Hsipaw : a visit in the Shan region !

To stay fit, we went to Hsipaw to make a 2-days trek. With Sai our guide and 5 other hikers, Iva from Australia, Seb, Delphine 1, Delphine 2 and Bertrand from France, we walked in the Shan countryside! Shan is one of the tribes which live in Myanmar. Its language is similar to Thai and themselves, they say they are Thai. After hiking and passing through several villages we stopped in a school: All pupils in the same room!!! That’s really noisy and loud…

As the teacher for the younger ones was absent, we try to “discuss” with the children; they were really impressed by my necklace made with camel teeth!!! They understood it is made of teeth but we don’t think they know they come from a camel…! At least we had fun together ;-)

At night, we were hosted by a Shan family who cooked a traditional meal. Rice, several vegetable curries, tea leaves salad and tofu chips! Ery good but very oily!!!

We spent a nice evening together, doing some “Light painting” (we will show you what it is later…) and chatting about everything and nothing! After that, good night, we were tired of the day!

The second day was easier, we walked only downwards and we had a bath in hot springs!!! We also had a delicious smoothie and a warm shower!!!

In Hsipaw we also met an incredible woman : Fern: She is the niece of the last Shan Prince and is now taking care of the Shan palace. The palace has nothing special but its history is really impressive to understand the political situation of the country.

Sao Kya Seng, the Shan prince, lived in this palace and had married an Austrian woman met in the USA during his studies. The life in the palace was nice but after the military pouch in 1962 the prince disappeared.. He was arrested by the army and sent in prison from where he could send a message to his wife. When all prisoners were free, the prince didn’t come home. The princess asked the government to give her a death certificate of her husband and wanted some explanation but the government did not recognize anything. They even said, that they never arrested the prince…

Because of the situation in the country, the princess and her 2 daughters left the country and find a place (as refugees) in the USA. Every year the spouse of the prince sent request to Myanmar to give her a letter recognizing the death of her husband. No answer came, except one letter with interdiction to come again to Myanmar!

The story could have stop here, but what Fern told us after, made us think about the political situation of Myanmar: from 1995, Fern and her husband Donald were used to welcome visitors in the palace to tell them about the tragedy of the Shan family; but in 2005, Donald was arrested and condemned to 13 years of prison because “he didn’t have a tourist license”. Of course it was only a pretext to arrest him: Few months before, in 2005, a meeting was organized to write the new Shan constitution. Donald was supposed to attend this meeting but his wife was in hospital and he was with her; so the army couldn’t arrest him because of the meeting and had to find another “reason”…

Visits stopped, because Fern was afraid to be arrested too and needed to see her husband once every two weeks. 4 years later, to show the whole world that Myanmar was a fair and democratic country, the government granted amnesty to 4000 prisoners. Luckily Donald was one of the 4000. He was free but had to stay in the palace with interdiction to speak to foreigners!

Since 2012, visits have started again and the couple explains its history to everyone who wants to hear it. And without being too “direct”, you can feel that they are against the government… Myanmar has still many progresses to do before becoming a real democracy and the country needs people like Fern and Donald to make the things change!!! Let’s see next year if the new election will bring some good news for the country…

Inle Lake : Life on the water

After 10 hours in a “frozen” bus (aircon was set on the lowest temperature), we arrived in Inle Lake. This big lake is famous for its traditional fishermen who use a net made of bamboo to fish!

After a “day off” to rest (that we also used to book our flight ticket to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Easter Island, and Chile), we rented bikes to go around!! When we passed in front of the winery we couldn’t resist!!! But the wine was not really good (and the quantities too small)… but they had blue cheese… And I love it!!! (Romain preferred garlic bread…)

The next morning we did a boat ride on the lake. A whole life is organized on the lake. Houses built on stilts, with canals instead of streets and boats instead of cars are everywhere on the lake. Even the gardening is made on the water…a real floating garden! The market is also on boats! (Unfortunately we couldn’t see it because it was full moon and there is no market on full moon)

During our tour we also visited many temples, pagodas and monasteries, but also a lot of small handmade shops. Do you know that lotus is used to make string and then fabrics that are sold 7 times more than silk???

We met « long neck women », these Burmese women wear big necklaces which give an impression of a very long neck. It was astonishing to see them “in live” but we think that these women were only “paid to be long neck women” so that tourists can buy their cotton scarves…

Our tour ended with a cigar factory made with banana leaves, and filled with tobacco mixed with anise and other plants or spices!

 Even if the visit of the lake is very touristic, we really enjoyed it and we highly recommend it !

Bago : New games for our collection

We went to Bago, a city well known for its temples, monasteries and pagodas…But the entrance fees are 10 $ each!!! And as we will see other religious sites later, we preferred to visit a local school!!!
It is not easy to be understood in Myanmar… But we were lucky to meet a mother who speaks a little bit English. She helped us to explain our project to the head master and as usual we spent a great time with the children.

The oldest ones were busy, so we went in the classroom of the younger ones. In one single room, 3 classes sat on the floor. The oldest ones (6 years old) showed us 2 new games! In the first one, children make a circle. One player is inside the circle and one is outside. The circle sings and turns. The player outside of the circle has to catch the player inside. He can do what he wants: stay outside or go inside the circle, but the one inside the circle cannot go outside. It is funny to look at, but it is not clearly “organized”! 

In the second game, children make a column and hold each others’ shoulders. One player is alone, facing the column. He has to catch the last child of the column without getting caught by the others! Again, a lot of laughs in the classroom!! But nothing compared to the noise they made when we explained (and demonstrated) them the game “I lost a letter”!!! They really enjoyed it!!! (at least as much as we did!!)

Last but not least, we took the traditional group picture and them we let them learn… The head master offered us some drinks and we discussed for a while. School is free and mandatory in Myanmar but we noticed something (we didn’t dear to talk about it): There are as many girls and boys in the young classes but when we looked at the oldest class (10 years old), only few girls attended the lesson… And unfortunately we saw a lot of young girls working on the street market! We cannot make any conclusion, as it is only an observation but it is a point to consider!!!

Hmm, well, I guess you want to know why the children have some “make –up” on their faces? Actually it is not “make-up”, it is called “Thanaka”. Thanaka is used to protect the skin against the sun, the heat… but it is also an antiseptic, a deodorising and a perfume… We thought it was like clay but it is made of…. Wood!!! This “medicinal” wood is transformed into powder by shredding it against a rock. This powder is humidified and you get the Thanaka. Everyone use it, women, men and children! 

 

Yangon and Kinpun : Welcome to Myanmar

Hey, sorry fo the late update but internet in Myanmar is like trying to find French Cheese with row milk....very difficult ;-) 

Even if everybody still think about « Burma », this country has a new name (Myanmar) since 1989. (Because Burma only refers to one tribe, and there are more than 100). Myanmar is “free” since 1948… the word « independent » is more appropriated because the government is still in the hands of the army !

After these few geo political explanations, let’s go back to our adventure ! We arrived in Yangon (before called Rangoon but it was the British name and after the independency, the country changed the name), which is not anymore the capital of Myanmar (Now it’s Napyidaw). Like most big cities, there is a lot of noise, of traffic (even if Yangon didn’t seem “traffic jammed”) and “few” sightseeing! (Thus the colonial area is nice to visit)

But discovering  the Schwedagon Pagoda is worth it. It is the most sacred site of the country. The pagoda is 99 meters high, covered by gold and incrusted with thousands of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Hundreds of Buddha, a lot of gold and a peaceful place. We enjoy this visit even if the LED- aureole are a bit “too much”!

After these 2 days in the noise, we took a bus to the “Golden Rock”. The Golden Rock is located on the top of Mount Kyaiktiyo and it is also a sacred site for pilgrims. A 7,6 meter tall rock with a pagoda on top stands on the edge of the mountain at 1100 meters above sea level. The legend says that this rock only stands because of a Buddha’s hair. Male pilgrims put gold leaves on the rock.

We could have climb to the rock but we took the local way to go: a big truck where 50 people are put in…. Very funny!!! 

Thailand - Celebration of the festival of Lights (Loy Krathong)

Thailand was not on our “travel map” (As we’ve been there 2 years ago) but our Indian via was expiring just before the festival of Lights. And as we had to fly through Bangkok to go to Myanmar, we decided to make a 10 day stop in Thailand and explore the North.

First we went to Chiang Mai where Loy Krathong is very well celebrated. This festival occurs each year at the 12th full moon of the Thai calendar. “Loy” means “to float” in Thai. Like the tradition says, people put some “krathongs” on the water. A “krathong” is a small floating boat made with banana leaves and decorated with flowers, a candle and 3 incense sticks. The meaning of this boat is to abandon your fears, your anger and your resentment… to be free from all your negative and hard feelings accumulated during the year. Putting a Krathong in the water is a good way to well start the year. Candle is here to honour Buddha.

The origin of Loy Krathong is to be find in the Hindu festival Diwali which celebrates and honours the Goddess of the Ganges. During that festival, people put candles on the Ganges. 

In Chiang Mai there is also a specific tradition : people launch hundreds of lanterns in the sky: this paper balloons, heated by a candle, go high in the sky like hundreds of stars. It is also a good time to have fun with fireworks and crackers! 

Loy Krathong is celebrated during several days (between 3 and 6 depending on where you are) and is accompanied with parades, and dancers, all dressed with traditional clothes and lights of course !

We really enjoyed being in Chiang Mai because it remembered us our first holidays in this country and it was like a « test » for our world trip !

We also spend time with Emeric, Romain’s colleague who also took few months off to travel ! 

We then spent our few last days in the North of the country. In Chiang Dao we did a short jungle trek but most important, we met really nice people : Michel and Jennifer, a Dutch couple and Martin and Sarah, a Swiss couple. Together we had fun, played billiard, drunk cocktail (with moderation…), and had a bath in hot springs !

In Chiang Rai we were amazed by the beauty of the White Temple. It is a modern temple with traditional aspects! Incredible how incredible it is!!

We flew from Chiang Rai to Yangon in Myanmar but until the last moment we were really scared… In fact, we read “too quickly” the Myanmar Immigration website and we thought we could get our visa on arrival. But 3 days before our flight, we checked again and we realized that this visa on arrival was not for tourism purpose! We did our application for an E-visa, but this can take up to 5 days… The day of our flight, we didn’t receive the confirmation of our visa, so we flew to Bangkok and we were almost going to cancel the next flight to Myanmar but just at the airport we received our E visas! Wahoo, that was short but we got it!!!

See you then in Myanmar!!!

We have a dream… One day, the Children Rights will be respected !!!

….Unfortunately it is still a dream…. It is a pity, because having Rights is such an important thing!!

UNO has always been fighting for Peace in the World, but peace can only exist if every Human Being has rights. And children have specific needs, so it is normal that they also have specific Rights. In 1959, UNO adopted the Declaration of the Children Rights and this Declaration was completed by a Convention in 1989.

On the 20^th November 2014, we are celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the Children Rights Day!

Those Rights are listed below:

1. The right to equality, without distinction on account of race, religion or national origin.

2. The right to special protection for the child’s physical, mental and social development.

3. The right to a name and a nationality.

4. The right to adequate nutrition, housing and medical services.

5. The right to special education and treatment when a child is physically or mentally handicapped.

6. The right to understanding and love by parents and society.

7. The right to recreational activities and free education.

8. The right to be among the first to receive relief in all circumstances.

9. The right to protection against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation.

10. The right to be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, and universal brotherhood.

Unfortunately, specifically today, a lot of children have their Rights violated ! And sometimes you just need to open your eyes and watch carefully to discover that it is not necessary to be in a so-called poor country to face this situation!!!

The Children Rights were yours few years ago!!! One day, our country, our world, will be governed by our children… So in the hope of having a better world one day, we need to fight to make these Rights being respected EVERYWHERE, EVERYTIME!!! As these children, who give their smiles to this cause, stand up and talk!!!!

We have a dream…. One day, everybody will understand why having Right sis so important and why we need to respect them !!!   

Corinne, Jules - France, Sangeeta, Riya, Priya, Jai Prakash - India with the sign "Please respect the rights of all children of the world"

Riya, Priya - India

Vasnave - India

Ronhan, Honey, Daljeet - India

Suma - India

Poe - Myanmar

Snow - Myanmar

Me Me - Myanmar

Su - Myanmar

Thita - Myanmar

24 April 2014 – 24 November 2014 – The Light My Fire Adventure blog is going on !!!

7 months already that we are traveling and that we try to share our experience and feelings with you! 7 months already that we are carrying our backpacks (heavy sometimes) and that we are sleeping in a new bed almost every evening! 7 months already that YOU are following our outdoor adventure!! 7 months already that the Light My Fire sporks are giving away here and there on Earth….

7 months already that we are having fun and sharing smiles with children from all around the world ! With a ball, a skipping rope, singing or just running together, playing is universal. And if there are some differences in some places, games are very similar, just the language is different sometimes!! 

We are amazingly surprized and happy each time we share moments with kids. They don’t have fear, they don’t judge you…. If only grown-ups could sometimes imitate children….

And 7 months already that we realize a lot of things:

-                                                Going on an adventure can be seen like a challenge but we realized that only the first step (« i’ll do it ») is difficult… When you want to do something, everything appears clear to your mind and the way is easy to follow !

-                                                 Some « things » of our « consumer life » are non-necessary (or at least don’t need as much care as we do) and sometimes they refrain you from doing “interesting things”…. You can easily replace the television screen by playing cards or just a “discussion evening”

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                          Carrying a lot of stuff in our backpacks (like tent and mattresses) can be difficult in local transports but it is so nice to be able to camp everywhere, to have our own “cosy home” instead of sharing a dark and noisy dorm!!! And in our tent we can also hear a lion roaring (or maybe it was our snoring guide??? We didn’t check!!!

-                                                 Discovering new cultures, and new people every single day can be tiring or at least confusing but it is a great exercise for shy people!!! And what a good surprise when you find yourself eating a Swiss cheese fondue in Jakarta by 35 degrees with a Muslim family or when you visit a fort with an Indian family who wants their children to “discover the world”!!! Best moments are the ones we share with people!!!

-                                              Traveling is also discovering ourselves… and growing-up in a way!!! Together we can easily see those changes!! Romain is less shy but he is more stressed than I am when something unplanned happens. Oddly (I surprise myself) I stay “zen” and calm even when we are in a difficult situation (like when we discovered 3 days before our flight to Myanmar that we needed a visa which takes up to 5 days!!!)

-                                              Going on an adventure makes you realize how lucky you are to have such a great family, great friends and of course great blog readers!!!!

-                                               From a down to Earth point of view, spending 7 days a week (or almost) in the Great Outdoor where the climate is sunny makes you have a nice brownish skin without any effort !!! Travelling makes you look good!!!

-                                               « Living outside » makes you realize that the nature is beautiful but if we don’t take care about it, it will be lost sooner as we think ! We don’t need to be ecologist activists but we can try to make simple things like saving water, switching off lights when not in use, recycling…. The words “Water – shortage” take all their meaning in some parts of the world and we all have a role to play in it, don’t forget it!!!!

So if you have a dream (no matters which dream it is), just do it!!! Even if you have some troubles or difficulties on your way, you’ll be so happy to achieve your dream… And as the proverb says “Better to live with remorse than with regrets”!!!!