We got the boat over to Dala again yesterday… with the chickens…
It was very wet the last time we went in the rainy season. Now the rice has been harvested and it is dry and dusty. Beautiful in a different way.
We cycled down this beautiful tree lined track for about 3 miles before being turned back… by the Navy, who seemingly have something going on at the end of the avenue of trees. Most mysterious.
Made a trip to Mawlamyine in Mon State in January.
There are many many old churches in the British style.
Sleepy river.
Sleepy town. Love this building in all its run down glory.
Sleepy dog in the morning sun.
Alongside many churches are many pagodas. Sunrise was beautiful… it would however not be true to imply I was awake for sunrise every day.
One pagoda in particular was very unusual. Made almost entirely from teak, and seemingly influenced by many styles… somewhat reminiscent of the Brighton Pavilion in places.
Offerings… flowers and water for the Buddha.
Cute children were not in short supply.
Taking photos of things in the village we don’t like… cigarettes apparently.
Palm trees and pagodas.
Sunset over the river.
Over Christmas we went to have a look inside St Mary’s Cathedral. It is a beautiful red brick Victorian building. The palm trees on the outside are probably the only real indication the photos are not taken in Europe!
Inside you are clearly in Asia. Can’t think that there are any churches in the UK where you need to collect a plastic fan along with your hymn book.
I suspect this is the old missionary/ church school, as it is right next to the cathedral and looks like it is from a similar era. Now it is a regular government school. Nearby is the Salvation Army church.
Just to prove we really are in Asia… a flock of Angry Bird helium balloons, and your standard Myanmar birds nest electricity pylon.
Last year Ant ran the Yangon 10km, this year he upgraded to the half marathon (21km). The race started in the dark at 5.30am. It was almost cold outside. Lots of Myanmar people were lining the streets to see what was going on and clap the runners through. Whilst waiting for Ant to run past I had an entertaining conversation about how how amazing the British colonisers were and how terrible Barak Obama and the Americans are and how the British need to return and repair the sewerage system they installed hundreds of years ago. As an aside it is surprising how many Myanmar people will proudly tell you the sewage system in Yangon is still the same as when the British built it in Victorian times. I am not actually sure this is a good thing… given population increases etc.
It was great to see the runners go by… there were a lot of Myanmar kids under 15 who skipped around barefoot without seeming to sweat… there was the odd Myanmar in a longyi (clearly a bad running outfit)… there were a lot of foreigners with all the gear… (the women in skimpy lycra definitely got some looks as Myanmar is still fairly conservative dress wise – you don’t see too many women wearing short shorts… although they weren’t as popular as the foreigners with blond babies in buggies who got HUGE cheers)… and there were a handful of elite runners who were possibly frustrated by the traffic which wasn’t always kept out of the running path…
Ant wore white (with black shin guards) so I could spot him from the crowds of runners in orange race t-shirts. He is in both of these photos, although it is a bit hard to spot him. They had an amazing run up the hill towards the Shwedagon.
Storming to the finish line… toot toot
At the end with his medal!
… have been fantabulous!
In some ways that cold snowy day seems a very long time ago and a very long way from tropically warm Myanmar… in other ways it seems as if it can’t possibly be 4 whole years. I suppose time is funny like that.
October continued
A fabulous holiday was had in Vietnam with the dear Mists. We started off with a market tour and cookery class. Nothing like the sight of pigs ears to wake you up on a Saturday morning.
… and the taste of fried silk worms. YUM. After preparing a Vietnamese feast we enjoyed eating it!
We caught the night train to Sapa. 1st class travel. White linen sheets and a frilly lamp.
A visit to amazing ethnic fabric markets where we bumped into CatLady from Yangon… and then onto the Vietnam-China boarder.
The main attraction in Sapa was a wet, muddy trek where we were followed closely at all times by a group of ethnic minority women desperate to sell us fabrics and tourist tat. It was quite entertaining and we ended up with various bits of interesting fabric… only after Ant had done a good bit of haggling!
That night we slept in a homestay in a small village. There was much drinking of Mandalay rum, local rice wine and taking of almost boiling hot herbal baths in barrels. We have not laughed so much and so long for a long time… the ginger twins managed to completely empty their hot baths in a lengthy water fight…
Back in Hanoi we went to visit Uncle Ho. Who, it turned out, was on his annual holiday to Russia for repair work. We had to make do with a statue instead.
Halong Bay was full of tourists, but beautiful all the same. Poor Ant was nearly savaged by a rare and lethal sand shark…
Cycling on grannie bikes through beautiful countryside…
Kayaking through the bay… all the better for loosing the hundreds of tour boats full of tourists…
Bit of banangrams of an evening… and sunrise from our cabin
November
Retro bowling in a surreal bowling venue and Thanksgiving at the American club
The lovely Ming Aye who gives me jasmine flowers every day when I cycle to work… and our neighbours art exhibition
The SEA Games comes to Myanmar.
December
Christmas in our apartment. John the cat got tuna and Father Christmas came to visit.
Ant with the bird of glory… stuffed with chestnut stuffing
Thanks to some very generous food related gifts from people in the UK we were able to have an amazing feast. The fact that CityMart decided to stock sprouts was an added bonus!
Happy New Year 2014… may it be as amazing as 2013!
