MARCH, 2004

2005: JULY, JUNE, MAY, APRIL, FEBRUARY, JANUARY,
2004: DECEMBER, NOVEMBER, OCTOBER, SEPTEMBER,AUGUST, JULY, JUNE

Friday, March 25, to Thursday, March 31, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - Climbing, climbing, climbing...

Thursday, March 24, 2005 - BANGKOK, to KRABI, THAILAND - Another trip to the Chinese Embassy at 9am. Unusually effecient. Didn't say a word to anyone, just got in one long, quickly moving line, paid 3,000 baht, got a receipt, got in another quickly moving line, gave receipt, got passport with new Chinese visa. That's the last step to heading back to China at the drop of a hat. Walked to the subway, took that to the train station, tuk-tuk to Si Phraya boat launch, boat to Phraya Pin Klao, taxi to Bangkok Rock Climbing. Bought a rope, a bit over-priced, decided not to buy a harness (as I have one in Shanghai and can probably rent/buy one in Tonsai) and quickdraws (they're charging 2-3 times what they should. Sons of bitches. Taxi'd back to K.S., made some phone calls, bought a ticket to Krabi on the slow, cheap bus (profligate spending today) and mailed a box home. Ate some lunch at Maykaidee - excellent brown rice with Massaman curry - and packed my bag for Tonsai..

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND - Chores, chores, chores. Whenever I return to Bangkok I have a laundry list of chores to do. I headed to the Chinese Embassy to drop off my passport, then trekked to take care of some business at another place. I worked online for awhile, got some laundry done, bought a hat (what is Etnies?) and a book - The Dangerous Summer. I tried to see Kung Fu Hustle, but it would have been a 45 minute taxi ride. Caught up on all the email I couldn't access from Burma.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - RANGOON, MYANMAR to BANGKOK, THAILAND- I headed to Mr. Brown Coffee and had a cup of coffee and some pastries for breakfast. There was a Hong Kong police movie on, so with nothing better to do I watched that until 10:30 or so. I know, there is a lot to do in the capital of Myanmar, but I was traveled out and exercised my right to watch some HKese try and rob the Jockey Club. They didn't get away with it, as the troubled cop stopped them at the very last minute. I found Ethel (I keep wanting to write Ether) and we hopped into a cab to head to Bogyoke Aung San's old residence. He is the hero of Burma and helped them achieve their independence from England. It is a great day when a country achieves their independence from Britain. Too bad Australia and New Zealand are nansy-pansies and will always be their cabin-boy. Aung San lived in this house for a few years - 1945-47, then U Saw, a political rival, orchestrated his assassination during the Executive Council meeting with six other Councillors. U Saw, a former Prime Minister, got his and was formally and summarily executed. On the 4th of January, 1948, Burma achieved their independence, only to realize that it was a lot better to be ruled by the Brits and even the Japs than to have a military junta run the country. Ne Win fuct the country up good. Aung San's Nobel Prize winning daughter, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, now leads the National League of Democracy. This is the party that won by 82% in 1990, but the junta insists that the transition will take time. I can't get in to the politics right now, but check out this site for more info, or read Freedom from Fear (the first essay and the second half).
I taxi'd to the airport, had some lunch at the airport oasis and waited a long time for my plane to board.
In Bangkok I caught an airport bus to Khao San, which took a great long time. I checked back in to CH II Guesthouse, as I had a bag there, but I don't think I'll return there. All the rooms on Khao San are slums. Got some dinner and checked email

Monday, March 21, 2005 - NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, to MANDALAY, MYANMAR - Killing time before I head out on another lovely overnight bus ride to Mandalay. Wish I'd been able to take the bus out yesterday night, but no worries...
I never made it to Mandalay. For reasons I won't go in to here, I threw away my bus ticket to Mandalay and bought a plane ticket to Yangon, hoping I could connect out to Bangkok tonight. It was a 4pm departure, so I packed up and got out of town quickly. I arrived at the airport, checked in and climbed on to the awaiting propeller aircraft. Our 4pm departure took off around 3:45. They didn't tell me we were going to Mandalay first, so they cut in to my timeline a bit. I eventually landed in Yangon, about 45 minutes too late for the flight to Bangkok. I would have to wait until tomorrow, 5:45. I shared a cab and checked into Mahabandoola. I wondered out to see what movies were playing and to get some dinner and ran in to Ethel. She showed me printouts she had from google. "See! If you type Ethel, and Yangon into google.com, you can see that I have helped tourists! She had a log book with tourist's stories of praise. I took her to dinner. We ate at an outdoor street mamba-jamba, some curried chicken and rice. She only had tea, but proved to be a good source of information and excellent English. No one will ever accuse her of being taciturn. I agreed to meet her in the morning to see Aung San's house.

Sunday, March 20, 2005 - NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR - We woke and had breakfast early on Sunday morning. Sunday morning breakfast in rural Myanmar is pretty much the same as the States Ë leftover rice, miniature fried lake fish, more green beans and a drink resembling coffee. We walked to a neighboring village see more of the area, then returned for lunch, which closely resembled the previous three meals I�d eaten in the hills. In the early afternoon we walked down through the hills to the lake. On the way, the younger brother-in-law started a little brushfire, for no apparent reason. Arson and forest fires are fun and cool all over the world! Down at the lake, we hopped on to a dugout boat and headed back to Nyaungshwe. I relaxed the rest of the afternoon on my hotel�s verandah and at tea shops. In the evening I went to Moon Smile and hooked back up with A Tun. He brought me to a room with 40 Ë 50 people in it, all watching an Italian football game. He had a lot of money on this game, and games being played on other channels. The crowd responded to a goal with a quick, one second "Oh! ". It was very hushed, as were all their conversations. It was strange to be in a room watching sports with 50 guys and everyone so deathly silent. Even the volume on the television was muted. I headed back and read more of Freedom from Fear, a book apparently banned here in Myanmar.

Saturday, March 19, 2005 - NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR - After breakfast, I checked out and left some things I would not need on the trek with the Joy Hotel. I met up with my guide and his younger brother-in-law. We walked through Nyaungshwe into the hills for several hours, eventually stopping at a monastery to have lunch. I did not see any monks, or any other signs that this was a monastery. There were five children there, all quite intent on making fun of me and laughing at me. My facial hair, height, aviator glasses and mere presence were of great entertainment to them. Attempts to make fun of them were ineffective. Lunch was served, plain white rice with a communal instant noodle soup. The soup did contain a few shoots of onion and a few slices of small vine tomato. My guide was quite proud of his cooking. We continued on into the mid-day heat. My guide pointed out many of the things he knew in English. His English was very rudimentary, so conversation was limited. "veguhbul, tree for nut, tobago leaf, tree for coffee drink". He managed to point out Inle Lake to me five or six times. 22 km long and 11 km wide, it is hard to miss Inle Lake. I suspect he has not been on a lot of treks, and his family would much appreciate the USD. We eventually arrived at his parent-in-laws� house. It was built entirely of bamboo. The villagers of Burma use bamboo like the Tibetans use the yak Ë it pervades nearly every aspect of their life. I asked to wash my hands, and this initiated a trip to the stream. The two boys gathered up soap, buckets, laundry detergent, scrub brushes, and old anti-freeze canisters. We walked down for five minutes or so and cleaned up, washed our shoes and flip-flops and filled the canisters with water. The family was very hospitable and served me green tea and taught me how to play Belikoh, a game played on a two-square-foot board. There are four holes at the corner, and one large disc is used to shoot in any of your 10 or so colored discs. Sort of like pool. I sat outside on their thatched bamboo verandah, among the tobacco and coffee trees and wrote through sunset. I offered up a bottle of Red Sea Rum, which I had been advised to bring. The father and I drank rum and smoked Burmese cigars under a gaslight. We ate rice, green beans and mashed potatoes for dinner. They apologized there was no meat to be served. The food was good, though I had the feeling it was a big meal for them, although the meal in town probably would have cost $0.20 or so. Immediately after dinner everyone went to bed in the big main room on bamboo mats. There is very little furniture in Burmese villager�s houses, and beds are considered an unnecessary Western luxury. Thus at 8:30 I laid down on my bamboo mat to write a little, drink some more rum and prepare myself for bed. 9pm is the middle of the day for me, but my options were quite limited.

Friday, March 18, 2005 - NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR - I woke a bit groggy but well rested this morning. I sat down to a breakfast of fried egg, toast, banana and a huge slice of mango. I caught up a bit more in my journal and enjoyed the morning sun. The balcony at Joy Hotel is an excellent spot to while away the morning and watch the Burmese muck about in their dugouts in the canal. I studied the LP a bit to plan my next few days, then headed to take a look at the Minglaba Market and Eden Tea Shop. The Eden is a nice tea shop on the corner of the market near the canal. Many Burmese were there, watching a straight-to-video 3rd world Hollywood martial arts special. I drank my Indian tea and ate the pastries and watched a bit of the 4th rate movie. When it finished, everyone left. I paid my $0.20 and headed out to try and arrange a trek for tomorrow. Still need to find A Tun. I don�t think I need to spend another day here, so hopefully I can get out Saturday morning. I wish I could check my email, hopefully anyone trying to reach me has emailed me on the Priv address. Happy weekend€

Thursday, March 17, 2005 - NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR - St. Patrick�s Day was yet another day not observed by me. I�ve celebrated one holiday in the last year, this birthday. I woke at 11am, ate breakfast, read The Iron Road for two hours up on the balcony Ë finished it. I headed to Shan Land for lunch and ordered up some unknown Shan Burmese food and a lime juice, while trying to update my journal. I headed home while I was falling asleep over it and blowing my nose every five minutes. I�ve had a miserable cold, but today, Friday, it�s gone, that�s what 28 hours of sleep will do. I headed back to my room and slept from 3pm until 8am Friday. 17 hours straight, 28 in 32 hours. Nice to do that every now and then.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR - Deb and I had arranged a boat cruise of Inle Lake, which I guess is the thing to do here. I couldn�t be bothered with the morning floating market, which would have required me getting up at 6:30 or 7am. I�ll get to it later this week. There are many things I can�t be bothered with these days, and if you learn to identify these and not bother me with these things, everyone will be much better off. I ate a nice breakfast of fruit, eggs & toast and coffee, then jumped in the boat around 9:30. We headed across the picturesque lake, passing many a stilthouse and the famous legrowers of Inle Lake. Sorry, I don�t have any pictures, but you can probably imagine a leather-skinned Burmese man with a broad wicker hat standing on the stern of a dugout canoe, rowing with his right leg wrapped around the oar. We passed naked kids swimming in the lake and canals, water buffalo cooling off in the water, farmers tending their floating vegetable patches and eventually made it to the village of Indein and Shwe Inn Thein, a beautiful temple on top of a hill. There were thousands of weather-beaten stupas with trees and plants growing out of them. It would have been very easy to steal a Buddha head or something similar, but Buddhism has some sage advice on things like kharma. I bought a sweet tattoo book for Scott, and if he ever reads this he�ll know its coming. That�s a chance I�m willing to take. We continued on and got some lunch at an excellent restaurant. They served up a large lake fish, sliced and stuffed. Somehow they extracted the fish meat, mixed it with vegetables and Stove Top and stuffed the fish again. Exquisite. Deb showed me how to eat the cheeks of the fish, considered to be the best part. Whole fish just don�t seem to make it on the menus of American restaurants. We stopped by Phaung Daw U Paya, the holiest religious site in the southern area of the Shan State. Deb works on a cruise ship, the nicest one in the world, apparently. There are only apartments on it, and if you want one, you have to pay the $1,000,000 minimum, or get a nice one for $7M. She works in the boutique there, she doesn�t have her own apartment, but she recognized some tenants at this temple. She pointed out the guy who came up with "Be All That You Can Be" ~ you wouldn�t believe how much money he makes off that, she said, and the Asaris, or whatever Ë the people who just built the new spaceship that will be taking people into space. They just won that big prize and now have an apartment on the nicest cruise ship in the world. Deb says she�s got the greatest job in the world cause she�s on a boat that travels the world non-stop. She gets a week or so to explore new towns they go to, then she gets to go back to relative luxury and a paycheck. I tend to agree with her. Then we motored on to Jumping Cat Monastery, which I liked more, cause the monks there had taught their cats to jump as high as a meter straight up, through rings. They would get food afterwards. I giggled like a schoolgirl each time the bored cats were coerced in to jumping. They say a better reason to visit the monastery is to see the modest collection of Buddha images in Shan, Tibetan, Bagan and Inwa styles. Those were neat too. We made our way back across the lake at sunset and returned to the Joy Hotel. Deb and I headed out a bit later for a final meal. We eventually found Smiling Moon. A Tun hung out with us, turned down our offer of Myanmar Whisky, but told us a lot of useful information about the area. I ate another delicious fried fish. I�ll try and arrange a trek with him later this week, cause A Tun be one down Burma-bum.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - BAGAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RUINS to THAZI to PINDAYA to NYAUNGSHWE, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR - 4:15am came very very early. Every mode of transportation either arrives or departs at 5am. We actually got picked up at 4:30 in the bus that would take us all the way to Thazi. Although we were the first people on the bus, I couldn�t choose a somewhat spacious seat, as they were already assigned. Deb had to give up some of her legroom, and I sat in an incredibly cramped bus. The aisle was filled with seats, of course, and a monk had to give up some of his legroom as well. Deb said that this was the most cramped bus she�d been on, and she�s traveled in over a hundred countries. I�ve been on old American school buses in Central America that were capacious compared to this old bus. Anyhow, I managed. We took a breakfast stop around 7am for some greasy nan and samosas and tea and coffee, then continued on. At 10am Deb agreed to kick down extra money to hire a car in Thazi, as she wanted to see Pindaya Caves. We jumped off and found a guy who�d take us in his Toyota Corolla for $60. We hopped in, I put on some music, and we were off into the Burmese mountains. It began raining, but stopped after an hour or so. After 4-5 hours of driving we reached the caves. They are limestone caves ensconced in a ridge overlooking a lake. Inside the cave are 8000 Buddhas, including the perspiring Buddha that was not perspiring. We walked around the labyrinth and took some photos, then returned to our car. The drive to Naungshwe on Lake Inle took 2-3 hours. There was a fierce thunder and lightening storm that lasted an hour or so. We arrived in Naungshwe around 8pm and found the Joy Hotel. We headed out to Hupin Restaurant, where Deb thought she could find some of the famous tofu from this region. They didn�t have tofu, so the waiter brought us to the market, where they had fried tofu. Could she buy some raw tofu and have it cooked at the restaurant? No. We bought fried tofu. At the restaurant we were seated outside next to the door on a cold night as they cleaned up the restaurant and urged us out. We drank a beer and left quickly. Ran home in the rain, slept well€

Monday, March 14, 2005 - BAGAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RUINS, MYANMAR - I woke a bit groggy, but breakfast ended at 10am, so I made it to that. Refueled with coffee and made plans to rent bikes and explore the ruins that way. It took us a long time to get out, and after a lunch of mutton-burger, we were on our way to Minnanthu. We explored Izagawna, then the Winidho Group, then Nandamannya Pahto, a 13th century temple with a mural representing the temptation of Mara Ë in which nubile young females attempt to distract the Buddha from the meditation session that led to his Enlightenment. French epigraphist Charles Duroiselle wrote in 1916 that the murals were "so vulgarly erotic and revolting that they can neither be reproduced or described". I read about the murals too late and did not get to see them, but I didn�t need to, as I�ve been temped many times by nubile young females just before attaining enlightenment.
We continued on to Thambula Pahto and Payathonzu. The scenery was amazing. Finally, at Dhammayazika Paya, we rested with cold water and took in the sunset. It faded into the horizon again, and we left while there was still some light, as we had a long bike ride across the temple-studded desert. We resolved to cut through the interior on the rough, sandy goat tracks, instead of staying on the perimeter road. It worked out reasonably well, though the goat herders though we were crazy. We stopped at a reclining Buddha temple for directions, where an articulate young Burmese guy told us a great deal about this humble temple. He declined my grapes. We eventually made it to the road, where we proceeded to get lost many times returning to the hotel.
We showered and headed out for dinner quickly. I wanted pizza, as I hadn�t had western food for a while (except for my mutton burger, if you can call that western food Ë it�d be a western food day). We walked to the outskirts of town to a place that served pizza and sat down. At the same moment, the power went out. Rolling blackouts are quite common in third world countries, so we waited, and a candle was brought out for us. We ordered some drinks, then learned it would be 45 minutes for pizza. We took our sodas and found another pizza restaurant and put in our order. It took a while there as well, but my Hawaiian pizza was excellent. We picked up our wood carvings and called it a night.

Sunday, March 13, 2005 - BAGAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RUINS, MYANMAR - The first five hours of my birthday were uneventful. I was awake throughout, perhaps slipping into a semi-unconscious stupor before feeling the cramping in my legs. There was not even room for my legs in the aisle Ë all Burmese long distance buses have seats in the aisles. Around 4:30 a.m. the foreigners got out and paid $10 to enter the Bagan Archaeological Ruins. I don�t know how they recognized I was a foreigner in my longyi, but I guess my right pocket, overflowing with kyat, helped single me out. In Myanmar the biggest note is a 1000 kyat note, which is about $1.10. I changed over a Benjamin earlier in the day, so I had a pocket filled with these large notes. At least I felt rich. At 5:00 am we arrived in Bagan. The foreigners began negotiating with the hotel reps there. One of them had a horse cart and agreed to take us to New Park, recommended by good ol� L.P. I was amused to find myself in a horse cart, but ironically I would spend most of my day in it. We arrived at our hotel. Deb asked me if I wanted to see sunrise from a temple. I was not enthusiastic. "C�mon, it�s your birthday, you�re too young to go to sleep on your birthday. We�ll get some beers and toast the sunrise!" There was little I could say to that Ë as usual, I didn�t have a leg to stand on. We got rooms, dropped our bags off and got some big, cold bottles of Myanmar beer, a very excellent Asian beer, whether Trader Joe�s sells it or not. We got back on the horse cart and headed to a temple. I don�t know the name, but we were able to climb to the top of it. Two young Burmese girls, maybe 8 & 10 years old, spoke good English with us. I opened one bottle with the other, chipped the old brick and almost my teeth trying to open the other, then got the other bottle opened by the little girl. I guess she lives right next to this temple and works it, sort of. She had some cool hand-painted coasters, and at the urging of Deb, I bought a set for myself. If you ever see hand-painted coasters at a home I might own at some point in the future, please ask me where I got them. Then I won�t feel like such a sucker for throwing away a dolla to a cute Burmese girl who opened my beer at sunrise on my birthday. It was a stunning sunrise, largely due to the vista. There were hundreds, thousands of stupas and temples rising from the red earth. Every direction, for kilometers and kilometers, these spires rose into the lightening sky. It was spectacular. Two huge hot air balloons rose, passed in front of the red glowing mass, and passed to the south. We finished our beers after many toasts to my birthday and returned to the horse cart.
Deb didn�t see any problem touring Bagan all day, drinking beer on a horse cart, so there was little I could say. We returned to our hotel, showered and ate a delicious breakfast, bought more cold beers and jumped back in to the back of the horse cart. We spent the morning exploring temple after stupa after ruin after monastery. Most are from the 12th century, but many have been renovated. There are few tourists there, but lots of kids selling souvenirs in front of the sites. The souvenirs are the best I�ve seen Ë old opium scales and opium pipes, hand-painted Buddha masks and Burmese art on cotton paper, tattoo pens and books, wood carvings, etc. The Great Malls of China in front of Chinese tourist attractions could learn a thing or two from the Burmese style.
We had another Burmese meal at a buffet style restaurant. Again, there was more food than five people could eat. We drank more beer and whiled away an hour or two. Our horse cart driver was not having a very stressful day. The bill came to close to 6,000 kyat, seven times the cost for a similar meal at the bus rest stop, though we had beers. We continued on into the afternoon, seeing the most important of temples. Everywhere had an impossible, breath-taking, beer-toasting view. At one of the last temples before sunset our driver asked us how many beers we had drank, and I told him it is my birthday, and I might drink one for every year I�ve been alive. We didn�t even make it inside that temple, only to the front where we chatted with little kids selling clay elephants and old money so they could go to school. Kinda hard to turn down things worth $1 when a kid tells you that he needs the money for school, and you know he�s probably right. I now have an old 75 and 25 Burmese note. At some point the government made these notes worthless Ë overnight Ë and introduced 20, 50 and 100 notes. Many families lost a significant amount of their savings. We caught sunset at Mingalazedi, perhaps, though it was a bit anti-climactic. We drank one last Myanmar beer and climbed down the precarious steps.
Back at the hotel we showered and prepared to venture out for a birthday dinner. I decided on Bagan Restaurant, because there are no bars, karaoke joints, clubs or any other nightlife options in Bagan. I inquired about a bottle of whisky, and yes, they had Grand Royal, for only 1300 kyat a bottle (750ml). I ordered up one of those w/ a coke and a Chef�s Surprise dinner (not on the menu). The whisky was good and rewarding and clean. Deb drank hers neat. My meal arrived Ë a sizzling plate of meat, veggies and rice on top of a charcoal cauldron. Not bad, not too memorable. The whisky was excellent and did the trick. Deb ordered me a banana pancake, and it was served up with candles and happy birthday and whisky toasts. I hope to have a banana pancake every 29th birthday I have. On our way home we stopped at some wood-carvers stands. They were working hard at midnight or so. Deb bought a reclining Buddha, then a 3 feet tall Buddhist carving from a congenial carver. I found a mask I liked Ë I�m developing my collection of masks and haven�t been able to find a nice one in Myanmar yet (there are none in Yangon, as the government apparently does not allow them). The carver asked $8, which meant he would have sold it for $5, so in my infinite wisdom I offered $10. He did do a great job cleaning it up and repainted much of it by the time we picked everything up the following night. Returned to our rooms and slept very well that night.

Saturday, March 12, 2005 - YANGON to BAGAN, MYANMAR - I met up with a guide, who helped me get a bus ticket to Bagan and sat with me at breakfast (lunch), talking to me about tourist routes and Myanmar. It's panic on the streets here during the day, completely empty after 11pm. Very strange city.
I headed to the Bogyoke Market again, this time with my guide Win-Win. Most people in Myanmar seem to have double-first names. I joked with him that doing business with him was a win-win situation. He laughed, not getting the joke. I hate having to explain why my jokes are funny. He helped me buy a longyi for 3500 kyat ($4). It�s like a sarong, but connected, like a tube of clothing. He assured me that I would instantly have the respect and admiration of every Burmese that saw me. I ended up wearing it for the rest of the day, becoming the source of many points and jokes. I haven�t worn it since. He put me on a bus to the bus station, telling me it might be as long as 40 minutes. It was a WWII British bus, and moved and shaked like it. The bus driver was very excited to have me aboard Ë he gave me a gonya (betelnut wrapped in a leaf) and I put it in my mouth. He had the luxury of an open window, I had to stand for 30 minutes or so. A seat opened up and an old man and young woman insisted that I take it. ~ I wasn�t asking permission, was the bitter look I gave them, and eagerly sat down. As a German-American tourist, I am always entitled to the best. The ride took at least an hour and 15 minutes. I don�t know why the only bus station is so far away, but I was not involved in the urban planning of Yangon.
I boarded my bus for Bagan and sighed deeply when I saw my accommodation. It was going to be a long, long 17 hour ride. There was no place for my bag, either. Small as it was, there was already gear underneath my seat. There were shelves on each side that could store maybe two paperback books. I tried to put my bag underneath the bus, but there were engines and jerry cans of gasoline. I ended up squeezing the bag under my seat We took off promptly at 3pm. It was hot, damn hot. "that�s nice if you�re with a lady, but it ain�t no good on a 17 hour bus ride". The air-conditioning did not work. Everyone associated with the procurement of my ticket advertised the air-conditioning. I began sweating with grim determination. I drank some water, a risk on these bus trips. They played some movies, one with two Jet Li�s Ë he�s got to fight himself or something. It�s amazing the kind of movies that become popular in 3rd world countries. I bet studio producers can tell how popular its going to be abroad. They�ll throw in some gratituitous kung fu and know how much the Asians will love it. By 7:30 my water was long gone and I was thinking of ways I could cut the top off my water bottle and slip it under my longyi without making a scene. Fortunately we stopped for dinner at a rest stop.
I met an Australian girl, Deb, traveling alone at dinner. We had a nice Burmese buffet for 800 kyat, ($0.75) with venison and rice. I wasn�t that hungry, but ate anyways. We boarded again. I suffered through a few more hours before we had another rest stop. I was eager to start my birthday.

Friday, March 11, 2005 - YANGON, MYANMAR- Wow, Myanmar is sort of crazy. It's nice being in a country where there are no foreigners. Yahoo! Mail is blocked, as is my @privilegedlife.org email. I'm working on a few hacks, but it looks like I might be going a few weeks without email. I get this nice message: Access to the page: http://mail.yahoo.com ... has been denied for the following reason: Banned site: mail.yahoo.com. You are seeing this error because the page you attempted to access contains, or is labelled as containing, material that has been deemed inappropriate. Lovely.
There are almost no tourists here, which is a welcome change of pace. All the men are wearing longyis, a long sarong. I'm told I should pick one up. My long baggy shorts were deemed "impolite" by a monk at Sule pagoda, a temple right next to Mahandaboola Guest House. It's crazy cheap here. The kyat is valued around 900 to the US dollar, but everyone seems to prefer the dollar. The official rate is 450 kyat to the dollar, but the black market rate on the street is twice that. God I love being in countries where the black market currency rate is twice the official rate, and the gold ol' US Dollar is preferred. USA! USA!
Intrigued by a painting style advertisement (think old Gone with the Wind movie posters) for National Treasures, I ponied up $0.40 to see it. "English?" I asked? Didn't get much of a response, so I was hoping they left the movie in the original form. There was a propaganda film, showing the SPDC, the governing body (I'll leave it at that). The film did not have any subtitles and was in the original English, though the plot was absolutely ridiculous. I'm very curious how everyone else (the 3:30 showing was packed) enjoyed the show, since very few people in Yangon seem to speak any English. It got me out of the afternoon heat though. Time to see about the ale houses tonight. I ate a dinner of Indian rice and curry (with my right hand), then headed down to 50th St. Bar and Grille. It was a little bit too much like an English pub in a country 50 years behind the western world. The beers were $3.50, so i only had one. good conversation with a guy working for a medical aid organization. lots of headaches dealing w/ the beaurocracy here. They need cars and trucks to get into the country, but you can only import a car for 100% tax, plus an extra 10% bribes. A Toyota Tacoma with 90,000 miles on it costs $36K here. That's the tip of the iceberg, apparently. I walked towards ABC Ale House, but did not make it in again, as i met some people i'd met the previous evening. We got some tea, which seems to be the only thing to do at night, and made conversation in broken english and burmese. I tried to get in to ABC, but it was closed, at 11pm, on this Friday night. man. Everything was closed. I'm staying in a very "busy" part of town, and I had to walk 15 minutes into Chinatown to buy some water; everything else was closed. I paid $0.25 for a bike-trishaw ride home, tipping him 100%. This Friday night has compelled me to get out of Dodge, even though i should be celebrating my birthday tomorrow night. There just ain't gonna be a damn thing to do.

Thursday, March 10, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND to YANGON, MYANMAR- I headed to the Myanmar embassy, AGAIN, and picked up my passport and visa, then headed up a street and bought my ticket to Yangon. $168 gets you a round trip ticket, open-ended no less. That means I don't have to worry about when I come back. Not sure about internet access there, so updates might become scarce, especially if I become a political prisoner for traveling with Nobel Prize winning Aung San Suu Kyi's Freedom From Fear. Now I get to try and figure out how to get to the airport. Rush hour in Bangkok lasts all day.
Godspeed!

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND - My older sister gave birth today, a 7 pound, 19 inch boy. He has hair. My brother in law, Travis, is a little concerned that the boy is black, but my sister and an unconvincing doctor told him that it was a temporary skin condition and would dissipate quickly. Speaking from experience, I have my doubts. I am killing today, which means I have nothing to do but work on my site and drink ice cold beer on the streets of Khao San, while writing missives to companies I like and dislike around the world. Bank One may get a letter of praise after agreeing to reverse 4 legitimate fees. The power of speaking with a supervisor.
I met up with Raf and Jen again at Center Khao San. We had a few beers then went to a vegetarian restaurant across the street from where I my best meal in Bangkok - at Mai Kaidee. Jen took a phone call from Scotland, found out her dad had just died. Tough phone call to take, and her level of sobriety did not help anything. They left quickly, I sat in shock drinking red Thai whisky. Two nice women working there hung out with me.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND - I had a bacon croissantwich and a coffee from Burger King this morning, and I don't want to hear anything about it. I was the only foreigner in there, so don't tell me I should be eating Thai breakfasts. America owns the world, most of it is eating our breakfast, let's not be so humble about it. If the Thais eat bacon-croissantwiches and drink coffee for breakfast, then I will too, come hell or high water. I don't know what that phrase means, but I enjoy using it as much as possible. I don't want to offend any of my Christian-Right readers, who represent most of my readership demographics. Maybe I should say ~ between the devil and the deep blue sea. I rather like that one as well. I jumped into a cab and sat in traffic for 45 minutes, reading James Mawdsley's Account of life in Burma in The Iron Road. I paid my two dollars and headed into the Myanmar Embassy, then waited two and a half minutes, turned in my paperwork and I got out of there. I walked back to the river and got on a boat, this time only going up a few stops. I wanted to walk through Chinatown. I think the Chinatown in San Francisco is better, largely due to the presence of Hawaii West. This one was good. I ate a lot of dim sum. Bangkok's Chinatown has a lot of incredible street food. Hong Kong Tim Sum was the highlight. It was expensive, 11 pieces for 86 baht, but jgeil's getting paid by the government soon, so he can roll deep like Jim Anchower on payday. I took a look at Thieves Market, which I was hoping to be like the Thieves Market in Singapore, where all the merchandise is stolen. I headed back to Khao San and took a much deserved nap. I'm working on my site a bit, just added a page for the playboy of the month, Glen Hudson. I suppose I should be working on the first week of this month. Time to git on out of here and meet a mate outside for a beer.

Monday, March 7, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND - I was one person away from getting my Myanmar visa application process started. Instead, I am first on the list at 8:45am tomorrow morning. I got to explore the neighborhood - possibly the biggest gem district in the world. I inquired about classes at The School of Gemological Sciences, but all the courses are 4 to ten weeks. I walked to the Oriental Hotel, which is supposed to be one of the best hotels in the world (doubtful). I hitched a ride on the water taxi and walked back to Khao San to begin the many chores I have while I'm here for a few days. Hopefully I can get out to Myanmar on Thursday or Friday.

Sunday, March 6, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND - Adam and Evan missed their flights, victims of circumstance. We got a room at the Khao San Palace. I'm not sure if I would call it palatial, though it is somewhat nice for this area. We recuperated, then headed out in a tuk-tuk to find a movie theater. We ended up walking in to Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education. There were a lot of gay sex scenes and priest on boy scenes and drag queen scenes. I didn't really like it. I wanted to see Kung Fu Hustle, but we were too late. C'est la vie. We ate dinner at a Himalayan restaurant and called it...

Saturday, March 5, 2005 - BANGKOK, THAILAND - I got in around 6am and checked my email at United Traveler's Connection. I found out where Evan and Adam were staying and headed to Kavin's Place. Crashed on the floor for a few hours. They got up and headed to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, but got sidetracked by someone telling them palace was closed. This is one of the biggest scams in Bangkok, and I kicked myself when I heard their story. They got re-routed with a tuk-tuk driver to another temple - Lucky Budda - where the real scam was hatched. Little by little, a money-making scheme was revealed to them. By buying a set of blue sapphires for $2000, they could transport them to the United States and sell them to a gem shop for twice the money. An American at one of the temples was in on it and helped convince them. I found them as they were going back to the hotel to get their passports. They were excited at the amazing luck they had in meeting these friendly and helpful people all over the city. If they had gotten their passports, they would be able to take out the requisite funds and then headed to a legitimate jewlery shop to make the purchase. Since Adam and Evan are both lawyers, I'm sure I would have somehow been responsible, and had to pay the $4000. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
I showed them the scam detailed in Lonely Planet and they confirmed it matched their experience, nearly verbatim. We headed back to the Grand Palace, where I waited for them outside hanging out with a guy in the Thai Army who apparently enjoyed spending his days off at tourist locations. His Thai was slurred and English non-existent, but it was a surreal encounter nonetheless. We headed next door for a trip around Wat Pho. My third time, it still took my breath away...

Watching I keep waiting Still anticipating love Never hesitating To become the fated ones Turning and returning To some secret place to hide Watching in slow motion As you turn to me and say Take my breath away Take my breath away

We headed back to the room to regroup before heading to Lumphini Stadium for the Saturday night boxing matches. Evan did some shopping at the Night Market there, buying a nice painting of poi fish (that will soften the blow when Evan gets home a day later and a dollar short). The fights were great. We bought beers, bet against the fighters and revelled at how poorly we would probably do against the 14 year olds fighting. I'd like to have a Muay Thai fighter with me in the States when I went out on the town and got in trouble. Or Kazakhstan, where the Ruski-blancos love to rumble. Evan never paid the 50 baht to Adam and I. I'll ask for that in a few years when his house is worth 8 mill and that $1.25 has compounded to $22.50.
Around 11pm we departed and found Raf and Jen at Asok Metro station. We went to Soi Cowboy, a pedestrian street that harkens back to the days of the Vietnam war where one could choose from ten or twenty colorful bars. We ate fried frogs, locusts, crabs and grub outside one of the bars. A young Thai hustler - he couldn't have been more than ten years old - hung out with us.We didn't buy any of his bubble gum, though he earned the sale.
We took off quickly and tried to find Dance Fever. There is a complex in Bangkok (Ratchadaphisek Road in Sukhumwit that has two or three giant dance clubs. We went in to Dance Fever, next to Phuture, Spark Disco and Narcissus, and got five of us in for 1000 baht ($25), which included a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label and cokes. We made some cocktails upstairs and looked down at the main dance floor. There were a few thousand people there, though it was hard to tell. The DJ booth was in the middle of the crowd, and no one was on the stage. I went to the bathroom and was immediately seized by some people working there. Apparently, there quickly identified me as a rich farang (foreigner), and grabbed my head from behind. There were two quick snaps to the left and right, cracking vertebrae in my neck. A split second later a cold towel was put on the back of my neck, then a warm one. As I relieved myself, one of them vigorously massaged my back. It was an unsettling journey to the bathroom, but better than the Christmas Night misadventure. I gave one of them a 20 baht note and left quickly. Back with the krew, I began whispering in to Jen's ear that she should get up on stage and dance. She was very amenable to the suggestion, to the point of apathy. We had only seen a few other farang, and they were hidden in the corner. We squeezed our way up to the stage and got Jen up. Not many people were dancing, but she put on a great show for everyone. I made friends with another table right before the 2am curtain call and absconded their bottle of Piper as they departed.
We reconvened outside at a beer garden of sorts. I sat down at some random tables and made friends. Raf and Jen disappeared mysteriously, and Adam, Evan and I returned home at 4:30.

Friday, March 4, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH to KRABI to BANGKOK, THAILAND - We woke and had another delicious breakfast at Mama's, then headed over to East Railay to do some spellunking at Diamond Cave. I thought it went back 150 meters or so - bad information, but it was still a very nice cave complex. We returned to the beach for more swimming, then a lunch of coconut curry soup at Dream Valley. I caught a longtail out at 3:30 to Ao Nang, then a sawnthaew to the bus station. I'd received some beta on getting to Bangkok, but decided to forgo the bus to Surat Thani plan, then the night train to Bangkok in favor of a bus leaving in a few minutes direct to Bangkok. I paid 710 baht - there was another bus leaving in a few minutes for 357 baht, but I am a VIP player. I got a stewardess, drinks, food, blankets, lots of room to stretch, and of course no sleep.

Thursday, March 3, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - We all woke up and found Nate at Mama's. We enjoyed another pancake and french toast breakfast with fruit and coffee, then made arrangements with him to rent a longtail boat and head out to the islands to climb some limestone spires and walls out there. He had told us about deep-water free-soloing, where you get a boat to take you out to these islands and climb off the boat and on to the wall. Then climb as high as you can on the wall and jump - or fall off - into the water. It sounded excellent. We got our stuff together and met up at the beach. Violet was there with her parents, so we invited her. I can't imagine myself at 17 being much like her. "Deep water free-soloing, cliff-diving??? Hmm, ok, one sec, let me get some money from my parents and rent some shoes". Down. We hopped in the longtail and sped off to Ko Poda and the nearby islands. We first stopped at a snorkeling spot, but didn't stay long. Our driver then took us to a cliff that we could jump off of. I put on my shoes and was first off the boat. When I found a nice ledge Nate told me - no, not this one, that one way up there. He pointed high over my head to another ledge, twice the height as this one. I started scrambling up the razor sharp rock, not thinking much about the height and the fact that I would have to jump, no matter how how this ledge was. Everyone else stopped at the lower ledge. Bastards. I was alone on a very, very high cliff, looking down at what I was hoping was a deep blue sea. Our longtail driver seemed to think a jump from here would be ok. I waited to everyone had jumped in and tried not to look down. My breathing became erratic. It was similar to my first and only sky-diving experience. I looked out the door, through 12,000ft of open air to the ground. Something very basic and innate and essential to my survival was flashing red in my brain - I should not jump out of this plane, I am not a bird, I cannot fly. But then I resigned myself to simply being a victim of circumstance - there was nothing I could do, and there was an excellent chance that I'd be fine. So I rationalized the same on this rock, for a few brief, fleeting moments. Violet yelled "You're on vacation!" and I took a big step into the air. I fell for a very long time. I remember trying to not land on my stomach or back, as I'd probably die, but realized I had no control over such things. I didn't know what to do with my arms, so they flapped like useless little wings. I hit the water hard and plummetted into the depths. As I surfaced, my heart was filled with joy, though strange things on my body hurt. I must have slapped my arms on the landing, and my tailbone was achy-braky. I quickly realized that I'd nailed it and didn't kill myself or break anything, so I let out a yell of exhilaration and swam to the boat. The kids on the boat estimated the jump to be 20m (66ft), more or less. I still think the one Clack and I did on Berryessa was a little bigger though.
We motored on to start climbing. Our captain navigated us to a large limestone wall. A stalactite hung down over the water, and Nate got a grip on it and climbed on. Once he was up it, I climbed up as well, following his line. He climbed to a higher ledge, I stayed about 5 meters below and followed his jump into the water. We swam down and investigated the rocks hanging just above waterline. He climbed one, but the rock was extremely sharp and I couldn't hang on. We found another wall and all got on the wall. It had some nice routes, but it was more of a traverse. Nate found a pitch and nailed it, then jumped into the water to join us in the boat. We motored over to a gorgeous beach - it faces Tonsai and RaiLay and can be kayaked to - only 3 or 4 kms. We threw some frisbee around and enjoyed the crystalline waters.
Back at Tonsai we cleaned up, returned our wet shoes and walked Violet back over the mountain to RayLay East. We said goodbye to her, then walked to the beach. Evan and Adam wanted to stay there and have some gay time together, so I swam back, showered and enjoyed some air-conditioned wonderfulness for a little while. We headed out to dinner on the beach, where Evan and Adam had run into Lash. She was with her German/Australian friend Kat. We ate some pizza, fish, then headed over to Insomnia to drink a bit and muck about. Adam iniated a fierce ass-slapping campaign. A good time was had by all...

Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - Adam was finishing his last day of his open water certification course, so Evan and I signed up to go out with him. We enjoyed a very nice breakfast on the two hour boat ride out to Ko Phi-Phi - mueslix with fresh fruit and yoghurt and some sticky rice - also filter coffee! Similar to yesterday I suppose. It was a beautiful morning as it always is in this area. We arrived on Ko Phi-Phi Ley around 10:30 and got our gear ready for the dive. I was very impressed with the dive - it was 10 times better than diving in Ko Tao. I saw some sea turtles, a two meter eel, and the plants and coral were some of the best I've seen. The two dives we did had bottom times of 53 and 55 minutes, which is a lot better than what I used to be doing. I having to think about conserving air. We were diving near the beach where they filmed the movie The Beach, which made the day all the more magical for me. I am one of Leo's #1 fans, as most of you know.
After a doze on the ride back, we got beers at a mini-mart and sat on the beach at Rai Lay. I saw Violeta running on the beach and surprised her. She wasn't surprised. "I knew, if you are here, you see me running." Very well then. There were two parties that night, one on Tonsai at the Chill-out Lounge and one at RaiLay East. Adam, Evan and I decided to check out Rai Lay East and ended up eating some nice Thai food at The Rock Bar, where the party would be later that night. We timed it poorly, as the party started at 10pm, which meant 11:30, and we were eating at 9pm. We watched some climbers on the huge cliff hanging over the bar/restaurant. They had come to do some night climbing, but there is a bright light that lights up the wall each night. We started the walk back to our room to get into character for the party at the Chill-Out.
There were a lot of people there - all of Tonsai - and many people had come over on the free boat ride from Rai Lay. A live band was supposed to be playing live reggae music, but there were a lot more bad covers than I would have liked to have heard. They looked 100% rasta, but their choice in music was stuff like Country Roads, Then I Got High and some stuff by Pink Floyd. Trippy. We talked with some Canadian girls - more backpackers from BC - who loved movies but had never heard of Super Troopers -?!?! - and drank some Sangsam buckets. I eventually departed to make the journey over to East Rai Lay - if there's a party, I'll be there (unless I'm a victim of circumstance). I found the overland trail and a mellow party. Drank a beer, returned home...

Tuesday, March 1, 2005 - TONSAI BEACH, THAILAND - Evan and I set out to find some shoes for me at one of the Tonsai climbing shops. At the third one we found a pair of 45's (I wear 48) that fit perfectly. I rented them from Wee's Climbing Shop & School and arranged a 2pm departure for a half day of guiding. Evan and I have been up some good climbs, but we don't have the skills to pay the lead climbing bills. We didn't feel too bad about investing a bit in the local Tonsai Beach economy after it got hit hard by the tsunami a few weeks ago. We got a cup of coffee next door at "Real" Coffee. It turned out to be real, and damn good - none of the instant coffee served so frequently here. Evan and I drank coffee, ate some steamed rice sold to us in bamboo (which he contended made him sick) and ordered up a delicious bowl of mixed fruit, yoghurt and mueslix from the Banyan Tree Restaurant. We returned to the room to gather our gear, then met up with our guide at Wee's. We went to the 1-2-3 Wall, on the north end of Tonsai Beach, and climbed some popular routes. The first was a classic - a beautiful 5.8 or 5.9 single pitch with tons of bomber holds. We both had trouble on the second climb, I nearly gave up but eventually figured out how to climb it. Sometimes it takes 15 falls before you figure out where to put your hands and feet. I guess this has something to do with experience. The third climb neither of us could get up. We did not have the strength for the moves, but I'm not sure how well we would have done even if it was the first climb of the day. It was nice to be on the rock and take in the incredible view of Tonsai and Rai Lay bays.
We returned home a little after six to meet up with Adam. We ate again at Dream Valley, as Evan wanted some Tiger prawns and Adam and I were fiending the barracuda we didn't get the day before. We ate well, a nice BBQ meal for $3, then headed down to Insomnia to get some drinks, play on the swing, lounge in the hammock and revel in the demands of the Good Life.