I slept for 2 hours that night before I had to get up the next morning to go back to the airport. I wasn’t a bit sorry to leave that room and I hoped and prayed that I would never, EVER see it again. Thankfully, the ride back to the airport was much calmer than the previous evening’s had been.
We boarded Thai Air to Burma and I was giddy with excitement again. With the new morning came a feeling of adventure excitement. It felt like we were going on vacation! Our plan of attack was to arrive in Yangon and find a plane to take us to Bagan where we would spend the next 3 days. We didn’t have tickets or a hotel yet, but according to Burma Boy, this was how you traveled in Asia. He was the pro so I listened despite my proclivity towards having things planned out. I figured it would be good for me to learn as I went. I had read my Lonely Planet thoroughly, and I was clear about some of the things I wanted to do and see, the places that sounded good to stay (none of them had dank or dark in the description,) and the restaurants where I might want to eat.
When we deplaned in Yangon, we were checked thoroughly for SARS with a thermometer that looked like one of those mood strips that changes colors depending on the heat of your body. Thankfully, according to the mood strips, both of us were SARS-free. However, I can’t say that I had tremendous faith that everyone else having their temperatures read by a mood-thermometer were also.
I suppose I have ignored the fact that most people don’t have any idea what or where Burma is.
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Burma, now known as Myanmar, is a small country in Asia between Thailand and India. Lonely Planet succinctly describes Burma in the following way: “Since 1988 Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has been under the military rule of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) - an abominable military junta. Prospective travelers should monitor events in Myanmar and weigh up the arguments in support of and opposition to travel.” As you can see, this was not your average vacation spot.
Burma has 2 types of money. One is the official government money, FEC, and in addition to the fact that it’s not a good value, it also helps to support the aforementioned junta. I have learned that FEC’s were since done away with in September of 2003. But in May of 2003, you were required to exchange $200/person FEC the second you stepped into the country. The other type of money, the kyat (pronounced “jet”) is much more cost effective, is used far more widely around the country and supports the local Burmese people rather than the tyrannical government. We – ok, who am I kidding - HE bargained with the man exchanging money so that we only had to exchange the amount of cash required for one person’s entry rather than two. It was impressive. I sort of had no idea what was going on, but that was fine. I was happy to have Burma Boy take care of things and even happier to not have to give our money to the government.
And thus began our trip of bargaining. We went from bargaining about cash to bargaining about plane tickets. We needed to fly up to Bagan, a gorgeous old city filled with hundreds of temples.
Let me preface this next incident by saying that I can be a bit loud. At times, I’m very loud. It’s more of a boisterous, excited, “I love life” sort of loud. My friend, Sharon, came up with a way to let me know when I’m getting loud since it happens so often. She just turns her hand a little bit – like she’s turning down the volume on a radio and simply says, “volume…” It’s perfect. I see that, and I realize it’s possible that I’ve gotten a bit TOO excited about things. And when I get really excited about something, I can get a bit hyper. Burma Boy had some issues with my “excitement.” I wasn’t used to bargaining for plane tickets. I wasn’t calm – I was excited to be in a new place, excited to start our trip, excited to get to our first destination. Needless to say, there were moments when I was loud. But he didn’t come up with a cute little way to tell me. Maybe because he didn’t seem find it cute or endearing at all. Somehow he missed the fact that I was excited and just focused on the part where I was loud. And I was reprimanded. I use that word, because it’s exactly what happened. No warning, no heads-up and most certainly no smile. I felt like I had embarrassed him. It occurred to me at that moment that we were complete strangers, that we had no idea who the person we were traveling with really was…
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle
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5:33 PM
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10 Days in Burma,
past,
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yeah...i'm a little bit crazy
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ooh im the same way- though i dont get really loud, i just get really hyper and fidgety and excited when there's something... well, exciting going on. that can anoy people, im sure. he reprimanded you though? that's not cool. i think some (men) just aren't used to our sillyness, that's all.