A Hitchhikers Guide to Malaysia

Diving right into Malaysia from Thailand, and intending to spend a short amount of time, meant being prepared for a few things. I heard from many travelers in passing, that costs in Malaysia were higher than in Thailand, and Thailand was one of the most expensive Southeast Asian countries I had been in. Granted, I was there the longest - with 6 weeks under my belt, and some luxurious indulgences like elephant sanctuaries, private rooms, and motor scooter rentals - nevertheless, Malaysia was coming, and I had to prepare.
Before arriving in Malaysia, I imagined villages, much like rural Thailand, and I imagined major cities like Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, or Beijing. I needed to book flights from Singapore to Borneo and around Borneo, so once that booking was finished my time in west Malaysia was limited. I held off on the flight booking for as long as my budget could stand it. If one thing is for certain in life and travel, it is that plans are more like rough guidelines, often more useful as toilet paper than anything else. Holding off on purchasing my flight gave me the freedom to flush my previous plans, 10 days in west-Malaysia (Penninsular) down the drain.

The tentative plan was only there for budget reasons. More time more money. Mo money mo problems.
I took my budget struggle to the streets. I searched on CouchSurfing.org, messaging half a dozen people on Penang Island, so that I would have a place to start after driving south from Thailand to Malaysia. Within a week I received a response from a lovely Iranian guy, Milad, getting his doctoral degree at the university on the island. Four nights on Penang Island with good Middle Eastern company, boom, check.

Penang Island had NO island feel to it. I arrived coming down off of a high from camping and having beaches all to myself in Ko PhiPhi, Ko Lanta, and Ko Tao, Thailand - I was not really in the mood to explore a city on public transportation. Luckily my gracious host offered me everything, from transportation to almost anywhere, to a big bed with air con and wifi. This was the time I would take to research the future of my trip. For all intensive purposes, from here on out I am going in blind - the best way to go if you want all of your senses taken to the next level.

Judging by the things that interested me in Penang, leaving West Malaysia within 10 days was looking like it would be no problem. Everything was going as planned.

After a few restful days I found another CouchSurfing opportunity in Kuala Lumpur. Elma was the next sweet soul to take me in. While I was on the bus to arrive at Elma's house, I received an email from her explaining that she is not actually in Kuala Lumpur. I should arrive in KL, get a train to an outer suburb called Rawang, then find a local bus, or hitchhike if I arrive after 7:30pm, to a place called Bandar Tasik Puteri. My lazy side contemplated passing-up the opportunity. I would have to hitchhike since the journey wouldn't bring me into Rawang until 9pm. Honestly, I couldn't even say the town properly until I started asking around about how to get there. It was also only the third or fourth time I've hitchhiked in the last ten months of travel, and I was nervous. Of course I took the journey out to Rawang, asked around, hitchhiked. No one picked me up. It started to rain. I took a taxi. First Malaysian hitchhiking experience was an epic fail.

Elma was the sweetest woman, and reminded me a lot of my mother. She was righteous, funny, and young in spirit. We were instant-friends. She always had something to feed me, and left me with a lovely Russian guy to have the entire house to ourselves while she went on vacation. Unfortunately she was a busy woman, so I had to start hitchhiking to do pretty much anything in the area. It was the perfect push to get me out of my bus-taking, taxi-riding shell and breakout into the hitchhiking world.

On her way out of town Elma brought me to a nice little corner next to the highway where I could easily get a ride for my first day of adventures via hitchhiking. Within five minutes a Hokkien Chinese-Malay guy picked me up and brought me to the national park.  At the park I climbed waterfalls, got my feet wet, and then took my time returning to the highway to thumb another ride. Within ten minutes an Indian-Malay truck driver pulled over and picked me up. Furthermore he gave me his phone number and said that if I need any rides along that highway I could call him because it is his working route. He seemed too eager to be my chauffeur and it gave me a funny feeling. Eventually he wanted to detour off of the highway to pick something up, I didn't understand what he was saying and was not comfortable detouring from the route with a guide who gave me a 'funny feeling.' I got out on the side of the road and found another ride within the snap of a finger. This time a nice Hakka Chinese guy brought me all the way to Batu Caves outside of Kuala Lumpur, I did my tour, and then found another ride partway back. Somehow, since the driver was not going all the way to my destination, I ended up under a highway bridge with a bunch of motorcyclists during a massive rain storm. They all were fairly entertained watching me try to hail down a car for 30 minutes. The rain storm seemed to make people less generous. Eventually we waved down a local bus and it took me back to Rawang for less than a dollar.

That was my first day of commuting completely via hitchhiking.

Now 100% confident in the generosity and safety of the hitchhikers way, when it came time to leave Elma's house, my plan was to hitchhike all the way two hours north, to a town called Ipoh, where I would re-join with my friend Luca who I traveled with in south Thailand. Foolishly I stood, facing the wrong direction, on a road that was not the main highway. I got a lot of waves and thumbs up. I'm sure I made friends with passerby's just by standing there smiling, and waving at everyone.
After some time of waving to people who smiled, gave me thumbs up, and still did not pull over to help a sister out - I finally met my angel of the day. The man who picked me up was named Nick - nickname Mun. Straightaway Nick told me that he was not going all the way to my destination, he was en route to his parents house an hour north where he is caretaker for his mother and father. He told me that he would go most of the way and then leave me at a local bus station. It took so long to get a ride on the road initially, that it was already 3pm when he stopped for me, and I was accepting of any generous offer. It started raining once I got into the car. After chatting along the way, I felt really good about meeting Nick. He offered to stop to get me lunch, and gave me all kinds of advice about hitchhiking and traveling in Malaysia. Since my final destination after Ipoh would be the tea plantations in the mountains of Cameron Highlands, Nick told me that there were also plenty of mountain adventures in the area we were in. He told me that, if I wanted, he could take me around the mountains, and then I could sleep at his parents house for the night. Considering I had such good feelings about this generous guy, I said yes. My mind was completely at ease when I arrived at his parents house and met his hardcore Chinese mom who invited me to eat, do laundry, and stay in a private air-con room. Heaven has a name, its a tiny Hokkien Chinese village called Rasa, Malaysia.
That night Nick took me out for dinner, insisting on paying for everything, and he even brought fireworks for us to set off in the street. In this small town, everyone was fairly informed about everyone, so much so that when Nick walked in anywhere, it was as if the mayor had arrived. He told me that showing up with a young white foreigner would certainly hit the rumor circuit by morning. I told him to fuel the fire. We sat next to each other, talked all night, snuck out the back of the restaurant for a cigarette instead of smoking where we were sitting, and I imagine rumors got really wild when the same people saw us go out to breakfast the next morning. Staying with Nick was a lot like staying with my dad's best friend. After breakfast he drove me one hour out of his way to my destination and left me at a local bus stop to get me where I'm going. After a night of accommodation, treating me to anything I wanted, fireworks, and laughter, I was sad to say goodbye to him. Uncle Mun!

By now it has been one week in Malaysia, and it's safe to say that I was absolutely in love with the country. Ten days wouldn't cut it, so lets throw in the tea plantations, highlands, jungle, and rainforest for good measure. These are all places I didn't know existed before stumbling across an online magazine article during my downtime in Penang. The article advertised the Top 20 Must-See things in Malaysia, now my aim was to do as much of them as I could manage.

I arrived in Cameron Highlands, not having paid for a single night, or tourist bus for the previous week in Malaysia. I was completely in love with what Malaysia had to offer in spirit. When I met up with my friend Luca at Cameron Highlands, I found him in opposite spirits. He wasn't enjoying the experiences he had in Malaysia up to that point. I told him one day with me and he will love it.

On that one day we took a two hour trek into the jungle. The climb was hand and feet through mud, pulling ourselves up over the vines that nature presented as steps to the top. Once we arrived, we had a little picnic. On the sunmit there was a road to return down the mountain, and a guy was offering some Netherlander girls a ride which they declined. So I chimed in 'We'll take a ride!' The guy, Azmi, and one of his wives, drove us down the mountain to a place called the Mossy forest. He pulled over, told us to go tour the area and that he would wait for us. Really? That's extremely kind, don't mind if I do. At this point, I am grateful for the generosity, but not surprised at all. Luca was still taking it all in. "Wow, he's so nice." Yeah bro, this is Malaysia.

On our walk we bumped into a German guy named Cornelius. It appeared as though Luca and Cornelius had met before, so we walked out of the forest together, and Azmi told Cornelius to get into the car also. There we were, feeling blessed by the generosity of this traditional Muslim-Malay couple, two Germans and an American covered in mud, sitting snug in the backseat. I knew what was in store for this ride. It was fun for me to sit back and watch Luca and Cornelius in shock and awe at the Malay generosity they were receiving. I grew to expect it, love it, make friends with it, so when the rest of the day became the Azmi-guided tour, I was extremely grateful and unabashed. Azmi not only took us on a tour of the tea plantation, but he also took us to the enormous and beautiful Lavender gardens where he paid for our entrance. The Germans and I all chipped in to buy his wife a bouquet of fresh flowers as a "thank you." Following the gardens, he brought us to the Kings' vacation home where it turns out he is the landscape artist. We walked around this VIP spot admiring his work, and the gorgeous view. All of the states of Malaysia have a king, and the king is re-elected every 5 years. Azmi made sure we knew that no tourists go there. No one goes there but the politicians and kings. Before parting ways, he invited the three of us to dinner, where he insisted on paying for everything, and then returned us to our hostel for the night. We walked away, all jaw-dropped at the kindness we were shown. I think by the end of the day it was safe to say that one day with me changed Luca's opinion of Malaysia. Really, one day of hitchhiking and meeting Azmi.

From Cameron Highlands, Luca joined me for a detour to Teman Negara to trek through the world's oldest rainforest and walk along the world's longest rope bridge. Teman Negara included some more hitchhiking and friend-making, before I said my sad goodbye to Luca and headed to Kuala Lumpur. I reveled at the idea of meeting people who were shocked at the idea of hitchhiking, and i would try to convince them to do it. It felt as though I would be introducing them into a whole new world of experiences.

When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur I emailed Azmi and Nick to thank them for the amazing memories that they made with me. Azmi responded telling me how disappointed he was the he couldn't be in Kuala Lumpur to show me around. He really was disappointed, because as an alternative he gave his daughter, Mya, my phone number, and within minutes she was calling me to make plans for the tour of KL she would take me on. Just as I received the response from Azmi with the 'programme,' I bumped into Cornelius. He joined me on our adventure the next day with Mya, her mother and her beautiful baby boy. We went to a fantastic pink mosque, a children's theme park called I-City, delicious Arabic food in between, and also the evening light show at the famous Petronas (Twin) Towers in KL. Mya was so generous, patient, and sweet, that she wanted to take us the next day on a day trip to Malacca town, which is a beach city two hours west of KL. Curse the notion of making plans! I had already booked a flight from Singapore to Borneo, so I had to move on and pass up another fantastic day with this incredible family.


Concerning safety, traveling alone as a woman, and not knowing enough about my surroundings, I was always hesitant to do any kind of hitchhiking while on my own. I'm not sure if I would continue this in every country I go to, however, Malaysia has certainly opened my heart and my eyes to the generosity, opportunity, and love that the people here have to offer. I am so grateful for hitchhiking, and I wanted to share that with everyone.

Here are 8 reasons hitchhiking and CouchSurfing in Malaysia was one of the highlights of my trip

1. Hitchhike. Do it. Malay people are generous, friendly, and do not expect anything in return except to maybe be your facebook friend, get your phone number, or take a selfie with you and their children.

2. Hitchhiking and CouchSurfing awards positive experiences that you can't plan, pay for, or expect.

3. It's free.

4. You are officially off the beaten path. Locals know stuff that you can't learn without them. They take you places, teach you things. Just by talking to them and asking them questions, you will learn so much about the area, culture, language, and religion. They picked you up or took you in because they expected to talk with you after all. It builds your confidence. Knowing you is just as valuable to locals as knowing them might be for you. That is why they want to meet you to begin with. Your host is intrigued by your skin, your tradition, they all want to know where you come from, what religion you are. They get the experience of meeting a foreigner, and you get the experience of meeting a local, along with the added bonus of a free ride. Everyone leaves happy.

5. It's the scenic route. You're not stuck on a bus, train, or subway - you're not in a noisy hostel having to pay for anything and everything straight down to the drinking water. You have your hands out the window, or the air-conditioning in your face, you have a couch or a bed in a private place. Take it all in and fill yourself with gratitude.

6. You are completely on someone else's plan, and you must go with the flow. This can be difficult for some people, and for others it's not a downfall at all. However, in their car or their house, and on their time, you are their guest. Flexibility is a fantastic learning tool.

7. Sometimes you are in extremely remote areas, and this can be inconvenient. Who cares though, its a trade-off for a great experience and a new friend outside of the partying, traveling, backpacker crowd! Often times, remote places are more memorable than the alternative. For me, it depends on where I am and what I want to do as to whether or not I prefer to CouchSurf or stay at a hostel. Sometimes, being remote is fine because I want to relax and be with the people. Other times, I have an active schedule in mind, and it can take a lot longer commute time to try to hitchhike everywhere I want to go, and a lot more money and effort otherwise.

8. There are good people in the world. If there is anyway to renew your faith in humanity, the Malay locals will certainly light your fire.


More to come while in Borneo! Cheers

The Best of Thai

One of the things I fell in love with in Thailand was the language.

First are the many English phrases that tourists here over and over again like, "kha," "no have," "have," "cannot," "can," "finish," and the overall Southeast Asian go-to of "same same but different." The reason the people speak like this in English, in most Southeast Asian countries, is because it is a literal translation of their language. Mai dai - cannot. Mai me - no have. Me mai - you have?

The politeness form used in every day language is "kha" if you are a woman, and "krab" if you are a man. Sometimes i would overhear phone conversations and every other word was kha or krab. It's yes, it's thank you, you're welcome, and simply serves as an overall respectful recognition of the other person.

My favorite thing about the language was the intonation. It sounded like something I would call a whine. Thank you was never just khabkhun kha, it was khabkhun khaaaaaa with a rising inflection on the last note of kha. It became less like a whine as time went on, and more like a song. After 6 weeks in the country I enjoyed using local phrases and intonations as a way of communicating. Tinglish. By the end I would just throw in "kha" at the end of every sentence. "Okay khaaaa!"

Although Thailand was not my favorite place in Southeast Asia, it was one of the places that felt like home. Everything there is communicable, convenient, and navigable. Most places are not far from a dusty city with a thai massage, motorbike rental, 7/11, and fried chicken nearby. What more could you need?

The north of Thailand, as well as Koh Tao, and Koh Lanta (islands in the south) were by far the best and most memorable parts of my experiences there. The people were friendly, the food was fantastic, the shopping was fun, the activities affordable, and the environment to meet people - both locals and travelers - was saturated. Bangkok was not my favorite place, not because it was a big city, or crowded with tourists, no, it was because the local people were obviously burnt out by tourists. On several ocasions I experienced unkind interactions among the tourist handlers, even locals deciding to ignore me when we were in the middle of a conversation. Truth be told, communication was exhausting and had to be extremely clear so as not to offend or insult, and even then, sometimes I would walk away as the one feeling insulted.

In 8 weeks, beginning from the North, I went to Chiang Rai, Pai, Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Ayuttaya, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Bangkok (two week break for Myanmar followed by land border crossing to...), Mae Sot, Tak, Chiang Mai, Bangkok (for a 12 hr bus layover), Chumphon, Koh Tao, Surat Thani, Krabi, Koh Lanta, Koh PhiPhi, and Hat Yai before land crossing into Malaysia.

There was so much that I did and saw in Thailand, and it was the longest I have stayed in one country since I began traveling in 2014. Here's what stuck out the most;

Most Visited Place

7ELEVEN! Back to the land of convenience, where there are 7Elevens on every corner - making all of my first aid, beverage, and food needs easily met. The go-to for backpackers are the sandwich toasties, the cigarettes, and the Chiang beer. On top of this, 7Eleven has become such a cornerstone for travelers in Thailand, that a lot of the t-shirts sold on the street will simply have their logo on it to sell to tourists. The first time I saw a 7Eleven in Asia was in Thailand, and it was like finding the Holy Grail. Then I learned that the Holy Grail was on every corner. 

Best Shopping

It is a toss-up between the night market in Chiang Mai, and Khoasan Road in Bangkok. The clothing is so cheap, and usually the material was such good quality, that I couldn't go wrong. With the exception of the several pairs of shorts or pants that would continually rip on the same butt-seam - I had no shoppers guilt. I bought everything I needed, to the point that Thailand left me equipped with a new speaker system, new clothing, shoes, dresses, hats, sarongs, and everything in between. It was heaven on earth for someone who had been traveling wearing the same six items of clothing for eight months. My confidence was in need of a wardrobe change. Chiang Mai was cheaper than Bangkok, and in Bangkok the bargaining was not nearly as friendly as in the north. When push comes to shove, I still walked away with all that I needed.

Easiest Border Crossing

I entered Thailand from Laos, and also from Myanmar, and I left Thailand entering into Malaysia. BY FAR the simplest, easiest, and fastest border crossing was going from Laos to Thailand. It was also the saddest to be leaving behind such an incredible experience during my time there. 

Most Spontaneous Adventure

Almost all of my spontaneous adventures happened in Pai. One day, I went for a walk on my own and came back with my first tattoo. Another day, my friends and I were leaving a waterfall, and needed a taxi. I said it would be better to hitchhike instead of paying for a taxi - since pretty much everyone leaving the waterfall would be returning to the city. So, we hitchhiked, and the people who picked us up ended up being from the same group we met at a bar the night before. They gave us a ride back to Pai, and then to the canyon to watch the sunset together, and we continued a night of music and amusement from there.

Best Food

By far, green curry with chicken. There was one particular place in Mae Sot that changed my perception of green curry - forever. It was run by a middle aged couple and located in the center of town. There was nothing to do in Mae Sot, so after a day of walking about with a Spanish friend I made, we ran into the only restaurant open for an 8pm meal and it turned out to be the best Thai food of my life. An enormous vat of green curry, spicier than "Thai spicy" as requested, and filled with vegetables.

Cheapest Food

Pad Thai. Pad Thai all day, every day, anywhere, any time, for around $1.

Best Day Tour for My Money

The cooking class I took in Chiang Mai was deliciously memorable. My travel buddies and I went to the market to learn about the foods, and although I was strung out on only a couple of hours of sleep, I woke right up when the heat was turned on. It was interesting to learn about the spices, fruits, and vegetables that virtually don't exist in America. I got to learn how to cook my favorite Thai foods, spicy spicy. I don't mean to brag, but I basically make the best green curry ever. Thanks to our tiny upbeat chef making us laugh the entire class, it will definitely be unforgettable.

Not My Favorite Day Tour

While in Chiang Mai, some of my friends and I decided to head over to Tiger Kingdom to see the beautiful animals there. We all had read about the purity - or lack thereof - concerning these "sanctuaries" or "rehabilitation centers." At Tiger Kingdom were tigers, and even lions, locked in very small cages being photographed, and taunted by foreigners and workers alike. The Kingdom says that they "rescue" the tigers at a young age, rehabilitate them, and release them back into the wild at 2 years old. However, what grown ass Tiger is going to laze around while people playing with its tail and rubbing its backside? A drugged tiger. What baby is not going to try to playfully bite? A drugged baby. The feeling in the pit of my stomach at this place was not good. I paid the money to see the smallest tigers. I gave them as much love as I could ,and otherwise tried to observe the workings of the facility. I couldn't wait to leave. A month later, I learned that the sister-sanctuary run by monks outside of Bangkok would be closed because of abuse, and exploitation for tourisms sake.

Most Memorable Encounters

Me and My Sukhothai Lifesave, Mr Ng

In Sukhothai my friends and I borrowed bicycles to ride 14km to the famed ancient ruins in this small dusty town. After riding along the same route for some time, I sped up as much as I could, eventually looking back to see that my friends were no where in sight. I returned to where I saw them last, backtracking the same way, and still no where to be found. I had no internet or cellular reception to use. I had no idea what the name of my hostel, or the name of the ruins were. I had no idea where I was. Continuing on the path, I asked directions. No other city in Thailand gave me so much of a language barrier. I pointed, and used simple words. Most people directed me to the police station, which I went to. Eventually, I said to myself that I had no choice but to hitchhike. The heat was a desert, I had no water, and I just wanted to find my friends. This is the second of many times that I would hitchhike in Southeast Asia. I waved down a truck. The driver did not speak English. Luckily, there was a phone number on my bicycle for the hostel I was staying at. With some hand motions, the driver invited me into his car, put my bike in the trunk, and off we went for AN HOUR in search of my hostel. I will definitely remember Ng as my angel that day. When we finally arrived where I was staying, I offered him money that he refused. All he wanted was a selfie with me as a thank you. This is when communicating via laughter becomes a powerful tool in foreign travel.

Best Self-Employed Day Tour

While I was traveling on my own for a week in Kanchanaburi, I had met some Canadians and American who wanted to rent motorbikes. On our last day together we drove to Erawan National Park, where there are some killer waterfalls, and we made the drive up to Hellfire Pass for some World War II history and memorials. I suppose we didn't realize that the driving would take two times longer than google maps says, since we were on motorbikes. However, it was certainly a highlight to drive two hours to Hellfire Pass and walk the circuit of memorials in the valley there. We leisurely strolled through many Australian memorials and Western memorials. The powerful history of the abuse towards the Prisoners of War, from places like the United States, United Kingdom, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand, really brought a spiritual and meaningful presence to the experience of walking through the place where thousands were killed. Why have I never learned about the Japanese in WWII and POWs before? Nazi Germany, and People's American History of the United States must have occupied all of my history courses. When the war was over, railway was not able to be used past a certain distance, and it was later destroyed. People slaved and died for it under Japanese regime, and then it was taken apart once repossessed by England. It was certainly heavy, educational, and memorable to be there. Simply learning about the conditions the POWs were living in brought tears to my eyes. After Hellfire Pass we drove another two hours around the National Park to the entrance, where we trekked through the jungle and swam in the waterfall for a short while before riding another two hours back to town and visiting the night market for dinner. This tour is offered by local companies, and costs over 1,000 baht. We did it for about 500 each. There is nothing like the wind in your hair while speeding along an empty highway with nothing but your thoughts and a destination. 

The view looking out over hellfire pass

Favorite Animal

My favorite animal in Thailand is, by far, the elephant. During my first visit in Chiang Mai, my friends and I day-toured to the Save the Elephants Wildlife Reserve. It is one of two reputable elephant sanctuaries in Thailand. It is the ONLY wildlife reserve that allows for the animals to roam free on many acres of land, feeds them, bathes them, and does not allow any other kinds of touching or riding. Hopefully, the government will eventually have a wildlife sanctuary to help save the elephants - for now the Thai gov't seems to keep its head down over the topic. The elephants we met were beaten, broken, and wounded by the life they had before they were rescued. Some of them were forced loggers, or forced into reproduction - essentially being put into a cage and raped by the male elephant for the benefit of people. All "domesticated" elephants in Thailand are taken at a young age from their mother, the wild, or both, and put into a cage that does not allow them to move - at all. While in that cage for three days they are tortured, stabbed, and beaten until they stop crying. My friends and I tearfully watched videos, during the tour, of the abuse that all "domesticated" elephants in Thailand go through. It's the concept that breaking their spirit will give them a new one, and that new spirit will do whatever its told. They wont cry or fight for their mother anymore. They will just shake from trauma, withstand the weight that they're bodies are not meant to hold - or they will be beaten more without restraint. Elephants are such soft, elegant, sensitive creatures. There was no way I could spend a day at this sanctuary seeing the abused elephants - some with permanent physical damage or emotional trauma - and not fall completely in love with these giant beauties.

Standing in front of the White Temple in Chiang Rai during sunset.

Most Profound Spiritual Experience
The most beautiful Buddhist temple I have ever seen was in Chiang Rai at the White Temple. The design of how the sun hit the white building and all of its mosaic bling - along with the actually enforced ambiance of silence and respect - made this place one of the most peaceful temples I have ever been to. 

Best Island

Koh Lanta. Low season was the best gift I could have received, and Koh Lanta was the deliverer. This conservative Muslim island was essentially abandoned during low season, so my friends and I had complete run of it. We did whatever we wanted, skinny dipped, sped around on motorbikes, slept anywhere, danced for no reason, climbed trees for coconuts - it was paradise. We were completely free. Between traveling with a group of high spirited loving people, the empty beaches, partial nudity, fast motorbikes, good and cheap food, and abandoned resorts, there was absolutely no way that I would change a second of my time there.



Most Rebellious Experience
While staying on Koh Lanta, my friends ventured to a rocky beach where a resort was locked up for the "off season." There they decided to set up camp for the night using mosquito nets and hammocks. The night before the campout we had a full BBQ, in the dark during a rainstorm. Using all of the utilities of this abandoned resort, we had shelter, an oven, a bathroom, and everything. It was probably the best trespassing decision of my life.

Best Party

For an every day party, I would say Chiang Mai had it going on. It was possibly my favorite city in Thailand. Every night all of the travelers would cultivate their little backpack community at Zoe's in Yellow - a local indoor/outdoor club taking up an entire block of the city. The best party, however, was celebrating the Thai New Year (Song Kran/Water Festival) for five days in Chiang Mai. All of the streets became a party. There was music blasting constantly, trucks of people with ice-water buckets stuck in traffic and attacking any passerby. The party started around 10am and ended at sundown, when everyone changed their soaking wet clothes, got cleaned up, and prepared to head out for a crowded dance-party at Zoe's. This went on for days. People wore raincoats and ponchos to drive through the city on their motorbikes. Tuktuks locked their windows. Everyone with a brain kept their phones in a waterproof sealed bag. Travelers coming and going during the festival had  to run through the streets so as to not get their travel bags soaked. Everyone had a water gun or bucket of some kind. It didn't rain at all during the entire festival, yet there was flooding half of a foot on some streets, and the road constantly looked as if a storm had just passed. There was no leaving your home unless you were prepared to get wet. People who were not in the spirit stalked up on food like it was the apocalypse so that they could survive without leaving their home. There was no way you wouldn't make friends, or be attacked by local children. There was just no way you could not have fun. So Tee Pee Mai! (Happy New Year)

SongKran by Day

SongKran by night

Best Hostel

The best hostel I stayed at, was hands down, Potae's guesthouse in Chiang Mai. Potae was a young lady who opened her business less than a year earlier. I would say that Potae and I became friends during the week that I stayed with her. She had everything, pods for beds so there was plenty of privacy, air con, small breakfast, directions and tours for anything and everything, and during the Songkran Water Festival she provided us all with buckets of water to dive into the Thai New Year with. She even hosted a night out with all of the hostel guests during the last night of the festival.

Proudest Accomplishment
I successfully received my Open Water Diver license. It has opened me up to an underwater world of possibilities in my future travels and adventures. Also, on my last dive of the course, I got to swim next to an enormous barracuda that you can vaguely see in the photo.

Best Sunsets
Nothing compares to the island sunsets

Most Memorable Moment
I had many many many memorable moments in Thailand. Getting lost with my Swiss and English friends in the dry jungle of Pai on our adventurous hike to a waterfall. Nights of dancing in Chiang Mai, and making loads of friends there. Reuniting with the same friends when I returned to Chiang Mai a month later. Diving in Koh Tao, and cliff jumping in Koh PhiPhi. The adventures of Koh Lanta, and the White Temple in Chiang Rai. Jungle walks, beaches, ancient ruins, border crossings, Khoasan Road, hospital visits, Royal City Avenue, temples. After its all said and done, the people I went on these adventures with added life to my day, and a skip in my step. They made the taste sweeter, the day brighter, the music smoother, the high higher, the laughter louder. My Swiss, English, Canadian, Kiwi, Danish, and Austrian friends are who I will carry with me in my heart forever. When it comes to Thailand, my most memorable moments will always have one of them in it.

Mahem in Myanmar

With political fighting currently going on, the army run-government, the corruption of Buddhism, millions in foreign investments, and a newly adapting backpacking culture - Myanmar/Burma was more than a change of scene from the easily backpacked and modernized countries like Thailand, and Vietnam. Traveling from city to city was almost the same as traveling between timelapses.
My first goal was to understand the difference between Myanmar and Burma. Locals debate upon which name they prefer, however "Myanmar" is the Burmese name for Burma, and Burma is the English name. The change in name only occurred within the last 20 years. All locals have an opinion about the political situation in their country. Some are excited about the development, the freedom, and the money coming in, whereas others are concerned about what this will mean for their culture, their children, and their country. These folks are more up-to date about the happenings in their government than I am about my own government. Between student rallies being seized and arrests being made, to fighting from state to state within sections of the country, to monks begging on the street - Myanmar is a quickly developing, heavily confusing place.

The typical backpacking circuit in Myanmar begins in Mandalay or Yangon, and goes to Kalaw for trekking to Inle Lake, and also to Bagan for ancient ruins. Traveling outside of this circuit is easy, however there are parts of the country that tourists are still not allowed to go to because of fighting. I'll be honest, I don't know much about the fighting in Myanmar, but I do know that there are several different states and ethnicities within the country, and each of the 16 ethnicities have their own army. Since the British relinquished control of Burma to the Burmese government in 1948, all of the ethnic armies began to oppose the central-government. Since then, fighting has occurred between all varying parties, and the agreements appear to be far off. At any rate, Myanmar seems to be developing rapidly to join its famed fellow Southeast Asian countries - like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam - known as easily accessible, safe, affordable, and totally worth going to. The overnight buses are great, the people are friendly and patient, and when the power goes out it comes back on as planned (more like Nepal, and parts of Cambodia in that way).

I had read about some of the fighting in Myanmar and had been hesitant to go alone. I only knew people who had traveled there in group-tour style fashion. Sufficed to say Myanmar was another country, along with Laos, that was not on my "to visit" list before planning to come to Asia. People change, circumstances change, and somehow my attitude became so I had stopped putting shackles onto my own plans by creating concrete ideas. It was time to go with a feeling, and my feeling was that I shouldn't miss out on Myanmar. I would love the serene life temples and reflection.

The experience of backpacking solo there was freeing. There was little to no internet, so even if booking online was possible, it didn't happen. The best way to travel was to show up, fingers crossed. After showing up, fingers crossed, first I would walk hostel to hostel seeing what the condition of the rooms were. Accommodation in Myanmar is the most expensive that I have seen in all of Southeast Asia. I have stayed everywhere from a private bed capsule with an aircon in Yangon, to (almost) paying $10 to sleep on the floor of someone's living room in Bagan.

Yangon is the capital of Myanmar, some call it Rangoon - just as some say Burma instead of Myanmar. There are enormous pagodas, lakes and rivers to see here. On the street where I stayed there were no sidewalks, and everything appeared to be under construction. Locals were always excited to wave at any non-local possibly western looking person walking in the street.
The only thing I did in this friendly big city was visit pagodas, and drink at a local tea shop. I spent 3 hours at the enormous golden Shwedagon pagoda where I was invited to join a Burmese family for lunch. I motioned to get food, meaning it more as a question for where to get food, and they invited me to join them. Myanmar was one of the places in Southeast Asia where I found it most difficult to communicate. It required a lot of patience all around the country to voice questions properly, and I am sure that my English became extremely simplified by the end of my visit.

I made a lot of friends by laughing and pointing.

As friendly as the locals are, I found the tourists in Myanmar to be the opposite. Since the backpacking life in Myanmar is not accommodating for people to meet one another, I found myself alone most of the time, or taking notice of other solo travelers and locals who could speak some English. In Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, it was sometimes hard just to find time alone while backpacking - in Myanmar, it was the opposite. Most tourists traveled in couples, or groups - and other solo travelers, I noticed, would sometimes cling to each other for dear life. This offered me a lot of time for meditation, and visits to temples.

I saw all kinds of temples in Myanmar. In the desert city of Bagan, I climbed ancient ruins to view the sea of temples that remain there.

In the seaside capital of Mawlamyine I saw the largest reclining Buddha in the world, and a Buddha made of bamboo.

The largest reclining Buddha in the world was literally the size of a laying down sky scraper.

I climbed mountains in Hpa'an to find pagodas at the top, visited monasteries inside enormous bat caves, and I saw giant rocks balancing on one another, with pagodas on top that were only accessible by a bamboo ladder.

Between the mountains, the pure sunsets and sunrises over lakes and rivers, and the authentic pagodas all over the country - I have to say my favorite part of Myanmar was the children.

Being a celebrity looks something like this

In Yangon, I encountered a Hindi festival celebrating the Day of Happiness, and while there I came across dozens of fathers and mothers asking me to photograph there beautiful children. No English, just a hand expression and some pointing. I was stopped everywhere I went all over the country in order to take pictures with locals. Of course, my response was "yeah of course, but I want one too" - with some pointing and pretend clicking. Once someone asks for a photo, soon after a crowd forms around, and I feel like a celebrity.

Would you like me to kiss your baby? Lets make a peace sign. You want to make a face together? You want me to have a picture with your children? Monks took selfies with me. People stopped in prayer at pagodas to find me for a chat. The temples in Myanmar didn't tend to be very somber or peaceful, so a loud chat was hardly opposed. Often I would see couples hiding out around corners to have family-forbidden-private-time. Conservative countries like this tend to have strict cultural rules about dating, cultural rules that almost everyone seems to "secretly" break. Families bring picnics to chill with Buddha while they eat their rice and noodles in between hourly meditation. The mellowed out men and women light up cigars while they sit in silent reflection.

Me, Piopio, and little Chu. Precious

In Bagan I had an interesting encounter with a little boy named Piopio. He wore my sunglasses, and I thoughtlessly told him that he could keep them. It turned out, since a dear friend of mine gave me the glasses, that I had a sentimental connection to them. Shortly after giving them to this boy I began to cry. The story turns into a funny adventure quickly. A little 5 year-old pops up behind Piopio saying "dont cry! don't cry!" and Piopio says he still wants to keep the glasses. So I told him I would give him other glasses, I would return tomorrow. When I arrived a few hours later with glasses for all of the 5 children who were outside of the temple earlier, I began to give them the glasses and suddenly there was a sea of children saying "give me give me." They have multiplied. I forgot one of my travel guides telling me not to give things away. Classic tourist mistake.
Well we've already begun... so I played a little game with the children for them to win the glasses fairly, and when all was said and done I walked back to my motorbike rental. Suddenly, happy with myself having cleared my conscious and kept my glasses, more children and one elderly woman crowded around my bike asking me for more gifts. I told them no, of course, but I couldn't help but laugh at this old lady. There are children begging, yeah kids always want free gifts from anyone who will give to them, but lady, what are you doing here. I laughed to myself and left before my heart was taken by these kids and I gave them everything besides the clothes on my back.

"You take photo me"

From Bagan I took an overnight bus to Inle Lake, where I thought I would spend several days. I stayed one night and two extremely full days. The lake is beautiful, and the surrounding nature was fantastic. I spent 24 hours without sleep, going on a lake boat-tour to see how the local cigars are made, and joining in on how to make them. I saw how lotus silk is made, and got to weave some of a scarf, and then I went to the market and a cat-themed pagoda. After this I felt I had seen all of Inle Lake.

The next day I went trekking to a village through the mountains with a lovely little man named Mau Lau. At the village I met an old woman who smoked Burmese cigars with me, and talked to me about her children and growing up in the village. She was 61 and told me she was very old, and would probably die soon. I said NO, but realistically, since Myanmar is so under developed the lifestyles of people are rewound a hundred years in time. Life expectancy is in the 60s. Children are working beginning from 5-12 years-old, getting married before they are 22, and having many children by the time they are 30. Dancing in public is not accepted. Touching children on the head is not accepted. Women don't usually travel alone. This is all customary in the complex  Muslim/Buddhist mixed country. For some reason day drinking and blood red chewing tobacco is widely accepted, even by the monks. Myanmar is so weird - nothing is allowed or "okay" but then at the same time anything is possible and perfectly okay to do what you want. Take your time.

I even learned from locals, that although Myanmar was the safest place for me - as a tourist - to travel, it is not necessarily safe for locals traveling between different states. Sometimes women are raped, and often people keep to their own state and culture for safety. The people are good, the money is enough, and there are no worries from day-to-day life within ones comfort zone.

After my day of trekking I took a night bus to Yangon followed by an early morning bus to Hpa'an, where I spent a majority of my time in Myanmar. The capital of Kayin State is underdeveloped like anywhere else, yet developed enough so that I stayed in a nice motel for a low price and was able to travel by motorbike to neighboring villages and mountains.

I met an enormous amount of people in Hpa'An. I became friends with boat drivers, children who swam at sundown by the nearby pagoda every night, and the people who worked at my hotel. I had the great opportunity to communicate with a lot of local people.

The dogs however, were some of the meanest I've come across. I found a lot of parallels between Myanmar and Nepal, like power outages, dog gangs, and incredibly friendly people.

One thing that came as a sort of culture shock to me, was the way of Buddhism in Myanmar. I expected monks to be quiet, middle aged, simple people. What I got was monks with tattoos, chewing tobacco, selfie sticks, cigarettes, and eating anything they can get including meat. The monks live entirely off of donation, and aside from the daily rice donations that they receive, the monetary donations can go towards whatever they wish or need to survive. Also there are different ages, from 5 to 500. I saw monk children playing football, older monks smoking long cigars as they give blessings. Many of the children choose to be monks because of who they admire, or maybe their parents are monks - it doesn't necessarily mean that they are at an age of understanding. As it is, monks can become monks, and stop being monks, then become monks again up to 3 times in their lives. As I spoke with a local, he explained to me that most children are sent away to be a monk early in their life for a week or two before returning home. He told me it is like going to camp. That's cool! I worked at church camp, so I get it. I could probably use a good retreat to monk-camp once in a while.

One of my favorite monk-moments was during my trek at Inle Lake. Mau Lau and I took a detour in our trek to go see the local monastery for prayer on the day of the New Moon. When we arrived a monk was sitting in front of the Buddha facing outward towards the worshipping people who came for the day. The room was silent, and the monk was sitting cross-legged in a meditative position. I bowed to him and began my meditation along with everyone else. As I bowed I heard a loud sound like a whale. When I looked up, everyone seemed unmoved. Thats when I saw it, the monk, in his seated position, gracefully lifted one of his butt cheeks and - while making an intensified pooping face - let out an enormous fart followed by a forced burp.

Thanks for the memories Myanmar. I'll never forget the meditating monk pushing out his farts in the middle of prayer.

Aside from the unique ways of Buddhism in Myanmar, children in Hpa'an were my favorite thing about the country. Since I rushed through most of the country, I didn't have enough time in some places as I would have liked to completely emerge and anamor myself with the people or the city. The reason was that the waterfestival - Burmese and Thai New Year, also known as Buddhist New Year - was quickly approaching making travel difficult and expensive. I wanted to return to Thailand before everything shut down for a week in Myanmar, and I wasn't sure how the border crossing by land would turn out. The land crossings are still somewhat new since Myanmar opened itself to tourism.

During my time in Hpa'an, I took a tour on a tuk tuk for a day to see caves, and temples that I had intended to see before arriving. Chugging along the bumpy dirt roads, around mountains, and through small villages, was one of the highlights of my day. At one point the tuk tuk stopped, and the driver with his limited English turned around and said "Camera! No!" I thought maybe it was because the villagers were out and wouldn't want their photo taken. I asked why, needing to be in the know about all, and he pointed ahead and said "wet wet." At that point we looked in front of the tuk tuk taxi and saw that about 100m in front of us was an enormous crowd of children playing with water. Celebrating the new year a little early no doubt.

Water fight action shot! These kids are precious

No one in the tuktuk really understood what was going on, other than those kids up there have water. While everyone packed up their cameras, I took my waterproof camera, jumped out of the back of the tuk tuk and ran to the children with my arms open yelling something like Yaaaaaah, I've come to play! Immediately I was attacked by the tiniest girl, chased her around while buckets were thrown on me, and I began tripping all over myself on the slippery muddy road. As the tuk tuk drove through after me with the rest of my group still on it, all of the children lined up on either side with a bucket and threw water inside the open sides of the truck. Everyone was soaked. After realizing that there was no point in not joining in the fun, the rest of the tuk tuk unloaded and we all began playing with the children. I really just wanted to play. Water fights are my sort of thing.

After this uplifting play-time I decided to buy a water gun at the market the next morning.

The temple team

My last day in Myanmar was spent riding around on a rented motorbike squirting children with water. I went to the temple where crowds of children joined in throwing water from their bottles at each other. One little girl started directing me towards who I should attack next. Afterwards they all wanted to take pictures with me on their phone or my camera, whatever was nearby. They were adorable children.

I stopped at another house on my way towards the city, slowly got off my bike towards a few children playing with their mom, and went straight for it. Normally, where I come from, if a stranger gets off their motorbike and approaches you, chases you and sprays you with water - it just seems like the parental response would be more alarmed than the response I received in Myanmar. With the festival approaching, and the heart-pounding heat, most people embraced the water as part of the celebrations. When I ran towards these children, the mom clearly directed them in Burmese to get water and attack me back - yelling all of this while she takes out her cellphone to capture photos of the strange westerner coming to play with her kids off the street.

Nothing like being welcomed. I think maybe I am just weird enough to make it in Burma.