Loving These Streets.

All in all Burma turned out to be a great experience, and looking back it's mainly the friendly and curious people of the country that really left a lasting impression on me. It's not everyday that you get to travel a country with so much on offer, but at the same time has yet to be corrupted by the masses of tourists like its neighbouring countries.

It is large in part a check list sort of place to travel, for me it was anyways. Trekking adds another aspect to what the country has on offer for tourists, but it was something I just wasn't up for after 3 weeks on the trail in Nepal. My time spent here pretty much consisted of arriving at a destination, exploring the surrounding sights, and then moving on to the next place to do the same. Sounds like your standard way of travelling I know, but it's not something I like doing for weeks on end. I need a bit of chaos in a destination to keep me entertained when I can't take anymore temples and pagodas. The places I've enjoyed most in my travels didn't really have these 'must see' sights all the time, India being a great example. The crazy and chaotic streets are an attraction in themselves, simply emerging from your guesthouse and trying to wrap your brain around the shear scale of humanity surrounding you leaves an impression on your psyche that no temple or museum can match.

This is the type of travel I crave and I can't really put my finger on why. The noise irritates me, the smells disgust me, and the rickshaw drivers drive me nowhere but mad. But once I arrive back at my hotel and I rest my aching brain on a pillow after a day of getting lost in the churning madness of these cities, I simply shake my head and smile. THIS is how the majority of the world lives, and if they can do it on a daily basis in these conditions then I have not a single complaint about my life back home in Canada.

I shouldn't anyways, yet I still catch myself doing it at times. Like anything in life though it's a work in progress, and the progress made since I first set foot out into the abyss to see how the other 90% live has been quite a feat.

If there's any country on this planet that can put an end to my trivial complaints about life back home I think it'll be Bangladesh. So far in the span of 11 days I've seen more smiles, been said hello to more times, and have witnessed more public displays of laughter and joy than I have in 11 months of walking around Vancouver's streets. I watched a tea vendor pack up his belongings after a 16 hour shift with a smile ear to ear, still shouting out the odd greeting to one of the countless passing local customers he calls friends. He's not packing up to go home is thing, he's transforming his tea stall back into the shelter where he sleeps, and he's doing it with a smile.

How can the majority of mankind who are poor seem happier than the minority who are not? I feel condescending even calling them poor, who am I to label an individual poor only by looking at what they own possession wise.

If there's one thing I know it's that possessions mean absolutely nothing in life. Accumulating life experiences over tangible goods is the key to my happiness, and clearly it's the same key that the people all over the world that we label 'poor' are using as well.

They chose the correct option by default, they never were able to buy expensive cars and fancy gadgets. They're making the best out of a bad situation by all coming together and supporting one another through business, charity, and religion; they're creating positive life experiences with the cards they were dealt, and that positive energy radiates throughout the streets as you wander the crowded sidewalks and buzzing markets. Morning, day, and night -the streets of Asia are bursting with life and I absolutely love wandering through them.

I guess I answered my own question....this is why I love these sorts of places.

My trip to Bangladesh is being cut short by a few days; the prospect of crossing the near by Indian border coupled with my still valid Indian visa has been dangling in front of my face like a carrot on a stick. I'm finally giving into that temptation and tonight I'm boarding a 12 hour bus to Kolkata.

Speaking of which, I do have a small confession to make. The tea vendor I was writing about was actually from Kolkata, I frequented his stall in the final days of my previous Indian trip 2 years back. He just seemed to come into my mind while writing so I threw him in there. I'll be paying him a visit tomorrow morning if he's still around. One street West of Tottie Lane just off of Sudder Street if I'm not mistaken.

I love Chai !

No Bangladesh pictures here, these are all from my 2 weeks spent in Burma.

Where Was I?

I think I was talking about going to some place called Orissa.

I never did catch that train, I tried twice actually but India wouldn't let me. I instead flew to the beaches of South India to finally enjoy some ocean side R&R. My intended destination all along was Sri Lanka, but those pesky little beach towns that dot the South Indian Coast just so happened to be in my way, so I made a point of stopping at a select few.

One town in particular had been on my radar ever since leaving it 2 years ago. It goes by the name of Gokarna, and the city proper is an important Hindu pilgrimage town because of the Mahabaleshwar Temple which is situated in the middle of the city. It gives that authenticity of being in India that other beach towns in the country just can't match. Just south over the hill however lies a string of idyllic palm studded beaches, and it was here that some of the most memorable days of my previous Indian trip took place over a 2 week period. On one of the beaches lies a small bungalow operation owned and operated by a friendly fellow named Shireese, and as soon as I kicked the sand off my feet and strutted into his beach side restaurant I got the trademark smile I've been waiting almost 2 years to see again.

"I forget your name but I remember your face" he said. "Welcome back my friend!"

I love these kind of travel moments.

Masala Chai by day, Kingfisher beer by night, and a whole lot of eating and lying on the beach in between. It's pretty much all there is to do in Gokarna, but I wasn't complaining. When you do start to feel a bit lethargic the 45 minute walk into town is a great way to stretch your legs and get away from the beach blanket. A week spent there and another week at the cliffs of Varkala off the coast of Kerala and it was time to depart for Sri Lanka.

The country of Sri Lanka wasn't quite like I expected. It was much more developed,  a bit more expensive, and a lot cleaner than countries I'm used to travelling in, especially in this region of the world. The Christmas high season made it even harder to secure budget digs, but all in all I had an absolutely incredible time there, large in part to the amazing group of people I met. Everything got off to a rough start with a mild bout of homesickness, mainly caused by me spending Christmas abroad for the first time in 32 years, but after New Years came and went I got into a good groove of meeting new people and making new friends. I rode that groove right through my 9 days spent in Bangkok as well to where I currently am now -Myanmar.

The same can be said for the whole trip thus far. Since leaving Vancouver almost 4 months ago I've probably met more people than I did in the 8 months spent abroad on my previous trip. I left home excited to be seeing some countries that I've always wanted to see, but if I could be transported back to Oct.9 2013 when I was sitting in YVR's departure lounge anxiously waiting for my flight to Japan, I'd be more excited about what random people I'd meet and befriend over what Tokyo as a city had on offer tourism wise.

This trip has changed the very reason of why I love going on these trips. I'm not just here to tick countries off my bucket list anymore, I'm here to meet people and make connections with the locals of the country as well as the like minded people from all parts of the globe who share this adventurous spirit of travel. Everyone you meet while travelling is on the same path with no set destination; instantaneously you have swaths of things in common and before you know it you've been chatting to a person you may have just met as if you were life long friends. We're all just trying to get lost in a world that's increasingly becoming hard to get lost in, and the random collisions we have along the way with other people make up the memories that we take home and cherish for a lifetime. The best part of getting lost is finding your way back in the end, and it's through that journey that you learn so much about yourself, about others, and about this magnificent planet we live on.

I'm not done yet trying to get lost, but to be honest my gas tank is running a little low. My destination after Myanmar is still up in the air, but it's nothing a cup of decision making tea can't handle!