Kyatiko- A Happy Entry about a Golden Balancing Rock.

After a pit stop in Yangon, we decided to head south towards Karen and Mon states. Only a 4 hour bus ride and couple hour pick up truck ride away, we landed in Kyatiko, home to the amazing balancing boulder-cum-pagoda, naturally. This bizarre natural phenomenon is one of the holiest pagodas and pilgrimage spots in Myanmar. Posters of "The Golden Rock" can be found in restaurants and shops throughout the country. We planned to stay only for a night en route to points further south. Posted above are school children, preparing for the journey up the mountain.

Waiting for the truck to take us up the mountain to see the Golden Rock. The huge pick up trucks seat about 50 people on minuscule wooden benches. This lady was Kara's friend and had traveled with us on one of our smaller pick up trucks to get to the town.

Here is Max seen waiting on the truck before the rest of the children came aboard. We arrived in the town around three pm and wanted to see the boulder and get out. The last truck to go up the mountain left around 4, which at that time, we thought was perfect timing for our plan.


The ride up. Bumpy, foggy, and beautiful, all at the same time. We climbed steep hills for about 30 minutes before reaching the top.

After being dropped off at the top around 5, we learned that the last bus going down the mountain left at 6:30. To get to the rock, you must walk an additional hour or so up the mountain. For some reason we thought we would be able to make it down to the last bus in time. No, that didn't happen. We climbed into the thick of the fog, and arrived at the Golden Rock just in time to see nothing and also to be stranded on top of the mountain for the night.

But we were not alone. Here is our Argentinian friend whose name we can't remember now, even though we spent the night with him on top of the mountain. Though we had already paid for our cheaper hotel at the bottom of the mountain and all of our stuff was there, we couldn't get down to sleep. Our only option was to stay at one of the two or three luxury hotels on the top of the mountain, that charge a whopping $60-100 USD per night. We were able to negotiate with a nice Indian hotel owner for a $30 room for the three of us. Thank you, Chennai man.

The next morning, the fog cleared and we got to see the Golden Rock in all its glory. The view of the surrounding area was equally stunning. Other less grand balancing rocks dotted the hillsides below. The rock itself was worth the trouble, as it really is balancing so precariously. Honestly, we don't know how it survives the elements without falling. So, maybe it is holy. According to legend, the rock maintains its equilibrium due to an expertly placed hair of the Buddha himself that enshrined the pagoda on top of the boulder. Legend states that the Buddha spent many years walking through Myanmar. We don't really know about that.

Mountain top village.

"Ladies Are Not Allowed to Enter" the holiest part of the rock area. Men are allowed to walk up and paste gold leaf on the rock itself. Women aren't even allowed in the best viewing area. Kara thinks this has nothing to do with the teachings of the Buddha. Kara, not happy, shown above.

We came, we saw, we rocked.

See? We told you it was a happy entry about a golden balancing rock!
No human rights abuses here! (That we know about.......?) But we couldn't help talking about that sexist "no ladies" thing. We tried folks, we tried.

Kara and Maximilian

Hsipaw and Slovaks

Hsipaw, pronounced "see-paw," is a tiny farm town and trading post near the border of China in Shan State. Once considered part of the hinterland and controlled by the ethnic separatists, the Shan State Army, Hsipaw is firmly established stop on the "off the beaten path" path. When we were in Mae Sot, we both read a book entitled "Welcome to Burma... and Enjoy the Totalitarian Experience" by Timothy Syrota. He spent some time in Hsipaw and recommended it as a destination where one could get to know the "Real Burma." Though the book was written over ten years ago, the main attractions remain the same. The town has grown, benefiting from increased tourism, and to a larger degree, increased overland trade with China. This was the first place in Myanmar where we saw Western commodities and finished goods, such as Sprite being sold at almost every small road side store. Day and night, huge trucks trundled through town on the Lashio-Mandalay main road, which is one of the nicest and well-maintained in the country, largely because of the tolls imposed on large vehicles coming from China. Most people living in Hsipaw are ethnically Shan and speak the Shan language, which is more similar to Thai than Burmese. Our tiny knowledge of the Thai number system allowed us to understand prices for goods and rooms. There's not much to do in Hsipaw other than to catch up with community gossip (more on this below) and trek around the beautiful surrounding foothills. Unfortunately during our stay here, both of us managed to get very sick and once better, the monsoon's rains ruined our hiking plans. Enter Hsipaw:

Here is Max being led by a pair of children to the "Shan Palace." Both the Lonely Planet guidebook and the "Welcome to Burma" book had recommended a tour of the modest mansion that used to be home to the last Shan prince. When we arrived at the locked gate, surrounded by overgrown shrubs and weeds, we weren't sure that we were at the right place. The children yelled until a teenage boy came to meet us at the gate. He told us that his grandfather, Mr. Donald, who is the nephew of the last Shan prince and who had been the caretaker of this palace, was in jail and that the palace was closed until further notice. We later learned that while Mr. Donald was charged by the SPDC with giving false information to tourists, the real cause behind his arrest was his invitation to join a Shan State council that was thinking of contesting the upcoming elections. The Shan Palace in Hsipaw has since been closed so that the SPDC can not have another reason to arrest other members of the family for "speaking out" to tourists. His arrest was recent and tourists still come to see the Shan palace regularly, not knowing about Mr. Donald's 7-year jail sentence.

One of the few "musts" in Hsipaw is a walk up to... you guessed it... a pagoda! We walked a couple kilometers over this bridge to the mountain that houses a famous and quiet hillside stupa.

Of course it started raining when we arrived to the top, however the views of the surrounding Shan countryside were worth the trip. We walked back home in the rain and got lost in the small, un-lit villages leading back into town.

Over the next few days, we hiked to a waterfall, got lost in rice paddies, met another cool couple from Brooklyn traveling around the world, and ate lots of Shan noodle soup. Like we said, our movements were limited by the weather, general sickness, and the government. We are sorry to say that we really don't have any more pictures from Hsipaw, but you aren't missing too much. We have no regrets about coming here, but let's just say it wouldn't make our top ten list. Moving on from Hsipaw, we went on a marathon 24 hour bus trip, backtracking to Mandalay, (bus seen above) and then on to Inle Lake. The mountain scenery as we wound our way back to the plains, was a highlight of our trip to Hsipaw. After a long and exhausting journey, we arrived in ....

Inle Lake!
Inle Lake is touted as one of the most beautiful places in Myanmar. Considering that we can't see all of the country, we can't really argue. Inle Lake lies cupped between low hills in the center of Myanmar and is also the starting/ending point for many treks around local villages. Though the lake and villages surrounding it are in Shan state, the people who inhabit the area are largely Intha. The Intha people literally live ON the lake and have developed unique farming and fishing techniques to suit their environment. The clear blue water dissolves gradually into marsh land with no clear shoreline. We stayed in the village of Nyaung Shwe, which is the established tourist jumping off point for day tripping on the lake.

We stayed at a wonderful guest house called the Aquarius Inn. Lovely staff, massive orchid garden and best breakfast in the country. Stay there if you go to Inle Lake. The manager's son hooked us up with two other travelers who were planning on going on a boat trip the next day. He mentioned they were from Slovenia. Imagine our delight when we found out that they were actually Slovaks! (Just in case you don't know, Kara is always really excited to meet citizens of the small former Eastern block nation often mistaken for its phonetically similar Slavic state as her family is from Slovakia.) The next morning we got on a boat with the lovely Slovak sisters (Max is outnumbered 3 Slovaks to 1) and were off to see the lake. Seen above is Yarka.

Fisherman on the lake. We were surprised by the amount of traffic on the lake. Villagers from the surrounding areas use the many motorized long tail boats as ferries, lorries, and fishing vehicles.

The long tails also serve as kitchy tourist shops. Boats would paddle up to our long tail and would literally attach themselves to our vessel. These resourceful "pirates" sold anything from little Buddhas to Fanta.

You might be wondering what there is to do on the lake for 8 hours. Shopping. In all forms. For the first couple of hours of our trip, our boat guide took us from one workshop/showroom to another. On the lake itself are hundreds of bustling cottage industries, catering to the ever-growing tourist market. Each boat driver has their own network of shops they bring you to, as a large commission is given for each tourist delivered. We initially enjoyed seeing the different crafts being made as we wouldn't have gone to these shops otherwise. Seen above is Kara and Mirka talking in one of the silver shops. Inle Lake is known for its beautiful silver. Kara's minimal Slovak got quite a workout over the course of the day as the sisters would speak nothing else to her, encouraging her to get better in her family's tongue. Though Max didn't understand anything, he was all for it.

One of the unique fishing techniques mentioned above is "foot paddling." Though motors have replaced the paddle for long distance trips, local fishers and farmers use leg work instead of their arms to move themselves along the lake. The paddler stands on the back of the boat and wraps one leg around the paddle. Using their arm for leverage, they move the paddle through the water in one graceful dragging motion. Seen above is a foot paddler maneuvering through tomato plants. Tomato plants and other small vegetables are grown literally on the surface of the lake.

Our boat negotiates one of the small canals that penetrate the surrounding marshland.

Here are some traditional stilt houses. We were puzzled by the amount of effort expended bringing the land to the lake. Why don't these people just live on shore we asked ourselves. We still don't know. Tradition? For tourists? Is there some advantage we can't see? Regardless, very interesting.

This workshop made all sorts of fabrics, one specialty was made from the fiber of lotus root.

Though we were interested in seeing the process of spinning and weaving, the Slovaks were not as impressed and stated that they could find this in Slovakia in their grandmother's basement.

After seeing many workshops, we asked our boat driver to take us to a less commercial destination.

We arrived at a small village town and asked where the pagodas were. We can't remember the name of this place however it housed some of the oldest temples in Myanmar.

Just like in Pagan, this site is constantly being restored so that worshippers can come here to pray for the next thousands of years. Beautifully antiqued temples sat next to freshly painted pagodas in this space.

Our last stop for the day was at the famous Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery, more commonly referred to as the "jumping cat monastery."

For some reason, the monks and caretakers of the monastery have trained the many cat inhabitants to jump through hoops. Some of them can jump very high. Weird and interesting. Besides the jumping cats, the monastery itself is in a serene setting and houses some exquisite Buddhist shrines.

Here a local farmer tends to her tomato plants. Watery beds of soil are held in place by bamboo poles on the surface of the lake. Maybe the hydroponics make for better tomatoes. For whatever reason, Inle Lake is the biggest tomato producing region in the country. The tomato curry we had on dry land was delicious.

Max and Kara on the boat at the end of the day.

The next day we chose to rent bikes (ouch, our asses) and ride out to get a view of the lake from above.

The road was really bumpy.

And it started to rain.

But 2 hours later, we made it to the top of the hill. What would a hill in Myanmar be without a pagoda? Max sounds the bell 6 times to announce we have arrived, in traditional Burmese fashion.

We spent another hour enjoying the view from above and talking about what we had learned the previous day and the questions we still had about the lake community.

Later that night we said goodbye to our Slovak friends. Also pictured is Kawtar, our friend from Morocco.

Before we left Nyaung Shwe, we decided to wander through the markets. We happened to be in town at the same time as thousands of monks, as there was a large "monk exam" going on. Festival markets had been set up in the streets surrounding the main temple. We met some monks and chatted secret politics with them. We also bought tanaka, seen above in its raw and natural form.

Here is the tanaka seller, crushing a sample for Kara to wear.

Inle Lake: We came.

We saw.

We laked.

After much debate about our next destination, we made the final decision to extend our time in Myanmar and head South. Check in next week as we visit more pagodas, more beautiful places, and attempt to cross into restricted teritory.

K and M

Moustaches in Mandalay

Mandalay. Mandalay is another stop on the tourist circuit in Myanmar. Located in the geographic center of the country, the surrounding area is home to several ancient capitals. The city itself was once a major center for the British empire in Myanmar and is now experiencing a flood of Chinese influence which can be seen in new buildings and cuisine. We decided to check it out.

We began our journey by bus from Pagan to Mandalay. The journey took about 8 hours and our bus only broke down once. Pictured above are some of our fellow passengers trying to cool the bus off.

Though Pagan was excruciatingly hot, Mandalay for some reason seemed even hotter. Here is Max sweating so much. We arrived in the afternoon and decided to grab some tea at a local tea shop. In Myanmar, tea shops are found everywhere and are a place for hanging out and passing the time for many unemployed men.

There are a couple of tourist guesthouses in Mandalay. This was the road to one. We learned that if a street is getting repaired in a city, it is usually the undertaking of the citizens who live on that block and not the government's responsibility. Apparently the inhabitants of this street had spent years saving money to rebuild their road and the project had just begun.

Here is Max with Par Par Lay of the famous "Moustache Brothers Comedy Troupe." The Moustache Brothers consist of a group of three brothers: U Par Par Lay, U Lu Zaw, and Lu Maw. Lay and Zaw were imprisoned for 7 years to a labor camp for their politically volatile routine performed at Aung Sung Suu Kyi's house in the lead up to the 1996 elections. According to the Lonely Planet, the Lady reportedly enjoyed the show and laughed uproariously at the famous screwball routine. The Moustache Brothers used to tour the country, performing their routine at weddings, festivals, and local ceremonies. Nowadays the government has confined their performances to their tiny house and it is only legal for foreigners to attend the nightly routine. And attend they do. The Moustache Brothers are a "must see" attraction in Mandalay.

A Photo of the Moustache Brothers and The Lady is proudly displayed on the wall of their home/performance space. Located in the southern quarter of Mandalay, The Moustache Brothers provide one of the few chances for tourists to see traditional Burmese dance and comedy in this once thriving theater district.

Par Par Lay was most recently arrested in 2007; it was rumored that he was involved in an antiques smuggling operation, but this is unconfirmed. The brothers simply state that he was arrested and most foreigners assume it was once again because of dissident political activity. Though we were initially really excited to see this performance because of their outstanding hype and the knowledge that they continue to speak out against the government, we came away with mixed reactions. First of all the show is painfully unfunny and very awkward to watch. Secondly, the show costs about 8000 Kyat each which is $8. The price doubled in 2 years, and before that the show used to be free. Though in the States an $8 show would be a steal, in Myanmar it is extremely expensive. We began to wonder whether or not the Moustache Brothers had to pay off the same government that they mock so openly. We were also really confused as to how the operation continues under the nose of the SPDC, considering the government has arrested these members many times and knows where they live and what they do. What is clear is that they are capitalizing on tourists' desire to help democracy activists for better or for worse.

Picture removed for subject's security

Our friend, who shall remain nameless just in case an SPDC member figures out how to use a computer. Our friend, who we will call Alex was a cycle rickshaw driver that Kara met at a tea shop the first morning we arrived to Mandalay. He struck up an interesting conversation and Kara and him clicked. He asked if we wanted to meet the next day to hang out and we agreed. It was the best decision we made in Mandalay, for he taught us so much from small Burmese phrases to the cost of rent for an average citizen. For example, Alex's rent is about $19/month. It increased by $5 in the last year which has been extremely difficult for him. He makes approximately $3/day on a good day. He can eat for about $2/day. He is also trying to put his daughter through school, and must support his grandfather who lives with him and is too old to work. His wife was not in Mandalay at the time that we became friends as she had returned to her village to ask her parents for a loan. Alex never asked us for anything and gave us all he could. He is also very open with how his life had been directly affected by the regime. Alex is a kind hearted and extremely intelligent person. Here we are after wandering around on our first day.

Alex took us to the riverfront which is essentially a shanty town. Goods are floated in from the northern states such as charcoal, timber and sugarcane.

These guys REALLY wanted Kara to take their picture. Here they are, moving barrels of raw sugarcane off the barge onto the main land.

When we first saw these barrels we thought it was sewage or something. Alex quickly explained to us that this is raw sugarcane.

Small street children and local kids living in the shanty towns collect over spilt sugarcane throughout the day from the ground. We assume they resell it or use it themselves for cooking.

Can you imagine eating this?

We did, but after it was thoroughly boiled. Alex lives in a sugarcane factory complex, which sounds very large but is actually just 2 big sheds. Alex took us back to his house and factory area where we saw what happens with the sugarcane after it leaves the barge. Seen above is the cooling process which takes place after the sugarcane is boiled.

Then a small assembly of workers, seen here, pull the cooled sugarcane into large, ropey bundles. The women cut and pack the sugarcane into the final product that is then sold to villages in the area.

Standing over the bridge near Alex's house, we looked down at the water (seen above) and found it difficult to take in the harsh reality of our new friend's life. He explained to us why he had become a cycle rickshaw driver. He used to work in a newspaper printing press back in the 80s, but then was fired along with the whole publication when the government (then known as the SLORC) banned independent publishing. He was unable to find another job for almost three years and finally resorted to the backbreaking and low paying work of cycle rickshawing. There are thousands of cycle rickshaw drivers in Mandalay with similar stories and equally grim challenges to face everyday. Competition is fierce and fares are very low. He used to be able to support his family and even make trips to Thailand less than 20 years before. He showed us pictures of a better time, when his face was full and healthy looking.

After lunch, Alex took us to Maxwell hill. Remember Maxwell hill in Malaysia? Same guy. The path up the hill is paved with steps and leads to a nice panorama of the city and countryside. Along the way are several giant Buddhas, each one larger than the last. Here is the final big Buddha.

More Buddhas. The next day we met Alex again to explore some more. This time we rented bikes and followed Alex's lead throughout the chaotic traffic This is the Mahamuni temple where Mandalay's most famous and most gold covered Buddha image resides. It has been gold leafed so many times that it's surface is no longer smooth but bubbly under a froth of devotional decoration. The image is particularly holy for Burmese from the Rohingya state. The temple also houses several statues that were stolen by the Khmers (Ancient Cambodians) and then stolen back by ambitious Burmese raiders several centuries later.

Outside the main viewing area of the Buddha lies a collection of images from a major SPDC visit to the shrine. Seen here is General Than Shwe, current dictator of this military junta. The generals are very conspicuous in their contributions, spending millions of kyat building and decorating temples throughout the country. As one article in the Irrawaddy opines they are following an ancient merit making tradition whereby Burmese kings built temples to atone for the wars and destruction they had caused. In addition to metaphysical motivations, the merit making goes a long way in securing political support from the devout population.

Later that day we rode out to the ancient capital of Amanpura, which ended up being a 15 km away. The scenery was beautiful riding out there; watching the city life slowly change into small villages lining the dirt road was a highlight of the trip. Kara stopped for a while to watch the water buffalo walking along the banks of the river while Max and Alex rode toward the oldest and longest teak bridge in the world.

We walked on the teak bridge along with monks, other tourists, and locals who all came to enjoy the sunset and serene view.

It was really hard saying goodbye to Alex. We will never forget him and hope to come back to visit him in different circumstances. We gave him a copy of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" to read in hopes of giving him inspiration that desperate labor conditions can, do, and indeed MUST change. If you are reading this and are thinking about going to Myanmar, we would like to get you in touch with Alex. He is one of the most amazing people we met during our time here.

We left Mandalay with a more complete picture of every day life of the Myanmar people and our hearts were all the more heavy for it.
To Alex, we will never stop thinking about you.
Kara and Max