When we were leaving Vietnam, we decided to fly into Chiang Mai to obtain our visas for Myanmar and do a land border crossing. The bad news was that Songkran prevented us from obtaining our visa through the embassy. This meant we had to apply for an e-visa and fly into Myanmar. The great news was that we were in Thailand for Songkran. Songkran is the Thai New Year and includes a 3 day water fight. Locals, tourists, businesses- everyone gets involved.
Even the officials join in the festivities, while working.
We heard rumours that the water fight typically starts a day early, so we made sure to have our water guns purchased just in case, and it was definitely helpful.
For 4 straight days, we participated in the largest water fight either one of us has ever been in. Each day consisted of wandering around Chiang Mai in unbearable heat that was barely noticeable because we were constantly getting soaked.
Here is one of the many temples decorated for Songkran.
When we wanted a break, we retreated back to our swimming pool for relaxing. The best part was the water fight only lasted during the day. Once it was evening, we were free to shower and head wherever for dinner without being soaked. I doubt I’ll ever get excited about our North American New Year tradition of overrated plans in the dead of winter again.
After Songkran, we took advantage of being back in Thailand by doing a cooking class. We enjoyed an informative tour of the local market and then headed back to make delicious pad thai, spring rolls, coconut milk soup, and red and green curry. This was all topped off with mango sticky rice, which we barely had room for at the end.
Something we had wished we had done the first time we were in Chiang Mai was attend a meditation retreat, but we had run out of time. Since we were back, we planned it in. Under the guidance of a monk at a monastery outside of Chiang Mai, Kieran and I participated in a 2 day silent retreat, where we learned about various meditation techniques. The monk who was teaching us, KK, was very disciplined and informative and we enjoyed this experience much more thoroughly than we anticipated.
From Thailand, we flew into Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. We were especially excited to visit this country because it only really opened up to tourists in the last few years and therefore hadn’t been overly commercialized by tourism yet.
Upon arriving in Yangon, we could already see that it was quite different. In the neighbourhood that we stayed in, there were hardly any signs in English and we regularly ordered our food by pointing at pictures of stuff we thought we would like or what other people were eating. We also didn’t see any other foreigners, and only a handful when we ventured out to check out the sights outside of our neighbourhood.
Two old friends intently watching the soccer game.
The people in Myanmar are some of the nicest we have met while travelling, with everyone
going out of their way to show kindness to us. On more than one occasion, despite my protests, I was encouraged to take someone’s seat on the train or jump to the front of the line at the bathroom. Here, unlike some other countries, we didn’t run into people who were looking to profit off of us, which was so refreshing.
Kids playing on the side of the road with some discarded wood.
There is a train that loops around most of Yangon and is a great way to travel authentically with the locals. Taking around 3 hours to complete the 50 km route, it is hardly efficient, but at less than 50 cents a ticket and the friendly locals we met on the train, it became our favourite way to get around.
The Shwedagon Pagoda is one of the most important temples in Myanmar, said to contain relics from various Buddhas previously, including Gautama. Although we had seen many temples throughout the year, we visited it. It is covered in gold plates, rubies and diamonds, complete with a 72 carat diamond at the top.
It is large and impressive, but pretty expensive for foreigners and the marble floors outside were painful to walk barefoot on, in the heat of the day. We did meet an interesting man sitting near some Buddhas, who offered us meditation beads and other bracelets, then insisted on our photo together. All this, and he only followed it up with a request for a 75cent tip to travel.
From Yangon, we travelled to Bagan by an overnight train. The trains spanning across the country are no more efficient than the city train, but it is considered an excellent way to see some of the countryside. On the train, we were stuck on a very dirty car with 2 other tourists for 17 hours. If we hadn’t booked the sleeper compartment though, we would have been stuck in a car like this:
The hard seats that quickly filled up with overflowing passengers would have made sleep much more difficult.
The only way to get food during this time, was to buy the bags of surprise some ladies were sometimes selling at our very brief stops. The views were incredible and the ride was fun but the cabin was filthy. By the end of the journey we were covered in a layer of dirt.
Bagan is a great deal more touristy than Yangon and really hot in April. As a result, we found a nice hotel with a pool. We visited temples in the morning and late afternoon. During the sweltering heat of the afternoon we came back to our hotel and relaxed by the pool.
The more than 2000 temples in Bagan were constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries and were some of the most impressive temples we have visited. Although we have been to many temples in the past 8 months, these were some of our favourite, with their beautiful and ancient architecture. There are a number of temples in Bagan which many tourists visit, but we avoided these ones. We searched for secluded temples that we could climb to the top of. Atop these sacred and beautiful temples, we enjoyed the peaceful views and took the opportunity to meditate in the serene settings. Renting an e-bike and roaming around the dusty plains, picking out temples that we wanted to stop at, was an incredible way to spend 3 days.
On the morning of November 26, Kieran’s Dad, Subhash, and his partner, Swee, arrived in Bali on a cruise ship. We were thrilled to have visitors and we had a really nice time touring around the island with them. We hired a driver each of the days for about 50 dollars for the entire day.
First, we went to Ubud and on the way we stopped at a local restaurant for some delicious food. In Ubud, we visited the Monkey Forest and this time around, noticed the human cemetery that is in the sanctuary, and where monkeys often “hang out”.
Subhash and a monkey.
Next, we went to the large market in the centre of the town. There we purchased some fresh fruit. In the afternoon, we went to visit The Green School, which I was super excited about. The Green School is a private school that was opened in Bali by a Canadian, John Hardy. The entire school is constructed from bamboo and all of the learning spaces are open air. Students ranging from elementary to high school in this program, focus on academics in the morning and hands-on activities in the afternoon. All work is completed at school, so that the students are happy to attend without having the dread of incomplete homework. The school also has a huge focus on being sustainable for the environment. For example, the whiteboards are old windshields, they are currently constructing a hydro dam for electricity, and student projects are focused around growing plants and vegetables in different conditions, such as urban spaces.
Kieran and his dad on the bamboo bridge.
One of the classrooms.
The dam they are constructing to generate electricity.
A desk made out of bamboo.
The cost to tour this school is 12.00, which is steeper than many of the other tourist attraction costs; however, all of the proceeds go to sponsoring local Indonesian scholars so that they can attend this school, which is an idea I happily support.
The river that runs alongside the school.
A bamboo hut that a student is building for a project.
After leaving the Green School, we headed to the Tanah Lot Temple in time to see it at sunset. This temple has beautiful pictures on the internet, but does not photograph the same with the crowds of tourists.
The temple, with the tide out.
Nevertheless, we did receive a Hindu blessing and enjoy some nice photos on the stairs of the temple.
The next day began by visiting the temple in Uluwatu, which had some stunning landscape that reminded me of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
You could walk along a path the whole length of this.
The temple in the distance.
Monkeys hanging out near the temple.
At this temple, you had to wear a Sarong if you weren’t wearing long pants.
This temple provided a nice early morning walk, with some great views.
Kieran and his Dad, showing some leg.
Checking out the views.
Subhash, patiently waiting while I take a photo.
The rest of the day we went to beaches, but mostly Kuta beach. Here, we were able to take Subhash and Swee to some of our favourite restaurants and places.
On the beach, Kieran and his Dad began a game of chess. One of the expert Indonesian players came over to let Subhash know that he was losing, at which point Subhash asked him to take over. He did, making a comeback and winning the game.
The following day, Subhash and Swee were leaving on their cruise for 1pm. Subhash came over to our hotel in the morning and Kieran and him played a few games of chess and went swimming, before we went to say goodbye at the pier.
It was really great having people we know visit and we are sure if you ask Kieran’s Dad and Swee, they will assure you they had a wonderful time, just like we did:) As always, we welcome more visitors!
With only a few days left in Bali on our own, we decided to stay on the beach and continue surfing, rather than heading somewhere new. On one of the days though, we planned for something that we had laughed at when we arrived in Bali. TripAdvisor will tell you that one of the top things to do in Bali is go to the waterpark, which we initially thought was a ridiculous way to spend your time in Bali. However, after speaking to another couple who had gone and loved it, and wanting to break up our surf, beach routine, we decided to go. And we loved it! Really, really loved it! Waterbom is the #1 rated waterpark in Asia and #3 in the world. After going, we can totally see why. The slides are like nothing we have ever tried, from a boomerang slide that shoots you down one way and then straight up the opposite side. To slides where you stand on a platform, that gives out underneath, plunging you down a vertical tube, and racing slides that you can go against another person, on a crazy carpet, head first.
Us taking a picture of the staff who was taking souvenir pictures for the tourists. We had the same camera.
Kieran’s favourite, and the one I’m glad I tried after an hour of hesitation, was the Climax. This one drops the floor from beneath you and shoots you down, but then pushes you back up before winding down another chute.
Here is a video of Kieran at the start of this crazy slide.
We would definitely recommend a day at this waterpark to anyone visiting Bali!
Now, after 41 days in Bali, we have left and landed in Thailand, and just in time for the King’s birthday, which is a very big deal here. Sampai jumpa, Bali!
Kieran & Nichole Galavant the Globe 