Or hello from Burma!
My last evening in Yangon, I was suppose to meet up with a couchsurfer who lived there, but I was too tired from the day and it was still raining really hard. Hung out and chatted with other travelers at the hotel. Lots of business people here checking out opportunities in Burma. This place is going to be really big in just a few years, I suspect. Met some Indian and Malaysians business men, a woman from the Netherlands, an Australian teacher, a Chinese engineer who invited me to Beijing, and a Canadian who now lives in Saudia Arabia. Interesting conversations about politics and religion (both of which I do not generally talk about... Especially here in Burma), but interesting with such a diverse group.
Just for fun, I heard there was a cheaper way to get to the bus terminal out of town. So I jumped in a truck "ferry" that brings all the boxes and packages from the stadium in the city to the bus terminal out of town with a few locals and saved a few bucks. The bus to Inle Lake was very full and I realized they sold me a local bus ticket. Many locals have said I look like I am from Myanmar, so I may be getting away with a little more than I should. But apparently, I don't look enough like a local because I was surrounded by boat, taxi, and tuktuk drivers as soon as I got off the bus at 5am.
Inle Lake was kind of a bust. Super touristy and expensive with people trying to sell you stuff everywhere. Didn't like the town so negotiated a boat deal for the day to look for cheap accommodations on the lake and then show me around. Places were $60-$100 a night, but one of the nice women at the pricy hotels helped me out and called a friend. Ended up staying in a room in a house/restaurant named Ngwe Zin Yaw for $35 right across from Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda in Thale Village. Beautiful spot except there was a loudspeaker for non-stop chanting (well, occasionally they would have to stop and cough). At least it stopped at 6pm, but they wake up even before the chickens and start back up at 4am. So ended up seeing the morning market (which was great to see early, as most locals left when boatloads of tourist showed up several hours later and I just walked a few meters back to my room). Saw the jumping cat monastery but the cats were just sleeping so just wanted to float on the lake and watch the fishermen (who can row the boat using their leg while reeling in the net) but continually got steered towards super touristy stuff like "go see the ring neck tribal women", I had enough. Headed back to town to book a bus anywhere but there.
I stumbled into a booking office with the nicest woman at a spot called Century Travel. She sold me a bus ticket to Bagan and let me hang out there until the bus came. Met her wonderful family when her husband came back after picking up the kids at school (men here seem to take a very active role around the house and with their children) and they treated me and a couple who also booked the bus to a homemade Shan noodle dinner which was the best food I have had so far.
Not a lot of Internet here (and what there is is spotty and slow) but will send another update when I can. Just know all is well, and Burma is a magical and beautiful place. Perhaps the safest place I have ever traveled.
Love,
Betsy
Burma is beautiful. The people are friendly, welcoming, and helpful. Yangon is an interesting mix of old and new architecture, with people of all different cultures. I have met local people from India, other areas of SE Asia, and Pakistan. It feels very safe. My hotel, Beautyland II, has great staff and it is clean and centrally located near lots of yummy street food stands, Sule Paya, and several markets. I spent the day wandering the city streets and markets and chatting with the money changers and vendors, taking in all the sights and sounds (and food) that I possibly can. My jet lag isn't too bad, but could just be travel excitement.
In the afternoon, I headed over to see the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda. I have always been in awe at pictures of this Pagoda and it is even more impressive in person. It actually took my breath away when I first walked in from the entrance. The Pagoda is huge and gilded in gold with Buddhas of all shapes and sizes. It made for a very relaxing afternoon, watching monks of all ages in prayer and listening to all of the chimes and bells. One man said to me "You must like it here because you are smiling so big!" He was right. And not shockingly, I get the "where are you from?" question here even more than at home. And I seem to confuse people with how I am Vietnamese and American.
Yangon has been fun, but after seeing Shwedagon, I am ready to move on. I am not a big fan of cities when traveling, Yangon is expensive, and it is pouring buckets (people are very concerned that I don't use an umbrella and some have even offered to walk with me so I can stay under theirs). Anyhoo, after talking with others, I have changed up my itinerary a bit. I am on an overnight bus tomorrow to Inle Lake. I will stay around there for a few days and then try to bus to Bagan to see the temples and then boat to Mandalay, if possible. Not sure how the Internet will be outside of the city, so don't worry if I don't check in for a little bit.
Montezuma was full of morning exploration to several deserted beaches: exploring tide pools, picking up shells, and meeting nice people. During the heat of the day, I packed lunches and went and sat in the cool rivers or played in the waterfalls. Or headed to the soda that served guanabana juice, as well as less typical small side of pasta salad and roasted beets in their typical plate meal (casado). There was no diving due to the high waves and strong current, but my hotel, 
I was quickly joined by a small dog, who I named Corgi (since I assume that is what kind of a dog he was). Corgi followed me EVERYWHERE. Occasionally he would chase a cow down the road, but would quickly come back. If I went into a shop or bakery, he would sit outside and wait. If I sat down for a rest, he would sit by (or on) my feet. The mountain roads are narrow and winding with blind corners, so if I walked on the wrong side of the road, Corgi would cross to the other side and look at me until I crossed to the safer side.
Corgi and I found a new hotel for me that was quiet at 
The next day, I got up early and headed for the bus to Monteverde Reserve so I could be there before anyone else when the park opened. I walked about 20 feet and heard something behind me. Turning around, there was Corgi-- smiling at me and following along. We walked to the bus stop and waited. He seemed a little sad that he couldn't come with me. The bus broke down on the way there, but luckily I was on the bus with all the locals that were headed to work in the park. So they took me with them and we walked a different route and flagged down a school bus that took us the rest of the way. There were only a few of us there for the 7am park opening and I chose a different path than everyone else. Got into the park for half price, since I remembered my school ID (if you travel and have an old school ID, many parks offer discounts to students... now that I actually am I student, I can use the current one, but I have also used old ones from University of Arizona and University of Washington and they have worked just fine). I spent the entire day hiking, walking almost all the trails in the park. It was nice to have the head start over everyone else so I could walk as quietly as possible and go as slow as I wanted to see as much wildlife as possible. Saw lots of birds (which really aren't my thing since, well, they aren't monkeys). Hummingbirds all around, little lizards, beautiful flowers and just lots of peacefulness... just what I needed.
Headed back to town and guess who met me moments after getting off the bus? Yup, Corgi found me again. We walked around for a bit and I ran into Miguel, the guy from my hotel who also worked at a hostel in the town center. We chatted for a bit and walked around town for a bit after he got off work. We decided to go grab a drink. Miguel seemed to know everyone in town (partially why I agreed to go for a drink with him-- my general rule of walking around with someone in a small town and seeing everyone's reaction to them can give you a pretty good idea if they are trustworthy or not). Someone in the bar he knew introduced me to another traveler who was heading back to San Jose the next day and had a rental car. She wanted company for the drive and so she invited me along, saving me some money, time, and a very early bus departure. That allowed me to stay up a little later for a late bite to eat made by Miguel's mother at his house before he dropped me back at the hotel.
The next morning, I ate breakfast and said my sad goodbyes to Corgi. Dropped a few shells I collected off to Miguel (as he mentioned he had a collection) and a get well wish for his father who was starting chemo in the nearest hospital 3 1/2 hours away in Puntarenas. Uneventful drive back to San Jose and got dropped off at my hotel. All in all, Monteverde was just what I needed.
Met an old college buddy in San Jose after first arriving. It was nice to see her and catch up after about a decade and she and her girlfriend gave me a tour of the city. City itself was okay, but couldn't have spent much time there. The National Theater was very pretty, but most interesting thing to me was the massive crowds outside the public hospitals of people waiting to get seen.
The rest of the week, my travel mate surfed and I explored and relaxed or we took little trips on the ATV he rented. Even though it is the green season, the rains seem pretty well timed (often late night/early morning) and don't seem to stop you from doing much. I enjoyed just sitting and watching the wildlife (iguanas, butterflies, hummingbirds, a flock of wild parakeets, some kind of cute chipmunk thing, bats every day), cooling off in the pool, laying on the beach and watching the surfers, and playing in tide pools. We took trips to Montezuma to jump off rocks into a waterfall pool, tried to find a snorkeling beach for me, viewed the countryside, and ventured up to a lookout of the area apparently close to Mel Gibson's house.
As far as the food situation, typical Tica food is pretty basic (rice and beans with chicken/beef/or fish) but there is a large variety of food in Santa Teresa. I had fun trying to grocery shop (I found you had to hit up several shops to find ingredients you needed as one would have coconut milk and cilantro and the other would have meat or something else I needed) and make food without my usual ingredients. My second attempt at green curry (first needed chicken and broth) using avocado and cumin was not too horrible. On the last day, I found a great reading spot at the next beach over with big rocks and a shady tree to read under and ran into a family of howler monkeys on the way home.