Myanmar Riffs -- Volume 2

Known as The Golden Land, Myanmar could also be called “TLoTSADBIISH&H” – or, if it is easier to pronounce, “The Land of Two Showers A Day Because It Is So Hot & Humid.”

I have not gone barefoot as much as I have in Myanmar during daylight hours since I was a kid.  Being barefoot is required in the pagodas and in monastery buildings.  Even with my bad foot/ankle (that’s the right one – the bad knee is on the left leg, so at least I’m two for two!)  But, even walking around the outside parts of the temple barefoot is quite comfortable.  I might start going barefoot in client meetings (Ha! Just kidding!)

Thankfully, we are always handed wet wipes to clean our feet afterwards.  If the key word in the Graduate was “plastics,” the hot money maker of the future in Myanmar has to be “wet wipes.”

These riffs are supposed to be random observations on the country, but I am surprised how poorly I’m sleeping.  This, the third night here in Myanmar and fourth night in Southeast Asia (one night in Bangkok – hey, that could be a lyric for a catchy pop song), I woke up at 3:19, tossed and turned, and finally gave up and got up to start blogging around 4:15.  I had high hopes last night that I would sleep till at least 5am or so.

At one point on our first day, we drove through a street food market, and that was neat to see.  Think of it as a very risky (for Western stomachs) food truckapalooza.  There are also street food stands throughout the city, so they are not just gathered in one place.

Shortly before coming here, we met a Vietnamese woman in Alexandria who is married to a man from Myanmar.  While she couldn’t really fathom why we would want to travel to Myanmar, she did tell both of us in separate conversations that the street food is really good and to skip eating in restaurants.  Our guides have given us the exact 180 degree opposite perspective in strongly worded advice.  We have followed their advice.  So far, not sick.

I had no idea there were so many pagodas in Myanmar.  Every small town has more than one, and the hillsides off the River Irrawaddy are dotted with pagodas.  There’s literally gold in them thair hills!

The number of stray dogs in Myanmar is incredible.  They look like they get plenty of food, and they are quite cute (well, some aren’t), but they have no owners – it’s like they belong to the village, town, or city that they are in.  They do not bother people, but we were also warned not to try to pet them, get too close (although they pretty much just move away), and to let sleeping dogs lie (hey, that’s kind of catchy!).  It’s a dog’s life.