We arrived in India a few days ago. I spent the first day with my students learning about the global spice trade with the Synthite organization in Cochin. Then, with our own car and driver, our family headed for the hills and tea plantations in Munnar.
Waiting for sunset from our balcony in Munnar
The sunset, as seen from our balcony, was just gorgeous on both evenings we were there.
Gorgeous colour!
Continuing our exploration of the state of Kerala, we have a relaxing few days planned. Today, we rode elephants and toured a medicinal spice garden. But honestly, the tea plantations are so incredibly beautiful they are going to stay in my mind for a long while.
Cuddling in the tea plants…The hills are alive with the sound of tea growing
Myanmar was a wonderful country to visit. The people there, especially the older generation, have clearly lived through tremendous upheaval, and have lived under military rule for most of their lives. The country has dropped from one of Asia’s wealthiest to a nation of mainly poor people; from a nation with 90% or more literacy to a nation of perhaps under 20% literacy. Many children are clearly not in school, and are working in various ways. The country has only recently opened to large numbers of foreign visitors and after a long period of isolation, it now faces an onslaught of travellers from all over the world.
I have to admit it: being a tourist there created conflicting emotions in me. On the one hand, tourism is bringing money, service jobs, and hopefully an increased quality of life (at least for some). On the other, tourism is very rapidly changing what appears (to an outsider like me) a slow-paced, simple way of life. Pagodas, which are both community and religious centres, are overrun with tourists. Those with the best sunset views are covered in tourists as we climb walls and jockey for position. Traffic is increased, as tour buses and tourists on various bikes and mopeds add strain to a largely decrepit transportation infrastructure. Myanmar, like other nations before it, will not survive tourism unscathed or unchanged. But for local people, perhaps that is a welcome change. Or perhaps not…
We have just left Burma, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I will blog later, but for now, just some photos. Given that I am emailing the blog, may take a couple of posts to include them all.
I usually post once we’ve left a country, but we are having a lazy day, resting on the ship today, after a long hot day in Rangoon, Burma yesterday (I like the old names better, but as of 1990 the city is actually Yangon and the country Myanmar). The ship’s port is a 90 minute bus ride away from the city, over bad roads, and we leave in the middle of the night tonight for a flight up north to Bagan (still Burma) so we thought we’d take it easy today.
Yesterday was awesome. Hot, dusty, crowded, yet still seemed a lot more laid-back and peaceful than some recent stops. Rangoon has 5 million people, so it’s crowded, but there was a lot of space to ramble around in, and plenty of shady spots to find to get out of the sun. The Shewdagon Pagado was our main stop yesterday. We had a long walk from the shuttle to get there, and stopped at an interesting market along the way. Dan and I bought loties (I am positive I am misspelling this word) which are long wrap-around skirts, perfect for the heat here. And yes, Dan bought the men’s version too. Most of the local men wear them, and they are a lot more comfortable. I even got to pick my fabric and have mine custom sewn in 5 minutes (and for $9).
I will include as many pictures as the internet connection I am using will allow. But honestly, pictures do not do this place justice. The gold is staggering, and the scale of the architecture is immense. So many Buddhas!
There is a 72 carat diamond on the top of this tower. Check out the people for scale…This entire complex is immense – we spent the afternoon inside the gates.
Joe is a bit of a celebrity most places we go in Asia, and Burma was no different. He gets a lot of attention from older women who smile and want to touch him. Here in Burma, women and children wear a sort of cream they make (pronounced like naqqa) on their cheeks and elsewhere on their faces. It is primarily for sunscreen and cooling, but also is cosmetic. As Joe has a tendency to get very red in the face when he’s hot, we had women gesturing to us yesterday, indicating that he needed to have some naqqa on – we think they were worried he was sunburnt!
Even the monks like him – one actually insisted (through gestures) that we should take a picture with him. I am so used to trying not to inadvertently take pictures of locals (I worry I will offend someone) this was very interesting. He then wanted to see the picture. It’s a cute one, so I had to include it here as well.
Jack, Joe, and a very friendly monk
And, at the end of a long, hot day, nothing spells relief like a local brew…
Jack is eyeing my brew…
On to Bagan tonight, where there are upwards of 2500 pagodas, and the whole town is a protected archaeological site!
Quick post from Singapore Ferry terminal. We are only here for a couple of days, coinciding with Chinese New Year’s Day. We spend the day at the Singapore Bird Park, where both Jack and Joe got picked to help out with one of the bird shows.
Jack holds the target for the macau to fly through.
Great day! Tonight, we head to the Night Safari, run at the zoo after dark.
For those family waiting for new Shutterfly pictures, I am sorry to say that nowhere we have been with wifi has a signal strong enough to post those photos – you’ll have to make do with the few I can post to the blog!
Joe as a toucan perch!Just a couple of the beautiful birds we saw.Joe and I enjoy the 100 foot waterfall.
June, Dan, and Joe go travelling 