Fox Trotting

As promised, here are a few highlights from my weekend in Myitkyina. Once again I was very lucky to have Seng Myaw with me as she was an awesome guide! Another one of our colleagues, Thet Thet Wah, was also in Myitkyina for work that week and for a long time it has been her "dream trip"to visit Indawgyi Lake where there is a pagoda in the middle of the lake. So she organized a car for us to take and Seng Myaw and her friend came along as well. We had to get up extremely   early so that we could make it to the lake and back before Thet Thet Wah caught her 5 pm flight. However, the views at sunrise were so spectacular I could almost forgive her.  Me (and my always handy Maasai travel blanket), Shwe, Seng Myaw and Thet Thet Wah The town where we stopped for some breakfast  A ride that was supposed to take 3 hours took us 5... so we arrived at the lake around 10 am, and I was in for quite a surprise. My Myanmar friends had purchased some popcorn f

Sneaking out onto the tarmac at Heho Airport for a sunset photo. (by sneaking I mean no one batted an eye) The last month has been quite busy! Evelyn and I travelled to the coast to Ngwe Saung with Tara as she was doing a triathlon. It was a six hour drive there and back on Saturday and Sunday but man was the afternoon of quiet at the beach nice. The water was so warm and I got to dip my toes in the Bay of Bengal!  Ugo and Evelyn at the Yangon Sailing Club for Friday drinks In Ngwe Saung Spectacular sunset over the Bay of Bengal After returning back to Yangon on Sunday, I then left for Taunggyi on Monday morning with my colleague Seng Myaw.  Seng Myaw and I spent the week delivering training on the IDLO's sexual harassment in the workplace policy at the different Rule of Law Centres. I had a lot of fun getting to see each ROLC location and it was nice to see everyone again. Taunggyi (where I went for the balloon festival) is located in Shan state,

Last weekend, Evelyn and I travelled to the beautiful city of Taunggyi in Shan State for the Fire Balloon Festival. Thadingyut marks the beginning of the Festival of Lights for the entire following month, known as Tazaungdaing, ending at the full moon in November. The lovely people of Taunggyi and the surrounding area have decided the best way to celebrate the end of the Festival of Lights is to have a week-long fire balloon contest.  From the pagoda at the top of the mountain above Taunggyi. The city below is on a plateau and about 1400 m above sea level.  It was so lovely to be out of Yangon and breathing this wonderful fresh air.  It does get cool at night, so it was also nice to wear jeans and a sweater for a change! The Festival grounds at night  - more human-powered carnival rides! You know those pretty small paper balloons you always see people in Thailand lighting to send floating into the sky? Ya - the Fire Balloon Festival is like that but done Myanmar styl

Last week, October 23-25, was the Thadingyut Festival in Myanmar. It's also known as the Lighting Festival and happens over the full moon every October. It's the second biggest festival (the biggest is the Water Festival in April) and  is supposed to celebrate Buddha’s descent from heaven after he preached the Abhidhamma  to his mother  who was reborn in heaven (thanks Wikipedia). Because its the Lighting Festival, everyone decorates their balconies with different kinds of lights - it's almost like Christmas at home! Most of the country had all three days off as a public holiday, but we only got the 24th since we work for an international organization. But, I'll take what I can get. It did mean it was a little lonely in the expat world  since most people took off the week and went travelling, but Evelyn and I made the most of it. On Tuesday night Evelyn and I headed to the Yae Kyaw Night Market.  Streets near the market  were  shut down and packed with people

Chillies at the market I should start off by saying that many a blog both Evelyn and I read before coming to Myanmar mentioned the food was terrible, so perhaps this sufficiently lowered our expectations, but I have honestly enjoyed almost all the local food we've had the opportunity to eat! The first week and a half we were here we had to eat out a lot while we waited for our apartment to be ready, so we had the opportunity to try quite a bit - including going on two street food tours!  Here are a few highlights from the last few weeks: 1. Mohinga Mohinga is one of the 'national' dishes of Myanmar and one that might just be my favourite. It's a fish noodle soup that is traditionally eaten for breakfast/morning snack. I know, fish soup sounds gross but it honestly doesn't taste like fish at all. Apparently, the fish is first brined for 24 hours in turmeric and lemongrass before the broth is then simmered for another 24 hours. By the time it is going in