For Christmas we took an extremely crowded, winding, 2 hour bus ride to a local beach spot in Western Myanmar. We were missing our families but other than a couple decorations, and the occasional local in a Santa hat, we weren't often reminded that it was a holiday. We met up with Kristen and Sean again to spend the holiday together, so we exchanged some little gifts we had collected and that was fun.
Christmas Eve we hung on the beach and played ball with some local kids. They stand in a circle and juggle a small bamboo ball. Afterwards they had us play them 5v4 in a soccer game and they kicked our butts!
Christmas morning we woke early to skype our families on Christmas eve on the East Coast
Clockwise from left: Me, Kristen & some drying fish, daily life at the bus station- monks, vendors, bikes, etc., Matty & Sean crammed on to the bus (Kristen hidden behind them)- we were late so they had little stools in the aisle to sit on. I was lucky and got put up front with the driver and a monk. Bottom right: local beach scene at Chaung Tha.
This was truly a local spot so we were the strange ones. This collage is all people taking photos of us, stopping to stare at us, or asking to take photos with us. Especially Matt & Sean, both 6ft.
Selling things off an end table on her head, little boys trying to sell us shells, guy offering rides on his painted horse...
The restaurant we stopped at was owned by a family with a little girl. they spoke zero English but she stayed with us the whole time we were here. I brought my Thanakha and she helped us all put it on. She thought this was hysterical.
Best part of the day: Matt gets called over to play guitar with some locals (somehow they always know he can play guitar...), Sean playing catch with a boy in the water, and me teaching some kids how to play tic tac toe. Kristen was buddied up with our friend at the table. If we couldn't be with family, this was the best possible alternative!
Walking back we found a rock to play on, of course the top is a painted golden stupa. Myanmar doesn't have any climbers that we could find..
Our Christmas lunch was veggies and a fried fish..
Ordering food is always interesting - it's hard to know what you will end up with. Day after Christmas, Matt took on this beautifully served fried fish soup dish.
Click below to watch the first ever recording of Matt and his friend playing an original Myanmar Christmas song (as far as we know). He taught it to Matt and came back later for an encore. It goes 'Merry Christmas Merry Christmas, to you, to you all! Repeat.
Updated version of video: http://youtu.be/90gt71mKOeI
After Christmas we headed North to Bagan, so that's coming up.
xxx ELM
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