WTF?! (What THE?! Fridays): Burmese Edition

Hooray, Burma also has WTF?!-worthy moments!

Please keep in mind that WTF?!-worthy moments for me are also just things that make me scratch my head or kind of go–huh! Not passing judgment (I mean, sometimes I am, but not always!).

Erm...Is it the human hair that's working OR are humans working the hair? I NEED ANSWERS, MYANMAR.

Yikes. I know this probably isn't uncommon, but we were all still kind of weirded out by it.

I'm including this in WTF?! just because I don't have anywhere else to put it, but I loved this aspect of Burma. Cell phones aren't common, and I don't know how many people have home phones, so people set up phones on the street and charge for calls. Like phone booths, only not. It was brilliant.

Now whenever I complain about Thai sidewalks, I think of these and feel better.

All photo credits to Melanie.

Happy Friday and Buddhist holiday to those of you in Thailand!

Challenge: Seeing ALL the Temples of Bagan ( in Burma)

As you are reading this, I am sitting in a silent meditation retreat, probably going out of my mind (silently). I’m writing this on Monday morning, from the beach in Koh Samui, trying to soak up every last bit of my regular, input-laden life that I can. This includes stuffing my face with Oreos and coffee while frantically trying to read to the end of the internets. That’s possible in an hour, right?!

I guess I’ll find out.

I realize it’s only a week and I’m being totally melodramatic, but I’m scared! Anyway, I’ll let you know how it goes when I get out. I imagine it’s going to be like–Megan vs. Herself: The World’s Most Boring Smackdown Ever.

Anyway, I recently spent a week in Burma and while I don’t have time to write much about it, I’m going to post some pictures here of my time in Bagan. This is an area that used to be (hundreds of years ago) hustling and bustling with activity. Now it’s farmland, abandoned temples, and touts trying to sell you sand paintings.

Still, biking around in the fields and climbing up to the top of 12th century temples to watch the sunrise is not something I can make fun of. It was definitely one of the highlights of my time in SE Asia.

Hello! Where come from? You buy sand painting?

I am being supremely lazy, so if you want to know more about Bagan, go to Wikipedia.

Some temples of Bagan.

Overview of some temples.

Some details of the temples.

We voluntarily woke up at 5 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. to bike out to see a sunrise. It was so peaceful; just us, the farmers, and their oxen. I’d go back in a second.

Final Score: 

Bagan: 1  Sarah, Melanie, Megan: 0

There are SO MANY TEMPLES.

p.s. Please be kind in the comments. I’m not going to turn them off while I’m gone. :)