Yes I will have a Myanmar Beer! Light, low in alcohol and delicious!

Roy is so good about asking questions. This morning we met James from The Real Myanmar travel agency. Roy asked about his given name and he explained that no, it wasn’t James.  James said that in Burma, typically people do not have a family name they carry from the parent or even a first name that comes from the family. Each person is given a unique name based on the day and time that they were born based on a unique combination that references the time of his birth.

This reference to the universe seems to me to reference the ways that the universe play us like a musical instrument!

In the guide books they tell you that if you wear glasses, it is a good idea to bring a second pair. So the first thing that Roy did is break his glasses but without the recommended spare pair! So, no problem, fixable, all for 8,000 chet! About 8 dollars!

I read that plugs in Burma were a three prong plug, like in China, but I have found instead, many two prong plugs like in America. However my Apple computer plug is a three prong plug so we the better part of a day in search of a two dollar item that I forgot to bring from America, so I can use my computer!

I typically bring a favorite item of clothing to Asia to have it copied in a local fabric. This trip I only brought pants that needed to be hemmed as hemming in the US is ten times more expensive and the adventure of finding a taylor always brings me to a new place.

Blogging while traveling seems a great idea but the fact is it is hard to both BE somewhere and WRITE ABOUT being somewhere! So ultimately I am home trying to recreate what happened on the trip rather than spending my time there writing about being there. The experience of trying gives me much appreciation for the other blogs that I read as it feels risky and daring to open up my thoughts to the public in this way.

Looking back to recall now is important and helpful for me… but it is best to journal daily! All too often for me – while living in the moment – at the end of a full day of travel I would lay in shell shock and look into a sea of emptiness saying to myself “What did we do today?” ha! So I cut myself some slack and I am writing after the fact. Reflecting on the picture of our driver Aye Myintthein, who greeted us at the airport and kept us alive all 3,500 + Kilometers, I see each aspect of the trip as a good sign!