New Year Predictions for 2010

It is fun to make some predictions for the New Year this side of it and see how many come true. I welcome anyone's additional predictions. Here are some of mine.

• Google's phone with its' many apps will give Apple's I-Phone a run for their share of the market this year. Both are still good stocks to buy but wait for the market downturn.
• The Market should experience a pull back end of March or in April when the Obama stimulus funds run out. We are still not out of this economic soup.
• Invest in SE Asia, China and India. The Matthews funds are a great place to find good diversification and great research and track records in their funds in these countries.
• Brad and Angelina will not have any more kids this year although there is no telling about OctoMom.
• James Cameron will win the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe for his amazing sci-fi fantasy AVATAR.
• Business hiring will start to pick up again in first quarter but unemployment will not drop below 9% this year.
• Going green will continue to be embraced by more and more people and composting, recycling and energy savings Green will be the new Black.
• The Healthcare Bill will pass with only the Democratic vote and prove to be very expensive for everyone.
• Social Media will continue to grow and dominate time spent on the internet and garner more advertising dollars than network TV.
• The sun will come up tomorrow.

Enjoy the New Year. BOLDER K

Kathryn's B' Day Dance the Decades Party

Having friends and family join to celebrate my entry into the next decade was a wonderful way to recognize the passage of time and the joy of life. From the Paddy and Eve Pimp and Ho outfits resplendent in 70's bellbottoms and polyester with pink shag coats and hat to the mudflap tuxedo that Rob wore much like an Escher painting with the silver pattern of the bimbette suteley moving among the red and black satin sheen, folks were decked out. Many came as they were in one of the decades of which there were many decades to choose from given that their palette was all the decades I have rocked. The joy of dressing up in a black short strapless ball gown with a whirly twirly taffeta skirt and adorning myself with scarlet red satin, long sleeve gloves which no one wears anymore than they wear the fabulous rhinestone and fake pearl necklace and fake diamond earrings with the entire outfit topped with a signature tiara took me back all the way to the 60's......it was a bit of a pan decade dance outfit. I am so proud of my friends and family for getting into the dress up and enjoying it I hope almost as much as I did.

There was no better excuse to have a get together and dance, laugh and recall fun times and share current ones. I am grateful to my kids and husband for so thoroughly supporting me in my big celebration party. Erik drove from and back to Aspen in the same day, donning his polyester and 1/2 Cleveland while here, enjoying the crowd of rents he grew up with. Jenny fit into a red cocktail dress with a glittery rhinestone buckle I wore 15 years ago and was the great DJ of the party encouraging all to dance even though the CD player broke down 5 minutes before everyone was due to arrive. We improvised with borrowed electronics and the celebration continued. I think I hugged and got hugged more than any other day in my life and reveled in the joy of friends. My sisters from Arizona flew in and the 4 Utrup girls were together for the first time in 17 years that we can remember. In all the nite was a true success as it marked the joy of family, friends, the passage of time and embracing the next decade. Rocking on.

Myanmar (Burma) Travels 2009

Intentions

Last nite I went to a truly Boulder workshop on Living the Life You Love http://www.livethelifeyoulove.com/ and creating it through intentions. The moderator Boni Lonnsburry is a cross between savvy business professional and a fairy..... a real life professional fairy. Like you might guess she is into all the metaphysical consciousness aids like crystals and various renditions of hearts in the form of art hung around the conference room at her place of business In Touch Today where we met. She was nominated as Entrepreneur of the Year for her InTouch Today business success so she knows what it is like to combine head and heart to balance our energies. I liked her I have to say. I liked her openness and frankness and positive attitude and dedication to "no harm to others" in creating the intentions that she asked us to write. This was the first of what will be 10 evening sessions doing a variety of guided imagery, discussion, meditation and manifestation of the intentions we have created.

Fundamentally, I do agree with the principles she is putting forth. Basically we create our own reality. I think that is true and we all know this on a visceral level yet fail to take it into account in our everyday lives. For whatever reason we let our egos rule with a lot of distracting energy. I can't deny that shit happens but by and large we get what we put out there. Some who are more grounded in traditional "reality" might find this methodology of creating and manifesting your intentions a bit "airy-fairey," but I don't. I am anxious to explore further developing this consciousness.

If I look back on what has happened in my life it has been through actively going after what I sought and wanted to manifest in my world. I found my husband long before Facebook and other social eHarmony type sites. I saw his picture in the paper and picked him out as someone I wanted"2 of for Christmas." Well I was happy to get the one of him after almost 3 months of a rather circuitous and weird set of developments before we finally met. I held his picture though in my mind, our relationship in my intention and voila he and I have been married 27 years. We were meant to be together I believed then and still know now.

My kids were also pretty straightforward intentions. I always thought I would have kids and was waiting for the right man to come into my life to share that experience with. My husband turned out to be that man and we manifested 2 terrific kids who are now adults. Yeah it was not easy and there were some real challenges along the way much like the sitcoms in many respects. Rob stayed home and was an early stay-at-home Dad in the 80's and early 90's when it was not yet fashionable. I have to admit I was glad he did but for many years resented his doing so because I had been trained to think that was my role in the family. Breadwinner was what I became and while he supported me in climbing up the corporate ladder he had to wait until the kids were in high school before he was able to really focus on a career for himself. We had to recreate our intentions for family but all the while put family first. What were the rewards of all that. We ended up with two reasonably well adjusted adult kids who were enjoy spending time with and are proud of. We hope/believe they enjoy spending time with us as they tend to seek us out for input, communication and interest.

So back to intentions. I am really open to embracing this process of creating an intention and putting it out to the universe to manifest. I figure we have so many different levels of consciousness and we only travel in a very limited range on a regular basis. This just opens another level of consciousness that reminds us we are in charge of our own lives and how they develop. I wish to make the last part of my life in the many years ahead be truly meaningful and manifest the purpose of why I have been sent here. Stay tuned.

Aspen and the OK Corral

We had a chance to head out to Aspen to visit Erik for a few days and catch up with him and his roommates and then go on to the OK Corral.
For the first time since we have owned the family ranch,
the OK Corral I was able to spend 10 uninterrupted days there.
The wildflowers were magnificent in the upper meadows as you can see from the photo where I am standing in them and they come up to my hat. We took a hike to Navajo Lake above Navajo Falls where you are in the Mt. Wilson and El Diente Peak basin. I have got to say that it was both the most spectacular scenery with lush green meadows covered in skunk cabbage and columbines, blue bells and Queen Anne's lace, but also the most arduous uphill switchbacks to the lake gaining a few thousand feet in elevation in a short haul. It was lovely clear greenblue water at the lake but as we had to hurry to get back to the rest of our crew we did not tarry there. The 11 mile hike was one of the more challenging we have done in 5.5 hours. Because you are so remote you do feel as though you are walking in bear habitat and are a lot more on your awares.

Speaking of bears Erik got a new fly fishing rod and has been trying it out in the evenings around Aspen and Snowmass. He called the other nite to tell us that he was fishing along the river when he looked up and there was a big black bear about 10 yards away from him just staring at him. It scared the living b-jeeezes out of him. He backed away and took a swim across the stream as his course of distancing himself from the bear. In retrospect that bear could have crossed the river faster than Erik could swim it but luckily choose not to. It has given him enough pause to go out and get some bear spray to add to his fishing equipment.

We have bears at the ranch although we did not see any this time. Jen saw one run across our meadow down by the cottonwoods a few years back and we always see bear scat and bear prints. It definitely gives you pause to be out walking without some kind of protection as the OK Corral is right at the base of the Lizard Head Wilderness and the bears know it as home turf.

The ranch was a source of quiet and early morning contemplative coffee on the deck watching the ducks on the pond. We hiked and did a lot of small chores around the place but mostly enjoyed the time being unplugged....something you don't get much in this culture. It is a wonderful legacy that my parents Kay and Orville Utrup have acquired and left for their children and hopefully their grand and great grandchildren. The original Fish Creek ranch is about 400 acres and we sit right in the middle with about 60 acres of meadow and aspen hillsides along the creek. We didn't catch many fish this year mostly because we didn't fish all that much. Rob caught one and Jerry caught one and they were as fresh and tasty as ever.

So back to the home front and enjoying the last days of summer as August winds down to a close and the weather turns unseasonably cool earlier than usual. Life is good and living it in the now has been a great gift this summer.

If you wish to see photos of our trip to Aspen and the OK Corral click on the following link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Kathrynwardell&target=PHOTO&id=5374056902756796274&aid=5373672455242704449&authkey=Gv1sRgCIiehLKGgK-N7AE&invite=CK-Nm5YM&feat=email

Summer in Transition

Yes as a Bolder Boomer I too was victim to the economic downturn and the now current 10% unemployment rate in the U.S. Having lost my job in April, with a cutback at Experian Marketing I was able to take the time to do some things that I have been wanting to do for quite a while and American job vacation mentality of 2 weeks does not afford most of us. 3 weeks after losing my job I was on an airplane to Bangkok, Thailand for a 6 week stay in SE Asia, primarily in Myanmar. Having that kind of time to BE there was so important as life moves at a totally different pace there. The pace of life is what we have lost ahold of in our driven pursuit of more more more in this culture. Our pace is hectic, rushed, cramming too much into to little time and so time bound we rarely ge the opportunity to just BE, a real downside to our cutural affluence which is driven by material ownership and less by ownership of your own time and consciousness.

So I have returned to spend this lovely summer in Boulder in transition looking for employment in jobs in my profession, internet marketing and media. Fortunately there has been a huge redirection of interest from traditional media and advertising to the internet and I am afforded the good fortune of having a background that seems well suited for the new media space having spent the last dozen years in various roles in interactive marketing and media. Fortunately too I have an ever growing acquisitiveness for new ideas and new media has been a great place to learn about how the communities and communications that the web affords in real time interaction has changed all our lives. Most boomers are just beginning to understand what Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn and a variety of social platforms do and how to use them but they are experimenting and the more you experiment the bigger the hook into these areas. I turned a friend on to Facebook and he uploaded all his photos of his family and kids, invited friends and mentioned to me a few weeks later..."Hey this Facebook is great but it seems to be taking over my life." Balance in all things. That is the toughest direction to strike. Our culture and the speed at which we communicate and interact over the internet does not seem to let us control the Balance as much as we would like.

So this wonderful summer has given me an opportunity to just appreciate summer while I spend several hours a day online and on the phone talking with companies about jobs and learning about each company and their space, goals and how I would fit into them. I feel fortunate that 12 years ago I made a move that was not "safe" and jumped into the internet eCommerce pool. The swimming has been exciting, challenging, stimulating and definitely an every present source of learning. I would recommend it.

Photos of Burma

If you want to take a journey to Burma with us by going to this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Kathrynwardell/BurmaSelectPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCNew4pPusMjHuQE#

The trip was INTENSE and Challenging in many ways, heat, squalor in the city, a couple bouts of dysentery, but the people, culture, colorful and diverse countryside and hope in Burma is beautiful. The government is sadly militaristic, autocratic and dominated by greed, giving little back to the people who work so hard and have so little.

Life in Burma

Reflections on Burma -The Illusion of Separation

The illusion of separation has been constant in my awareness since arriving in Myanmar, this most underdeveloped country of all of SE Asia. Each day I grow more and more appreciative that while the circumstances of my life are clearly very different from the day to day life that most Burmese live, still at the core we are fundamentally the same. Our differences are primarily cultural. Yet I have had the significant advantage of health, education and wealth. These create a difference but need not create a distance.

That said, we are all fundamentally the same. The pleasure, pain, suffering, and joy that we experience are the human condition made manifest. Even given the number of seeming differences in the circumstances of our lives, we are not separate. We are all one and the same in our humanity. The separation we create in our consciousness is but an illusion. I now see Burma (Myanmar) through this lens.

I am the woman washing clothes in the murky waters of the mud rushing river.

I am the infant sleeping in the marketplace next to my mother's array of vegetables for sale.

I am the vendor squatting on a brick in the mud and slime of the meat market, selling pieces of raw chicken in the heat of the morning.

I am the young boy looking wide-eyed into the windows of cars hoping to sell his jasmine flower necklaces to the drivers to dangle from their car mirror or for an offering to the Buddha.

I am the adolescent mother with a nursing babe at her breast asking for a handout as she weaves her way from car to car through the traffic-jammed intersection, hoping to curry the sympathy of those more fortunate.

I am the barefoot ox cart driver bumping along the deeply rutted, red-earthen roads with a load of manure to be spread for fertilizer in the fields.

I am the young woman, face delicately painted with thanaka, jammed into a crowded bus, going off to work in the heat, with tin tiffin pail of lunch prepared early in the morning.

I am the rice farmer at the back of a wooden plow prodding the oxen to till the fields to prepare for another planting.

I am the old woman bent over in the rice paddy sewing rice in the muddy water.

I am the monk sitting before the Buddha sonorously chanting prayers at 5 am for peace and mankind.

I am the novice monk clanging my cymbal, alerting almsgivers of my daily need to fill my bowl.

I am the temple tout trying to peddle my wares to the tourists, hoping their eyes glance upon something of interest to give me lucky money.

I am the work-worn woman hoeing the potato fields, supported in my sweat-filled labor by the songs of my neighbors who toil with me.

I am the bus driver with steely nerves, entrusted with the passage of travelers on roads rutted, rocky and treacherous, with a vehicle that lurches between gears, on threadbare tires, delivering my passengers and their baggage, goats, and chickens to their destination.

I am the smiling taxi driver lost in finding the destination that these foreigners wish to go to, but anxious to please nonetheless.

I am the busy waiter patiently serving noddle soup to foreigners in the guest house. They all ask the same questions.

I am the old woman sitting on a wooden platform, bones aching, eyesight blurred, observing the daily cycle of life unfold in her multi-generational family’s bamboo hut.

I am the young girl at the temple seeking a small kyat offering for a plastic bag the foreigner will use for the requisite removal of shoes before entering the temple.

I am the gleeful boy aglow with joy, blowing a plastic whistle the foreigner gave me.

I am the new father, betel red encrusting my toothy smile, holding my infant son up to be admired.

I am the monk eating my one meal of the day provided by the almsgivers who know that my prayers will further their divine standing.

I am the fisherman rowing with my foot and leg wrapped around the wooden oar on my shallow teak boat hoping for a good catch today.

I am the young woman sitting with dozens of others sweating in the 105 degree sauna-like conditions of a dark room, plastic shielding out any moisture, pounding gold leaf to wafer thinness for temple offerings, hour upon hour, for $1/day.

I am the entrepreneur guide who has learned enough tourist English to show the foreigners all the temples, Buddhas and attractions of this richly diverse country.

I am the tender in charge of the huge snake kept in the temple where worshipers come to pray.

I am the young artist carving a stone Buddha in the dust and heat, my hammer and chisel delicately creating the peacefulness and serenity of his enlightened face.

I am the supplicant kneeling in the temple before the Buddha, making an offering while silently praying that I can feed my family.

I am the Buddha sitting serenely in the temple, accepting the obeisance of the faithful, a conduit for their prayers and hopes.

Inle Lake and then back in Yangon

May 27, 2009

Tonite we are back in Yangon after over a month of travels in Myanmar (Burma). I am pleased we came and experienced this diverse country with all its many ecosystems, strong friendly people, amazing culture and belief system, but glad to be going to a more restful place like Thailand as a reentry to the West. The fetid squalor of the city in Yangon is magnified by the mud pooled streets from the start of the rainy season and the contrast to the beauty of Inle Lake where we have spent the last 4 days in a lake village surrounded by mountains and hill tribes.

Here one notices the black mold and mildew growth that covers every surface of every building that has not been built or painted in the last year ( which is 95% of them). The stark contrast of rural simplicity and its earthen cleanliness of the bamboo huts, mud and earthen villages, clear air and distant views is so different from the diesel fumes, the trash-strewn streets, open sewers, and betel spit sidewalks of the city. It is hard to believe the conditions the majority of people in this city live in, many making a tarp squatting next to a brick wall home until the government decides to move them. I looked down a dark narrow alley between buildings where one person could barely pass and saw an old woman sitting back in the dark recesses having claimed this space as a home. The people all seem industrious but relaxed and move with no frantic distinction between hours of the day.....it all flows the same.

The countryside is largely unchanged as the centuries have passed with the exception of a few more roads for travel and the introduction of pipes for clean water in most places. There is the sporadic appearance of electricity outside of the towns and village life seems to go on as it has for centuries tied to the seasons. Chinese goods have made their inroads though and cheap, colorful and abundant plastic and mass-produced product available in shops in the towns next to the open-air vegetable markets that have existed forever. Plastic goods and polyester blankets, many garish blankets that provide warmth and colorful flower patterns to ward off the chill of the all to brief cool season at higher elevations.

We are back at the Motherland 2 Guesthouse, now for our 3rd time. We went to Inya lake here, the lake that separates Aun San Suu Kyi from her people when she was under her house arrest. Now she is on trial and held in Insein prison ( appropriately pronounced "insane") defending herself on the charge of the invasion of an American who broke the conditions of her house arrest two weeks prior to completing her house arrest. Many people mostly Westerners believe like I do that the intruder was a set up of the military government anxious to keep her withheld from her freedom. This woman is an inspiration not only to her people but to the world in her stalwart commitment to democracy and to her people against a totalitarian militaristic state. They are determined to keep her silent in next year's election so the future does not bode well for democracy.

Myanmar people studiously avoid any discussion with Westerners about" the lady" that could possibly be overheard by regime informants because of fear of government reprisal to them, their families and businesses. Most reasonably well-spoken English speaking Burmese will suddenly feign misunderstanding to avoid having to discuss her. The world may give Myanmar's government a slap on the hand but nothing even this tourist and economic embargo will change as this government is a puppet to China's desire for its' natural resources which are being mined and logged avariciously, largely for the benefit of the government and not its people.

At Inya Lake there are steel benches just wide enough for two lovers with their umbrella, to ward off the heat or the monsoon rains, or prying eyes, to sit and cuddle in semi-public privacy. The bench each couple is sitting on has a large advertisement on the back for Procare which I can only assume to be prophylactics. The heat radiates off the water in the middle of the day and we do not stay too long feeling a little out of place in this young "Lover's Lane". We are off to our last Myanmar lunch at a place that many Burmese go for authentic Burmese food. The monsoon clouds are rolling in so we expect another afternoon of heavy showers and time hanging out at the Motherland before we leave tomorrow.

So this trip has been a challenge and can best be described as "intense." Intense heat, humidity, physical, mental, cultural, economic, spiritual and travel challenges. It is much like childbirth....in that it is harrowing to go thru and it takes some time in retrospect to get some distance from the experience to want to tackle it again. It is an approach-avoidance where you suck up the squalor and have compassion for the people who are living in it not knowing any other existence. You can't begin to imagine the hot, back-breaking, labor-intensive work done by the majority of the country people and many city people but you hope that somehow balanced in it all is the simplicity and peace that is in their lives. Tourists here come and go in and out of their lens of consciousness. Most of them are welcomed and at a minimum looked on as a bit of a curiosity. I would like to think that we represent a small spark of hope of another way of life that they may have only seen on TV, seemingly as distant as the moon to many and equally as fictional as most of the movies shown, yet a spark of hope nonetheless.

The Trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake

Wow we completed a three day marathon trek over the mountains, through the rice and potato fields, balancing carefully as we crossed rice paddies and only occassionally falling in. The trek gave us a serious appreciation for what travel has been like for centuries without the advantage of motorized vehicles. Deeply rutted red dirt roads that easily turn to slip sliding away mud fields when it rains which is every afternoon. The ruts are from the ox carts and a few horse carts and the path ( of least resistance) that both people and the cows have taken for centuries across the fields and forests. We spent the first nite in the upstairs of a village home thankful to get off our feet from 16 km of hiking. Food was good and the trek guide Jimmy who has been doing this for 17 years stays with families who appreciate the extra source of income he brings. This mountain top family establishment was all contained in its self sufficency. There were orchards of mango, papaya, banana and plum. Gardens with tomatoes, chilis, onions and garlic.....fields sewn in rice and potatoes. The watern cistern had been rigged up with a pipe that allowed a flow for a makeshift shower, much appreciated to get the grime of the dust off. Most of the villages have a piped source of water. The 2nd day was the real marathon day of 20 km over varied tilled, early growth and ready to be harvested terrain, mountainsides covered with tea plantations, potato fields, bamboo forests, rice paddies, women and children working in the fields taking respite under nearby bhoddi trees. We arrived at our destination for the 2nd nite, a monastery which was quitelovely and truly picturesque, just as the afternoon rain broke out. The rain was much appreciated from the deep teak porch of the monastery as we drank tea and soothed our blistered feet. We were competing for # of blisters/ person.....I could not compete because all I had was 2 lost toenails. The monastery is run by 2 adult monks taking care of 10 orphans, monks who are cared for and schooled in this mountain seclusion. It is a very well ordered place, simple and clean. We of course were put to sleep by the allocated 1 hour of satelitte TV at 9pm that drew the surrounding children before all electricity went down at 10 pm. We were awoken by the sonorous chanting of all the monks at 5 am, a really nice way to be awoken even though it is early. The mosquito nets had worked well and the blankets were well used byt comfy, so hard to haul ourselves out for the final push to Inle Lake for the balance of our 57 Km trek. After breakfast of tea, fruit, guacamole served on white bread, ( for some reason they believe all Westerners prefer this tasteless, nuritionless white bread). Then we were off for the final 4 hours down to Inle Lake from the mountain.

This is when we started calling Jimmie "rush guide" his perjorative term for the other guide who had brought in 7 other trekkers the nite before. Jimmie was like a horse that knew he was heading home to the stable and thus set a relentless pace all morning. We took no breaks and hiked 4 hours through mud slick, oc cart, rutted path across fields and villages and finally, blessedly down to the souther end of Inle Lake. Were immediately picked up one of their long boats which was nicely set up with short lawn chairs and umbrellas to take us the 45 minutes across the lake to the town on the north of the lake Nguaschwe where we will stay for 2 more days.

This lake community is the center of true hydroponic gardening. They locals take the mud from the lake bed and bamboo stake it into rows that they plant tomatoes on literally in the shores of the lake so that the tomatoes roots are standing in lake water. This gardening procedure is very labor intensive as are most things here as the men dive down into the lake and scoop up buckets full of this mud sledge and place it into their shallow teak boats until the boat is about submerged and then they take off to their gardens by rowing with one leg and foot on the oar. This boats are so shallow you are amazed at the amount of weight they carry. The same boats pick up the produce and take it to Nguaschwe the town that then is the center for trucking tons of tomatoes all over Myanmar and north to China. This is their main crop here in the valley but the mountain tribes all come in here to trade their produce of rice, potatoes, vegetables and tea so no one is lacking because the market exchange is pretty strong.

It is lovely here and the town/village is quite spread out. Rob and I are congratulating ourselves for making the trek which was a tough one but certainly one that was worth the effort. Again we were the only Boomers with a small group of 20 somethings....including Erik, a young French and Norwegian male travelers. The people, the terrain, the countryside, the mountains and the memories we collected of this most amazing people and country will be with us indefinitely.

Mandalay, Amapura, Sagaing.Mingun and Pyin U Lwin

May 15
Today turned out to be the 150th Anniverary of the founding of Mandalay. We were able to catch a great parade with everyone in traditional costumes. Hundreds of young Burmese girls beautifully silk clad and coiffed in flowers, danced in formation by colors, pink, green , blue, red, white costumes in rows of 8 in traditional dress updated with beautifully embroidered cloth. Their hand movements were the most catching aspect of their dance beyond their beautiful lithe figures. It is hard to imagine that these women in their youth and beauty have sisters who break rock on the roadside by hand and create the roads in this country ( as poor as they are) through their back breaking labor conscripted by the government to create the poor connections between places in Myanmar.

The women danced and then a parade followed with traditional costume dress along with the costumed military in colorful embroidered costumes, hats and helmets, some comical in their theatrics, with headdresses with bunny ears carrying small cannons, or weird red paper maiche hats atop their heads, clad in garish silk costumes. The peak attraction at the parade was of course the young princess carried on her gold palanquin followed by a fake king and queen. There is no king and queen of Myanmar now only the rememberance of them. The heavily costumed, and embroidered elephants (of which we saw no real ones of in Myanmar) were actually peopled by 2 men walking as both front and back feet of the elephant. It was a very festive atmosphere and people were clearly enjoing the parade, happy and smiling. One young girl came up to me and gave me branches of yellow flowers that the women had intertwined into their hair for the occassion. I did the same with some of them and then later passed the rest of them along to two young girls who were quite pleased that a Westerner would gift them the same.

We then left for Pyin U Lwin a British hill country retreat. It truly was at least 10 degrees cooler than the Mandalay valley floor which we had been sweating in for about 3 days visiting various temples and sights. The traditional teak forests that once stood here in the mountainside are now all logged out with new growth coming in but it will never replace the indigenous growth. In some places teak and or rubber trees have been planted to replace the teak that has been taken out. In most places nature has been left to figure it out.

Almost to the hill station town of Pyin U Lwin, we stopped at a hike to a waterfall which was a 45 minute hike down the mountain valley into a cleft in the mountain that had a fabulous waterfall. I would venture to say fabulous because it is the end of the dry season and no rain has fallen as long as we can remember. It was a challenging hike because of the heat, more challenging going down because careful foot placement was required on the rocky path. But coming up the mountain valley after the cooness of the falls was hot, hot, hot and sweaty. 4 local girls follwed us down each with a small cooler carrying 3 sodas to sell us along the way. Each time we stopped at a preordained resing place in the shade they would fan us with their straw hats. We threw them off when we would take their hats from them and returned the fanning favor. They were a bit embarrased but enjoyed it. Afterwards we had a good meal in Pyu U Lwin at a Muslim sector restaurant. This area is kind of a crossroads of cultures with Chinese, Burmese and Muslim all mixed in the same town. A number of varied dishes were presented to us even though we only ordered a few. The chapatis were a great break from the never ending supply of rice each meal.

Outside an old man approached me as we were about to get back in the van and said "Where are you from?" This standard question and my remark " American". He informed me that he was "Indian" and started gesturing and repeating something I could not understand until I stepped back and saw that he was pointing to his mosque. Acknowledged he was happy and showed no animousity only interest in us Americans which they see few of here. Most Westerners are Europeans and in all our travels here we have only met about 2 other Americans.

The hill country stations were a necessary and pleasant respite for the Brits from the intense heat of the dry arid valley. They fashioned their own habits in Asia as best they could and brought their linen suits, wide brimmed hats and helmets, their gin and tonic, tea (part of the reason they were here, the non military part) and inbred airs of racial superiority. The locals accepted them as one of the many passing invader phases of territorial domination and subjugation they have endured. But in their British tenacity and stubborness they stayed on. When finally they were booted out of the country in the 50's they left behind a certainty of the use of English as the language of trade and the knowledge that education was the path to success. Those traditions are even more prevalent today in Myanmar. The successful here have not only had the advantage of education and been good at business and politics but have command of English that allows them to ply a trade to get beyond ever present manual labor occupations.

We went to Mingun one day, an area I was not so excited about going to, given that the bible of The Lonely Planet did not have a write up that was very appealing on Mingun. It turned out to be one of my favorite places in the Mandalay area besides Sagaing Hill Pagoda and monastery. Mingun was reached by a boat trip. That was pleasant but the great pleasure was an unusual wave patterned white pagoda unlike any we had seen in our travels and also the one on the cover of the Lonely Planet's version of Myanmar (Burma) that we had been using. It was a delightful temple and we had a nice visit to the village with the largest temple bell in all of Myanmar. The photos that will follow on the blog will not this temple as one that stood out of the hundreds of temples that we visited.

Taungoo to Mandalay.... A Road Trip

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Taungoo to Mandalay Road Trip across Myanmar
Mother's Day May 11 was spent on an 8 hour ride from Taungoo, North of Yangoon to Mandalay. With our stalwart driver Aung Kyaw OO driving the 80's vintage Toyota van and his wife and 2 year old son, we covered every terrain imaginable in the middle of Myanmar. From rice fields prepared but unplanted outside Bago, followed by the dust and heat sweltering fields and countryside, to tree lined highway shading passersby as the only respite from the heat, to irrigated spring green flooded rice paddies. As the irrigation appeared it washed the fields bright green with new growth. Rice was high in the field, a prodigious crop in Myanmar that lends its bounty 3 times a year. This country seems to work so hard for its food. We passed sugar cane fields and stopped to have a drink of freshly pressed sugar cane juice. All the collection of the cane is done by hand and the pressing is done by feeding the cane into an ancient hand cranked machine that presses out the juice. The 1pm sun made the sugar cane stop most welcome but ice is a phantom hope. There was one small chunk of ice floating in the murky water of the cooler that was supposedly cooling drinks. The woman at the stand took the piece of ice out put it in a small piece of tarp and beat it to a pulp then distributed it into 3 glasses and filled those with sugar cane juice. One by necessity ignores what might be the infectious nature of the ice and water used and drinks hoping for the best. It tastes a lot like the cane sugar that is used in most carbonated drinks in the US, although without the carbonation. As we drank the Dad who clearly had been drinking the more fermented sugar cane brew danced his 6 month old across the table and smiled broadly with his betel encrusted red stained teeth. Mom sported a Giorgio Armani knock off branded T- shirt that was far from what Giorgio had in mind for his roadside branding. This was one of many stops our driver made along the way to show us the local color. We initially stopped we thought to meet his wife and child in Yangoon before leaving but when we got there they were packed up with a small bag and jumped in the 7 person van to join us to the trip to Mandalay. They proved to be quite pleasant and absolutely no problem just something we were not counting on but in this country you count on what unfolds. He turned out to be a terrific guid and driver , very kind and competent, friendly and with a facility for enough English to get us where we wanted to go and then some for $50/ day inclusive of van and petro, guiding and interpretation. We shared company for 10 days. Manual labor is the rule of thumb everywhere in Myanmar and most daily efforts are not mechanized. Things that we take for granted are all done manually: sewing seed, threshing, material production, hand carvings, handiwork for every manner of housing and furniture construction, carvings, pottery etc. Housing materials outside the city are predominantly woven bamboo, reed, cane, palm leaves for roofing and an abundance of tin roofs which has blessedly kept the rain off of most shelters that are then covered in palm leaves to keep the heat down. After rice and sugar cane we saw the driest of deserts that looked like the Navajo reservation miles going by with no shade and spindly sparse dessicated trees. Then before another hour had passed we were i mango territory and the season was in full fruit. There were fresh mangoes pyramid piled mountains of them everywhere on the roadside. We of course stopped and had multiple mangos and picked up some to go. 6 mangos and all we could eat at the roadside stand were about $1 US. Tarpulains of the blue and orange kind come in handy everywhere sprouted for shade and respite from the rain and sun. No matter the condition of the tarp they never seem to go out of use, string being a useful and common necessity to elongate their usefulness.Our final stop before getting to Mandalay was the Snake Pagoda. It seems that 3 phython snakes showed up together at this pagoda so the monks allowed them to live cooled in the shady coolness of the marble based Bhudda ensconced there. The snakes attendant accepted donations for prayers and for the upkeep of the monastery. I had the indiscretion to pet the pyhython against the scaley grain and it did not appear to appreciate it but I guess was used to the constant attention from humans. The snake pagoda lived up to its name and there were cobras statues all along the walls of the pagoda. Finally Mandalay. After going to 3 hotels, one was full (unlikely but not sure what was going on there) one was closed because " no electricity," and the third was a concrete 6 story box called the Nylon Hotel with piles of rocks blocking the street in front of it as the street was under roadwork construction and that along with the heat did not lend itself to a sense of comfort. We ended up at a small guesthouse...the Royal Guesthouse not far from the palace moat and walls. A bare bones room with 2 fans was $10 US, $20 for 2 rooms, but the drains work and the generator which makes up for the lack of Mandalay electricity hums along load enough to keep the fans running overnite. Either way you sweat in this heat and are laying in sheets that are tissue paper thin, knowing your compatriots that preceeded you also left their fair amount of sweat behind. Thus far though no bed bugs. We are so exhausted from the long day of driving and touring Myanmar's heart of the country that we collapse on the bed in front of the fans and remember the kaleidoscope that crossed our travels today in this most diverse country.

Ngapali Beach to Yangoon Full Moon Festival

May 8 2009
Yangoon
Friday, May 8, 2009

Yangoon Full Moon Festival
Ahhhh 8 days on the beach in Ngapali on the Bay of Bengal. The secluded beach by a small fishing village Jaataaw was discovered by about 4 larger hoteliers who created European getaway hotels that have fabulous foyers and cabanas. Erik and I however stayed at the vintage teak wood huts on the beach at the Lin Thar OO for about $20/nite. We rented bicyles, did yoga on the beach every morning, sat and read most of the day and had wonderful seafood meals of shrimp, squid, barracuda and red snapper 2 times a day. Photographed some of the boats coming early in the morning, in laden with fish to be dried on the beach, went to the market and the pagoda and was invited into some of the villagers homes. It was delightful and refreshing and settled my traveler's stomach. Now we are back in Yangoon and off to Swedagon Pagoda for the full moon festival tonite. Swedagon is the big Pagoda in Yangoon where all good Burmese Theraveda Bhuddists hope to pay homage in their lifetimes. The full moon festival is a big draw and the pagoda is full of worshippers and monks. The town is closed today so everyone will be at this amazing pagoda. It is so HOT here we do not dare start out until 5pm in the evening.Tomorrow we head inland to Bagan much like Angkor Wat which is a concentration of temples built over centuries. We are in Yangoon for the Full Moon festival tonite at Swedagon Pagoda. Quite the spectacle. I am pleased to return to SE Asia after 2 years and it is my first time in Burma. The people are wonderful. The place is a challenge to travel in but the rewards worth it. Wishing you the best and please stay in touch. When I am able to I will upload my photos on my blog but internet is sketch here.

The Wild Orchid

Erik picked a sweet little guesthouse, The Wild Orchid, beautiful commons area with lot of Thai artifacts and statues. Side street and big open sitting, dining area to lounge in. There is a little pool with the requisite statues and greenery right by where we eat. The accomodations are $6/nite and rooms are new and clean and simple, small ,just a bed and fan but certainly adequate. Bath and shower down the hall and cold water in the shower welcome respite to the heat and humidity. This Soi Rambutri area is a traditional wayfarers area for the backpacker set. The food is great and inexpensive. Erik got up and did yoga in the adjacent park and went back to bed. He ate at his favorite street vendor Tompei who is pictured here. She loves Erik and is so pleased to see him every time he shows up. She calls me Mama and I told her she is Erik's Thai Mama because she feed him so many times last year. He had yogurt with fresh fruit and granola this morning, fresh squeezed tangerine juice for $1. I ate at our place in the quiet of the morning and paid $3 for an American breakfast with the standard egg and white bread fare with tea.

Later we went for Thai massages which were great. These ladies all come from different small villages out in Thailand. They are lucky in many ways because at this place they do not have to ply the sex trade as they all work in a large room together. They giggle and talk to each other but the general atmosphere is really pleasant and they work you over with their pulling and stretching and kneading out the sore muscles. Afterwards you have tea and it feels like you have really done yourself a favor .....all for $6/hour. They are really sweet ladies and of course love Erik. They remember him from his previous visits.

We are checking out what it will take to get to BURMA after we get visas tomorrow. Expect it should go well and we will fly to Rangoon on Tuesday and go to the beaches along the Andaman seaside and await Rob's joining us for travel north to Mandalay.