Some really BIG things

Sunday March 23 2014
Mandalay

Last day in Mandalay. Tomorrow I fly to Bagan. I was wobbling between the plane or the boat. The boat leaves around 8 am and gets into Bagan around 4 or 5.  The plane leaves at 8 a.m. and gets there whenever it gets there, but certainly before the boat does. There was only a 20 or twenty-five dollar difference and it gives me a half day more there. It is just too early in the trip to want to have a day where I just lay around watching the world float by.

Today was a pretty darned good day. Up to before daylight, even before that yelling guy in the tower started hollering about Allah. Out on the street to watch the monks walk to either work or breakfast. I think probably the latter, because even monks have to eat. I stood on the corner and watched the dumpling/chapatta guy make his dough (not money kind - the other kind). That was quite a process. Especially since there was not a machine involved in any way. Then he tossed them into hot oil and left them in for much longer that I thought necessary, but he was the pro in this scenario. Around the time he was getting things in the oil the street side venders were setting out their blankets and putting out flowers or vegetables out for the day's trade. It was just starting to lighten so I went back to my room and did my morning stuff.

We got to the ferry dock fifteen minutes before sailing to Mingun. The location of the world's largest uncracked bell and what would have been the world's largest stupa. But as things like that happen the king died and his successor said to hell with it and stopped., to go and find a way to spend his subject's money differently.

These were 30 minutes up river on the tourist ferry. Our chairs were on the open deck and I spent about half the time talking to my seat mate. It passed the time, but no new horizons or knowledge exchanged. At five a.m. I could feel a wind out of the east. Moving air ? I sense a change in the weather. It sprinkled a little on the way there. A dozen warm raindrops and everyone was throwing coverings over their heads. I put my hat over my camera. It was nice.  I don't think it lasted 5 minutes. Pikers !

The ox cart drivers were waiting for us.  I had to do it even though the area was smaller and mostly level and with the moisture in the air really really cool and pleasant. This trip - plane, motorbike, taxi, boat, horsecart and now oxen. I wonder what is next? Hot air balloon ? Train ? I haven't seen any camels or elephants yet. I hopped in one and  we followed along behind the ox train of the rest of the tourists.

That unfinished stupa is really huge and only one third completed. Most of the tour buses freight headed up the main steps and into the front door. I and a couple of other ferry passengers started walking around it.  I was impressed. It would have been quite a sight, though the corners are scarred deeply due to the earthquake in the 1800's. I am questioning whether it would have survived that quake if it had been finished. Maybe it fared better because of the earthquake. I climbed the front steps to find a bathroom sized  niche with a Buddha and the required LED lights. I could have skipped the stairs and been able to keep my shoes on and not missed a thing.

Then came the giant bell. It was a tourist encircled giant bell. I made a big gong.

There was another pagoda that I can't remember, so it must have unremarkable, even though
I did just remark on it.  Last on the stop was a very very pretty white pagoda built in seven levels with the pagoda at the top signifying Mount Menru (?) It was really cool looking. Back at the ox cart I paid off the driver and took to foot for the way back.  I had an hour and a half to slowly walk back t the boat for the return. I walked really slowly. I even found a European toilet ! and got back to the boat landing with an hour to spare.  :(  Another boat passenger walked over and asked me the time. He was about to return to the vilage and decided to stay and chat. He was a memorable chatter.  a flight attendant for KLM who had already been in Myanmar for about 3 weeks. He had lively topics and a few flight attendant stories as well as sever do's and don'ts for my next stop. He even recommended a hotel in Bagan. For me it was a very worthwhile interlude.

The taxi was waiting for me at the landing and we made a quick stop to pick up my plane ticket before hitting the jade market. I was expecting a brightly lit neon palace where artisans worked before you and then had you exit through the gift shop. I was glad I was wrong. I was there for 30 minutes and didn't see a single western face the entire time. A storl down an alley where young men and a few older - operated foot driven wheels and polishes the jade into ovals suitable for jewelry. then into the sales area that was clearly marked "Foreigners 1000 Khat" I reached into my pocket to pull out the bill and one of the men standing around just waved me through. This was the heartbeat of the market. This is where the raw jade is bought ay buyers sitting at wooden tables with high intensity flashlights to judge the quality of the raw stone. A little deeper were the actual gem buyers and sellers. Table after table of little paper packets filled with gem stones ready for setting.  Some laid out by size some but color and some by both.

I left and walked back past the cutting and polishing area and sat down to smoke a cigarette. Two little boys were sitting across the lane from me preparing the tools for the artisans. The older of the two (maybe 8 years old) mimed me giving him a cigarette. Well I laughed at him, and so did the men working around him. I mean I was down to my last two cigarettes. I took their pictures and sat there watching. As I was leaving I handed each of then a 100 Khat note (about a dime). They seemed really happy with that, I hope happier than taking my last two smokes.

The next place of call was a monastary with a really cool teak temple. Of course no shoes allowed on the grounds. Np shoes so much that in the 1880 a group of westerners walked in and refused to remove their shoes and the monks beat the hell out of them. One of those monks for a life sentence. I took off my shoes and  socks immediately upon entering. It was as peaceful stop on the tourist trail so far. I don't think I want to become a Buddhist nun, but it was very relaxing. -- PLUS -- I saw a sign TOILET --> -- I followed obediently. My luck with western porcelain did not hold. I only peed on my foot a little which generally isn't that bad when I am wearing boots. Barefoot is something different.

The last stop was the gold Buddha. Men (only) have been putting on gold foil for so long at the tour book says that the gold is six inches think and this is a big fat Buddha. His face is clear gold and polished daily to a mirror sheen. In order to get to him, of course shoes are removed and there is a long, long enclosed walkway to the Buddha himself.  This would have been a spiritual walk except it was totally lined with neon lit shops selling religious paraphernalia, but mostly tourist aimed geegaws. The closest I have experienced before was the grand bazaar in Istanbul.

Buddha was an interesting site from the angle allowed that the women were allowed to be in.  Gotta remember those cooties. I would try to explain the sight but it is one of those things that even a 1000 words would not do it justice. I walked around to the back of the area where Buddha sat and found a blank wall with mostly women and a few men worshiping to a suspended television of the Buddha. When it comes to technology it seems Buddha is an early adopter.

Back to the hotel and a 4:30 a.m. wake up for the flight.

I hope the internet is back up .............

zar in Istanbul except there was no pressure to buy anything.

Gold pounding - Monk feeding

Mandalay 5 p.m.
Saturday

Back at the hotel and ready for bed and a shower. Maybe not in that order. I have seen enough pagodas to last a very long time. Some interesting, some supposedly interesting and some totally lost on me as to why they are on the list. Some are the equivalent of seeing a city's cathedral, some are more like going to the local church.

A few things they all have in common is that shoes and socks are totally forbidden. That is understandable given the culture and the level of dirt and dust. The nicely polished marble of tile floors would be as dull as a Lutheran church service in a heartbeat. This is all well and good since for the most part the floors are immaculately clean. But (isn't there always a but ?) anytime after say 11 am the floors getting to and from the shrine itself turn into cooking griddles. My poor western feet ate not quite tough enough to handle this without my walking to a chorus of my making of "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh!" while doing some type of hop from foot ro foot as I try to forget that I have to go back too.

Once you are safely passed the "Ooh, Ooh" you are greeted with a nice square room with perhaps a little carpeting, several boxes to collect donations and Buddha himself all white with gold trim. But the statue is not the first thing I notice. What I notice is rays radiating from behind his head of multi hued flashing LED lights. I am not exaggerating this. It really sets my teeth on edge. It is as incongruous to me as a bikini at Mass. I know it is not my religion, but it still hits a bad note in my melody.

I went to sleep sometime last evening. It might have been 9 or it might have been 10 or it might have been 10 thirty. There is no clock in my room and the time changed by half an hour between Thailand and Myanmar. This has got my iPhone all confused since it needs to see the internet to figure out the time and the log on procedures in this hotel as a challenge. (Right now there is no internet connection at all - a technician has been called - they probably got customer service out of India like we do at home.

Surprisingly I slept pretty good considering that the road in front of the hotel has two eateries that seem to be favored by all the motor bikes in town. I woke at what I thought was five but turned out to be 4:30. Get showered and such. Had breakfast and still had an hour to kill before the taxi arrived. So I went for a wander. Monks walking by with their rice bowls, at 5 a.m. and the city in full open for business mode by seven. The sidewalks solid with people selling meat and produce. Lots of fish what were weighed on a balance scale and then cleaned before being wrapped in paper. Vegetables enough to make a vegan fat. Onions garlic, tomatoes, okra, beans and fruit. Many varieties I have know idea of what they were or how they might be prepared. Severl smiles were exchanged between sellers and myself and some not smiles too.

I met the taxi at the appointed hour and we were off to the gold market first. That was interesting. They take a paper thin postage stamp sized piece of gold. Sandwich it with bamboo paper and a bunch of other pieces, wrap it in leather and beat the heck out of it for half and hour. Then they do it again after cutting it into sixths. And Yet again but this time for 5 hours.. Eventually they get a piece of gold so thin that if you blow lightly on it it will fly away. I'm talking less of a blow that would flicker a candle. I bought 10 sheets for $3. So everyone back home is getting GOLD ! I feel like Oprah.

The main reason for this process is so that you can stick it on Buddha. Well you can if you have a penis. If you don't have a penis - no dice, sister. Even when you are a guy, you have to stick it on him with your right hand. The left won't do at all. That is because the man has the power and his power is focused in his right arm. The right is so dominant that men have to sleep on the right side of the bed. I guess they are lucky that men don't have two penis or one would not get any use at all. Let's see what else, besides girls have cooties and periods. No Buddha time on your period of course. AND, men only need to shower weekly, women need to bathe daily because otherwise they stink. Christ on a crutch ! Maybe I should have said "Buddha on a pogo stick".

The next stop was a embroidery and wood carving place. Nothing new there.

Afterwards it was monk feeding time. I am not putting you on. We went to a monistary and got there around nine forty-five because the monks ate at 10:15. The way through the complex was just that - complex. A wandering monk took pity on me and escorted me to the dining area. We had a short chat. He had been to the U.S.A. in the mid 1980's, well Los Angeles if you can call that part of the states. That was a nice, short interlude.

At ten a gong in a clock tower rang and like soldiers they lined up two abreast down the block. Each carrying a rice bowl and cloth to sit on. A long line of shaved heads wrapped in red. By ten fifteen the line was two blocks long and they kept coming. (1200 in total the monk told me). All this time the sidewalks were getting denser and denser packed with my brother and sisters of the Grand order of the Nikon. At precisely ten fifteen a monk hit a hanging railroad rail with a metal hammer and the slow march through the throng began. As they passed through the gauntlet people began placing wrapped candies and other goodies on their covered rice bowls. Silent except for the incessant click of camera shutters. Mine included. I would like to be and sometimes think of myself as reverent, but when it comes to a crowd and a spectical I am as heathen as the rest.

I broke off before the end of the line and sauntered through the postcard and knick knack vendors to the world's longest teak bridge. It is the most photographed bridge in Myanmar. Possibly only second to the Golden Gate .. maybe not. Rows and rows of stilts going on for a kilometer or more. The light for photography was poor by this time so I made a few snapshots, but nothing that I would expect to come out os a photograph. I think a six thirty or seven a.m. photo would be ideal. I was tempted to cross the bridge, but there was just more sales men/women there and another pagoda that sounded minnorly interesting, but not an hour walk round trip at noon in March. I walked under the bridge to get closer to the water. It is the dry season and so the water is low and a photo of a bridge crossing a bunch of gardens is not as photogenic as having water under it.

Ar one point I heard some ducks quacking and looked over to see a man in his boat herding his flock ? Covey ? Coven ? of ducks with the boat. Once he got them in a crowd he herded them up onto the levee and someone was waiting to herd them along dry land to wherever ducks go after the spa.

Then it was off in Inwa. A former royal city. First a ferry crossing in a over sized long tail boat with a huge truck engine. Then a small climb up the river bank and back into trinkets, postcards and any number of things for sale. The vendors are nice, but they are persistent. About as persistent as I can recall anywhere.

The traditional tourist way around the former royal city is by horse drawn cart. I knew the price was fixed at 6000 (about 6 dollars). One of the cart salesmen pointed to the sign "2 persons 6000. 3 persons 9000" I handed him 3000 since I was alone. That drew a laugh from a few of the locals, but not the salesman. He got his full fare and w4e were away. Rough, bumpy, tossed from side to side. Not camel bad, but a close second.

More pagodas, but not much else to show there was ever a city there much less a royal one. I don't know if the marble and such was carted off to other uses or if the city was wood and it just disappeared over the years. Now it was mostly farm land with the occasional pagoda. It was a nice ride and a fun experience, but that
was all it was - an experience.

I'm starting to really drag and the next top on the tourist train is a 400 foot climb up a steep stairway at 2 p.m. in 95 degree heat to see another pagoda. I called it quits. UNCLE! I've has all the fun I can stand. Back to the hotel, James.

Which brings us back to "Doe, a a dear, a female dear ....."

p.s. Sorry for the spelling errors .. I was very tired

Do you know the way to Mandalay ? (sung to the tune of San Jose)

March 21 2014 - 7 pm
Mandalay, Myanmar.

pictures tomorrow - promise

Happy vernal equal knox.

It does seem that I made it. I think the effort of getting the visa was worth it. Though at the moment I am so tired I can not totally attest to that fact.

I got up around five after a good six or seven hours of sleep. I did wake around two, and was fearful that it was another night of tossing and turning. A quick pit stop and back to sleep in 10 minutes. A welcome addition to my sleep cycle.

Packed everything and left my big purple coat and a pair of very dirty pants in one of my small packs and hit the road to the airport. Check in was as simple as it gets, as was departure immigration. I didn't toss my passport to the inspector and we both left happy. The flight was what a flight should be. Smooth and reasonably comfortable along with getting us there safely.

Myanmar formalities were about what I've come to expect. Stand in line hand your passport over, stand some more, get your passport back, find your luggage, nod to the Customs officers after your bag is x-rayed once again, and welcome to Myanmar.

Now the fun begins. The swarm of taxi touts descend. I was the most important person in the world judging by the number of people surrounding me. I made a deal with maybe not the devil, but certainly an Imp of Satan. I got pressured and gave in too soon.  I should have gone with the independent guy and not the company pogue. It would have been less expensive by a few dollars, but more importantly would of gone to a guy who could probably really use it. Next time, go slower T.

Mandalay as a city hasn't shown me too much yet. It is just a big noisy city in a long list of big noisy cities around the globe. I am sure it has it's charm. I'll await judgement for later.

My hotel was recommended in the top five in Mandalay in Trip Advisor dot com. The staff iis great. The room seems to be clean. A little on the small size, but after the suite in Bangkok my view of the room may be skewed. It is your basic utilitarian hotel room. Off the street, reasonably secure and a bed and toilet. That is about all I can say for it other than my stinking room is on the second floor overlooking the street and it is not a peaceful sanctuary. Maybe the fan on high will sooth my eardrums. I am going to need to go back to TripAdvisor and re-read some of the reviews I obviously missed something.

As I was setting things out of my luggage my phone rang. It was the tour guide that was also recommended on TripAdvisor who I had exchanged emails. A nice young man who would take me everwhere on my list over the next three days for about $50. It seemed a fair price to me. Then we were about to take off and he said "Hop on the back of the motorbike." Now that was unexpected. That might factor into how low the price was to me. Heck it wasn't even his bike. He rented it for a buck a day from a friend. Ok T. put on your big girl pants, you wanted an adventure, you got one. So pile on, sit down and shut up. I thought they drove wildly with no regard to stop lights ot lines on the road. It really came into perspective sitting out in the open as trucks and cars slipped past.

Mandalay is about a thousand year old, but most of the monuments and such are maybe a century and a half old at the oldest. Most of them are post 1945 . Burma used to be under control by the British. But for some reason Japan thought they wanted it more, so they asked the British to leave which they did amongst a lot of grumbling and dirty looks. A couple years later the British decided they wanted it back  and brought some friends along to ask Japan to go home. Japan kind of liked it in Burma and threw a shit fit about this.  It turnedinto quite a spat and most of the buildings that were the nicest and strongest got renovated via explosion. They stayed that was until thirty of forty years after the Japanese went home to take over the world economically the buildings stayed just like they were when they left.  Then the current government (for some reason after all the hullabaloo in the 1940's the British had gone home to sell records in the USA in the 1960's) came into some money or more likely asked their citizens to volunteer their labor to repair the British/Japanese renovations.

This is strongly seen in the former royal palace with it's twenty foot high walls stretching toe kilometers on a side. The area now is 80 percent army base and 20% tourist site. You enter the main portico and you can only walk down the road half a mile to the royal palace. There is no deviation, nor photography allowed, Inside the royal palace it is really pretty. But that is about all I can tell you. I had left my Lonely Planet book back in the room because I had a tour guide. I had left my tour guide at the main gate. I thought I had a tour guide, but in fact I had a motorbike and driver. I will have to read my LP book and look at the photos I took to see what I saw.

We went to a pagoda and he came along this time and I asked him some questions about what I was seeing and his knowledge and English skills were not sufficient to give me much more that what I had skim read on the plane to Mandalay. I am going to have to terminate our union and find something with four or even three wheels surrounding someone who can tell me what I am seeing.

We went to all the tourist sites on Mandalay's tourist track. I kept seeing the same people at each stop. The world largest book as well as the high hill overlooking the city and river. By the way there is no Mandalay Bay in Mandalay. It is on a river and Las Vegas lies.

I am pretty tired right now. Still dealing with Jet lag, but not too bad. More than anything hanging on to the back of a motorbike trying to keep my bladder clenched all afternoon has really worn me out. So on that note I'm going to stop writing and get on with something else

Two embassies - Two successes

March 20 2014 - noonish
Bangkok

(Still no photos - sorry)

It does appear that I will be going to Myanmar (Burma) after all. A little added stress, a little wasted time, and a few dollars more and it looks like it is going to be a "go".

Last night's sleep was intermitent. Sleep for four hours. Wake up for an hour of two, sleep for a couple more hours. Finally I gave up around 5:30 a.m. and got out of my very comfy bed. I had planned on arising like a Phoenix at 6 so not too much of a problem.

I Had an appointment for 8:30 at the US Embassy, so I left the hotel around seven thirty to allow for plenty of time to get there. I assumed (correctly) that the morning's rush would be in full swing on Bangkok's streets. I wasn't wrong. None of the taxis wanted to take me there. Finally one acquiesced for $3. He thought he was gouging me, I thought I was getting a bargain. I knew I was getting gouged when he didn't turn on the meter, but I was in not panic mode, but very severe business mode. He got me there by seven fifty.

I really lucked out getting the appointment yesterday. It was the last one for the entire day, and it  was early allowing me time to get to the Myanmar Embassy - maybe. The appointment checker let me in early and after surrendering my lighter, ear buds and cell phone. Removing everything for the x-ray, passing through the metal detector (no beep) and getting wanded I was on US soil. The process was reasonably painless. Window 2 followed by window 6 followed by window some other number. Told it would be an hour and to sit down and watch some basketball game on the Armed Forces Network, my number was called in about 35 minutes and I was handed my passport now fatter than a passenger disembarking for an all you can eat week cruise.

Another taxi ride to the Myanmar embassy some line standing with a bunch of other sweatty  tourists. The man at the first window, said :I did this for you yesterday!" - I explained the additional pages. He smiles and said go to the next step. The heartless woman at the next step said "Not too much trouble?". I had to admit it wasn't horrid. It could have been so much worse. I was making "Plan B" in my mind when I got up this morning. She gave me a yellow reciept for my passport and told me to report back at 3:30 to pick it up.

I walked over to the sky train. Guided another tourist in the ticket process, now that I am an old hand at Bangkok mass transit. The train was waiting at the platform. I got on and settled back for a nice ride. Looking out the window as Bangkok passed under me. Then the river passed under me and I didn't remember seeing it on my previous passages. The reason for that was I was going in the totally wrong direction. I am really glad I didn't tell the tourists to follow me. That would have been a very untasty dish of crow. I got off at the next stop. Changed sides and good old Bob was my uncle again, until I exited at my stop and went the wrong way there too. Yesterday totally sleep deprived and stressed it went like silk. Today with a fair night's sleep I am Corrigan.

Somehow I managed to make it back to the hotel where 20 ninutes under the A/C made life whole again.

Now getting a light lunch of Pad Thai and Diet Coke waiting for 3 pm to forge onward into the forge that is the afternoon heat of March in Bangkok in search of my passport and new Myanmar visa.

- evening -

Wow ! The time change just ganged up and beat me over the head. It is almost 7 pm here. Maybe 5 am back home. I'm not sure about that, my brain is not computing time zones very well yet. I was going to walk down to the main street and take a wander after dark in the night market. I stepped outside and like a wave exhaustion hit me. Maybe I should have taken that nap that sounded so good this afternoon. No sense crying about it now. With luck I'll be able to hang in there for 2 more hours until 9.

I loafed around between noon and two thirty and then started making trails toward the Myanmar embassy in hopes of picking up my passport with a new visa in it. The heat was oppressive so I wimped out and instead of walking the 4 blocks to the sky train station and then to the embassy. I started talking to the taxi drivers who lurked at the hotel's entrance. Trolling for that unsuspecting tourist who has no idea the real cost of a taxi ride. A meter reading should be in the neighborhood of 100 from here to there. So when the head taxi shill said 200 I laughed at him and said I'd walk.Then I countered with 150. No dice so I started to walk. One of the other guys said "160". No, 150. 160 ! Uhh.... 155 ! (15 cents less.) I was just playing the game now. 160 wasn't too bad, but comeon guy let me win. Nope ! No siree 160 it is. We went back and forth for a bit and I blinked first. I feel like such a wimp. If he would have gone to 155 I am certain I would have gone with his 160 (maybe even a little more)

The ride was fine and probably a little slower than the sky train, but it was all A/C all the way.

You know how there are pictographs explaining things if the mono lingual? One cab today had a series of circles with lines through them in the rear door windows. One wih a gun and a knife. One with a bottle of booze. A cigarette. -- you get the idea. The final one in the line was a couple locked in a missionary position embrace. I guess cabbies in Bangkok see everything.

When we arrived at the embassy there was a line out the door and quarter way down the block of "my people" to pick up their passports and visas. The line moved faster and smoother than it should have based on the number of people there. The woman handing out the passports gave my a big smile. I guess we did get a small rapport in the three times I had seen her over the previous two days. I thanked her and checked the page. Lo and behold my planned trip to Myanmar was a go, as far are the visa goes. Now if I can just remember that the Thai Immigration officers get grumpy when you toss the passport to then from 5 feet away I should be winging my way northward tomorrow morning.

I caught the sky train back to my hotel area and at the entrance to the hotel who should be there -- Mister 160.(it must be good fishin' here) I told him I wanted a taxi to the airport tomorrow and to give me a good price. He quoted me what I think was a fair price including road tolls and the deal was struck, 8 am tomorrow for a 11 am flight. 

The government is the same no matter who's government it is.

Wednesday March 19 2014
Bangkok

(sorry no pictures yet)


Well, got that long wagon train in the sky done with no major mishaps. We were an hour late getting into BKK but that wasn't too bad. The Seattle to Tokyo flight was delayed a while due to heavy winds in NRT (Tokyo). The same thing happened last year, but with a much longer delay. The landing was a bit rocky but from seat 36A I helped as much as I could. I expected the NRT to BKK flight to be delayed as well but it loaded close to being on time and had to sit on the tarmac as flight control cleared up some of the prior backup. That flight from NRT to BKK just about came to the limits of my endurance though. I can sit at home all evening watching television, but put me in a aircraft seat and I immediately need to get up and walk around. Luckily my row was three across with the middle seat empty so it allowed some movement without that sardine feeling.

The taxi to the hotel was a snap. I gues once you have done it a time or two it gets sooo much easier. You know at 2 a.m. the toll roads are virtually empty and you can go 120 km in a 45 km zone ? Once you hit the city streets it is totally a different matter. The sidewalks and roads were jammed. They were as busy as I see it during the daytime. The song New York, New York says it is the city that never sleeps. Well that is a lie. It does sleep, between 3 am and 5 am. Bangkok NEVER sleeps. $12 cab ride for 25 miles. Not too bad.

My reservation was all set and check in was easy squeezy. I spent more time trying to figure out the lock on my room than I did checking in. No card slot, RFID reader at the door that reads your card. I had reserved a 'Superior' (read standard) room and was upgraded to a 'Deluxe'. Let me tell you it is nice. A sitting area and then a sleeping area. Everything you could want shampoo, hairdryer, safe, iron and board, two 45 inch tvs. No view, but the room is plush. All for the price little more than the Motel 6 at home (I checked). I got to bed around 3 am and semi slept until about 6:30 am. I probably could have gone back to sleep for an hour or so, but my mental schedule wouldn't allow me to.

Showered and breakfast and out the door about 8:30 to go to the Myanmar (Burma) embassy to get the visa. I walked to the sky train and only had to ask two people how much I needed to feed the automatic ticket machine before I was flying above the snarled traffic of Bangkok's streets. The directions to the embassy that I found on someone's website worked beautifully. I only had to back track half a block.

A bit of confusion as to which line did what but eventually someone pointed me to the right line and "Bob's your uncle". A quick review of my paperwork a plastic number and wait for it to be called. I took my passport to he window when called, handed her the right amount of money and was told that my passport didn't have enough pages left in it. It needed at least one free page. My passport has 25 pages and page 25 was clearer than a virgins Wasswerman test. I guess they count one differently than I do. I whinned and pleaded, but she was firm. I had prepaid for the flight to Mandalay and three nights at a hotel, all non-refundable of course. Shit, fuck, hell. It is only around $200 in fees, but I really want to go to Burma.

I stepped outside to think and the penny dropped. There was a US Embassy in this town. Mister Tuk-Tuk said he'd get me there for about five bucks (I found out later the taxi fee for the same trip was a third of that). WTF I was in need. Besides I kinda like Tuk-tuks, I'm not ready for a shared motorcycle, but Tuk-tuks get you up close and personal with the street.

The line was a block long to the Embassy, but I noticed a shorter line with white sunburned faces so I went an stood in that one. In a jiffy I was explaining my situation to a lady through 3 inch glass. She said we can add pages to your passport, what time is your appointment ? Appointment whadda ya mean ? All US citizens need an appointment and it has to be made online. Please give me a gun, so I can shoot myself.

I picked a direction and started walking and asking for an internet cafe'. One travel agent did offer to do it for me for 500 Bhat ($12.00) That seemed just a tad excessive. I found a multi story business tower and asked at their information desk and she directed me next door to a shopping center on the second (third) floor. I didn't find a internet cafe, but I did find some sort of business with computers and a printer. Five minutes and I had found the web site, made an appointment for tomorrow at 8:30 am and had a print out of the confirmation page. Price ? 5 Bhat - Twelve cents.

I flagged down a taxi, regardless of price and found out the real price for a metered ride back to the area near the Myanmar embassy and the sky train station. The train back was less crowded at noon than it was at nine and I discovered a blister on my sandal clad foot. Back to socks and boots tomorrow.

So safe and sound in my hotel where I think I am going to stay for atl east the rest of the afternoon. Not too sure about what to do for dinner. But with 95 degree heat outside, a gimpy foot and 3 hours sleep in the past 36 staying here does have a certain appeal.

Off to Burma - The start

Happy Saint Patrick's day !

Sitting in the boarding area at SeaTac waiting for the plane. It is delayed by half an hour and I think I have enough for my luggage to transfer from the SEA-NRT to the NRT-BKK airplanes in Tokyo. If not me 3 days worth of clothes in my carry on luggage should work as my luggage travels on it's own vacation. Regardless it will work out.

I picked up a rental car at home. I had requested a small economy model. I got a mini van. To my exes it was a maxi van. It was huge. Nine or ten people huge. Of course the weather did not co-operate worth a poop. It rained hard all the way to Seattle. Not quite the normal heavy mist we are so used to here in the Pacific Northwest. Big drops and a lot of them. The mist kicked up from the semis on the road gave me more than a few "Just keep the wheel centered and hope for the best" times. Until after the longest 10 seconds on record the wipers would catch up with the spray. Of course driving a large strange vehicle had nothing to do with my white knuckles.

I made it to my friend's home all safe and sound. He graciously offered to take me out to dinner. That was really unexpected and appreciated. I had anticipated f taking him out to dinner. Whatta guy ! We went to a big glass restaurant at the south end of Lake Union. The view was wasted on the day. With the overcast and the rain the view was flat and nothing was moving on the water. A little disappointing. Chris ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. In my summer I go with a friend who has a boat out to hunt for crabs. For me it is more time on the water with friends than the crabs, but the crabs do certainly factor into the scheme of things. I was floored at when I floored at the menu and saw what I get for free from Puget Sound to be for sale at the restaurant got $60. I can see mark-up for the view and paying someone to throw the sea bug into the boiling water but that was just "Highway robbery" as my grandmother would say. I guess a sandwich at Subway is in no way reflective of the cost of eating out now days.

The meal was very good and the service was so attentive it was embarrassing.

I dropped Chris back home and he made me a small goodie bag for the trip and was back on the road after dark. I was bitching about the drive down in the daylight, it had nothing on the bitching I did on those 20 last miles to the airport. But me and the bus made it safely and I was happy to dump the darned thing off at the rental return.

The room at the Radisson was exactly as expected. Fast check in, clean, too hot room, with a multitude of pillows on the bed. I watched tv for a little before lights out and really, really missed my DVR at home. You know they make you watch commercials ? You know that is you miss a line of dialogue that you can't skip back and hear it again ? It was sooo weird.

Morning came and so far things have gone smoothly. I hope I can beg/pay my way into a seat with more leg room. Obviously that will be a different post. So for now time to close and start chanting for more leg room.

Ommm......

Myanmar's Golden Rock

In looking through the Lonely Planet guidebook for Myanmar the Golden Rock at Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is a 'must see'. A long spiritual trek up the mountain or an easier 45 minute ride up in a jam packed truck. Then a 30 minute hard walk up hill to the actual site. You could hire 4 young men and a sedan chair to carry you Memsahib like up the mountain.

Sign me up ! Something out of the ordinary, an interesting way to get there, a spiritual feeling once you get there. Sounds like my kind of vacation excursion.










Once I started doing more research on this site I found out that women are not allowed anywhere near the rock. There is a platform on the grounds where women can view the rock, but no touching. Not even close enough that 'Girl Cooties' might jump of me and come in contact with their rock. Well I have been to places where women have to wear certain clothing before being allowed to enter. If it is a spiritual experience, I can swallow my pride and accept, what I think is a silly rule.

Then I saw this picture. It looks to me as peaceful and spiritual as Space Mountain at Disneyland.

I think I will find a different place to visit.

thanks - fineartamerica.com for the beautiful first picture.