As some of you may have noticed I am missing some posts from my trip. I haven’t really written about Thailand or Myanmar yet. I didn’t want to write about Bangkok because it was a hard time for me, but I did it and now I can move on to Myanmar finally! I have post-dated these entries so you can search, look by date (February), by country or just follow this link. The people who have subscribed to my updates get an email when I update so if you’d like one too please fill out the form on the right-hand side of the main blog page. Enjoy!

I have been considering all of your comments, as well as another traveler who suggested that I might not want to go back to Myanmar–that it’s such a special place the first time I might not enjoy it as much on second glance. And seeing another country (Mongolia) might be nice. It would be easiest to see Mongolia and then take a train to Chengdu, where I can arrange the special travel permit and flight I need to get into Tibet. I have been to Chengdu before and have a feel for how it all works.

On the other hand, unless I make a trip of the Trans-Siberian Railway sometime in the future, when will I see Eastern Russia? And the idea of entering China from Central Asia and traveling from Kashgar overland through the old Silk Road to Golmund and on to Tibet is fascinating. I’m sure it will be somewhat boring and lonely, but in the end I think it would be a real accomplishment.

Just to see what is possible, I have looked at flights to Vladstock, Russia (or VVO, as I’ve come to know it from it’s airport code) and they’re quite expensive–over $1,000 one way. However, I could fly to South Korea for around $500-600 and take a ferry to Russia. The ferry company has a website but it’s all in Korean. However, they were nice enough to respond to my email in English and told me that a one-way ticket to Vladstock is about $170 ($190 if I want a bed!). That beats the extra $600 a flight would cost.

Last night I had a dream that my sister and I were taking a train to China and we had to unexpectedly change trains in Turkmenistan. Surprisingly, the signs at the train station were in English which helped a lot. My sister’s an accountant so I was able to sit back and let her exchange money to buy our onward tickets while I explored. I’m not sure if this dream means I should or shouldn’t go to Central Asia. As you can see from the comments on my last post, my sister really wants me to go to Brazil so she can come along–there’s no way she will ever be traversing Turkmenistan. Although I appreciate both her and my mom’s advice, I do realize it’s heavily biased in favor of a) going to South America and b) keeping me away from any country ending in “stan”.

It’s time to start seriously considering my phase 2 route. As most of you know I initially wanted to travel Japan> China> Vietnam> Cambodia> Laos> Thailand> Tibet> India> Jordan> Egypt> Tanzania> Madagascar> South Africa> Chicago. I got as far West as Myanmar (a country I wanted to go to but hadn’t mentioned to my parents since they were scared of Cambodia!) before I had to come back home to be with my family. So, what should I do when I pick my trip back up? Should I start where I left off or add in places that I heard about while I was away? I haven’t figured out travel times, seasons etc. yet and these maps aren’t exactly accurate but let’s look at the options:

Here’s an overview of the bigger route with the most crazy route possible (I probably won’t go to South America):

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The government of Myanmar (Burma) moved the capital of the country from Yangon (Rangoon) to Pyinmana, 200 miles North. Some speculate that the move was suggested by an astrologer (this is not uncommon in Myanmar) and others say the move was to make the country less vulnerable to possible attack by sea from U.S. forces.

This move will greatly affect Yangon, which was a bustling capital as most of the money heads North. Almost anyone who makes a “good” living in Myanmar is connected to the government in some way. Foreign embassies will most likely be required to relocate and no longer be able to quickly serve the tourist population with visas, extensions or legal help. Tourists will continue to be routed through Yangon for international flights (although the airport near Mandalay does handle a few international flights) which leaves me wondering what kind of town Pyinmana will be. The Times UK calls it “[a] city that only a year ago was little more than a collection of straw huts and rice paddies.”

This is a very interesting development and I am curious to see how things develop. Will Mandalay open up to more international flights? Will foreigners be allowed into the new capital? If someone needs to extend a visa how will he get into Pyinmana and will there be hotels? Right now it sounds as if personnel were moved overnight and were not permitted to take their families, where does that leave tourists? And last of all, what will happen to the democratic activist and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still being held under house arrest in Yangon?

More reading:
Times UK
CNN

Since I’ve been home I’ve tried to catch up on other travelers’ blogs and maybe get a little inspiration. One interesting post I saw was a photo post of a man’s trip to the grocery store in Bangkok, Thailand. Now, the street scenes in Thailand may be more interesting than my day in Chicago, but I thought it would be fun to try a “day in the life” a few weeks ago. Most of my day was surprisingly spent in the car.

1:05pm
I start off from home, about 30 miles Northwest of Chicago, and drive to my bank’s ATM. Unfortunately, most people around here now drive SUVs and the new ATMs have been made at an SUV’s window height–not a Honda Accord’s. I decide to conduct my transaction in English, not Spanish.

1:06pm
Down the parking lot in the attached strip mall is a Walgreen’s drug store where I hope to find batteries for my film camera. I retired my beloved Nikon N60 when I left on my RTW trip and the batteries have worn out. Although digital is great, I miss the feel of my SLR and have decided to take photos with it today.

1:09pm
There’s lots of batteries to choose from…

1:10pm
The cashier is a bit odd and insists on taking a photo of me. Most stores don’t allow photography inside and I had been pretending that the batteries were for this camera. I try to take a photo of him and he runs out of frame.

1:27pm
I enter the expressway to Chicago near a large building shaped like a generic castle. It puts on medieval-themed dinner shows and used to be really popular. I went twice when I was a kid, but how many times can you get excited about jousting and eating turkey with your bare hands?
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Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love costumes and take every chance I get to dress in one. Last year I was in Jinghong, China on Halloween and didn’t have a chance to properly celebrate. I tried to find chocolate (take my advice–avoid Chinese chocolate at all costs) but ended up with a small piece of “milk candy.” Apparently, sometime during my quest for chocolate candy I became so desperate that I began to hallucinate. I saw the words “milk candy” and thought “milk chocolate!” Boy, was I disappointed.

My costume last year–a Canadian tourist–didn’t go over very well. This year I decided to be Trillian from the recent film version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (Photos of the original costume) Although I have been planning this costume since I was on my trip and actively looking for fabric for the past three months I only finished sewing on Saturday. Because the costume is rather unique I was forced to draft the patterns completely from scratch. The lines on Trillian’s suit are made with piping which must be sewn between two pieces of fabric. This meant that each section of the suit needed to be a separate pattern piece.

Testing the pattern for fit: too small! // Lots of pattern pieces

In total I drafted 24 distinctly shaped pattern pieces–most of which were repeated on the opposite side. Drafting the pattern was a lot of work, and covering 20 yards of cord in fleece to create all of the piping was a bit tedious.
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