Final day in Myanmar

After a lovely few days in Bagan, I returned to Yangon and had just one day left in Myanmar. What’s a girl to do with only one day left in a country? Stick around the ship and rest? NO WAY! Instead I was up bright and early for a Noviciation Ceremony.

Myanmar is a primarily Buddhist country and all men have to go to the monastery at least twice in their lives: when they are around nine years old and again when they are about 18. Women can enter the monastery as well but they are not required to do so. The children have to stay for at least a week but most stay longer. While they are at the monastery, the children study Buddhist texts. There are three groups of 20 Buddhist books per group which the monks must memorize and the books get more difficult as you progress through them. Most people pass group one, fewer pass group two and less than 10 monks in the whole country of Myanmar have passed through all three groups.

There is a special ceremony when the little boys become novice monks: a noviciation ceremony. Semester at Sea sponsored a noviciation ceremony for five new novices and myself as well as a number of other members of the shipboard community got to be part of the ceremony.

Parade featuring the new novices.

We arrived at the monastery just in time for a parade of sorts to occur. The parade featured many novices, monks and nuns (female monks) already in the monastery as well as the little boys who were entering the monastery for the first time. There was drumming and dancing as the parade marched around the monastery and down a nearby side street, letting everyone know that the ceremony was about to begin.

During the ceremony, the little boys were introduced to the head monk and recited what seemed like an oath of some kind (they were speaking Burmese so we didn’t really know what was happening). After reciting the oath, the boys’ heads were shaved and they were dressed in official burgundy monk robes. Next they recited their prayers for the first time as novices and were finally presented to the crowd as novice monks. The boys’ families were present for the ceremony and a big cheer roared through the crowd when the new novices were presented. You could tell this was important to the families and they were very proud.

After watching the ceremony, we were able to serve lunch to the monks, novices and nuns in the monastery. I was on banana duty and I have to say, some monks were not excited about the fruit options, or lack thereof (hey, I understand their feelings after eating ship food for the past three months!).

Overall the noviciation ceremony was a unique way to spend the day and offered a small window into Myanmar culture and religion.

Have you had enough of Myanmar?! All right, all right…the next post will be about India, my final port in Asia. Stay tuned!

Boys will be boys, whether they are monks or not.

Feeding the monks, all 1,400 of them!

Presentation of the new novices.

Presentation of the new novices.

Shaving the novices' heads.

Saying their prayers for the first time as novices.

New novice.

Female monks.

Bagan, land of 2,200 temples

If you are templed-out from reading all about the Shwedagon Pagoda in my first post about my Myanmar travels, do not continue reading because MANY more are coming your way!

Umbrellas for sale at one of the temples.

On my second day in Myanmar, I took an early morning flight to begin my 4-day, 3-night trip to Bagan. Bagan is located in central Myanmar in what is considered a dry zone. The dry heat could be felt immediately, as the humidity I experienced in Yangon had completely vanished when I stepped off the plane in Bagan. The landscape reminded me a bit of some areas in Texas and the southwest U.S. with sandy, reddish dirt and scrubby-looking shrubs and trees that crackle when the hot air blows through.

The unique thing about Bagan is that red brick and gold temples pop out of the semi-arid landscape. Now, I’m not talking a few temples here and there. Bagan features over 2,000 temples, pagodas and monasteries! The sheer number of temples is amazing; they stretch across the Bagan plains for as far as the eye can see.  I tried to take pictures of the expanse of temples but my camera doesn’t do it justice.

Ananada Temple

My trip included visits to several temples and pagodas (including Mount Popa, which included a 700+ step staircase to get to the very top temples!) but also to a monastery to distribute food and hygiene products, a local village to see what life is really like for Myanmar citizens as well as a sunset cruise down the Irrawaddy River. The trip culminated with a candle- and temple-lite dinner and dancing elephant performance. The dinner was like something straight out of The Bachelor-so romantic-and the dancing elephant performance was very unique. I liken the elephant dance to the dancing dragons that you see celebrating Chinese New Year, just with a different animal.

Aside from the beautiful temple visits and chance to see a “real” side of Myanmar, I enjoyed this trip as well as the remainder of my travels in this country because of the people. Myanmar has not been open to foreigners for very long so tourists are still an oddity. I was welcomed whole-heartedly everywhere I went and people were genuinely friendly and interested in me. Despite having a fairly new tourist industry in Myanmar, they are well set-up with nice, cheap hotels and amazing restaurants serving great, safe meals. If you are interested in traveling somewhere in Asia where you won’t be hassled at every stop and instead welcomed to the country, Myanmar has my vote. Visit Myanmar and visit now.

Horse-cart ride through the Bagan plains.

Htilomirelo Temple.

Htilomirelo Temple.

Local monastery. I don't blame this dog-it was HOT!

Mount Popa in the background.

Fellow SAS staffer Cate and I on the Irrawaddy River.

This guy was very proud of his cattle.

Shwesandaw Stupa.

Shwezigon Pagoda.

Sunset over the Irrawaddy River.

Sunset over Bagan temples.

View from Bagan Muo Temple during sunset.

View from Bagan Muo during sunset.

View from the top of Mount Popa.

View of the temples in Bagan.

Dancing elephant at our farewell dinner.

Candlelight farewell dinner.

Singapore…meh…

Following my surprisingly wonderful 6 days in Vietnam, we set sail for two days before arriving in Singapore for the weekend. I was very excited to visit Singapore, as I’d heard good reviews from friends who had previously visited, but in the end I think one weekend in Singapore is enough for me. It wasn’t my favorite city but regardless, I’ll tell you how I spent the weekend.

We arrived in Singapore on a Saturday morning. I was very busy working that morning because one of the field labs I’d planned fell apart the afternoon prior so it was a hectic few hours as I tried to find something different for these students to do. I confirmed the new field lab itinerary one hour before the student’s departed-talk about cutting it close! I continued working into the late morning, making sure everyone got off the ship, and my co-worker Andrew and I were treated to a wonderful dim-sum lunch in Singapore’s Chinatown by Semester at Sea’s tour operator! It was a-mazing – so much food and the tour operator was very nice and generous. This is the first time the tour operator has provided my field office co-workers and I with any kind of meal or gift, so it was a welcome surprise!

Raffles Hotel in Singapore

After lunch, the tour operator brought Andrew and I back to the ship and I went out into the city on my own. First I made my way to Raffles Hotel, a hotel named after Singapore’s founder Stamford Raffles. It is a beautiful hotel and rumor has it that the “Singapore Sling” drink was created at this hotel. The hotel has capitalized on this and the Slings were far too expensive for my taste!

I then walked about the city and made my way to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel area. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel is a futuristic hotel with an infinity pool on the top floor offering amazing views of the city. Many students reserved rooms in the Hotel and rumor has it that an evening of shenanigans occurred. I kept my distance, not wanting to see my students completely wasted, and just took some pictures from afar.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

I then made my way back to Chinatown for dinner with 3 friends from the ship. Singapore boasts a number of “hawker stands” which are basically like cheap, but clean and safe, outdoor food courts. I loved it! I got a whopping portion of chicken rice and a berry smoothie for $4. My friends and I went out for a few drinks, visited some markets and made our way back to the ship for the evening.

I worked again on Sunday morning and had the remaining day free. The cruise terminal was connected to two malls, so I looked around for a bit, spent the rest of my Singapore dollars and made my way back to the ship shortly after lunch. I worked on my capstone paper for the rest of the day.

I’ll admit I didn’t take full advantage of all the things to do in Singapore (for example Singapore boasts a world-renowned zoo and botanical garden, neither of which I visited). Regardless, I enjoyed my weekend in Singapore but also enjoyed the chance to get some homework done. It was a good balance and I felt like I had accomplished more than just spending money as we pulled out of Singapore on Sunday evening. Adios Singapore. Maybe I’ll see you again.

Lanterns in Chinatown, Singapore.

Mix of old and new in Singapore.
This is at the oldest temple in Singapore, now featuring a background of modern skyscrapers.

Funky architecture goes throughout the city.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel area in Singapore.

Refueling in Honolulu

Welcome to Honolulu, Hawaii!

After a quick visit to Hilo on Saturday, we spent yesterday refueling in Honolulu. Unfortunately, we were not allowed off the ship as the stop was just for the ship to refuel and restock in preparation for our upcoming Pacific crossing. Today made me realize that if you look up the word “torture” in the dictionary, you’ll find one of the meanings is “making someone sit on a ship with paradise sprawling out in front of them.” Although we were not able to disembark, I was able to take some photos of Honolulu from deck 7 while enjoying the warm sunshine.

Now we are on to Japan with 10 days until we see dry land again. This Pacific crossing will be a true test of my patience and also my ability to not get seasick. The Pacific is supposed to be some of the roughest waters we’ll endure during the voyage. Full steam ahead-wish me luck!

View of Honolulu from deck 7 of the ship.

Port #1 - Check

After six sea days, yesterday we docked in Hilo, Hawaii, for the day. I had to work in the morning but was able to spend the afternoon and early evening in the city. I spent the day relaxing, walking along the bay and checking out the downtown area. Hilo is beautiful! The weather was gorgeous-sunny skies and warm sea breezes.

There are many outdoorsy things to see and do around Hilo including hiking Mauna Kea, going to Volcanoes National Park and checking out Rainbow Falls. Unfortunately since I had to work, I did have time to venture very far from this ship. While I don’t think the Big Island is an attractive of location when considering a trip to Hawaii, I would love to venture back someday to do some more exploring.

This one's for my Dad and no, I don't know what type of tree this is but it was big and impressive!

Kamehameha the Great, a former ruler in Hawaii.

Welcomed to Hilo by a beautiful sunrise and a whale sighting!

Watch out!

Trying out the fish eye effect on my camera at Hilo Bay.

Exploring Hilo Bay.