Floyd and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Myanmar and Vietnam over Christmas break! Scroll to the bottom for links to blog posts about other parts of the trip.
Here are some of our memories from the all-day boat ride we took between the cities of Bagan and Mandalay.
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| It was FREEZING cold and still dark when we first boarded the boat. It was fun watching the sun rise over the Irrawaddy (also called Ayeyarwady) River. |
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| I played around with different settings on my camera. This one made the colors look more like sunset, but trust me, the sun was just rising! |
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| Another dawn shot from the river. |
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| A random village we passed along the way. We saw quite a few of these – it was a long trip! |
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| Approaching Mandalay. I guess the river bank is the local spot to hang laundry. |
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| Apparently it’s also the spot to wash clothes and bathe! |
Want to see more memories from our trip? Click on the links below!
Floyd and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Myanmar and Vietnam over Christmas break! Scroll to the bottom for links to blog posts about other parts of the trip.
Here are some of our memories from the cooking lesson we signed up for, where we learned to make traditional Burmese food on Christmas Day! (Find out more about it on Trip Advisor here.)
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| This lady, May, was our host. The lesson was held at her house, mostly on her back porch and in her yard. She had a wonderful little garden where we picked fresh herbs and vegetables to add to the food! |
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| She set out a few basic ingredients and supplies, and we started by peeling and chopping what she told us to. |
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| At one point I got to crush raw garlic and ginger in a mortar with a pestle. Later, I crushed peanuts in the same mortar (it didn’t get washed out in between). The result was quite a zesty-flavored peanut paste! We used it (along with the garlic/ginger mixture) in a number of different dishes. |
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| She had a row of charcoal burners set out on her porch. At her instruction, Floyd and I and one other student cooked a number of separate dishes in them. The main courses included prawns, chicken curry, fish cakes, and pork, but there were quite a few cold salads (none involving lettuce) as well. |
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| We put a giant green eggplant in the coals to cook. |
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| Here’s what it looked like after a while. |
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| The finished version. The inside was all gooey and ready to be scooped out to be added to a salad. |
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| Stirring the chicken curry. Most of the broth disappeared as it simmered. |
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| This is May with the library she started in her garage, available for kids and adults in the neighborhood to use 24/7. 20% of the proceeds from her cooking classes go toward the library. |
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| These were the tasty salads we made! |
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| Our fish cakes and prawns. So yummy! |
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| May made us this tasty thick soup. I’m not sure what was in it. |
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| Dessert (a store-bought surprise from May) was made from coconut, sticky rice, and jaggery (palm sugar). Delicious! |
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| Here we are with all the different foods! Or at least what was left of them by the end of the meal. |
Want to see more memories from our trip? Click on the links below!
Floyd and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Myanmar and Vietnam over Christmas break! Scroll to the bottom for links to blog posts about other parts of the trip.
Here are some of our memories from the city of Bagan, which is famous for the hundreds upon hundreds of temples scattered across the landscape just outside (and even inside) of town.
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| Floyd and I rented little electric scooters and spent most of two days driving around on a self-guided tour. |
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| Locals make their living all through the area. |
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| Some of the temples had ancient writing and artwork inside. |
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| We met a friendly local artist named Koko, who showed us around and volunteered to take some pictures for us. |
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| We bought this painting from Koko (the scene shows his conception of paradise). After he spent hours of his day showing us around for free, we kind of felt like we had to buy something from him as thanks. Unfortunately, it turned out to be REALLY expensive! ($75 U.S. was his starting price, and we did bargain it down a little, but not much. Unfortunately, by the time we heard the price, it was a little too late to back down.) |
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| Some of the temples had external stairways that we could climb up. They were all extremely steep, and we had to take of four shoes and socks every time. |
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| Even monks like to explore ancient monuments (and take pictures with their smart phones)! These two spoke good English and agreed very courteously to take Floyd’s and my picture, when we asked them to. One of them took a picture of us at the same time, so I didn’t feel bad asking to take one of them. |
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| Whoops. We didn’t see this sign until AFTER we had climbed up to the temple (along with dozens of other tourists). Honest! |
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| Lots of tourist hired these little horse carts for the day, along with a guide to show them around. |
A secret interior stairway up to the top of one of the temples! Koko, our volunteer guide who grew up in the area, showed it to us. It felt like something Indiana Jones would experience!
Want to see more memories from our trip? Click on the links below!
