Laos

More to come eventually...

Reasons I love Thailand - part 2

I think I was on number 5 in my last post... so here are number 6 and 7.

6. When was the last time you thought it was chilly at 22 degrees Celcius (72F)? Yes, today I went to leave my apartment and was surprised when it was chilly outside. I went back inside to get a jacket. There are two things that are lovely about what happened. First, the weather is typically so consistent here that I don't check the weather forecast - during the hot season, it's incredibly hot and I wear light clothes; during the rainy season, it's a little less hot and I wear light clothes and bring an umbrella; during the dry season, it's just hot and I wear light clothes. Second, I can feel refreshed when the temperature drops below 23 Celcius/73F (and keep my A/C at 27 degrees Celcius/81F (when I use it) and feel very comfortable).

7. I just got a "gentle reminder" email. When was the last time you got a message with the subject "gentle reminder" rather than "MEETING: 12 NOON, COMMUNITY CLINIC"? Really, which one looks nicer? Maybe this is why Thailand is the Land of Smiles?

Me, enjoying the beach at Hua Hin 

My awesome Christmas tree! (it's even better now because I bought flashing lights!)

Loy Krathong

Loy Krathong is one of my favorite holidays in Thailand... it's just at the end of the rainy season and the weather has finally started to cool off. Everyone gathers near bodies of water - natural or man-made - and puts small (or large) floats into the water to wash away bad things that have happened in the past year and hope for good things to happen in the next year. Here's a link to some more information.  

Suzy, Smitha, Kent, and Rebecca

A beautiful banana-leaf kratong, with candles and incense

Sharing a light ;)

My awesome krathong... made of ice-cream cones!

Me, getting ready to "loy" (float) my "krathong"

Lumpini Park's pond - I think the massive lizards were scared away,
but I did see one chomping on a float...

So pretty!

Doi Lanka Luang

More to come soon!

Immigration irritations

Let me start with a bit of brief explanation… in Thailand, you need two things to be able to stay in the country: 1) a visa, of varying type and duration, and 2) an entry permit, also of varying duration. So, I have a multi-entry, year-long education visa, but I still need to leave the country or check in with immigration every 90 days to renew my entry permit. There are long forum posts and discussions about this, but in general, it tends to confuse people. And, there seems to be a profit in confusing all those foreigners who don’t understand Thai immigration rules – with large, daily fines if you overstay your entry permit. I was pretty lucky last year because, 1) I applied for my education visa in the US, and 2) I traveled out of the country a lot. So I never really needed to deal with immigration, besides entering and exiting the country. However, that changed when I tried to research ways to get a new visa.

I tried to get a new visa before my old one expired (but that failed when ASPH failed to renew my contract before my old visa expired). So, I couldn’t leave the country unless I could guarantee that I could get a new visa in whichever country I went to. I wasn’t illegally in Thailand – I still had a month and a half left on my entry permit, but I couldn’t come back unless I had a new visa. With this in mind, I tried to contact several Royal Thai Embassies that had a good (blog) record of distributing education visas (because it depends on the country… urgh). Upon contacting Singapore, I was directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based in Nonthaburi, about 20 minutes from where I’m based. The ministry official made my day when he said I didn’t need to leave the country – I could just come to the immigration office 20 minutes from the MoPH and extend my current visa. All the paperwork was in order – I just needed one more letter (saying the exact same thing but with different letterhead). I obtained my third letter (saying the same thing) and headed to the immigration office, excited at the prospect of getting my visa extended but extremely apprehensive of the ease with which the extension was described. Visa issues are not easy in Thailand.

So, I found the office, had the correct paperwork, and got a number. And then the confusion began. The first immigration official thought I needed a work permit (which I can’t get because technically no one employs me). So she asked me to call my office so that she could explain to someone in Thai what I needed to do. When she got too confused, she passed me off to another official, to whom I tried to explain my situation (in English and in Thai). I referred to my previous contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but had no luck. She asked me to call my office, explained again that I needed a work permit, but also suggested that I needed to go to the Nonthaburi immigration office (40+ minutes away and in the middle of a rice field) because my fellowship is based in Nonthaburi. The office I was at (in Nonthaburi!) only served people living or working in Bangkok, technically another province. 

Massive government complex off of Chaeng Wattana (1st & 3rd stop)

 

Yes, so the dot in the middle is my office - the one northeast (and closest) is Chaeng Wattana's office. The one northwest (and across the river and in the middle of a rice field) is the Nonthaburi office.

 Nonthaburi Immigration Office... really, it's in the middle of a rice field!

The next day, I headed off to the Nonthaburi immigration office, this time with a Thai friend accompanying me. We found the office (eventually), waited dutifully, and were told again that I needed a work permit. After talking more, the officer suggested I go to Laos to get an education visa (really? You can’t give me one here?) or go the the other immigration office (yes, please, pass the buck on…). After more talking and several “goodbyes” from the immigration official, I was surprised when he started stamping things into my passport. Miraculously, he gave me an extension (to Sept. 15, which is technically the last day I work also…) but then said I needed to go to the other immigration office to get my 90-day entry permit. Ei! The next day, I headed BACK to the office 20 minutes from me, got my 90-day extension and finally relaxed.

 I'm legal - extended AND permitted!

World AIDS Day 2010

First, a note of caution: Normally, my posts are about life in Thailand, interesting news articles, random thoughts of the day, pictures from traveling far and wide. I try not to be political or post about things that are super controversial. But, it's World AIDS Day, so here are (some) of my opinions and experiences as life as an HIV researcher.

In honor of World AIDS Day 2010, I thought I'd share some of the interesting (and disturbing) reactions from people when I tell them what I do. As you know, I am an ASPH/CDC global health fellow working with the HIV Research Branch with the Thai Ministry of Public Health - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The branch is currently conducting studies among injection drug users (IDUs) and men who have sex with men (MSM). I work with the group studying behaviors and HIV among MSM in Bangkok. This, however, is quite a mouthful and I tend to summarize by saying I work in HIV research. So with this in mind, the reactions:

1. "I hope you're not one of those people who think HIV is just in gay men." No, I'm not. Anyone CAN get infected with HIV. In Thailand, however, if you are a man who has sex with another man, you're much more likely to have HIV or to get HIV then if you're someone else. I'm not judging... I'm just saying, based on surveillance and monitoring the HIV epidemic in Thailand, this is true. This doesn't mean that MSM should be treated differently or unfairly. It actually means that, as a public health professional, I think Thailand should develop programs to prevent HIV in MSM and I think Thailand should provide support to people who have HIV. And, they are starting to. And, based on their 100% condom program, they might have success. I certainly hope so.
2. "Hmm, should I wear a condom?" Well, yes. Using condoms consistently and correctly is one of the most effective ways at preventing HIV infection. But, really, I'm not a counselor, nor do I appreciate having this conversation on an airplane. (Actually, the question I got from my plane seat neighbor was more disturbing.) There are some other ways to prevent HIV that are currently being researched that are looking more promising:
• Microbicides - see the CAPRISA 004 study - They demonstrated that a microbicide used by women in South Africa can decrease HIV transmission by up to 40%.
• PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) - see the iPrEX study results - They demonstrated that a drug combination (Tenofovir and emtriciticine) used daily can decrease HIV transmission by about 40% (and almost 80% in those who were very adherent) in men who have sex with men in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, United States, South Africa, and Thailand.
• HIV vaccine - see the Thailand Vaccine Study - This was the first study that showed a vaccine had any effect in preventing HIV infections.
3. Blank stare. "Oh that's interesting." Averted eyes. Quickly change the conversation... These people tend to be, shall we say, more conservative than others. Sometimes, they think HIV is a disease that bad people get and that people who get HIV deserve to get it. In my opinion, that's bogus. No one deserves to get a life-threatening illness. What if I said your children deserve to get diabetes because they eat too much over-processed sugars. Both can be life-threatening illnesses that require life-long treatment. Diabetes isn't heavily politicized though and people with diabetes are rarely stigmatized. Diabetes programs aren't limited by politicians in providing evidence-based prevention and treatment programs. No one says, "Hey, I think we should pay for people who have diabetes to get insulin because I don't like needles." But it happens quite frequently in HIV programs. Here are just a few examples:
• Programs must spend a significant portion of their budget on abstinence education. Yes, I agree, abstinence is a great way of preventing the spread of HIV. But, it doesn't work by itself. Here's a pretty comprehensive review.
• Programs cannot set up clean-needle programs for drug injectors. Look, I understand the train-of-thought: Take away access to needles and drug injectors can't inject so they can't do drugs so they can't get HIV. But that doesn't work either. Providing clean needles doesn't make injectors use drugs more often, but it can link they with treatment programs, education, and improved awareness. More information
• Programs are limited in how they can promote condoms. There are a few lines of thinking that limit condom-promotion: 1) Condoms are a form of birth-control, which is prohibited by the Catholic church; 2) Condoms lead to promiscuity because if young people have condoms, they will have sex earlier or more often. I'm not going to address the first point (except by linking you to this article by the BBC on the Pontiff's latest remarks of condom use). The second point, however, is a bit absurd. It's along the same lines as the opposition to giving girls the HPV vaccine - if we give them the vaccine, they'll have sex earlier or more often. Really? Do you really thinking giving a girl a vaccine that can prevent a disease they may or may not get in 40 or more years will really prevent her from having sex now? Do you really think not giving a boy a condom now will prevent him from having sex now? Will all those thoughts of potential pregnancy (9 months from now) or potential for sexually transmitted diseases (which may or may not effect his health a few days to a few years from now) will prevent that? I think you're probably deluding yourself. Young people will have sex, regardless of the information or tools you provide them. So why not provide them with the best education and the best tools to prevent harmful consequences? Anyway, that's what I think.

And finally, some news from other sources on World AIDS Day 2010:

• Colleges Are Producing New Style of AIDS Activist
• An Enlightened Exchange in Iran
• Girl Child Network Worldwide marks the World AIDS DAY
• Medical advances in fight against HIV/AIDS

Zoom through the rainy season, Part 3 - Roaming around Thailand

Ok, so I’m not great at updating my blog regularly. But I do think about updating my blog regularly… that’s got to count for something, right?

Since Myanmar, I’ve done quite a bit of “local” travel… as I waited for my contract to be renewed and then my visa and then got my 90-day stamp of approval. I’m going to talk more about my immigration adventures in another post…

In an effort to catch you up to the present, here’s a “zoom through” most of August, September and October!

Towards the end of August I headed to Pattaya (the infamous post of many a Vietnam soldier) for a work-retreat/training. Wow, it was boring! Yes, we were in a nice hotel, but with sessions going most of the day, it was almost impossible to get any relaxation time in. Then, to top it off, many people contracted some sort of foodborne illness. Luckily, my Africa/India/New Orleans-trained intestinal lining repelled whatever pathogen was in the food and I didn’t get sick. And then, I got to investigate the outbreak (and really, what public health person doesn’t like a good outbreak investigation?). So I conducted my interviews, created a questionnaire, entered the data, analyzed the data, presented the results, and am working on a paper! Boring training – definitely; outbreak investigation – so cool (although people got sick, they felt better soon after…).

Most of September was me trying to make plans to have my visa renewed but being unable to do it without a renewal contract. Grrr bureaucratic institutions! I got my contract 6 days before my original one ended. So then there was a little mayhem in getting housing and health insurance renewed and trying to coordinate getting a new/renewed visa (again, see next post). Then came the busy month of October!

Weekend 1 – new ASPH/CDC fellow arrives! Now, I know how lucky I was to have several people hold my hand through the first few weeks of living in Thailand – it’s a big, hot mess of being excited about new everything and being overwhelmed (and, in my case, slightly terrified) of the major life change that just occurred. So, we explored a bit of Bangkok (M.R. Kukrit’s home, Italian food, JJ market, Neilson Hays Library, Sri Mahamariamman Temple) with some friends.

Ganesha statue in M.R. Kukrit's home

Pretty water lilies

Outside Sri Mahamariamman Temple

Weekend 2 – Did I mention the holidays? Yes, I did not have work on Columbus Day. Never have I been so appreciative of random American holidays. I took some extra time and headed to Sukhothai, the once glorious capital of Siam (or what was to become Siam). It’s older than Ayutthaya (my other favorite Thai ancient capital). It’s full of ancient wats with unique statues of Buddha – and you all know how much I love my religious sites! I can never be wat-ed or cathedral-ed out! I went with two other friends and we explored Sukhothai by bike then headed by bus to Si Satchanalai (another ancient city from the same period) and explored again by bike. I forgot, amidst the traffic of Bangkok and desperate need to use the BTS to avoid said traffic, how much I like riding a bike. My next city should have bike paths.

My awesome pink bike!

I love Thai signs... don't climb on the Buddha

One of my favorite temples in Si Satchanalai - Wat Chang Lom (Temple of Elephants surrounding/guarding Buddha)

A sign along the bike path... really, I don't know

A bridge we crossed to get to Si Satchanalai

I might take too many bathroom pictures:

1 - don't put tissue in the toilet (water pressure is usually bad and it will clog the toilet)

2 - don't squat on the Western toilet (that could be difficult)

3 - don't write on the walls (well, yes)

We also went to the Thai poem fish museum - you'd think, given the tropical diversity of Thailand's fish, that we would see some beautiful ones. Instead we were greeted with grey river fish.

Because you always need a spare carrot?

Weekend 3 – moved… while I liked my old apartment (and miss my twice-daily motorbike rides and friendly drivers), it was too far from the BTS and there was not much around it. So, I moved 1 ½ BTS stations out of central Bangkok to the lovely Thong Lo area. Now, I have several Seven Elevens (no change), three roads full of street food (compared to my awesome friend rice lady), two places to get delicious mango sticky rice (compared to none), and a 7-minute walk to the BTS apartments (compared to 25 minutes). The apartment is also set up much better and it’s a condo (so utilities are a bit cheaper). And, my morning walk includes walking past a diverse collection of Thai people – the fancy white-collar workers, street vendors, construction workers, and monks. Overall, I’m really happy with the move!

Weekend 4 – Church retreat in Pranburi – While living in Bangkok, I’ve found a church home at the International Church of Bangkok. It’s one of the most open, welcoming, and compassionate churches I’ve ever been to. And, one of the things that got me to stay was when the pastor offered to discuss which church in Bangkok (there are only a few) would be the best option for me. I was pretty much set then. The people, type of service, and mission of ICB are what kept me coming back. One of my favorite things that I think emphasizes how I’ve felt while being part of ICB is in part of the mission statement: ICB strives to be a place where “Mature Christians come and grow in their faith and service; Less mature Christians come and grow and/or (re)discover their faith while serving; and non-Christians can come and learn about Jesus without fear of being condescended to, condemned or embarrassed.” I think that’s a pretty good goal and although I often fail to do what I should, I like being around people who are constantly striving to be good and to help others, without judgement. So, back to the retreat and off my soap-box… I drove down with Mae and Ken, an  American/Thai couple who I adore. Ken helps lead a home-group Bible study I attend and always comes up with the most interesting and relevant connections to what we’re studying and Mae is just full of energy, good-will, and generosity. Amelia, another American teaching English in Nonthaburi, drove down with us and it was an interesting and enjoyable trip. After arriving and settling in a bit, we had a nice ice-breaker and dinner. The following day, we had church with some great music leaders and several of us headed off to nearby Monkey Island (apparently at one point these monkeys were skilled at catching, opening and eating crabs, but now they’re proficient at jumping on tourists to get bananas…). And, after a discussion in the car the previous day about rabies and its incurability (once you show symptoms), I was a little hesitant to get too close to the monkeys (unlike some crazy girls who tried to let them drink out of a water bottle). Then, we headed off to another island to hike to a cave and eat delicious Thai food. After a quick shower, we attended the first of two motivating talks by Ash Barker, who runs Urban Neighbors of Hope (google it!). The following day, we concluded the talks and headed back to Bangkok.

Crazy girls on Monkey Island trying to give water to the monkeys

Our boat - Charis, Samuel, Kent, Smitha, and two German friends

Rebecca and Darrell, relaxing on the boat

 Amelia (in the green), taking pictures

Weekend 5 – So, I managed to repel the GI bugs, but not the respiratory bugs. Not fun. And I missed Halloween.

November – yes, we’re almost caught up! Next up, immigration irritations!

A new disease discovered!!!

"The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically.

This virus is called Weary Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completely.

If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises. Take two good friends to the nearest grocery store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

You should immediately forward this medical alert to your   friends. If you do not have friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life."

Happy Halloween!

Things that are in the news that interest me (and I want you to look at and listen to me talk about)

Issues I have... mainly with international news media. Click on the blue letters for links to the articles I'm talking about.

The way Thailand is portrayed by the international news media - This is a little (ok, a big) pet peve of mine. The international news media tends to highlight things pertaining to their interest groups, rather than educate their readers about issues they might not otherwise know about. I understand why they do this ($$$), but maybe this is why Tea Partiers don't know that we have freedom of the press in the United States (and separation of church and state...). Right, so there was a massive protest in Bangkok that ended with a violent standoff and the burning of several major buildings. But before most people saw horrific pictures of "Bangkok Burning" they had little idea of what was actually happening here. Now, CNN is teasing (chiding? highlighting a pointless note about Thailand?) for its obsession with a recent celebrity sex scandal and it makes CNN's homepage. I think this speaks more to what the US news media thinks (and does) sell in the US, rather than a "way for stressed Thais to safely relieve their tension." Is news of Brittany Spears shaving her head a way for Americans to safely relieve their tension concerning the blatant lies of many politicians? I mean, at least Thai politicians don't have to avoid religious sites for fear of being mislabeled Muslims (and really, why is it such a problem to be Muslim? I know Muslims/Sikhs/Buddhists/Hindus/Christians/Jews who are wonderful people because of their religion. I know Christians/Buddhists/Muslims/Jews/Sikhs/Hindus who are less than wonderful people, despite their religion.)

Why not highlight the recent peaceful protests by those "red shirt rioters" that occurred September 19th? Or the horrible flooding that has covered many parts of the country? Or, for that matter, the human rights issues Thailand has with refugees from Burma? No, things aren't perfect in Thailand and the country certainly has many issues to work through, but what country doesn't.

Speaking of refugees in Burma, why isn't their more international news/uproar about the elections to be held in Burma/Myanmar in November? Why aren't all of those Americans who so desperately want to promote democracy calling out in protest at the scam that is the Burmese "democracy"? The military junta that seized control after the last "democratic" elections in 1990 is the same one in power today - they are shifting military leaders to civilian posts (so they can be 'elected'), banning anyone who's been jailed from running (like all of those political dissidents), and sometimes resorting to outright bribery and/or threats.

And now back to my old (and current standard): health care. In 10th grade, I was forced to read the horrible (some call it a "classic") book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Who knew I would be linking to an article making an artful play on the book I once despised? But here it is - a refreshing outlook on solutions to improve health care - Health care and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. While I am distressed by the state of health care in the United States, sometimes health care in developing countries seems like a lost cause. (Don't worry, I haven't lost my naive sense that I can fix the world. Just sometimes gets me down.) Because "where else can you find a low-tech investment in health care that increases patient coverage by nearly 600 percent?"

Finally, some perspective from the ever-informative people at Foreign Passport: Africa is really, really big. If you didn't know this already, see the map for some additional perspective.

(Next week, I'll be back to my normal ways, posting delightful pictures of Thai beaches and temples in the hopes of tempting you to come here. Cathay Pacific has flights for less than $1200 from JFK to BKK... take advantage now!)

Zoom through the rainy season, Part 2 - Myanmar



Shwedagon Paya



As my traveling frequently is, I decided to go to Myanmar at the last minute, about a week before I left. Work was closed for the Queen's birthday and the Thai government (and the US embassy) decided to close business on the following day, giving me a four day weekend. Luckily, a friend of mine had already planned most of the travel in Myanmar and had several contacts there. So, I just hopped along for the ride.

To begin, I want to say that I've had some serious reservations about going to Myanmar. Top on my list was the fact that the country is controlled by a military dictatorship that has suppressed human rights and freedoms for the past 20 years or so. Entering the country and traveling around as a foreigner are strictly controlled and facilitated by the government. While I have gone to countries where corruption is rampant, there usually was at least a semblance of democracy and people had some hope of change. In Myanmar, there seems to be little hope. When elections were announced the day after my arrival, there seemed to be little open discussion (as expected... you never know who is an informant and even when you do know, you don't necessarily want them to know what you think). When it was discussed, people seemed to have little hope of it being a free or fair election. Many had seen the military junta finagle rules, moving military leaders into "civilian" posts, jigging election monitors and effectively destroying an opposition party's chances at winning.

A psychedelic halo

I went because a friend of mine was going who had connections and Burmese friends who could help us avoid some of the "tourist traps." Of course, we did see many touristy sites, but we tried to stay and eat at local venues and supported tours and tour guides who were not government-run. And, I am very glad I went. Not only did I see a beautiful country and learn about the history of the country, I met some wonderful, kind, generous, welcoming people. So now, my trip to Myanmar!

1 of 4 enormous gold-leafed, teak

Buddha statues in Ananda Pahto

We flew into Yangon (Rangoon) and met up with my friend's farang friends. They helped us exchange money (Note: The official, government-controlled exchange rate is 1 USD to about 6 kyat. The street value is approximately 1 USD to 1000 kyat.) Our first stop was the Shwedagon Paya. I really can't describe it to do it justice. It glitters day and night (beat that Eiffel Tower) and doesn't tarnish (you too, Statue of Liberty) and is really just gorgeous. There are numerous Buddha statues and temples surrounding the main stupa. In a slight difference from Thai Buddha's, many of the Buddhas had psychedelic lights glowing behind their heads (almost like halos!). 

Our transportation in Bagan

After a (rather sleepless night) in Yangon, we went to Bagan, an ancient capital of Burma. Bagan has roughly 2,000+ temples (there is no exact count... mainly because the junta seems to control things and prevents an accurate count). It is remarkable. As you approach the city, the ground glitters with gold-leafed stupas and more pagodas than you can count. If you know my picture-taking tendencies (and my slight obsession with religious buildings), I went a little crazy with all the temples. As in Thailand, there was a strong Hindu influence on Buddhism in Myanmar. We climbed and saw as many temples as we could in about 8 hours of intense temple seeing :) Luckily, my travel companion has an equal obsession with history, so we traveled well together.

Shwendandaw Kyaung

Our next stop was Mandalay, the capital of Burma when the British took control. We were lucky enough to have some good connections there and upon arriving, we met our friend's friends, the owners of Mandalay's puppet theater and proprietors of the Spoken English school. We were told that if we asked at our guesthouse (pre-booked by friends) that people at the guesthouse would know who we were talking about. That's how famous they are in Mandalay!

We had a delicious lunch and then they gave us suggestions of places to visit in the afternoon. So, we headed out into Mandalay, armed with our faithful Lonely Planet Guide. Unfortunately our guidebook failed us... but led to some fun (in retrospect) adventures. Our friends dropped us at the Shwedandaw Kyaung (the Golden Monastery), with recommendations to see the marble Buddha and Mandalay Hill before heading downtown to the puppet theater. So, the kyaung was our point-of-reference on the map. Turned out to be in the wrong place on the map, so we wandered (quite a bit) to get to Mandalay Hill and completely missed the marble Buddha. When we finally reached the spotless white lions at the foot of Mandalay Hill, we were quite proud of ourselves (and extremely thankful for the kindness of Mandalay's residents).

Me, finally reaching Mandalay Hill

They wanted to take a picture with us... so I took a picture with them!

Buddha, who predicted the formation of Mandalay

The 9ft circumference

Later in the evening, we joined our friends for a Spoken English class and then were guests of honor at the puppet show. The following day, we headed on a tour of the area surrounding Mandalay, visiting another 3 previous capitals of Myanmar. (The whole, moving the capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw makes more sense given the history of moving capitals.)

We went to Bagaya Monastery, which (according to Lonely Planet) was built in 1834 during the reign of King Bagyidaw. The monastery has 267 gigantic teak wood posts and is made entirely of teak wood. Here, Olesya and I are standing next to the largest post, with a circumference of more than 9 feet (determined, quite scientifically, by me wrapping my arms around several posts to see which one I could not wrap myself half-way around... because everyone knows that the length of your arm-span is equal to your height, right?).

Resting along the bridge

We finished our day watching the sun set on U Bein's Bridge, Amarapura. The bridge is... guess what? Made of teak wood! And, guess what? It's the largest teak wood bridge in the world, at 1.2 km long. It has many rest-stops along the way, with people fishing, young people wandering, and boats trying to lure tourists to take scenic tours on Lake Taungthaman. We found it more fun to walk across the bridge and stop along the way to people watch. And, we finally got to see our sunset (the first, planned in Bagan, was rained out).

Monks at a rest stop

Our last stop in Mandalay was to get Olesya an experience in a Mandalay teahouse (she has a bit of an obsession with tea and coffee). We headed back to our guesthouse, thoroughly exhausted. The next day, we headed back to Yangon. After all our site-seeing, we headed with our farang friends for lunch, gift buying in the market, and a nice pedicure.

Then I headed to the airport for my flight back to Bangkok. I had a slight challenge in the airport when I was trying to leave. (Apparently I tend to underestimate my challenges... according to my dad, when I said I had a slight challenge, he was expecting something a little more dramatic. In retrospect, as usual, it's a bit amusing and a familiar experience.) As in many countries were the currency is overinflated and US dollars become the defacto currency, many places in Myanmar only accepted specific kinds of US currency. Where we (as Americans) might see one 1-dollar bill as equally valuable as another 1-dollar bill, people in Myanmar don't (see Zimbabwe). Since I don't use US dollars here, my supply was a bit more limited than the average traveler's might have otherwise been. I brought enough money, but didn't count on a quarter of it being unacceptable due to marks, serial numbers, or something else mysterious being wrong with it. So my challenge came when I needed to pay the $10 departure fee. I had 10 USD but apparently they were not acceptable. I tried Thai baht - I had a beautiful, new 500 baht note (worth about $15). Luckily they accepted (at a slighly poor exchange rate) and I was able to leave as planned!

Our guides and friends :)

I will definitely have to go back to Myanmar some day soon. I really enjoyed my time there and I'd like to go back and see some of the friends I made. I just hope that one day they will be able to have free, fair elections and a peaceful government. If you would like to see more pictures from my trip, I posted them on Facebook.