Below: The crew in Maesot, Thailand the day before we entered Myanmar. (From left to right, top row: Me, Mr. Yoon's Burmese housekeeper, Mrs. Yoon's sister, Mirek, Katya, Mr. Yoon, Mrs. Yoon, Mr. Yoon's daughter's fiancee, Bottom row: Mike, Minsung.)
Minutes after we crossed the border and stopped at a tea house for a break, the locals assembled and a photo shoot commenced. This happened numerous times during our trip across Myanmar, and we usually walked away with free food or bottles of water (tea is always free in Myanmar).
The shaky parade hits Kyaito
Us in a random town on the way from Yangon north towards Monywa. Now we have Daniella (second from left), who met up with us in Yangon to cycle the rest of the way.
We were this hotel's very first guests. The rooms weren't finished and nothing worked, but it was the only place to stay, and we managed to have a great time with the owner (who had recently returned from living in the US for several years) and staff, talking and playing music.
I handed my camera off to a kid wandering in the street to take this photo. I think it may have been his first time to use a real camera.
Outside the Pangaba Guesthouse in Pye with Mr. Ushwe the owner. If you're ever in Pye, don't go to any of the places in the Lonely Planet; instead, head straight here for the best deal and nicest people in town.
The man on the left is apparently a pretty famous poet?
This entire village assembled itself under a big old tree just to take a picture with all of us.
Mirek spent his birthday sleeping in this roadside hut in the middle of the jungle. That night I bathed in a mud puddle.
This family was contracted to improve this stretch of the road, so they're all living in a makeshift tent, and seem to be left to fend for themselves in addition to working on the road. That bottle that Mike's holding isn't whiskey, but a bottle of raw honey collected from the forest nearby. This family, probably poor as dirt and living under a tarp next to a muddy trail, gifted us several large bottles of this awesome honey. If we had tried to buy that much raw natural honey in the US, I'm sure it would've cost over $100.
We stopped for a night in a small village, and had fun hanging out with the local kids. The girls were particularly interested in Daniella and Katya.
But I think they liked me alright too.
Check out the Longyi (Burmese manskirt) and Angry Birds combo.
All of the girls wanted a photo with Katya.
For some reason only drunk farmers want photos with me and Mike.
Here we are, at the end of our journey in Tamu, the Burmese border town next to India. Last photo of us in Myanmar ~
And first photo in India! We made it!
