Yangon, Myanmar

Arriving in Myanmar was undoubtedly one of the more adventurous moments of our voyage. Few people have been to Myanmar, which enhanced my gratitude for what we were experiencing. Arriving at the port of Yangon, with mist and fog rising from the ground, with the rising sun illuminating them into gold clouds, made the arrival even more magical. Wandering around Yangon the first day was one of those days where all your senses are heightened, from street food, street vendors, crowded streets, beautiful balconies on old buildings, power lines stretched across streets, birds and birdcages, people wearing Thanaka on their faces, an old train running through the city, a deep-red sunset, and then the highlight of the day, the iconic Shwedagon Pagoda, the gold-plated stupa surrounded by candles, buddhas, shrines, and spiritual offerings. The next day I went on one of the best Semester at Sea field programs I ever joined, a three-night, four-day journey to Mandalay and Bagan, traveling between the two cities by boat, on the Irrawaddy River. One of the reasons the program was better than most was because of our tour guide Su Su, who was truly happy to welcome us to her country that she clearly and dearly loves. She treated us like family, and the best evidence of how she openly interacted with us like family was the tears she cried as she said goodbye to our group four days later. Having Su Su tell us stories, explain spiritual practices, read our palms, and answer our questions, created a more immersive experience with her as our guide. My photos and videos from Myanmar are some of the best of the entire voyage, from the teak posts of the U Bein Bridge, the gold-plated Mahamuni Buddha, the mystical wood-carvings of the Shwe Kyaung monastery, the Kuthodaw Pagoda with 729 stupas, each containing a marble slab page of the worlds largest book, the daylong ride along the Irrawaddy River, starting and ending with a glowing sunrise and sunset, passing along fishing boats and stopping in a village to interact with locals and learn about how the riverbank clay provides a thriving pottery industry, and one of the highlights of the entire voyage, a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the thousands of pagodas of Bagan. If sailing around the world wasn't enough to make me think I was only dreaming, the hot air balloon ride over the pagodas of Bagan certainly felt like a surreal dream, far far away from real life. That such a beautiful, spiritual, and magical city like Bagan could also be relatively free of tourists, since Myanmar only recently opened its borders to tourists, made the experience all the more a surreal dream, yet this was my real life, and a moment in my life for which I am eternally grateful. 

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