  Standing forty two meters tall, the brilliantly designed gate points directly to the presidential palace just down the road.  

Qutab Minar

We quickly moved from the British empire influence to that of the Mughals, the massive empire that ruled and conquered India for eight hundred years.  Exemplifying the Mughal architectural style and eventual plan of the Taj Mahal, Humayan’s Tomb stands as an impressive monument to the 16^th century Mughal emperor.  Surrounded by the sacred banyan trees, this World Heritage site’s gorgeous red and white sandstone with spectacular geometric carvings immediately had me in awe.  One can’t help but understand the comparison to Agra’s famous Taj Mahal, yet this was built 100 years prior.

Red Fort

Remnants and ruins remain of the seven different capitols occupying the Delhi area dating back to 1000 BC.  One of them being the massive Qutub Minar, the highest tower in India,  built in 1193 is the world’s largest brick minaret standing 73 meters tall.  Even more impressive when you remind yourself it was built without a speck of mortar.  The entire Qutub Complex includes mosque ruins, iron pillars, Jain temples and more.  Truly a compilation of several empires of rule! Due to our bodies adjusting to the 100 + temperatures, we called it an early day on sight seeing and opted for the massive swimming pool for an afternoon activity.

Day two provided an incredibly different feel, as we entered the old city wall to navigate the streets of Old Delhi.  Three kilometers in circumference, you can’t miss the Red Fort –the massive seven domed structure built by the Mughal ruler and builder of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan.  The synthesis of architecture is on display throughout the many rooms of the fort including marble queen bedrooms, concave mirror ceilings, pearl mosques and more!  The enormous size almost makes it believable to imagine the 1,000 elephants, 20,000 camels and 400,000 soldiers who once called this fort home!

After our spectacular tour of the fort, we hopped aboard a bike rickshaw for a ride through the streets of Old Delhi.  With bundles of electrical wires hanging to head level, monkeys hopping from building to building and piles of cow dung patties on the sidewalks, we bravely said goodbye to our rickshaws and finished on foot.  Cows, dogs, monkeys and men all seem to eat, breathe, urinate and sleep on the same street, resulting in a variety of stimuli to feast your eyes upon!  With all the entertainment outside, we somehow managed to leave the streets of Old Delhi without any purchases! Instead, we headed for Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India built by the now familiar Shah Jahan.  Seating 20,000 people it truly was a sight! Dirty, tired but with tons of stories, we trekked back to the hotel for a delicious Indian meal and an early bed time!

Mandalay and Yangon, Myanmar March 10th-14th

World's Largest Book

With fertile ground and a great location along the river, present day Mandalay was home to five ancient capitols from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century with a large number of these ancient civilizations still remaining (Ava, Amarapara, Sagaing, Mingdun and Mandalay). After departing the boat, we headed straight to Sagaing and Ava to marvel at the historical temples, while enjoying a view of the village from the horse drawn carriage. The seven tiered Ava Palace with the accompanying queen’s swimming pool and ornately carved nat figures in the teak walls definitely impressed our crowd. My true highlight came with a visit to the world’s largest book, the Ku Tho Daw Pagoda. With seven hundred twenty nine massive marble slabs engraved with Buddhist teachings, the project took eight years to build and with packed crowds of locals, one could tell the importance of this monument for the people. In true Myanmar fashion, our tour continued with a spectacular sunset atop Mandalay Hill. Overlooking the Shan Mountains, home of the Gurkha soldiers, the view provided a necessary aerial perspective of all the surrounding capitols. Although much different from the stupa skyline of Pagan, the Mandalay sunset did not disappoint as the fireball sun fell over the large gold pagoda. As a result of the heat, Tim and I savored the local Myanmar beer, as we all enjoyed a spicy meal at the Thai Golden Duck for dinner.

Our wonderful and well connected guide offered the kids and I a special surprise for school the following morning. With our school bags in hand, Mr. Aye drove us into the well protected American Consulate Library, where an officer met us to specially open the facility for the morning. I can’t determine if it was the result of not being in a library for months or the awareness that I was in a country that censors every book, newspaper, TV show and internet site for their citizens, but I have never felt a more overwhelming joy of packed shelves of books in my entire life. The American Embassy opened this particular library to lead free English classes, study areas and library books for the people of Mandalay. As the morning progressed, people began to filter in to meet with conversation partners and practice their vocabulary through an intense game of Scrabble. As far as school locations go, this one will definitely be hard to beat!

After lunch underneath the plentiful mango tree, we headed back to our beloved Irrawaddy River for a local boat ride to the Mingdun village. The famous king of Mingdun aimed to build four of Myanmar’s largest structures during his rule of the 18th century- lion statues, bell, lake and stupa. King Bodapoda succeeded in building the world’s second largest bell, measuring over 18 feet in diameter. Ruins remain of the lion statues and stupa, although damage from a massive earthquake did not leave them in excellent condition. As we continued walking through the village surpassing the ox driven taxis, our guide led us to a stunningly unique white temple. The Myatheindan, or Burmese Taj Mahal, was built by the king to honor the love of his life and ensure her place among the seven oceans, resulting in the seven waved layers of this temple. With the perfect afternoon light, this temple surpassed many as my favorite of the Mandalay area. We rushed through the streets to reach our boat just in time to catch a breathtaking sunset, becoming my favorite tradition of our short time in Myanmar.

With another early morning flight departure, we landed in Yangon before 9 am. Anxious to see the country’s largest city and former capitol, Mr. Win picked us up from the airport and we were on our way to see the sights. He obviously knew our crowd well, as our first stop was the famous Scott’s Market/Aung San Market. With its colonial architecture and cobblestone streets, it provided excellent people watching and every store imaginable, including an underground black market currency exchange which provided endless entertainment. We managed to escape without any purchases and spent the afternoon visiting the second largest reclining Buddha in the world and the towering Shwe Dagon Pagoda. Gleaming in gold and decorated with diamonds, the Shwe Dagon Pagoda is a spectacular work of Burmese temple architecture and the holiest Buddhist shrine in all of Myanmar. The main stupa is completely solid, every inch covered in gold and the upper parts are studded with diamonds totaling over 2,000 carats. Truly a wonder of the world! As curious tourists we requested a photo in front of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, yet the guide and driver quickly and nonchalantly responded that if we were to stop they could get shot. We finished our last night in Myanmar with a delicious meal and ever better conversation, as we shared our favorite memories of our time in this wonderful country!

While stationed in Burma, Kipling wrote that “Burma is quite unlike any place you know about”. Isolated from the international community, the country is ruled by harsh tyrants, yet the locals seem to be the most gentle, beautiful and hospitable people that I’ve met throughout this trip. With thousands of temples creating never before seen skylines and sunsets on par with any in the world, Myanmar truly is a magical land.

Pagan and Irrawaddy River, Myanmar March 5th-10th

Ananda Temple

Pagan sunset

The planning involved to visit Myanmar began months ago.  With the United States disapproval of the rigid military junta government rule and treatment of their citizens, they were not too keen on the idea of my visit to “The Golden Land”.  Several times my visa application was denied and just minutes before I left Australia, the embassy finally stamped my passport. I let out a monstrous sigh of relief and began my intensive study into this historically rich country.  With no idea of what to expect, we arrived in the capitol of Yangon (Rangoon), knowing only that emails, international websites and television channels would be blocked, yet anxious to meet the locals, marvel at the beauty and consume the spicy cuisine.  We breezed through customs, grabbed our duffels (mine marked with 7 chalk X’s) and were greeted by our local guide, Win.  We stepped into the Governor’s Residence Hotel along embassy row, sad that we would have to put of the highlights of Yangon till the end of our time in Myanmar.  It turned into an early night—due to a total of 10 planes servicing the entire country, flights begin taking off quite early in the morning, and we would be on a 6:30 am flight to the ancient capitol of Pagan.

With a croissant to go and a quick flight, we arrived in Pagan before 8 am ready for a full day of temple sight seeing.  As we drove inside the old city wall of Pagan, thousands of temples begin rising from the ground like mushrooms.  Within the sixteen square miles of this holy land, over 4,000 temples remain—despite several large earthquakes, 2,217 of them remain in great condition!  A skyline unlike any other I’ve ever seen, towering stupors with brick, gold and silver extend for miles.  With no time to waste, we stopped at the Ananda Temple first.  Built in 1090 AD, the perfect execution of the unique, practical and massive architecture led to the murder of the architects to ensure no replica ever built.  Although UNESCO Status has been revoked due to political reasons, this truly is a breathtaking sight.

Our day continued with an essential stop at the Shwe Zi Gone Pagoda with the towering gold stupor.  Legend tells of the famous white elephant choosing this sacred spot for the enshrinement of Buddha’s teeth relic.  We managed to squeeze in two more big stops before lunch—a man made meditation cave dating back to the 11^th century and the Gubyaukgi, the great painted cave temple.  With paintings dating back to the 12^th century, the bright colors and details still remained in excellent condition.  Every where you looked told a story of Buddha’s life, providing a book for the people to learn of his life path.  Here we sat on the top of the temple, taking in the view of the city.  Our guide shared his personal feelings on life in Burma, for both himself and his children, many thoughts which related to the oppressive junta rule.  With the magical background and deeply intimate conversation, I just had to pinch myself to ensure this setting truly was a reality. 

Irrawaddy River Sunset

After a full lunch and a necessary siesta, we ventured to the local handicraft studio to marvel at the lacquer ware work.   Although stunningly beautiful, I seemed to fall for the smiles of the local children; a love affair that lasted our entire time in Myanmar.  With the sunset nearly approaching, we saved the Gu Byuak Gyi Temple for last and rightfully so.  One thousand year paintings adorned the ancient temple, still in stunningly perfect condition.  The beauty on the inside could not compare with the sunset view as we ascended to the top of the temple.  A skyline sunset unlike any other, we sat upon the temple walls and marveled at the beauty of this city.  One couldn’t help being overwhelmed with this sense of spirituality.  A day like ours could only be topped with a massive local meal and traditional puppet show.  Between the heat, the early morning flight and the busy day, we all knocked out early, ready to wake up for another full day in Pagan.

Our day began with a festively large visitor at breakfast—an enormous peacock to wish us well for our adventures in Pagan.  Throughout the day we stopped at many villages to meet the locals and gain insight into the real life in Myanmar.  We brought clothes, pens, soccer balls and balloons for the kids, as they shared their smiles and gracious offers into their homes.  Children as young as two years old joined in on the family chores of carrying water from the well, shucking peanuts, making beautiful pottery or climbing up trees to collect sap.  Over 80% of people in Burma, particularly in the villages, remain without electricity as the government sells the hydropower to China.  It didn’t take long for the locals to offer us a sample of their moonshine—a 50% alcohol content which left my throat on fire for hours!

Filled with liquid courage, we drove to the highest mountain in Myanmar ready to climb to the adjacent temple.  Although known for its size, it is truly valued as the official home of the thirty seven nats (spirits) of Burma.  All tell a story, yet the romantic epic of the nats Lady Golden Face and Mr. Handsome won me over.  The temple provided stunning views of Pagan, great exercise and a true test of agility as one must dodge monkeys while climbing.  A horse drawn carriage led us back through the dirt roads of Pagan for another majestic sunset atop our own private temple, a memorable scene I hope never to forget.

The following morning took us in the steps of Kipling, as we boarded a boat on the Irrawaddy River to travel the “road to Mandalay”.  For the next two days we took in the rural views of Myanmar, along one of the most historically important trading rivers of the world.  I took the opportunity to read an unsettling book telling the story of political prisoners in Burma, with many necessary games of family Uno in between.  Each afternoon we stopped at a local village, meeting the effervescent children who were anxious to practice their English.  I marveled at the workmanship of the women carrying up to three pots atop their head and one in each arm. 

After finding out I was a teacher, our guide even gave me a tour of the village school and set up a meeting with the local school teacher.  The school children proudly sang their ABC’s in English and Burmese, recited their single digit addition and seemed so thankful for the opportunity to learn.  It took the group to pull me away from the classroom, wishing I could do more to help and only  solidifying my passion for education.  On the morning of the third day, the temple skyline of Mandalay came into view, sadly concluded our Irrawaddy cruise.  With the cool river breeze, village stops and continual eating, you couldn’t beat the mode of travel to Mandalay.  Now onto Mandalay….

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City March 3rd-March 5th

We arrived in the city of nine million, ready to take in the history of the last city to fall to Communists in the war and the headquarters of the American forces.  Our guide Thuy picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to the famous Cu Chi Tunnels just 70 kilometers from central Saigon.  Originally built by the French, the Viet Cong extended the tunnels to 200 kilometers long and added three different levels reaching up to thirty meters underground.  Not only did the engineering amaze me, but the thought of it only a mile and half from an American base of 10,000 soldiers, yet it was never discovered.  Used to shelter themselves from the tons of American bombs, the VC built an immense tunnel complex equipped with camoflauged rolling traps, see saw taps and armpit traps in the ground, all with blood poison to ensure an immediate death.  As we walked into the complex, the guards led us to a video viewing room to watch a fifteen minute Viet Cong video on the “devils from Washington D.C.” and “American serial killers”.  No question, the Cu Chi Tunnels communicated the animosity and disdain towards Americans more than any other site we had visited so far.  We emerged from the viewing room, only to scream seconds later as guards let off pretend land mines to really get the feel for life throughout the war.  Throughout our hour and a half on the complex, I never seemed to get use to the unexpected boom of the land mine—I cannot even imagine living in a state of constant angst at one wrong step ending your life.  After walking through the trap display room, we reached the shooting range where they offer tourists the opportunity to shoot an M-16.  I declined, yet continued to jump every time a shot went off making it clear I was a foreigner.  Locals didn’t flinch as gunfire went off ten feet behind them.  We concluded our time at Cu Chi, walking through the insanely small tunnels many called home.  At one point I had to crawl on my hands and knees, as even leaning over my height was too much to continue.  I left the Cu Chi tunnels with a nauseous feeling in my stomach and a hyper jumpy state, as even a butterfly coming towards my head startled me!  Megan wisely stated that we all needed to get to the hotel ASAP to watch a Disney movie.

After our day excursion we headed into the central of Ho Chi Minh City, which made the traffic in Hanoi look like nothing.  Locals claim that although the city population totals nine million, there seem to be ten million motor bikes on the road at any point.  We reached the Majestic Hotel with stunning views of the Saigon River and a sky bar that provided entertaining aerial views of the insane traffic.  After a powerful school session, we hit the streets for what we do best—shopping and eating.  Shopping stalls with knock off EVERYTHING lines the main drags, including banned books, handbags and sunglasses.   Dinner at Lemongrass proved to be a winner, as fried noodles with Chin Shu spicy chili sauce has turned into my favorite dish!  I walked around the city center checking out the night life scene, which proved to be much more entertaining in the streets than in the bars.

At 10:00 am the following morning, our guide met us in the lobby for a packed day of sight seeing.  Our first stop—the War Crime Museum, originally named the American War Crime Museum until Bill Clinton’s visit in 2000 to normalize relations.  A three level museum, it is broken up into various exhibitsions including The War Truths, Americans Use of Agent Orange, War Crime Photos, A Photographer’s Perspective and Vietnam After the War.  The pictures of the horrendous consequences that still exist today from Agent Orange were the hardest to take in—the cleft lip, limb deformities, blindness and more.  The war crime focused on several massacres that I had only read one line about in history class.  I spent a majority of my time mesmorized by the images captured by photographer’s who risked their lives to inform countries of the reality of the war.  The kids opted for the Dove Peace Room, as many of the photos were simply too grotesque for their young eyes.  The museum is definitely a difficult, yet essential stop in Ho Chi Minh City.

Followed by a lighter stop at the Thien Ho Temple to honor the goddess of the sea, we dined at Pho 2000/Pho for a President, a hole in the wall restaurant made famous by a Bill Clinton visit in 2000.  Pictures of Bill adorn the entire establishment, as we enjoyed one of our favorite Vietnam dishes.  We attempted to walk through the Chinatown markets, yet couldn’t quite handle the crowds as it takes 5 minutes to move 20 feet.  Instead, we drove by the Reunification Palace, where in 1975 a Viet Cong tank busted through the gates to declare the fall of Saigon and the unification of Vietnam as a one party communist country.  With the equivalent of $5 USD in Vietnamese Dong, I searched for a fun and exciting way to spend my last few hours in Vietnam.  I walked in and out of numerous stores, yet couldn’t find a product that won me over.  Instead, a man standing outside the Saigon Spa offered a 45 minute hot oil massage for only $5 USD.  Really? Can I pass that up? Pure heaven!

I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent in Vietnam and overwhelmed by the generosity and forgiving spirit of the Vietnamese people.  It is a country with a tragic history, yet a hopeful future! I cannot wait to be back!