I’ve been home for about six weeks now, and it feels like Asia is just a blip in my distant past. Honestly, I’m really glad to be back. It’s been nice to have access to things that I missed; to sleep in a quiet, dark, air-conditioned room in a comfortable bed; to hang out with [...]
Foodventures: The Pai Fruit Shake Smackdown
15 April, 2013 By Leave a Comment
When I arrived in Pai, all I wanted was Western food. A month of noodles and rice and curry and oil in Myanmar left me craving a giant vegetable baguette and yogurt/muesli and the ubiquitous fruit shake. Good news: there are a billion restaurants in Pai. More good news: there’s delicious (and healthy) Western food [...]
Note to Self: Homeward Bound
2 April, 2013 By 1 Comment
Dear Emily: Well, this is it. January 1 and the start of your journey seem so long ago, but suddenly you’re on a flight back across the Pacific wondering where the hell the last three months went. Going home is bittersweet. You’re excited to see family and friends, to ride your bike, to cook and eat healthy and familiar foods, to sleep in [...]
The First Rule of Fight Club
1 April, 2013 By 2 Comments
JUST KIDDING. My project for the 48-hour minibus/bus/two plane marathon journey back to the USA is to sort through hours of GoPro footage, and then I promise I will write in great detail about what I’ve been up to for the past two weeks. In case you’ve been living under a rock, it looks a [...]
The BurMyanmar Top 10
31 March, 2013 By 2 Comments
Days 56-60: Trekking in Shan State
25 March, 2013 By 5 Comments
I’ve been meaning to write about my time in Hsipaw, where I unexpectedly spent six of my valuable 27 days in Myanmar. I didn’t know anything about the place until about a day before I hopped aboard a bus in Inle Lake, but once I arrived I found it very hard to leave. Two of [...]
Foodventures: The Best of Myanmar
22 March, 2013 By 2 Comments
I didn’t know what to expect from Burmese food. Each country I’ve visited has had distinct dishes and flavors even though everything is based on noodles and rice, but Myanmar is where I’ve had some of my most memorable eating experiences. I dined at a lot of street stalls and tea shops, and I very rarely had [...]
Day 69: Saving the Best for Last
18 March, 2013 By 2 Comments
To be perfectly honest, as much as I love Myanmar, by the start of my fourth week, it was wearing on me. I only expected to be here for three, and when I realized that the cash I carried in would last long enough for me to stay out my visa, I was gung-ho committed [...]
Days 66-67: I Had Big Plans for Bagan
17 March, 2013 By 2 Comments
Bagan is the Angkor Wat of Myanmar: centuries-old abandoned temples covering many square miles, stunning sunsets, and lots of history. Unlike Angkor, the individual beehive temples (which you can enter) and stupas (which you cannot) are not impressive in and of themselves. Rather, it is the sheer number and scale of the city as a [...]
Days 62-63: Fresh Air in the City of Flowers
15 March, 2013 By 1 Comment
After six days in Hsipaw and surrounds, I decided it might be time to move on to Pyin Oo Lwin, a former (very) British hill station between Mandalay and the high mountains of Shan State. I was not particularly charmed by it when I first arrived — it was evening, things were shutting down, there [...]
