"You try? It's very good," says Manha, pointing to various dishes on the tiny table in front of me.
I'm sitting on the floor of a Buddhist monastery in the countryside near the city of Bagan in central Myanmar. A frail-looking woman smiles at me, eager to see my reaction to her cooking. I, however, am not so eager.
Being a picky eater is a pain at the best of times, but in a foreign country it can be a nightmare.
Before me sits a mushed up pile of leaves in one bowl, some fatty meat swimming in oil in another, and a hodge-podge of unknown items cooked in batter. My appetite disintegrates when a man holding a pair of chicken feet walks into the room and stands beside me.
"No thanks. I'm a picky eater," I say, opting for some plain rice. I excuse myself from the awkward situation to look around the quiet Da Ma Ret Khita monastery -- a place not typically on the Bagan tourist trail, much like the rest of the country. But now that Myanmar has reopened its doors to tourism, foreigners are lining up to experience a place that has endured half a century of isolation.
It's easy to see why.
Known as the "Golden Land," shimmering gold-painted hilltop pagodas dot the landscape.
It's like stepping back in time. There is no reliable 24-hour electricity supply or electronic banking. It's not uncommon to pass oxen pulling a cart stuffed full of cabbages down a narrow country road. The drivers -- clad in traditional longyi's -- perch on top like crows.
I knew it was going to be an interesting day when I was picked up by Manha's horse-and-buggy to explore the richest archaeological site in southeast Asia. In the 11th and 13th centuries, the ancient city of Bagan was home to more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries. Today, a whopping 3,500 still stand across a 673-sq.-km. area on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River.
The reddish-brown temples of various shapes and sizes look like paintings in the lush green landscape. Their colours blossom as the sun sets behind the hills, bathing the land in soft pastels. It's a magical place, frozen in time.
For this visit, I signed up for the two-week G Adventures Classic
Burma Adventure, which takes travellers from the former capital of
Yangon to Golden Rock, Mandalay, Bagan, Kalaw and Inle Lake, stopping at
elaborate temples and pagodas -- the main attractions in one of the
world's most Buddhist countries. But it is the kindness of locals and their eagerness to interact with
visitors that makes a trip to Myanmar so special. After so many years
of isolation, they're excited to see foreign faces, and know the rest of
the world still cares.
"Photo?" asks a woman at Golden Rock -- a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site. She gestures to her two young children.
Having blonde hair and blue eyes, I stick out like an obese man wearing a thong. I agree to pose. It doesn't take long before I'm swarmed by others, wanting the same thing.
Now I know what it's like to be famous.
- published by Sun Media January 2014
I'm sitting on the floor of a Buddhist monastery in the countryside near the city of Bagan in central Myanmar. A frail-looking woman smiles at me, eager to see my reaction to her cooking. I, however, am not so eager.
Being a picky eater is a pain at the best of times, but in a foreign country it can be a nightmare.
Before me sits a mushed up pile of leaves in one bowl, some fatty meat swimming in oil in another, and a hodge-podge of unknown items cooked in batter. My appetite disintegrates when a man holding a pair of chicken feet walks into the room and stands beside me.
"No thanks. I'm a picky eater," I say, opting for some plain rice. I excuse myself from the awkward situation to look around the quiet Da Ma Ret Khita monastery -- a place not typically on the Bagan tourist trail, much like the rest of the country. But now that Myanmar has reopened its doors to tourism, foreigners are lining up to experience a place that has endured half a century of isolation.
It's easy to see why.
Known as the "Golden Land," shimmering gold-painted hilltop pagodas dot the landscape.It's like stepping back in time. There is no reliable 24-hour electricity supply or electronic banking. It's not uncommon to pass oxen pulling a cart stuffed full of cabbages down a narrow country road. The drivers -- clad in traditional longyi's -- perch on top like crows.
I knew it was going to be an interesting day when I was picked up by Manha's horse-and-buggy to explore the richest archaeological site in southeast Asia. In the 11th and 13th centuries, the ancient city of Bagan was home to more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries. Today, a whopping 3,500 still stand across a 673-sq.-km. area on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River.
The reddish-brown temples of various shapes and sizes look like paintings in the lush green landscape. Their colours blossom as the sun sets behind the hills, bathing the land in soft pastels. It's a magical place, frozen in time.
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| Some of the temples in the ancient city of Bagan |
"Photo?" asks a woman at Golden Rock -- a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site. She gestures to her two young children.
Having blonde hair and blue eyes, I stick out like an obese man wearing a thong. I agree to pose. It doesn't take long before I'm swarmed by others, wanting the same thing.
Now I know what it's like to be famous.
- published by Sun Media January 2014