Myanmar is such an absolutely beautiful country, full of some of the sweetest people with the most amazing food and culture. The ship ported about an hour out of Yangon, so there were buses provided to get us there and back. Hanna and our friend Steven and I went and spent the first day exploring the streets and markets in the area. One of the first streets we walked down we were joking about how it was like the ‘Home Depot street’ being full of different tools, paints, and other supplies. As we kept walking, though, we realized that each block really was separated into specific merchandise like jewelry or books. I thought that was a super interesting way to do it.
We finished the day at the Schwedagon pagoda which is the largest pagoda in all of Southeast Asia and it was absolutely incredible. I had no idea what to truly expect, but it was not that. The area was like something out of a fairy tale, it looked like a little village of buildings that were so intricate and all so different it was hard to believe that it was a real place.The best comparison I can think of is almost like an obscenely large, real life version of a Santa land one might see at the mall. Obviously minus the snow and candy canes and Christianity aspect of the thing.
There was such a contrast between old and new, as well.There were monks on iPhones, construction, and flashing LED lights behind the Buddha figures which was the very last thing I had expected, if we are being honest. I didn’t expect to see so many modernized things mixed in with such old religious symbolism, but it makes sense. I had only ever seen pictures of more rural pagodas that were of an older stone fashion, so seeing the insane gold plating and craziness of Schwedagon made sense being right in the middle of Yangon.
On our second day, we planned to explore Yangon some more with Kelsey. We had absolutely no plan and I’ve found that often it is the best way to travel. We started off at this tea house that had the coolest vibe, it reminded me a little of Fox in the Snow or Monarch (Cbus and T-town people know what I’m talking about.) After that we decided to take the ferry to a little island that some girls we met at the tea house told us about. We had a tour of the local, less touristy, areas which was nice because after India I was extremely ready to get a more personalized perspective of the place. Kelsey,Hanna and I each had a seat on a side cart while these guys graciously biked us all over the area for hours. We saw smaller pagodas, and villages that reminded me immensely of Senase in Ghana. The people were so happy and welcomed us with open arms.
We explored a little more and ended up at the reclining Buddha statue, which was a lot less crowded and had this wall full of pictures portraying the story of Buddha which we all spent a long time reading about on the plaques below. The place we went for dinner the first night was so nice, we decided to go back so Kelsey could eat there, too and then we ended up at a crazy nice hotel for dessert.
On the bus ride back, I had the most amazing conversation about how incredible this entire journey has been. I don’t know if my being slightly drunk had any impact on the candidness of it, but it was really nice to just sit there and be able to appreciate all the immensely wonderful things I have gotten to do in the last couple months.
Kelsey and I left the next morning with our group to go on a three-day meditation retreat in the Mon state, around Mawlamyine. I loved the entire experience, though some things did still throw me off about it. After traveling a large part of the day to get there, we practiced sitting meditation in a stuffy room that was more resemblant of a poorly-funded community hall than what I had envisioned a Buddhist monastery to be. Especially after visiting other monasteries along the way where we had been able to offer food and gifts to the monks, it was not exactly what I had expected.
We did each get a longyi to wear while practicing, which made it feel much more authentic. Our hotel was beautiful and when we got there that evening, we all sat around and drank wine and talked for a long time. I love being on trips like this with lots of other SAS kids because I get closer to so many people. I genuinely figured by this time in the voyage, the people I know would be pretty set but that has not been true at all. I feel like I am always meeting someone knew and I could not be happier about it.
After an early standing meditation session and spending the rest of the next morning on Shampoo Island, a picturesque area housing a perfect mix of pagodas and stunning natural beauty, we took boats for nearly two hours to get to another area. We had no idea what was going on most of this trip; we had thought the boat ride was to be the same five-minute trip that had brought us to the island but instead we ended up across the country. The pagoda we arrived at after a short, mass tuk tuk ride was surreal. There were multiple temples and they were the most intricate, breathtaking places I could have imagined. We went to one last pagoda for sunset, and that one was even better than the last. Seeing the sun reflect off of all the ornamental structures that were spread across the land below us was an absolute dream. That was the pagoda landscape that I had been picturing since I learned Myanmar was a place that exists.
That evening we had dinner at the hotel on our own again and I ate the best noodles I’ve ever had. Another thing about this country that I’ma huge fan of is the food. I literally did not eat a single thing during my time in Myanmar that was not absolutely incredible. That’s not an exaggeration either, I’m writing this after Vietnam (because I’m super behind right now) and I think about that food at least once a day.
Our last day consisted of driving mostly, but not until after our walking meditation practice. Coincidentally, later, our bus was over the weight limit for two bridges we had to cross, so we technically got lots of extra practice with that one as we tried to not picture falling through the bridge as we trekked single-file across.
I am so extremely happy to have gone to Myanmar. This is tentatively Semester At Sea’s last voyage there for the foreseeable future, due to the current political turmoil. There is also an impending possibility that Americans in general will not be allowed there soon. To realize that I had the opportunity to experience that beautiful place filled with the most gracious people is something I will always be grateful for.
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