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  1. #101
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    Village life



  2. #102
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    Different kinds of houses in the village



  3. #103
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    I liked this pic because it shows the kids running to greet their Auntie who's just arrived


    This is their Auntie who works in Thailand and has brought back many goodies

  4. #104
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    Shed for charcoal

  5. #105
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    More pics of the village



  6. #106
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    I guess this household has internet


    There was a pond nearby


    And some farm animals

  7. #107
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    This was the house of the mother of my fellow passenger, N. That's her mom.


    My guess is, since N works in Thailand and sends money back home, her family was able to build a better house, made of concrete. It's a small bungalow, but an improvement over the mom's wooden house nearby. There were a lot of concrete houses in that street/village.

    I'll end for the moment with a pic of the kids, now on the porch, waiting for their Auntie to distribute the goodies.
    Last edited by katie23; 21-05-2016 at 08:39 PM.

  8. #108
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    Hi all, I haven't forgotten this thread. There are dozens more pics, but I haven't resized the pics or uploaded to PB. Am very busy with work & other stuff at the moment.

    So just a lil story for now. On my 2nd (and last) nite in Yangon, I joined some fellow guests from the hotel, mostly young ppl. We went to a bar/club, which was some distance frm my hotel. It was near the Shwedagon Pagoda.

    Upon entering the club, at first it looked like an ordinary club. But then, I was surprised to see the outfits of the ladies there. Most wore skimpy tight outfits. While we, as tourists, were just in shorts & shirts, normal tourist attire. The girls were fully.made up - face & hair. I had a feeling they were prozzies but I wasn't sure yet.

    Later on, I went to the Ladies' room. More surprise! It was large, not just the typical cubicles. Squat toilets there too. What kinda surprised me was that it was more of a dressing room than just an ordinary toilet. There were ladies in stages of undress, changing frm jeans & long skirts, to their skimpy outfits. Some ladies were doing their makeup too, or their hair. Was quite a revelation. Since my looks blend in, they didnt mind me & I was able to observe discreetly. So that's when I had my hunch confirmed that most of the girls there were "workers".

    At the tables, there were some older men who were with the girls - some were Chinese as I recognized the language. There were a lot of security guards in the place - even on the dance floor. I found that weird.

    Sorry, no pics of that event, as I didnt bring my gadgets as I thought they might get wet again (it was Songkran/ Thingyan).
    Really? Prostitutes in SE Asia? Get away.

  9. #109
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    Great pictures Katie. Thank you for sharing your adventurous Songkraan.

    Curious , how heavy is your backpack when loaded for a trip like this ?

  10. #110
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    @hallelujah - if you haven't discerned from my name & my posts, I'm a girl. And I don't really go to areas where the bargirls are, in my travels. Yes, I know that prozzies exist, in all countries & of all nationalities. In my country, there are lots of Amerasian children, due to the US bases. It's just that I don't have much contact with them.

    @peecoffee - you're welcome. I usually keep my backpack from 6-7 kg, bcos there's a 7 kg limit in most budget airlines for handcarried luggage. I usually don't like paying the checked-in luggage fee, so I keep my backpack light, whether it's for 6 days or 12 days. I wash clothes if I have my own toilet. I don't have a weighing scale, but I'm kinda.used.to the weight already. If it feels heavy, then it's more than 7 kg.

  11. #111
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    Just got back from a 3-day adventure in Sagada, Mountain Province, up north. My body now aches all over, and I walk like an old woman. Lol. I thought that I'm relatively fit, since.I jog & do zumba, but now my arms & legs hurt. It didn't hurt like this after the Pinatubo trek. In Sagada, we did some hiking (easy) and spelunking/caving (difficult). We did the cave connection - enter thru 1 cave, exit thru another. It's not for the faint of heart or for large mammals. There are places where u have to climb the rocks & hoist urself up (thus my arms hurt) and some places where you have to use a rope to go up or down, else you fall into a dark abyss. Even though my body hurts, I'm glad I did it now, bcos I might not be able to do it when I'm older, greyer or larger.

    Lots of (white) backpackers & local tourists during the weekend. Seems Sagada is getting famous among the backpacking crowd. Lots of local tourists too, mostly in tour packages w/ minivans. Mostly younguns, but a few families (w/ kids) and some middle-aged ppl too. I'd like to return there soon, while I'm still young, since I wasn't able to do all the advwntures offered, due to time & budget constraints. Will try to make a pic thread of it too. Time & internet permitting. btw, this trip was DIY, like most of my trips.

  12. #112
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    Great stuff Katie, cant wait for the cave expedition pics. No easy trekking that I have seen thus far from the prior pics. Looks dusty and hot and that alone would tucker this f ish out. I ,being from a northern zone bake in S.E. Asia, therefore I plan my trips in Dec/January. I get to escape the cold of winter and enjoy the not so hot time with my betterhalfs family. So if you say it's hot it's hot being you are from the Philippines.

    Thanks for taking the time to post. I to am verry pressed for time as are most that are in the labor force. That and the fact that I haven't learned to navigate photobucket keeps me from posting most of our travel pics. Using TD gallery is slow and painful as well but I manage somewhat sometimes.

    Thanks again for sharing and safe travels to you. the fish

  13. #113
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    P.S it is sad to see the trash along the streets and waterways. We had that here in the states during the boon of the industrial revolution. Now I'm happy to say that we have cleaned the place up quite a bit. It did take a paradigm shift along with alot of media attention and I'm happy to say environmentally things have greatly improved.

    It starts by everyone doing their share. And by setting a positive example for the kids to follow. Last time out at the farmhouse I began to pick up plastic trash and soon I had the kids doing the same.

    I did find a gardetto's snack bag down the trail so I know where that came from but in time I think I made an impression on the kids. If I give them a candy bar or ice cream sandwich they know not to immediately drop the wrapper on the ground. Baby steps I know but at least we are putting one foot in front of the other. Their is hope for the fish yet.

  14. #114
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    It's not for the faint of heart or for large mammals. There are places where u have to climb the rocks & hoist urself up.
    yeah, go on rub it in. Just joking Sagada,s an amazing place spent a month there some 20 years ago but never went anywhere near a cave and I was a medium size mammal then, just chilled out in the village with the super relaxed locals, smoked some hash and drank some San Migs mostly. There wasn't much in the way of restaurants to go to I seem to recall, xmas eve my Scottish mate knocked up an omelette and I got the beers in and we had a few bongs, wasn't much in the way of nightlife whatsoever ever, It took an amazingly long time to reach by bus from Baguio to, gLad to hear it's getting some tourism, very scenic place, can't wait to see your photos

  15. #115
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    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker
    I was a medium size mammal then
    Mammal as in whale?

    Nice thread katie

  16. #116
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    @bld - it now takes ~6h to get to Sagada frm Baguio. There are lots of inns, hostels & restos too. No bars or clubs (yet), thankfully. No Jollibee, KFC, McD or large establishments like SM or Robinsons. Mostly family run businesses. Food establishments sell at tourist prices, though. To be fair, the place gets alive during weekends and mostly quiet during weekdays. My friend, who traveled with me, visited Sagada in 2009. She said back then, it took 8-9h frm Baguio, due to the rough road. No tall buildings back then too. Now, the road is paved & lots of inns. Sagada was used as a setting in one recent indie film here, which became famous among the young crowd (heartbreak being a universal theme). Now, the young ones (mostly yuppies) are going to the places where the film was shot, including the Cafe where they took coffee. Lol. All in all, good for local tourism. Nowadays, you cant go hiking or caving w/o a guide. Tourism is now regulated. I think that's good bcos if u allow ppl to just hike, they might get lost & it will be a problwm for the local govt. Place will get a bad rep too. Back in 2009, my friend was able to go to some places w/o a guide. -frm fone, sorry 4 typos.

    Will make a thread on Sagada when my muscles have recovered & I don't walk like an old woman anymore. Note to self: before going caving, must jog uphill & do pushups + pullups!

  17. #117
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    My muscles have recovered from my Sagada weekend hiking + caving adventure, so I'm in a better mood to post pics.

    Currency in Myanmar: they use bills, not coins. Denominations are in 5000, 1000, 500, 200, 100 & 50. (I didn't have a 100 bill when I took pics). During that time, 1 usd ~ 1,170 kyat (pronounced as "cha" or "chat"). In my experience, you can pay hotels in usd or kyat, but they'll give you the change in kyat. As for taxis & small stores, they used kyat. An acquaintance said that in the hotels where they ate, the prices in the menu were quoted in usd. One ordinary meal in the hotel cost 14 usd (for them - I didn't eat at hotels downtown).




  18. #118
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    Peecoffee asked me about how large or heavy my backpack was, so here it is. I think this weighed 6.5 kg at that time (when I weighed it at the airport). This was my room at OK Hotel in Mawlamyine. It's a single room, no bathroom inside (shared b/r). It was a small room and the room/hotel which I liked the least during this trip. I wasn't expecting a palace (since I believe you get what you pay for), but it was more exp (and less amenities) than my room in Yangon or those in Thailand.




  19. #119
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    Some scenes from the balcony of the hotel (public balcony, not in my room).

    I woke up early and was able to see the sunrise. The sunrise was good, while the surrounding buildings, not so much.



    The hotel was near the Than Lwin river.


    I'm an "early bird" and my body clock woke me up at my usual time for going to the office, even though I was on holiday. It was quite frustrating sometimes. lol But since I was awake already, I got up and took pics (both in Mawlamyine & Yangon).

  20. #120
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    This ongoing construction was across OK Hotel


  21. #121
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  22. #122
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    @dillinger - thanks for the lurv

    @fishlocker - yeah, it was sad to see all that rubbish on the rivers and streets...
    but then, Myanmar is not alone in having a problem with plastic & rubbish...

    More of OK Hotel



  23. #123
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    Shared toilet & shower rooms (squat toilet - ugh!)



  24. #124
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    Went out and took pics of the surrounds





    If you have more $$, I would recommend the Ngwe Moe (sp?) hotel - looked nice from the outside. Another one which had good reviews is Cinderella hotel in Mawlamyine.

  25. #125
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    Most buildings had generators because of frequent power interruptions.

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