Vesak's Day Pilgrimage

We were in Myanmar for Vesak's Day, also known as Buddha's Birthday! I'm sure it is celebrated in many different ways across the world, but from what we saw, people celebrated by going to pray and give offerings at the temples, spreading out picnics, and spending time with family. Sounds good!

Myo Chit agreed to drive us again, this time to Yele Pagoda, a floating temple in Kyauktan. The drive there took much longer than usual because there was heavy traffic - turns out, everyone wanted to go there! As we neared the temple, the roads were just streaming with people, dressed in their Vesak's Day best and carrying flowers and other offerings. We finally got near enough to the ferry point and Myo Chit helped us through the crush of people to buy the foreigner's boat tickets. Foreigners are not allowed on the smaller boats - apparently they are too dangerous - and must pay a little more for the (purportedly) less dangerous boats. Fortunately, this meant we got to avoid the thickest parts of the crowd at the waters edge.

Once aboard the marginally safer boat, and after Jacob and I located the nearest life jackets that we could grab in an emergency, we set off for the short trip across to the island. Fortunately, it was uneventful!


Once on the island, the view of the coast was pretty cool - so many people!

One of the popular things to do is buy little packets of puffed rice to feed the hungry catfish. By this time in the morning, however, all the catfish seemed to have gorged themselves and were probably floating several feet lower than usual, ignoring all subsequent offers of food. Unfortunately, people still seemed to think that throwing the plastic bags in the water was a good idea - yuck!

The temple was composed of several smaller shrines, golden payas, and public areas where people were enjoying leisurely picnics.

Tradition and modernity!

Beautiful lotus flowers.

More rainbow chaos trying to get boats back to the shore!

View from atop of tower in the park

After this, we drove through the town of Thanlyin, stopping at another large seated Buddha (or two?) before Myo Chit took us to the National Races Village. The large park included reconstructed examples of traditional houses from the different groups that make up Myanmar. Inside, you could see tools and furniture, and in some cases you could dress up in traditional dress - a popular activity for the bands of teenagers. The park was quiet crowded and I'll be honest: much of the time, we felt like the attraction, as we were pretty much the only white people there. Lots of people took not-so-surreptitious photos of us. Which is probably fair, but felt a bit strange! 

Dress up time!

Egg person!?

Love this sign.

We headed back to Yangon and ate at 999 Shan Noodles for lunch - yum. Get the Shan Tofu - yumy deep-fried tofu.

Sometimes traveling feels like we just go on one date after another! After lunch, we decided to stop for coffee and donuts. It is very common to serve tea with any order there - food or drink. We thought it was pretty funny to be given tea with our coffee though!
We cooled off and napped back at the hotel, then headed out to see the small night market nearby. It mostly offered food, and while the veggies looks great, the meat was worrisome. Food safety actually is a major issue in Myanmar - understandably so!

No thanks. Seeing this fairly common sight made it a bit harder to eat chicken at our meals.

Someone was SICK and TIRED
of having people dent their car!

We took a long walk through the city, to a street known for vendors selling grilled meet and veg.

After seeing the food market, we were not sure about these places, but we gave it a shot. We selected the most identifiable skewers and handed them off to the cook.

And then we received this delightful plate of food! We went back for seconds. After dinner, we attempted to take a cab ride to a bar with live music - only to find that the bar had moved (or closed completely? Not sure). Two cab rides later, we aborted our mission and returned to the hotel to play cards and watch Batman (the George Clooney one with Arnold & Uma - I think I've seen this on 3 trips now!)

Chicken AND duck bike!

Next morning we took the ferry across the river to Dalah, an area the becomes very rural despite being so close to Yangon. On the boat ride over, we were approached by JoJo, a teenager offering to be our tour guide. We were non-committal and tried to brush him off, attempting to figure out what we wanted to do on our own - before realizing that we really didn't have a plan. So we agreed to have him show us around via pedicab. It ended up being one of the best parts of our trip - at once beautiful, informative, and challenging.

We stopped by a local temple - temples were clearly
the theme on this trip!

Some kiddos playing at the temple were pretty eager
to get their picture taken with Jacob :)

The main source of employment is fishing, but during low tide and the heat of the day, most people are sleeping - they'll go out in the evening.
JoJo told us about some of the difficulties people face - like what happens when their boats need repairs, or when a bad typhoon swept through several years ago and flattened the area. They are still recovering.

(L to R) JoJo our tour guide, Jacob, and Tani, our driver.
Our cab even had flowers!

What really struck me was when he pointed out a house, similar to this one, and said, 'Oh the people there are very rich. These are such nice houses.' When I look, I see a rickety, run-down home - but he points out that it is made of wood, not just bamboo, and that it has a tin roof, not thatch. He said when it rains where he lives, they always get wet. It was staggering to realize just how rich we are in comparison. 
JoJo also told us about how he started out - before he was a tour guide, he left school a 9 years old and sold cigarettes and postcards in Yangon, moving up to working on the ferry boats. This kid was clearly smart and hard-working, and it is sad that he has not had the chance to finish school. Given the chance, who knows where he could go? 
We also stopped briefly at a snack stand, and suddenly a line of kids appeared. JoJo said that sometimes tourists buy a packs of snacks to give to the kids - we took the hint, and bought a pack of animal cracker snacks (for all of $3). It was uncomfortable, though, feeling like we could just roll in and act like beneficent do-gooders, giving biscuits to half-clothed children. We declined to pose in pictures with them - it felt sort of coercive or voyeuristic. BUT at the same time, there is no denying that the kids could use those snacks. Tourism is an important and growing part of the economy there, and the local people should benefit in some way from tourists like us getting to look at and enjoy (and photograph) their country and way of life. We were really glad we had the chance to see Dalah and meet JoJo and Tani. Even after we had paid them, Tani insisted on buying us some fruits for the ferry ride and refreshing moist towelettes - just to be nice, to be generous. I think it would be hard to feel as if you could never give to others, never extend hospitality because you didn't have much - but you can see that people here still find ways to give. Everyone we met was unfailingly friendly and generous, which was pretty incredible.
We ferried back to Yangon, checked out a craft market, and then bid goodbye to our lovely hotel and headed to the airport. A fantastic final trip - we hope we get to go back to Myanmar someday!

Da Lagers of Southeast Asia

Having completed our trip to Myanmar, we now feel that we can claim a certain amount of expertise when it comes to the beers of Southeast Asia. We've put together a Top Ten List to guide you through the lagers - for they are almost invariably lagers - of the region.

We suspect that the tropical climate is one of the chief reasons behind the prevalence of lagers, and the dearth of dark beers, in SE Asia. When the temp hits 30 degrees (Celsius), you're going crave an icy, light-colored beer that goes down easy; save that stout for a colder weather.

Top 10 Lagers of Southeast Asia

1. Beer Lao, Laos

Deciding the rankings was not easy, but Beer Lao is far and away the best beer in Southeast Asia. It has a rich flavor with caramel notes, yet maintains a crisp, clean finish. It's perfect as a refreshment after a hot afternoon of sightseeing, or if you need a hearty beverage to accompany your Laap (spicy minced pork/beef salad) on a cooler evening. The real kicker is that Beerlao also makes the best dark beer in the region. Their Stout might have taken second place if we weren't being so generous to the other brands. Beerlao also is the gentlest on your head the next morning. To top it all off, it's less than $1 for a glass, which means any time is a good time for Beerlao.

Fondest memory: Sipping cold Beer Lao while floating lazily up the Mekong in Luang Prabang, Laos, with Kate Virkler & Enes Kadic.

2. San Miguel, Philippines

San Miguel is great, clean, refreshing and consistent. It always hits the spot when you're in the Philippines. They also make the best light beer in Asia, which is easier to sip after a day of clambering up volcanoes.

Fondest memory: Drinking San Miguel and gazing out at Taal Volcano - the lake within an island within a lake - which we had just climbed with our new travel friend, Francois.

3. Chang, Thailand

Chang is a close front-runner with San Miguel. It's a tad sweeter with a fine carbonation, which is delicious but it also makes it a bit less flexible - if it's super hot, it's not as refreshing. Hence, the third-place finish. We enjoyed it immensely in Thailand, and it is also one of our favorite beers available in Singapore. It also has maybe the prettiest logo! 

Fondest memory: Dinner in the 'Tin Shed' in Bangkok. We were taken to this restaurant, which appears to be an auto repair shop by day, by a friend-of-a-friend whom we met. The meal and the beer were delicious and affordable - a theme among our fondest memories, I'm realizing.

4. Vietnamese Lagers - Hanoi, Saigon, La Rue & Halida

Vietnam had the nicest selection of domestic beers to choose from, and they were all winners. Depending on your feelings about the Vietnam War, you can enjoy a Saigon or a Hanoi - or both, in this country which we found to be so welcoming of us, despite a painful history. Unfortunately, due to some nasty head colds, we Da Lagers weren't able to drink enough of all of them to truly compare and pick a favorite. It was nice to drink beer in a cooler climate again!

Fondest memory: Lunch with the Dalager seniors on a balcony overlooking a bustling Hanoi intersection. We also would have enjoyed a few beers, if not for the aforementioned colds, on our Hanoi Food Walking Tour later in the trip - though I'm not sure if that could have been any better than it already was!

5. Myanmar & Dagon Beer, Myanmar

For a country that's only opened it's borders to the world in recent years, their beers are really impressive. The national, Myanmar Beer, is a solid choice even when it's 110 degrees. And the regionally-named Dagon Beer gives Myanmar Beer a run for its Kyat (money)! 


Fondest memory: Persuading our driver to pull off at a little roadside restaurant for Dagon draughts, and enjoying a Myanmar while playing cards in the hotel's cafe in the evening.

6. Angkor & Cambodia Beer, Cambodia

As we get further down the list, the quality of the beer obviously diminishes, but the memories do not. Angkor and Cambodia beers are, to be honest, not very special. But after a day of exploring ancient temples and mysterious ruins, they feel special!


Fondest memory: A rousing round of Cambodian put-put with Holly & Karl Dalager, complete with miniatures of the Angkor Wat temples, $1 beers, and the enthusiastic participation of our tuk-tuk driver, Pon. Holly also got a hole-in-one, but she was the only one not drinking Angkor - which probably contributed to her success.

7. Singha, Thailand

Singha is often contested to be the better Thai beer (over Chang). I think it comes down to how you're feeling at the moment. Singha is better as a refresher. But Chang has got better flavor. In the end, Singha received the lower ranking here because it is always seems to be a little more expensive than Chang. Boo!

Fondest memory: Sipping Singha at our mini St. Olaf Band reunion with D.J. & Kate (and honorary bandies Victoria & Enes) in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

8. Tiger, Singapore

Tiger beer is promoted as the fancy, quality beer of Southeast Asia. But, honestly, it's not. It's pretty bad actually, but surfs on the reputation of being from modern, expensive Singapore. One of it's worst faults is it's really inconsistent. A draught will taste totally different than a can or a bottle. And each will give you a different hangover! Our negative feelings stem, in part, from the fact that we normally purchase this in Singapore, where a tall bottle will cost $6+ at a hawker, or a nauseating $10+ at restaurant!

Catchphrase: Ride the Tiger!*
(Some of these lesser beers have earned themselves catchphrases, which are in no way affiliated with the actual brand!)

9. Bintang, Indonesia

Bintang is cheap. Very cheap. But that's about all it has going for it - that, and being the only widely available domestic beer in Indonesia.

Fondest memory: Popping the top on some icy Bintangs while relaxing on Legian beach with Anna & Erich Lippert in Bali, Indonesia.
Second fondest memory: Waiting for our boat to Samosir Island in Lake Toba, Sumatra - one of the chillest places we've ever been.

10. Anchor, Singapore

"Smooth" might be an ambitious slogan for this beer, which is most often found in convenience stores or at hawkers, sold for deals that should make you suspicious. It is serviceable, but I might opt for a soda instead.

Catchphrase: When you're about to start imbibing, you yell, "Anchors aweigh!" Dropping Anchor is what happens later...

Fondest memory: honestly, it is better when you forget.

Honorable Mentions

Bia Hoi (Vietnam)

More available during the summer months, Bia Hoi is a very light (3% abv), very bubbly beer drawn from small kegs in small shops and roadside stalls. Popular among local, we got two glasses for a dollar! Not much flavor, but cold and refreshing as anything - and with the low alcohol content, you can sip away the afternoon and on into the evening.

Asahi Super "Dry" (Japan)

It doesn't make the list because it is from East Asia, but is often available in Singapore and was especially enjoyable when purchased at 7/11 and slurped between sets when we performed with the Thomson Big Band outside of Marina Bay Sands.

Mandalay (Myanmar)

It's a strong beer and not a bad choice if you can handle the extra punch; beware when drinking in 100 degree weather though!

Dishonorable Mentions

Leo

Brewed from the dung of Tiger Beer and most often found in 7/11's, don't drink unless you are a Leo, or have an antidote!

ABC Extra Stout 

Actually NOT a lager. And actually not very good. "It's queasy as ABC"

Bali Hai & White Horse

Mysterious, cheap beers from a grocery store in Bali. They get especially poor marks because they thwarted the $.50 bottle opener we bought - and once we had them open, we wished we didn't.

Dester

Technically not from SE Asia, the bottom spot is reserved for this Korean beer.
But if you must drink it, then, 

"Embrace you Desterny!!"