Exactly a month ago since our last update so get ready for a blog entry filled with excitement from the past month of travelling!

After Chiang Mai we decided to go to Pai, a 4-5 hour drive to the Northwest. Now, to go to Pai you have two options; either go by minivan or rent a motorbike and drive the adventurous road by yourself. Of course we went with option number 2, our backpacks were shipped to Pai and after some practise rounds on the streets of Chiang Mai we left for Pai.

Now the roads to Pai are leading through high mountains so the roads are a bit different to our flat country; 90% of the way is either downhill or uphill. Ideal circumstances for Nils to show off his driving skills while I was being overtaken by basically everyone, from old trucks to old ladies.

Pai itself is an amazing village, the surroundings are absolutely beautiful and some of the attractions include elephants, waterfalls and hot springs (not ideal to sit in a hotspring while outside temperatures reached over 35 degrees). To enjoy Pai to the fullest we also checked into an hotel with outdoor swimming pool with view over the rice paddies and the mountains, backpacker life can be hard sometimes

After some relaxing days in Pai and a one day stop in Chiang Mai again, where we played football with the local police force (no tackling or you get fined according to the biggest police officer) we arrived in backpacker ghetto; Khoa San Road, Bangkok. An infamous street where you are offered everything from deep-fried scorpions and ping pong shows to tuk tuk drives and ladyboys. We did not see anything from Bangkok as we spend two days in a tuk tuk arranging our visas for the Philippines.

After some days in Thailand's capital we safely arrived in the next country on our list: Myanmar, also known as the Golden Land because of its numerous golden temples and pagodas scattered across the country. Myanmar, still being controlled by a military regime, only recently opened up to tourism and is the least developed country we have been to so far. Although, as of 2014, they finally have ATMs and wifi-access, the living conditions, even in former capital Yangon, are very very basic.

After barely surviving the restaurant scene in Yangon (refer to Myanmar photo album for an example of what a restaurant kitchen in Yangon looks like) we went to Bagan. Bagan is famous for its temples; an astonishing 2200 temples that is! To me an even more impressive site than Angkor Wat in Cambodia, not because the temples look more impressive than the Angkor ones but because of the immense amount of temples in such a small area.

The people of Myanmar are without a doubt the friendliest people we have met so far. As the country is relatively new to tourism the locals are genuinely interested to meet foreigners. Although the level of English is very basic they are always there to help and very eager to talk to you. As we visited Mount Popa (close to Bagan) we felt famous for a day as literally hundreds of locals wanted to take pictures with us. A professional photographer was taking photos of us with the locals and locals were paying money afterwards to take a photo home. Absolutely amazing!

Possibly the most respected people in this Buddhist country are the monks. Now we had some general ideas of what monks would be like but in Myanmar you will see some pretty modern monks. You will see monks going shopping, watching sports events, sitting in restaurants, taking 'selfies' with the newest iPhones and even monks drinking Red Bull.

After Bagan we moved further North to reach the second biggest city in Myanmar: Mandalay. Mandalay is just another big city but the small villages around are the main reason to come to this area. We rented a motorbike for a day and explored the villages of Sagaing (filled with golden temples), Amarapura (famous for the longest teakwood bridge in the world), Mandalay Hill (great for a sunset view over Mandalay) and Inwa. In Inwa we could not resist to get some traditional Thanaka on our faces. Basically all the people in Myanmar (although you see it more on girls..) have this traditional make up on their faces. The Thanaka resembles beauty but is also used as a protection from the sun. Anyway we the locals seemed to appreciate our new local face decoration as we were even invited to a local ceremony; the cremation of a monk! Another crazy and at the same time amazing moment in Myanmar as we joined many locals around the ashes of a just cremated monk.

Besides our lovely daytrip in Mandalay we will remember the city mostly because of our days with high fever and literally constant diarrhea. Nils even visited the local hospital for a malaria/typhoid/dengue check and hospital conditions in Myanmar are very, very poor. Our new slogan for backpacking in South-East Asia? Two bananas a day keeps the diarrhea away!

After a short stop in Kalaw we ended up in the most famous and also most touristic part of Myanmar: Inlay Lake. Inlay Lake was once a lake for the fisherman and farmers harvesting their crops on floating gardens. Nowadays you see unfortunately more tourist boats and souvenir shops than fisherman but still it is a must-visit place when going to Myanmar.

After 2,5 weeks in this amazing country (for me the most impressive so far, Nils is still in love with Vietnam) we are now waiting in Bangkok for our next flight: Sunday we will fly to Manila to visit the Philippines. Looking forward to see some beaches again, this time with friends coming over from the Netherlands!