Day 257- Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

Thursday, March 21, 2019.


Yesterday we slept in and we almost missed breakfast. The staff was nice enough and allow us to have breakfast even if we were 20 minutes late. I guess we were all tired from moving around. We had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant which was on the 8th floor. The weather is hot and humid but luckily we got some breeze from time to time.


The first day in a new country is a little bit disorienting and we really don’t know what to do. We decided that we should do errands first so we can enjoy the city later, although my efficient husband (and I say that as a compliment) had already taken Sunshine’s suitcase and his to get fixed. One had a broken strap and a broken zipper. We still need them for 3 more months!
We spent the morning organizing our suitcases and deciding which things we should send home. Only Gregory and I had the stuff to send back, the kids haven’t bought much, actually, Daniel has only bought food and is collecting coins from each country. I got a little carried away in India which was dirt cheap and had beautiful clothing!
We waited for Sunshine to finish her homework and left the hotel in the afternoon. We went directly to the main post office only to find out that we had to come back tomorrow because the international office works from 9:00am to 12:30. At least we got to weigh our package and find out that it would cost us around $100 to send 6kg to the US, probably the value of the package. Now we were not so sure about sending it. Because we were close to the port, we walked there to find out if there was a ferry to go to Bagan, a must-see destination according to Gregory’s research. We didn’t find anything.
We walked through a small market where we saw people selling all kinds of food. A lot of fried food, fruit, and vegetables as well as some unrefrigerated meat. We got a coconut for Sunshine. We also saw many men offering to take us in their rickshaws but there is only space for one person. By then it was 5:00pm and I was hungry and in need of finding a place with air conditioning. Gregory gets anxious when I’m hungry and starts rushing and saying: “let’s get you some food.” My poor family knows that I explode if I’m hungry. (Daniel's note: that's NOT hyperbole. She literally explodes!) He wanted to stop and buy street food and I told him that I wasn’t ready for that (? she said that) which he replied saying that's ridiculous since we had just been in India eating everywhere.
Luckily we found a cute place called Kafe in Town with air conditioning and delicious food! We had a great time and I made everyone see that it is nice to eat in clean restaurants once in a while. When Gregory looked at his watch, he said that he wasn’t going to make it to his Rotary meeting. I didn’t even know that he had checked already. We encouraged him to go so we rushed back to the hotel. He changed into his new Indian vest and dressy outfit and left. The kids and I went to pick up the suitcases. At first I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure if it was a safe city, but apparently, it is!

For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/meiY6KYr8YBGyZx66

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Tangiers

Image
Today we woke up at 9:00 am and went downstairs to our usual cafe to have our last breakfast there. The waiters already know us and what we like to drink. After breakfast, we went back to our place where our host, Rachid was waiting for us and said: why didn’t you wait for me, I would have paid for breakfast like yesterday”. He never made it very clear if breakfast was included or not, in any case, food is inexpensive in Morocco and we said that it was fine. We decided to move to another house where we can have a common area for the family plus a kitchen, not that I want to cook. Also, Rachid’s place was quite noisy and we were in need of a good night’s sleep. We thanked our host and took a taxi to our new place, which was not far away from where we were. Actually, it is very close to the Catholic cathedral. Our new place is a much bigger and more modern apartment. It is not as fancy and traditional as our previous one, but this will do for the extra two days that we are stayin...
Read more

What I Learned from This Trip

What have I learned from traveling for a year? The last homework assignment for my kids was an essay about what they learned about our trip around the world. I told them that Gregory and I had to do it as well. Here I am, in front of my laptop and not knowing what to start with. I know it will be me who has changed and not the people or the places around me. I know this by experience because I have been away before and I know that the biggest changes happen inside you, in the way you see things, your perspective changes and I believe that’s where the growing happens. Right now, we might not be able to see it because it is too soon, but once we go back to our routines and our daily old lives, we will see, feel and live the change. I’m happy to say that one of my biggest dreams was to travel around the world. I always wrote in my journal that I wanted to visit more countries or just travel more with my family, but I always wrote them as a wish, a dream and I never really worked to make ...
Read more

Day 309 - Lunch with Gregory’s friend Axel - River Bus - Golden Mount Temple

Sunday, May 12, 2019. After last night's adventure, we told the kids they could sleep in today. Around noon, Gregory and I went to meet Axel, an old German friend of Gregory's. We had a delicious lunch at Coffee Beans by Dao. We had a lovely time chatting until 3:00pm when the waiter told us that they wanted to close the restaurant. Axel drove us back to our hotel and we promised to get together next time with his wife and daughter, who is two years older than Sunshine. The kids had a wonderful time resting in the room and went out for lunch on their own. They are so aware of their expenses, they told us that a bottle of water cost 60 THB at the restaurant, and in the market, it cost 10! So Daniel went to the 7/Eleven and bought a bottle there. I guess they have learned to live on a budget since that’s what we have been doing. The kids wanted to stay in the room but we decided to take the boat ride to see some of the city. They still whined and complained but we made them do i...
Read more