Myanmar

It has been 3 exciting and exhausting weeks in Myanmar.  The fast paste, the sleepless nights during night bus rides from one place to another, and stomach aches from terrible local food have been draining.  The excitement of going 100 years back (that’s how we felt after arriving in Myanmar) wore off after the first week or so.  We felt always dirty surrounded by dust, taking off shoes to go into the dirty stores or climb the dirty cement stairs to the top of the Mandalay Hill.  We had stomach aches most of the time.  At some point, I stopped eating dinner, and just drinking a glass of juice without added sugar.  I lost more weight than doing a month of yoga in Thailand.  

Yangon had a few better, but overpriced restaurants to offer with small portions.  At the end, we chose to eat at places like that.  The tourism in Myanmar has a lot of room to grow still.  So far, we get a tourist price for everything, making Myanmar an expensive place to visit.  We had to pay a fee to enter Bagan and Inle Lake zones.  We even paid double for city bus.  It would be interesting to see the reaction of some tourist in US having to pay double for the color of their skin.  For example, our Chinese friend managed to get a lower price sometimes.  Even though we were warned to reserve the hotels and guesthouses few days in advance, we managed to find a place to stay without much difficulty having no reservations.

  

The hotel in Mandalay was the most expensive: $25 per night.  The hotel was the best part about Mandalay.  Even though it is the second biggest city, and we stayed in the center, it was dirty and there was nothing to see, besides more pagodas.  We only stayed 2 nights in Mandalay.

We arrived in Kalaw at 2 am.  We did not get much sleep on the bus, and we did not save on the hotel that night.  Kalaw is the base camp for all the trekking to Inle Lake.  Since we did not get much sleep that night, we decided to stay one more night in Kalaw.  We signed up for 3 day trek to Inle Lake.  We were a great group of 6 people: a Finish couple, a French guy and a Chinese girl.  Our group got a 19 year old arrogant and ignorant guide and 2 quiet assistants.  We also had a cook, but somehow our food was always cold.  Our stomachs did not like the food at all.  The views on the first and second day were nice.  

The most exciting part about the trek was meeting people from different tribes on our way.  We even spent the first night in somebody’s house in the village.  The second night we got to sleep in some building of a monastery.  The walls had gaps, the window could not close, and the blankets were too short and falling apart.  Even though I took 3 of those blankets, it took me awhile to fall asleep because I was freezing.  In the morning we were woken up at 6 am by a cook talking to himself and singing, while preparing breakfast in the building next door.  The cold breakfast was not served until 7:30 am, since our guide was nowhere to be found until then.  He was probably sleeping in a warmer building somewhere. Walking the last day was difficult after the terrible night we had.  We were ready to be done with the trek.

I managed to take a little nap during a boat trip to Inle Lake.  I was so tired, and the sun was warm.  We found a nice guesthouse on the lake.  After taking hot showers and eating, we only wanted to rest.  The rest of the time in Inle Lake we spent in a guesthouse, chatting to our French and Chinese friends from our trek.
Once we arrived in Yangon, it took us another 2 days before I felt rested.  Dangis’ body finally could not handle any more stress, and he got sick after our last night bus ride.  We are ready to leave Myanmar.

Bagan, Myanmar

We arrived at Bagan bus station around 5am on a Friday.  A group of men greeted us with offers to take us to a cheap guesthouse for a nominal fee.  There were also a few horses with carriages parked in the station waiting to take us somewhere to see the sunrise.  We decide to walk around on our own looking for a place to stay.

 

There is something magical about early mornings in Myanmar.  The whole neighborhood was awakening still in the dark.  The restaurants were opening for breakfast.  The wood fires were being lit for cooking.  Some locals were going for the morning stroll.  Others were taking tourists to the guesthouses or to see the sunrise.  Some tourists passed us by on bicycles going to meet the sun on their own.

We found a very basic room with cement floors for $15.  Before going to rest after a sleepless night, we went to have a breakfast in one of the restaurants.  We had some samosas, eggs and tea.  The food was good, but the early morning atmosphere was incredible.  By the time we finished breakfast, it got lighter.  The horses with carriages were also hired by locals to take them places.  In the naturally dim light, the place reminded me of the paintings of famous Lithuanian artist M. K. Ciurlionis.

It always takes us a day to recover after a night bus ride, so we decided to take it easy that day.  After a nap and a lunch, I washed our dirty clothes in bucket in the back yard of our guesthouse.  No more coin operated automatic washing machines on the streets.  The local women were also washing clothes by beating them with a stick.  One girl, wrapped in a sheet, was even washing her hair outside.  She was using a cup to rinse her hair with water, while bending over not to wet the sheet.  The everyday life outside of Yangon takes us back in time.  It is much more exciting to see than the thousands of pagodas, which Bagan is famous for. 

The plan for the next day was to rent a bicycle before the sunrise and ride around the town all day.  But since Dangis got food poisoning eating fried been salad for dinner, the plan changed.  Instead Dangis was sleeping all day, and I was reading and writing. 

On Sunday we woke up around 5am ready to explore.  We rode the bicycles to the spot where the sunrise is supposed to be the most beautiful in the area.  We climbed one of the pagodas still in the dark and waited.  A lot of other tourists came also.  It started getting lighter, the sun peaked a little and went into the cloud.  The sky got red.  The view was spectacular.  Many small pagodas were becoming visible with soft lines, then brighter.  The air balloons with people passes us by.  It was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.  Soon the guy came selling paintings.

It was time for breakfast.  Dangis was very hungry after not eating a previous day.  The breakfast in our guesthouse was simple, but good.  The service was great.  The little girl came to ask us our preferences for drink and eggs as soon as we sat down.  The other little girl started frying eggs in a pan on ashes right away.

After breakfast we took our bicycles of the tourist path.  For some distances we had to walk our bicycles through the sand.  We passed people’s houses.  Most of them were woven from leaves, some were built from bricks.  The spaces were open.  We could see inside most of people’s houses.  The kids were playing outside by themselves.  It is very dry in Myanmar.  It seems like it is drowning in dust.  Sand everywhere.  So it is surprising to also see a lot of vegetable gardens.

After lunch we just rode our bicycle around town passing its many pagodas.  We were exhausted at the end of the day.  We could spend a month or more trying to see all the pagodas in the area, but one day was enough for us.

On Monday morning we left for Mandalay.  We bought bus tickets from the guesthouse manager the previous day.  The bus stopped to pick us up from the guesthouse on time.  And the manager even came out to make sure we got on the right bus.      

Golden Rock, Myanmar

Golden Rock Kyaiktiyo is situated on a cliff of the mountain located 5 hours away from Yangon.  Golden Rock is a holy place for Buddhists.  Hundreds of pilgrims come to the site every day.  The trucks continuously pick-up people to the top of the mountain.  The 40 minute truck ride was fun.  Dangis called it a roller-coaster without safety.  Once we arrived at the top, there were hundreds of people waiting to go down the mountain.  Some of them surrounded our truck and started climbing aboard before us leaving.  It was a challenge to climb out of the truck through all the people and no steps.  The sea of people moved towards the rock.  Once, we entered the ‘no shoes’ area, some people were lounging on the floor in the shade.  Others were burning candles and praying.  Some men were standing in short line to touch the rock.  Only men are allowed to touch the rock.  Dangis joked that the women would probably push the rock of the cliff, if they were allowed.  Once Dangis got close to the rock, he saw men gluing sheets of gold to the rock. 

After taking some pictures of the rock, we went for a walk around the top of the mountain.  All the paths through the mountain were a market.  Besides souvenirs, the sculls, blood and brains of the animals were sold.  The market reminded a witch market in La Paz, Bolivia.  After a few hours walking through the market, we finally made back to the Golden Rock.  We decided to come back down the mountain the same evening with one of the last trucks, even though the Golden Rock was supposed to be beautifully illuminated at night.  We found a guesthouse in the town.  There were so many people everywhere, but locals did not stay in guesthouses.  We saw some of them sleeping on the floor of the bus station.  I believe there were a lot of camp places like that for the visitors to spend the night.  There were only 3 guesthouses and 1 expensive hotel.  The whole town got quiet after 9 pm to rise at 5:30 am the next morning.  The trucks were sending hundreds of pilgrims to the top of the mountain again.  We had a simple breakfast with a Polish tourist playing a guitar and harmonica at the same time.  The locals were taking pictures of him.  Here in Myanmar, it sometimes feels that locals take as many pictures of us, as we of them.  

Yangon, Myanmar

We arrived at the Yangon international airport in the morning with little sleep.  The main building of the airport was old, but inside of it was renovated and very clean.  There were no lines at the immigration or customs.  There were ATM inside.  We learned that ATM’s appeared only in the beginning of 2013.  Previously there was a real problem for people getting their money out of their accounts.  In some places, clean and straight dollars are accepted.  We paid $4 for a shared 30-minute taxi ride to the downtown of Yangon.  It was very interesting to see a lot of men wearing skirts and a lot of girls wearing yellow make-up on their cheeks (a natural sunscreen from a tree bark).  We instantly felt that we are in a different country.  There were no motorbikes on the streets.  People riding bicycles or people being ridden in bicycle taxis was a more common view.

We arrived at Roxana’s apartment on the 11^th floor.  We found Roxana on the couchsurfing.com.  She lives and works in the beautiful apartment in downtown.  Her father and her son also live with her.  Roxana also has two girls working in her travel agency and one man working for her personally.  The man served us breakfast, took care of her son and did family’s laundry.  Roxana had another apartment about 40 minutes walking distance.  It was free for a moment and she let us stay there.  The apartment was very simple.  It had a big empty living room with a balcony.  The bedroom was built inside the living room.  The bedroom walls had windows to 3 directions: outside and the living room.  No windows had nets, but the mosquito net was covering the rollout beds in the bedroom.  There was an electric table-top stove in the kitchen and a little refrigerator.  The bathroom had a squat toilet and a bucket, which could be filled up from the tap.  The shower and the water reserve was in the other room.

The first day we had a good rest before going out to dinner.  On the way to downtown, we passed a beautiful Pagoda (a Buddhist monument) on the lake, as well as a child shitting on the sidewalk.  The dinner was served by boys in those long traditional skirts.  The dinner and the service were great.  We noticed that everybody in the restaurant drink tea.  The thermos with tea was on each table.  Some people drink their tea from the plates (my guess, the tea cools of faster this way).  Some people were eating their rise dishes with no utensils.  Burmese food is influenced by Indians and Chinese.  A lot of times the Burmese dish is cold, which can be mixed with warm rice.

The second day we took a circular train around Yangon.  The ride was 3 hours.  Dangis and I sat on the steps, so we could better see what was happening outside.  The windows and doors were always open.  Mostly locals were on the train.  There was a women with a naked boy who was sleeping on the dirty floor for a while.  Later a lot of people came on board with different greens, which some of them are grown in the water like rice.  People outside of Yangon live poorly, in the houses weaved from leaves or tree barks.  Locals seemed very warm and friendly.  A lot of kids and adults waved at us passing by their homes.  We also noticed that some girls have their heads shaved.  Maybe that way they don’t need to wash their hair and brush.  Or maybe that way they get rid of lice.  Or maybe that is a tradition.  We saw some girl monks with shaved heads and pink outfits.  There are a lot of monks overall in the country.

Also, we noticed that a lot of men and even some men have read teeth from chewing tobacco.  The tobacco is being sold everywhere on the streets, packaged in leaves.  There are a lot of streets in Yangon that have people selling all kinds of things, from clothes to food to painting supplies. 

In the evening, we went to the biggest Schwedagon pagoda.  I have never seen so much gold in one place.  It is ironic, that a country with so much precious stones is so poor.  The atmosphere in the pagoda is very uplifting.  I was wondering how anyone can meditate with so many people wondering around.  But as soon as I closed my eyes, I could feel very strong and good energy with the bells and children singing in the background.  On the way to our apartment from the pagoda, we entered a little street with no tourists.  We decided to eat at a little family restaurant.  The son was called to translate that we would like something with no meat or fish.  We were served the meal we ordered plus vegetables, soup and tea.  Everybody was watching us eat.  As soon as we finished the soup, they brought us a second cup each.  They brought us more vegetables, since they noticed we liked them.  The whole experience was great.  We felt like movie stars a few time with people watching us and taking pictures of us.

After we got back to the apartment, another couple of couchsurfers from Israeli arrived.  They had to sleep in a tent in the living room. 
The third day all of us stopped by the Roxana’s place.  She offered us breakfast again and even gave us a private tour of the downtown.  We learned a lot about Burmese culture from her.  We tried some local foods on the streets.  When we got back to her place, she helped us make plans for the upcoming days.  It is not easy getting information about travel in Myanmar.  This way we spent all day with Roxana and our new Israeli friends.  We learned that Roxana is a Muslim.  Her husband is a Budhist.  Her father went to a missionary school.  During our 3 days in Yangon, we saw a mosque, synagogue, catholic and Lutheran churches and Hindu temple besides Buddhist temples and pagodas.  Yangon appears to be very cosmopolitan city.     

Later we went to an art gallery Pansodan where we met our friend from yoga classes in Samui.  Yasemin is from Germany, but she works in Yangon.  It is always great to meet people in different countries.  After Yasemin had to run, we stayed longer to have some food, drinks and talk to other foreigners.  The gallery owners (Burmese and his Canadian wife) have a gathering on Tuesday nights for everybody.  We had so much fun.  I loved Yangon.  I was not really ready to leave it.  The next morning we left to see Golden Rock.

Samui Island, Thailand

Samui is an island in the Gulf of Thailand.  We were planning to stay there for few days before going to Myanmar.  But we met Denis and Dasha, and all our plans changed.  Denis and Dasha are from Russia, they moved to the island few months ago.  They accepted our couchsurfing request.  They even let us sleep on their bed, while they slept on the floor in the living room.  Denis and Dasha had plans to go to India for a couple of months, so we rented their house for a month.  We also rented a scooter and bought monthly yoga passes at Absolut Sanctuary retreat.

    

Every day we went to yoga twice.  In the morning, there was a meditation session just before the beginner class.  Alicia from Spain was teaching the morning class.  The afternoon class was taught by Jana from Germany.  We loved the whole yoga experience.  We could feel much better after each class.  We were becoming more flexible, stronger and more peaceful.  We even stopped eating meat.  We were stopping at the market almost every day to buy fresh fruit: bananas, papayas, mangos, watermelons, pineapples, dragon fruits and langoustines.  We made our favorite shake from bananas, papayas and coconut milk, which we drank almost every day.  We ate a lot of eggs, too.  It was a joy to have a kitchen.  Thai food has way too much sugar for my taste.  They add it to every dish.  While in Samui, we even stopped drinking coffee.  We were waking up at 6AM on our own, so we did not really need it anymore.


The life in Samui was simple and very enjoyable.  Every place has different effect on people.  Samui made us healthier and happier.

Cha-am, Thailand

Cha-am is a beach town, 30 km southeast of Phetchaburi.  The local bus, full of schoolchildren, took us there for $1.  The bus ride was very pleasant, feeling the breeze through the open windows, while listening to a soothing voice of a women singing in foreign language.  It was much nicer experience than riding in those minibuses with people sitting practically on top of each other.  The minibuses go faster, but they also cost more.  We have time. 

We found a guesthouse 5 minutes away from the beach for $10 per night with private bathroom and air-conditioning.  Dangis actually walked half way downstairs, before he remembered that we actually have a bathroom in our room (not used to such comforts anymore).  The air-conditioning in the room was also nice: we set the temperature for 26°C.  We spent a lot of time in the room.  It was too hot to be outside during the day.

Even the market only opened for dinner.  It was too hot for the locals to be cooking outside.  So, we ate lunch in the restaurants, and we ate dinner in the street.  We ate fried rice for lunch, but we tried different spicy meals for dinner, like fish wrapped in some leaf, chicken with ginger, and pork with vegetables.  The owner even brought us to try a piece of slowcooked pig in sweet sauce for free.  He wanted to see if we liked it.  Everything was delicious.  His family and him had a lot of different foods and were very popular with the locals for carryout.  The food was conveniently packed in plastic bags for them.   

The owner of P.S. guesthouse Dee Dee was a very nice woman, too.  She gave us the electric pot that we could make coffee in our room.  Also, she did our laundry for free (the machine was not automatic).  She said she liked it better.  The clothes come out cleaner, and she saves energy and water.  We talked a little bit.  She was interested in where we have been and where we were going.  She said that she has visited 4 countries herself: Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Figuring out how to get from Cha-am to Ko Samui Island was a challenge again.  Our guidebook and internet seemed to have more reliable information than information, provided by locals.  Everyone offers ether a taxi or a minibus.  Even standing in a bus stop, everybody said that there were no big buses going to there we needed to go.  The day before our trip, we went to Cha-am train station.  There was only one train in the evening to Surat Thani (the town a ferry ride away from Ko Samui Island) that stopped in Cha-am.  If we wanted to go earlier, we would have to go from Hua Hin (25 km south of Cha-am).  The buses also only went from Hua Hin (not Cha-am, but they went directly to the island (ferry ride included).  The bus ride was cheaper that a train ride, too.  The only problem I had on the bus was that the driver refused to stop and let me use the bathroom.  I had to wait for 40 minutes until we reached the station (he said we would reach the station in 20 minutes).  The bus ride itself from Hua Hin to Ko Samui was 10 hours.         

   

Phetchaburi, Thailand

We have just spent couple of days in Phetchaburi, a little town south of Bangkok.  For the first time we could feel that we were in the country of smiles.  The kids waved especially enthusiastically in greeting us.  Even the clothes in the store windows were good quality, not mass made for the tourists.  The beautiful blue-eyed Siamese cats were elegantly sunbathing on the store counters.  Thailand (formerly known as Siam) is their home country. 

The first day we walked 3km to one edge of the town to the only big store, called Big C.  We have been searching for lithium batteries for our water purifying pen.  Since our battery charger broke, our rechargeable batteries became useless.  In Big C, we had a choice between a battery charger and lithium batteries.  We bought a charger.  We can make our own drinking water again.   Until now, we found some drinking fountains in Bagkok, boiled water in Mae Rampung, and bought bottled water in Phetchaburi.  There is also drinking water available for purchase from coolers, but not everywhere. 

The second day we walked 3 km opposite direction to Khaoluang, a temple built in the cave in the 17^th century in the honor of the kings, Rama III and Rama IV.  On our way the rain started pouring.  The locals offered us to wait the worst of it out under the roof in their yard.  We are considering buying an umbrella, since it either rains here, or the sun is scorching. 

The entrance to the cave was surrounded by monkeys.  At the foothill there was a monk, feeding leftover rice to dogs and monkeys.  The monkeys waited for their turn to get rice and did not go close to the dogs.  The monk also brought some sweet drink for the monkeys.  One of the monkeys even drank it from the bottle, the others licked the drink of the ground. 

Up the hill, there were more monkeys.  Some of them were sitting in pairs in the trees, looking for lice in each other.  The younger ones were playing- sliding down the roof of the building, swinging down the tress and jumping from one tree to another.  Others were swimming in the pool.   Some were fighting for food.  They were definitely not afraid of people, even tried to scare me from taking a picture of them.  The monkeys came very close to people to ask for food.  There were moments I felt surrounded by them.  Of course, there were locals selling bananas and corn to tourists for feeding the monkeys.  I saw one monkey grab a couple of pieces of corn from the seller’s plate, while she turned away for a moment.  Another monkey hit the plate on the bottom, while the tourist was carrying it in her hand.  The corn came out flying of the plate.

The entrance to this temple was free.  Going down the stairs into the cave, dew covered our faces instantly.  It was pleasantly cool down there.  One big Buddha was sitting close to the entrance, catching the sunlight through the hole in the cave.  The hole was surrounded by trees.  The whole atmosphere was mystic and romantic at the same time.  It was the most beautiful temple, I have seen so far.  Another big Buddha, covered in yellow fabric, was reclining against a wall in the same hall further away from the entrance.  There were smaller Buddhas everywhere around us.  Another hall was a cemetery for some monks.  There was another exit from the cave into the jungle, which was closed.  The stone heads of snakes in front of the exit were warning people that snakes await them upstairs. 

  

Mae Rampung Beach, Rayong, Thailand

We spent a week on Mae Rampung beach, not far from Rayong.  We found this guesthouse online Roots that had great reviews.  Once we arrived, it was closed.  The guesthouse was located just across the street from the beach.  We liked the idea of staying so close to the beach.  We picked a different guesthouse next door- Gee’s Kitchen.  All these guesthouses are old townhouses built under British rule.  The restaurant was on the first floor of each guesthouse with the guest rooms upstairs. 

Our room was on the third floor with a sea view.  We were the only guests in Gee’s Kitchen.  It was still low season; it sometimes rained.  We enjoyed the emptiness, peace and quiet.  We could hear the waves while in our room.  The only problem we had was that we could not swim in the sea.  Every time we tried, we were itchy all over afterwards and had to take a shower right away.  First, we thought the salt could be the reason.  Then we thought maybe it was mosquitoes biting us just before and after swimming.  Finally, we did some research online to find out that the sea lice were biting us, which are invisible to a human eye.  After that, we only went for a walk on the beach. 

 

Later we learned that the owner of Roots, who was a foreigner, disappeared about a year ago.  We talked about the area and Thailand with the retired foreigners who moved there to live.  They also told us that if a foreigner got into an accident in Thailand, he should not stop and just go straight to the airport.  The foreigners would always be considered guilty.  The police is corrupt. 

The locals see the foreigners as bags of money.  I guess they think they should lighten them.  I believe we get special prices for everything.  In some restaurants even menus do not have prices.  The seafood meal cost more than one night in a guesthouse (about 10% of the average Thai salary).  We saw some locals having a feast in those beach restaurants. 

Also, we learned that those restaurants located directly on the beach are illegal.  The beach is a park, and it belongs to the government.  At least, they are keeping a beach clean: collecting garbage and raking pine needles. 

Another observation was that only women live on that beach.  Where did all the men go?  Do they just keep moving from town to town, leaving their children behind?  Every morning the women, who worked in those guesthouses and restaurants, were getting dolled up (putting white powder on their faces, painting their nails, etc.).  At first, we were not sure why, but later we learned that some of them were also prostitutes.  The prostitution in Thailand is officially illegal, but as I mentioned the police officers could be bribed. 

The daughters of the women did work in the guesthouses, too.  They were cleaning and serving meals.  Those foreign retirees were treated like kings.  Most of them had bellies from sitting and drinking beer.  We also saw some younger white men with the local wives and their children walking around and eating in the restaurants.  There were probably more mixed families there with the husband actually present. 

To travel to Phetchaburi (2 hours south of Bangkok), we needed to return to Bangkok first.  In the official information of the Rayong bus station, we asked about the big buses to Bangkok.  We were told a week ago that there was the only one that leaves every morning at 11:30AM.  That day we were told that the big bus would go only at 3PM the next day.  We should take a minibus instead.  Another person told us that the big bus had an accident and the next one would go only at 4PM the next day.  We should take a minibus instead.  Then the same woman told us that there was a big bus standing in the station ready to leave right then.  It seemed as if she told the driver how much to charge us.  It appears that these people get kickbacks from the bus drivers, even the official information straight out lied to us.  So far, getting the information about the bus schedules was the hardest to get.  We probably saw more fancy tour buses everywhere, anyways.

Pattaya, Thailand

Pattaya is a beach town, located by the Gulf of Thailand 130 km southeast of Bangkok.  The hotel rooms cost twice as much as in Bangkok.  A lot of other merchandise is overpriced also.  The Russians are moving in and driving the prices up.  The town is growing fast.  There are more condominiums there than hotels.  We stayed in the motel that was also rented by the hour.  Our room was big with a private bathroom, hot water, air conditioning and a mirror in the ceiling.  

Pattaya is well known for its sex industry.  The Walking Street was filled with bars full of girls.  We were shown some pictures of the girls and the drawings with poses, offering us the girls and to watch a sex show, respectively.  Even in the beach some girls were wearing high heels, applying more make up.  The old white guys were approaching the girls asking to sit next to them.  I guess it is more profitable for the men and the girls to find each other independently without the intermediaries.  The Pattaya beach itself was narrow, but the water was very warm like tea.  It was nice to swim in the evening.  During the day the beach is crowded.  There is not much space on the sand if you do not want to rent an umbrella.  It is too hot to be outside during the daytime anyways. 

The whole town seems to be designed to cater to Russians.  The billboards and menus were in Russian.  The locals communicated with us in Russian.  There were quite a few TV programs in Russian, they even had there own TV programs from Pattaya.  There were a lot of advertising offering to buy property.  We even saw a store selling leather and fur in this tropical town.  The whole town is about sex and posh.

Bangkok, Thailand

The first day in a new country is always challenging.  We have chosen a hostel from our guidebook while flying to Bangkok.  We took a train from airport to the city.  Then we were told to take bus number 503 to Banglampoo, the touristy area.  We have waited for an hour for the bus.  It was getting dark.  The traffic started.  Locals were catching taxis.  By the time we decided to take a taxi, it took us about 15 minutes.  All were full.  It costs over the dollar just for sitting.  The meter keeps turning while the car is stopped at the intersection.  I am not sure if the fare is based just on time, or combination of time and distance.  By the way, we later learned that bus number 503 does not go to Banglamboo. The tourist area was busy (more tourists than locals).  We found a cheap hostel for $9 just before the rainfall.  We have moved from one hostel to another a few times in the area.  Some rooms smelled like smoke or had loud neighbors.  The towels, blankets and internet were extra in most rooms.  In one room the internet (which we paid for) was working, but no power supply.  The other issue we had that a fan had only high setting.  We have not been able to get rid of runny noses, since we arrived.  I was not able to get away from the extremely low air conditioned stores,buses and trains, just like in US.  

It seems to be a trend: the cheaper the country, the more we spend.  We allow ourselves to do more things.  I have received more massages in 10 days we spent in Bangkok than in all my life.  The oil massage is my favorite so far.  It costs $10 per hour.  We also went for teeth cleaning and yearly physical health check up in the local hospital.  We got the blood results in 2 hours.  The equipment in the hospital seemed older, but everything was very clean.  The overall experience was very pleasant.  No long waits anywhere.  It was nice to communicate with local people outside of the touristic area, even if it was in the hospital.  No country should be judged by the taxi drivers.  They seemed to be very interested in where we were going.  Some people acted like they knew where we wanted to go.  They would tell us to turn around and go to some tourist attraction. 

A lot of things are cheap in Bangkok, but not tourist attractions.  The entrance to King’s Palace costs twice as much for one person as our hostel room.  In comparison, I would not pay $100 to go to a museum in US, so we did not go to the King’s Palace.  Instead we went to see the Reclining Buda.  We also heard that the prices are different on different days based on the number of tourists.  Instead we went to see the Reclining Buda.  The Buda was inside a small temple, which made it difficult to see the whole Buda at once.  The donation boxes were inside the temple every few steps.  The entrance to the temple was not free.

Also, we noticed that almost all the stalls with food and merchandise were closed on Monday.  The 2 that were open were confiscated by the police.  Apparently, it is illegal to be selling anything on the streets on Mondays in that area.  The vendors have to pay a fine before they can retrieve their belongings.  Two hours later the confiscated stalls were back up with the rest of the stalls on the street.  The police do not bother to come and check twice a day. 

Another adventure was getting a visa to enter Myanmar.  The country opened its borders to tourists only recently.  The information is scarcely available about the visa requirements, entering the country or travelling in the country.  It looks that the rules are continuously changing.  The land borders with Thailand opened only on the 29^th of August 2013.  It is still impossible to legally enter Laos from Myanmar by land, which was our original plan.  We may need to get back to Thailand for that. It took us 3 days to get a visa for Myanmar.  We went to the embassy on Monday morning.  There was a line starting outside (around 40 people).  While Dangis was standing in line, I have filled my application.  It was pretty simple: personal information and employment history.  We just had to bring 2 passport photos each and copies of our passports.  By the time Dangis filled his application, it was our turn to receive a number.  After our number was called, we submitted our visa applications and paid $28 per person.  It took us 2 hours.  We left happy and sweaty.  On Wednesday we arrived 15 minutes early.  The line was already formed.  After embassy doors were open a little late, it took us about 10 minutes to pick up our passports with visas. 

So far, we are enjoying Thai food.  The choices are endless.  Just yesterday we tried steamed fish in curry paste, fried calamari and vegetables, coconut juice and ice cream in the world’s biggest weekend market Chatuchak.  The shopping also was an enjoyable experience, although not as exciting as eating.  I got to buy a blouse and a dress for myself.