Tag Archives: asia

The Plain of Bagan

by jose

More than four thousand Buddhist temples (you read it right. Four thousand) were built in the plain of Bagan between the 11th and the 13th century — and Myanmar stays, still today, known as one of the most devout Buddhist countries in the world. This incredible landscape, offered by innumerable pagodas piercing the green forests to reach the sky, is fully as breathtaking as the massive temples of Angkor were, back in Cambodia — despite their differences. Here, to the sheer size, complexity and grandeur of single monuments, the kings preferred the numbers, diversity, and immensity of the panorama.

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Countryside

by jose

“Left or right?”

I had no memory of that roundabout. The way to the bridge we had taken to cross the Ayeyarwady river was ahead, but I could not recall which direction we had come from. I had been too busy striving to follow the villager — who had showed us the way to Sagaing Hill on his own motorbike — to memorize reference points.

“No idea!” came the reply behind me.

“Whatever. Let’s eat at that restaurant over there,” I suggested while pointing at a building, which was actually no more than a roof above packed tables and low stools set on the bare ground. It was filled with locals. That was a very good sign.

“Yeah, looks amazing”

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First impressions of Myanmar: Mandalay

by ladina

What to expect from a country which was, not so long ago, as closed and secluded as North Korea? We had had gorgeous tales of fellow backpackers, jaw-dropping pictures of remote landscapes, news about the harsh rule of the government; but nothing had prepared us for the simple, kind-hearted generosity and friendliness of the Burmese people. These undeniably fervent and devout Buddhists are everything a traveller could dream of. Welcoming and readily helpful, asking to take pictures with you (“As a token of rememberance!”) and smiling for yours, as interested in you as you in them, showering you with free tea, soups, salads, cakes, and never trying to cheat you, they are more than our pictures could hope to convey: they are, simply, an inspiration for the way we lead our lives.

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Koh Phangan, Thailand

by ladina

“Do you have fresh coconut?” I ask the waiter from the restaurant in Haad Yao, the beach where we just arrived.

“Yes,” he answers and points upwards to the coconut tree above our heads. He counts “One, two, three, four, five, six…” fresh coconuts and laughs. Then he fetches a long stick and starts hitting the coconuts; Salome and Fernando have to get up lest they be struck by the falling green hard ball. A few minutes later, the waiter serves us the delicious coconut water and as we suck happily on our straws, feeling the sun on our skin, watching over the white sand with the deep blue ocean beyond and hearing the waves, all four of us agree: we just arrived in paradise.

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Koh Tao, Thailand

by jose

We met up with Salome and Fernando, two old friends of Ladina’s, in Bangkok, the capital of the kingdom of Thailand. And after an evening of plotting and scheming, we all decided to head straight to the heavenly tropical islands of the South. So we made a run to the train station, dodged the touts trying to enlist us in an travel agency package, bought tickets in a sleeper train to Chumphon, came back under heavy rain in the evening, discovered inside the carriage that our tickets had been issued for two days hence, ran to the controllers, argued at the counter, changed our tickets for seats in a later train, sat down in the station hall to play Yatzy, and finally, boarded our train bound south.

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The Temples of Angkor, Cambodia

by ladina

Angkor Wat is probably the most famous ancient monument of Southeast Asia and, therefore, was one of the top things on our “to-do-list” for this round-the-world trip. Once arrived in Siem Reap, the modern city standing next to the ruins, I realised that there is much more to see than the famous main temple: the whole area of the historical city (built by the Khmer empire between the 8th and the 13th century AD), with its moats and uncountable temples, is worth several days of intense visiting. While exploring the ruins, I learned a lot about Southeast Asia’s past (a topic never mentioned in our Eurocentric education), as well as Hindu and Buddhist faith and mythology. The first day, we decided to have a look around the minor temples by bicycle.

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Dim sum (點心) and more

by ladina

Jose suggested in an earlier post that he should work on his persuasion skills. I can confirm that he improved, or let’s say that he changed his strategy.

“It’s an egg. Really, it’s just an egg!” he says as I suspiciously eye a black, greasy something in my sticky rice soup (or congee, 粥) that I ordered for breakfast. If he says so… I put the thing in my mouth and chew — and almost instantly want to spit it out again: not only its texture but also its taste is beyond anything I could possibly eat at this time of the day. I force myself to swallow it against my better will, after all I do not want to be impolite and show bad manners in a restaurant.

Jose does not feel bad at all: “If I would have told you that most of the Europeans do not like this egg, you never would have tasted it!” Very nice, thank you… That is really thoughtful. Considerate. I think I could have lived without the experience of tasting century eggs (or preserved duck eggs, 皮蛋).

Hm, yeah. I am not yet convinced by his “progress”.

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