Honestly, who knew...?!

1) that Pyin Oo Lwin, a small town in northern Myanmar, could have such beautiful botanical gardens? We stretched out a couple hour visit to a whole day, riding our bikes, wandering, taking photos, watching a movie being made, watching people, animals, flowers. And did you know that children of all cultures skip as an expression of carefree joy in the moment? It's like the urge wells up and they break free with this simple dance step that is universally known in our bodies. I have observed it everywhere...parks, airports, streets. Take a look next time you are in a public place.

2) that a train ride can be so good and so bad?! That you can get bedbugs on a day train with wooden seats and open windows? This train ride was from a story book. Eight hours to go about 150km in 'ordinary class'.

I waited in line to buy tickets for 30 minutes, got to the front and was told to go in the other 'special' line for tourists and waited another 20 minutes. The hotel told us not to buy our tickets in advance but when I got to the front of the line, they told me first class was sold out the previous day. We were about to have an authentic country experience!

Sitting among a group of young men getting drunk as they head to a Nat festival, getting into fights as the train undulated up and down and side to side (they call the trains in Myanmar 'bouncy trains'), rocking so much that my backpack plummeted off the overhead rack, knocking me on the head and whacking a fellow passenger's knee...all experiences not to be missed in Myanmar.

We crossed the famous Gokteik Viaduct - a train bridge that is 318 feet high and 2257 feet across, that was built in 1901. Going 5 km/hour, the train and the bridge creaked and moaned, as we hung out the windows staring far down below at the deep ravine.

My bites didn't show up for a day or two after the journey. I searched our bed and didn't find any signs of bedbugs and thought perhaps they had different mosquitoes in Hsipaw. Man, were they itchy! And they seemed to get worse as the days went by. As we were leaving our guesthouse, a fellow traveller was heading out to take the 'bouncy train' and he said to me, "did you get bed bug bites?!" Apparently, he knew that this happens on this train...the answer to my mystery bites. Who knew?

3) that Hsipaw, and especially the Tai House where we stayed, could offer us a more indepth glimpse of Myanmar - its food, people and landscape? We walked the surrounding villages, hiked the fields, biked to a dry waterfall ("on a water holiday"), sat at a hilltop temple for sunset and chatted with a youth brigade who were wanting to practice speaking English. Sweet.

It takes courage and resilience to travel overland in Myanmar but you can get to corners of the country that are in the beginning stages of opening to the world and feel far less 'touched' than the other parts that are bursting with both tourist and economic action. And we barely scratched the surface.

4) that driving across country was like being in a Motorsport race? The highway from Hsipaw to Mandalay snakes through the deep ravine that can get so backed up with transport trucks making their way to China and back. Often they can't navigate the s-curves when there is traffic and t has been known to be blocked for up to 14 hours.

Wildly, most cars in the country have their steering wheel on the right side but they also drive on the right side of the road so when passing, which happens every 3 minutes, they pull out blindly until they can see. That precise moment of clarity is when the oncoming traffic is smack in front of your eyes. Smack is an appropriate term; one I thought was going to happen many times but didn't. And there I sat in the middle of the back seat with no seat belt, potentially a projectile should the car stop suddenly.

The 6-hour ride was an exercise in letting go, accepting I had no control and visualizing us in a cone of white light encircled in gold - protected.

5) that monks are trained for either meditation or education? That all male Burmese Buddhist children are to spend some time in a monastery which can be from a few weeks to his entire life? We visited Maha Ganayon Kyaung Monastery (an education one). We went after the 11:00am lunch serving when all the bus tours are there to watch. Our guide, Si Thu, went to a monastery when he was young and only lasted a few days because he was too hungry. They eat early in the morning, then again at 11:00 and then not again until the next day.

5) that U Bein Bridge outside of Mandalay is clogged with tourists at sunset, tramping across it with boatloads of people down below and those classic photos that you see are taken by zooming in on one person (of hundreds) making it look like a lone traveller or monk peacefully crossing this unique bridge at sunset? Not even close to peaceful.

I maintain my meditation practice so I can access peace inside because there aren't many places to find it in the environment in these chaotic countries of Myanmar and India.

The learning never stops when travelling. And I am officially getting tired of it now. I find myself not wanting to walk in the heat, not see yet another sunset/sunrise, be in noisy cities, visit another temple or palace, eat another curry. It's not that I am not enjoying our travels, I am less excited to explore. I just want to be home...

Who knows how my current state of mind will shape the remainder of our journey? All I have to do is change my mind. I think I will.


To see more of Jim's photos and in higher resolution, visit his Flickr site.