The Problem With The Boat

After our day in Mandalay, we checked into our hotel, which was actually a boat.  For the next two days, we watched Burma's countryside from the deck of this beautiful, wooden boat.  The countryside is hilly and hard to get around but it's lush, green, and dotted with golden stupas ever few hundred meters (sometimes every few meters).  There is no better way to see it than from our vantage point on the Irrawaddy River.

Apart from the good views from the deck, the food on the boat was great, there was an open bar, unlimited snacks, tons of fruits, and it was just the four of us (apart from the lovely crew).  So, the problem with the boat was that we lost all interest in seeing anything that we couldn't see from the boat.  

Our cruel guide nevertheless forced us off the boat a few times a day to see stuff.  It was interesting, but we just wanted to get back to the boat for snacks + drinks + gorgeous views + lounging.

INTRODUCING: THE BOAT

Captain's Quarters

Delicious food

Separate beds?!

It's ok, we can handle it

LOUNGING ON THE BOAT

 

Jeremy wasn't feeling well when we got on the boat

But Jeremy suddenly recovered.  No doubt about it: this boat is magical.

Paparazzi shot

View of our boat from another, less fancy boat

OH, THERE'S MORE!

On the second night, the boat docked on a patch of sand right in the middle of the river so we had our own private little island on which to run around, play, eat dinner, and watch the sun set.

How embarrassing.  But, wait!  There's no one around to judge.

Best private beach ever

Bonfire for grilling dinner

Family dinner 

STUFF ON LAND...BORING

It turns out that Alina is probably Burmese royalty, as demonstrated by the fact that the cutout on this wall was precisely the size and shake of her body.

Gangsta Katz'

Feigning interest

IF it had been completed, this would have been the biggest stupa in Burma

Land Travel = TERRIFYING

"I want boat NOW!"

Alina borrowed a tuk-tuk to drive the family around

Our new friends, et les 2 plus grandes cloches du monde

Overdose on Stupas

There are a LOT of stupas in Burma. Way more than we could handle...

We met Jeremy's parents in Burma for 10 days of touring, and it was a lot of fun. We all started in Yangon, and spent a day visiting around the city before continuing on to Mandalay. In both cities we saw monasteries and stupas. Very big stupas, higher than we had ever seen before, and we were not prepared for that.

On top of that, meeting up with Jeremy's parents meant that we were rejoining civilization. In particular: sophisticated food, uncontaminated water, hot showers, adult conversation, etc. We were not prepared for that either.

The visit to Mandalay started, as all Burmese city visits must start: with stupas, stupas and more stupas.  Some were small, some were really big, others were medium-size.  All were shiny.  Jeremy could not handle it any more and he hatched a scheme to skip part of the day's visit by claiming he didn't feel well and needed to stay back to take a nap.  Naively, the others believed him and left him behind.

When they got back, they found him in his room, huddled in a corner, acting very protective of a stupa he'd built out of rocks and trash, mumbling rhythmically to himself, "I love you, my precious stupa."

Doctors were consulted: Jeremy had over-dosed on stupas. Apparently, this happens pretty often to people when they first arrived in India. Fortunately, Jeremy's little crisis only lasted for a day, and we were then able to go on with our trip.

Jeremy and Alina
Bringing Nonsense To A Whole New Level

This is the plane we took from Thailand to get to Yangon. You can tell that it is a safe plane because it is painted as a smiling bird. 

The parents arrive! Yeeeaaahhh!

We went to visit the Yangon synagogue. They sometimes celebrate Shabbat and the high holidays there, when there are enough people. 

Visiting the market to buy some jewelry (didn't happen) 

The dream team in a car

Alina being dreamy

We took a lot of X-rated pictures

At first, Alina was a good student, always staying with Jeremy's parents and the guide, and pretending to listen and be interested

But sometimes she snapped...

So, in Burma, all the women and some of the men paint interesting designs on their faces with tan-colored cream - as sun protection. Our guide taught us how to make it (with wood and water)

First of many great diners with the parents

This is at the beginning of dinner, when we had just started drinking

And then we drank some more

And then, when we were really drunk, we caused trouble all around town and stole this car (we later returned it)