We're back and live from Ko Phi Phi
To start off, sorry it has been so long since we’ve had an official post. It was hard for us to find decent internet in Burma and since we’ve arrived back in Thailand we have been very busy, so now I am sitting in our hotel room while we’re resting to update you all about our experience in Burma.
Will left off right before we headed to Inle Lake. WOW what an amazing place. We arrived in Heho, which is about an hour drive and 30 minute boat ride to our hotel on Inle Lake. The drive was pretty amazing, through these mountains and cool little towns. We arrived in Inle and got on a long wooden motor boat, the water taxi, which is the only form of transportation on Inle besides a canoe. We got on right as the sun finished setting and were off to our hotel. The boat ride was wonderful and after 25 minutes we pulled up to a beautiful hotel. Thanks to Mr. Coleman for setting us up there. It really was amazing. We had a great dinner that night and set up a boat trip for the next day. I had a bit of a stomach bug in the middle of the night and woke up a little uneasy, but dealt with it since it was our only day there.
We got on the same kind of boat as our ride the night before and set out to the water market. Pulling in was a complete traffic jam of boats and tourists all excited to see the treasures that lay ahead. We walked around for awhile and decided that we were ready to move on. From there we went to a cigar store where we saw how the women make the local cigars. It was really interesting watching how they role them up together. From there it was on to a metal shop and then the famous silk weaving shop. What a process this was. It was very cool to see the different stages there are to make a simple scarf. I would never have guessed how much work actually goes into it. Then we headed to lunch, saw a few temples, and by then it was almost 5. We headed up to the huge deck and watched an amazing Burmese sunset. The next morning we were up early and headed to Bagan.
Bagan, Bagan, Bagan… one word sums this place up: Temples. There were more temples around this “city” then I’ve ever seen. My one issue with Bagan was a lot of the temples were very recently built. Wealthy families looking to gain some favor in their next life have begun to build new temples and stupas next to the ones built in the 8th to 12th century. You really could build one for each member of your entire family, so that kind of ruined the authenticity of it for me but it was still pretty amazing.
Our first day there we decided to rent bikes and explore the Old Bagan area. Will started talking to this Burmese local and the next thing I know we’ve acquired a guide who claimed he just wanted to show us around to work on his English, of course there’s always a catch. We explored some great temples with him and then it was time for us to buy one of his paintings, the catch. He was an artist that sold over priced paintings and his type of art was an Asian type that Will and I had absolutely no interest in so this made things a little akward when we told him we didn’t want anything. He pretty much sulked to a lunch spot and refused to have anything to eat. Will gave him a few bucks for showing us around and we headed back to our hotel. On our way we stopped at a few more temples and then we rested before sunset. We had heard that the sunsets in Bagan were incredible so we climbed to the top of this great temple and watched the sunset with only a few other people around. That is definitely a plus to Bagan, there are very few tourists compared to Angkor Wat. The next day we hired a horse cart to take us to some temples that were too far to ride a bike to. They were very nice and we also stopped in a small town and learned some of the local traditions. Will bought his Longyi, which is a man skirt, that everyone, men and women, wear in Burma, and I got to try some of the Burmese make-up, which is a tan/yellowish colored paste from a stone. That night I had my next breakdown. I was having major temple burnout and actually started crying at the thought of seeing any more temples. I was being dramatic and really just needed a change in scenery. I would be having this same problem if we were in Europe looking at churches. Thankfully we were going to Yangon the next day and then to Phuket 2 days after that so all I could do to get me through it was to think of the beach and scuba diving.
The next day we decided since our flight wasn’t until 6 we would go out to Mount Popa and see the incredible views of the area. It was very nice, the views were great, and there were so many monkeys running around it was crazy. These monkeys acted like stray dogs and cats and just sat around everywhere, something you would never see in the US or probably many places around the world. It was pretty funny watching these little guys run around and I can tell you a few times I was scared of an attack especially when one ran right at me.
Yangon, which is the capital of Burma, is the most developed city in the country. It’s another big city, nothing like Bangkok, Saigon, or Hong Kong, but big for Burma. We explored most of the day and got to see Shwe Dagon which is the biggest Buddha temple in Burma. Every Burmese person hopes to see it sometime in their lifetime and it was definitely a sight. It took us a good 1 ½ to get around the place before heading home to get packed up for our early flight the next morning.
We woke up early and flew to Bangkok and then sat in the airport for 4 ½ hours before boarding our plane to Phuket. I was so anxious at the airport that I couldn’t even sit still. I was so ready to be at the beach and I was actually starting to get excited about going scuba diving. We arrived in Phuket and took one of the scariest cab rides in my life to our hotel. You really would never know that this place had been hit by the Tsunami. It was full of tourists, bars, restaurants, and dive shops. We immediately headed out to find a dive trip for the next day and once that was settled we had some dinner and by then it was almost 11 and we had to be up at 7 for our dive.
We decided to go on a dive trip to the Island Racha Yai. It’s about an hour and ½ boat ride to the island. We were picked up by the dive company and taken to their boat. The pier was another experience where I thought to myself, you really cant tell this place was hit by that Tsunami. It was full of boats, and people, and everyone trying to hurry and get out before the crowd. We boarded our boat along with 25 other people and headed out for our dive. We were given our briefing and then introduced to our dive master. Will and I, and this other women who hadn’t dove in years, were assigned to this Asian dive master Mack. We headed down to set up our equipment and then he explained the dive to us. His briefing was pretty hard to understand but I did everything I could to try and understand him. Next thing I knew we were suiting up and getting in the water. We all jumped in and Will and I started ascending and then we realized that our dive master and that women weren’t coming down. After waiting for a few minutes we surfaced and realized that the women had panicked and decided not to dive. This was great for us because we had a dive master to ourselves. The dive was absolutely amazing. I can’t even explain in words how beautiful this water is. Our visibility was between 20-22 meters which is a little more than 60 feet. There was beautiful coral, fish every where, and we even saw a few moray eels, one which was huge. That dive lasted about 45 minutes and then we had lunch and were back in the water again. After that first dive I was completely hooked. I know have the scuba bug. I love it. Our second dive was with 2 other people and it was just as great. It lasted for around 52 minutes and then it was time to head back to the dock. They weren’t lying about this being amazing diving. It was just incredible. Will said it was the best diving he’d ever done and he’s been diving in Hawaii and the Bahamas. That night we also watched an incredible sunset before heading out to town. The next day we just hung around at the pool and beach.
The next day we up early on a boat headed to Ko Phi Phi. It’s tow island about 1 ½ from Phuket. Phi Phi Don is the island with the hotels and it is one of the islands that was very damaged by the Tsunami. Phi Phi Ley is the smaller island and no one is allowed to spend the night there. It is actually the island where the movie the beach was filmed and it’s very beautiful. We got into Ko Phi Phi around 11 and decided to try and find a dive trip for the next day. We ended up being able to find a dive shop that would take us on an afternoon dive trip which we were very excited about because it’s the only dive shop that offers this so there would be no other divers out diving, as well as, all of the day trippers would be headed back to Phuket so there wouldn’t be any crowds. I was kind of worried about diving since one of my ears had been clogged since I woke up but I wanted to dive so much so I just sucked it up and decided that I wouldn’t dive only if I was in pain. Another couple ended up going so there were 4 of us and a dive master on a boat headed out to the islands Bida Nai and Bida Nok. Our dive master had been diving that morning and told us the visibility had been 20 meters so we were really excited. We jumped in and began to ascend and my ear was fine which I was so happy about. Well something had happened in the past few hours because the visibility was around only 5-6 meters and there was a very strong current. We were down for about 55 minutes and weren’t really impressed. We did see some really cool fish but it was nothing like our experience in Phuket. Our next dive ended up being much better and we even saw a turtle which was amazing since we hadn’t seen one yet. It pretty much made the dive experience for me and I’m very excited about our next dive destination.
We hung out at the beautiful beach today and I really do like this island so much better than Phuket. It gets pretty crowded here during the day with day trippers but by 2 they all head out and its nice and calm again. The best part, no cars or motos. The island is so small that you can walk everywhere or take a boat taxi to the other beaches. I love it. Sadly we leave here tomorrow and head to Malaysia. We have a long travel day and arrive in Khota Baru late tomorrow night. Then Saturday morning we are up early again and headed out to Palau Perenthian Island where we will get to scuba again. For now we are thinking about blowing off the island of Java, where we were planning on seeing more temples, and heading to Bali early to do some diving. Well see…. We promise to update the blog more and again our very sorry that we’ve been slacking. We’ve just been having too much fun. Hope all of you headed on spring break next week have a great time and our safe.
Will left off right before we headed to Inle Lake. WOW what an amazing place. We arrived in Heho, which is about an hour drive and 30 minute boat ride to our hotel on Inle Lake. The drive was pretty amazing, through these mountains and cool little towns. We arrived in Inle and got on a long wooden motor boat, the water taxi, which is the only form of transportation on Inle besides a canoe. We got on right as the sun finished setting and were off to our hotel. The boat ride was wonderful and after 25 minutes we pulled up to a beautiful hotel. Thanks to Mr. Coleman for setting us up there. It really was amazing. We had a great dinner that night and set up a boat trip for the next day. I had a bit of a stomach bug in the middle of the night and woke up a little uneasy, but dealt with it since it was our only day there.
We got on the same kind of boat as our ride the night before and set out to the water market. Pulling in was a complete traffic jam of boats and tourists all excited to see the treasures that lay ahead. We walked around for awhile and decided that we were ready to move on. From there we went to a cigar store where we saw how the women make the local cigars. It was really interesting watching how they role them up together. From there it was on to a metal shop and then the famous silk weaving shop. What a process this was. It was very cool to see the different stages there are to make a simple scarf. I would never have guessed how much work actually goes into it. Then we headed to lunch, saw a few temples, and by then it was almost 5. We headed up to the huge deck and watched an amazing Burmese sunset. The next morning we were up early and headed to Bagan.
Bagan, Bagan, Bagan… one word sums this place up: Temples. There were more temples around this “city” then I’ve ever seen. My one issue with Bagan was a lot of the temples were very recently built. Wealthy families looking to gain some favor in their next life have begun to build new temples and stupas next to the ones built in the 8th to 12th century. You really could build one for each member of your entire family, so that kind of ruined the authenticity of it for me but it was still pretty amazing.
Our first day there we decided to rent bikes and explore the Old Bagan area. Will started talking to this Burmese local and the next thing I know we’ve acquired a guide who claimed he just wanted to show us around to work on his English, of course there’s always a catch. We explored some great temples with him and then it was time for us to buy one of his paintings, the catch. He was an artist that sold over priced paintings and his type of art was an Asian type that Will and I had absolutely no interest in so this made things a little akward when we told him we didn’t want anything. He pretty much sulked to a lunch spot and refused to have anything to eat. Will gave him a few bucks for showing us around and we headed back to our hotel. On our way we stopped at a few more temples and then we rested before sunset. We had heard that the sunsets in Bagan were incredible so we climbed to the top of this great temple and watched the sunset with only a few other people around. That is definitely a plus to Bagan, there are very few tourists compared to Angkor Wat. The next day we hired a horse cart to take us to some temples that were too far to ride a bike to. They were very nice and we also stopped in a small town and learned some of the local traditions. Will bought his Longyi, which is a man skirt, that everyone, men and women, wear in Burma, and I got to try some of the Burmese make-up, which is a tan/yellowish colored paste from a stone. That night I had my next breakdown. I was having major temple burnout and actually started crying at the thought of seeing any more temples. I was being dramatic and really just needed a change in scenery. I would be having this same problem if we were in Europe looking at churches. Thankfully we were going to Yangon the next day and then to Phuket 2 days after that so all I could do to get me through it was to think of the beach and scuba diving.
The next day we decided since our flight wasn’t until 6 we would go out to Mount Popa and see the incredible views of the area. It was very nice, the views were great, and there were so many monkeys running around it was crazy. These monkeys acted like stray dogs and cats and just sat around everywhere, something you would never see in the US or probably many places around the world. It was pretty funny watching these little guys run around and I can tell you a few times I was scared of an attack especially when one ran right at me.
Yangon, which is the capital of Burma, is the most developed city in the country. It’s another big city, nothing like Bangkok, Saigon, or Hong Kong, but big for Burma. We explored most of the day and got to see Shwe Dagon which is the biggest Buddha temple in Burma. Every Burmese person hopes to see it sometime in their lifetime and it was definitely a sight. It took us a good 1 ½ to get around the place before heading home to get packed up for our early flight the next morning.
We woke up early and flew to Bangkok and then sat in the airport for 4 ½ hours before boarding our plane to Phuket. I was so anxious at the airport that I couldn’t even sit still. I was so ready to be at the beach and I was actually starting to get excited about going scuba diving. We arrived in Phuket and took one of the scariest cab rides in my life to our hotel. You really would never know that this place had been hit by the Tsunami. It was full of tourists, bars, restaurants, and dive shops. We immediately headed out to find a dive trip for the next day and once that was settled we had some dinner and by then it was almost 11 and we had to be up at 7 for our dive.
We decided to go on a dive trip to the Island Racha Yai. It’s about an hour and ½ boat ride to the island. We were picked up by the dive company and taken to their boat. The pier was another experience where I thought to myself, you really cant tell this place was hit by that Tsunami. It was full of boats, and people, and everyone trying to hurry and get out before the crowd. We boarded our boat along with 25 other people and headed out for our dive. We were given our briefing and then introduced to our dive master. Will and I, and this other women who hadn’t dove in years, were assigned to this Asian dive master Mack. We headed down to set up our equipment and then he explained the dive to us. His briefing was pretty hard to understand but I did everything I could to try and understand him. Next thing I knew we were suiting up and getting in the water. We all jumped in and Will and I started ascending and then we realized that our dive master and that women weren’t coming down. After waiting for a few minutes we surfaced and realized that the women had panicked and decided not to dive. This was great for us because we had a dive master to ourselves. The dive was absolutely amazing. I can’t even explain in words how beautiful this water is. Our visibility was between 20-22 meters which is a little more than 60 feet. There was beautiful coral, fish every where, and we even saw a few moray eels, one which was huge. That dive lasted about 45 minutes and then we had lunch and were back in the water again. After that first dive I was completely hooked. I know have the scuba bug. I love it. Our second dive was with 2 other people and it was just as great. It lasted for around 52 minutes and then it was time to head back to the dock. They weren’t lying about this being amazing diving. It was just incredible. Will said it was the best diving he’d ever done and he’s been diving in Hawaii and the Bahamas. That night we also watched an incredible sunset before heading out to town. The next day we just hung around at the pool and beach.
The next day we up early on a boat headed to Ko Phi Phi. It’s tow island about 1 ½ from Phuket. Phi Phi Don is the island with the hotels and it is one of the islands that was very damaged by the Tsunami. Phi Phi Ley is the smaller island and no one is allowed to spend the night there. It is actually the island where the movie the beach was filmed and it’s very beautiful. We got into Ko Phi Phi around 11 and decided to try and find a dive trip for the next day. We ended up being able to find a dive shop that would take us on an afternoon dive trip which we were very excited about because it’s the only dive shop that offers this so there would be no other divers out diving, as well as, all of the day trippers would be headed back to Phuket so there wouldn’t be any crowds. I was kind of worried about diving since one of my ears had been clogged since I woke up but I wanted to dive so much so I just sucked it up and decided that I wouldn’t dive only if I was in pain. Another couple ended up going so there were 4 of us and a dive master on a boat headed out to the islands Bida Nai and Bida Nok. Our dive master had been diving that morning and told us the visibility had been 20 meters so we were really excited. We jumped in and began to ascend and my ear was fine which I was so happy about. Well something had happened in the past few hours because the visibility was around only 5-6 meters and there was a very strong current. We were down for about 55 minutes and weren’t really impressed. We did see some really cool fish but it was nothing like our experience in Phuket. Our next dive ended up being much better and we even saw a turtle which was amazing since we hadn’t seen one yet. It pretty much made the dive experience for me and I’m very excited about our next dive destination.
We hung out at the beautiful beach today and I really do like this island so much better than Phuket. It gets pretty crowded here during the day with day trippers but by 2 they all head out and its nice and calm again. The best part, no cars or motos. The island is so small that you can walk everywhere or take a boat taxi to the other beaches. I love it. Sadly we leave here tomorrow and head to Malaysia. We have a long travel day and arrive in Khota Baru late tomorrow night. Then Saturday morning we are up early again and headed out to Palau Perenthian Island where we will get to scuba again. For now we are thinking about blowing off the island of Java, where we were planning on seeing more temples, and heading to Bali early to do some diving. Well see…. We promise to update the blog more and again our very sorry that we’ve been slacking. We’ve just been having too much fun. Hope all of you headed on spring break next week have a great time and our safe.
5 comments:
"It lasted for around 52 minutes..." I weigh around 137.5 pounds.
WOW!! Great pix. We were worried about you because of the earthquake & possible tsunami. Your mom was worried about your flight on an accident-prone airline, but I assured her the airline had flown a lot more flights that DIDN'T crash, so the odds are in your favor.
Will, your starting to look like stix, gain some weight. You're too ugly to look like me.
Kendall,
Remember this: whenever you're day tripping and the temples start to freak you out and make you cry, just say Phuket and get back into good space.
Also, thanks for the birthday call the other day. Sorry I missed it, but I just couldn't get up early on my birthday.
Amazing pics - just beautiful. You both look great and having experiences that will last a lifetime.
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