Many things have to be learnt through experience, and it seems that this is especially true for international travel. Take, for example, my first Thai meal:…..”hmmmm, this spicy sauce looks really good. I think I’ll LOAD it on.” The next 20 minutes of trying to eat that little piece of BBQ’d meat was an exercise in self abuse. I was JUST holding it together at the table and pretending everything was normal while the inferno raged in my mouth and tears streamed down my face. It didn’t just end when the meal was over either. Anyone who has eaten too much spicy food knows well what the next day can bring……….I had to relive the entire ordeal all over again, this time on the other end. Note to self: pass on the sauces with the green and red floaties.
It’s pretty much been like that for the past three weeks. When one flies a helicopter through third world countries, one encounters many new things. I’ve started to forget the names of the hotels I’ve stayed in, and I had spent six different currencies in two weeks. Count ‘em: CA dollar, US dollar, HK dollar, Bhat, Kyat, and Taka!
Once the aircraft left Bangkok we flew direct to Yangon and spent a few nights in the Golden City. CHC has a base there with other aircraft so we took advantage of the situation and got way ahead of the maintenance game. Between you and me, Myanmar is an amazing place. Yes, it’s a military dictatorship that exercises authoritarianism (the last person to win a democratic election is a women who’s been on house arrest for about a decade), but if one is looking for travel off the beaten track, it is there. It is a beautiful land, they are beautiful people, and you’ve got to love the common person’s Buddhist way of life. It is what Thailand was 35 years ago. Don’t tell anyone. Oh, and horn honking is illegal and everyone drives slowly to conserve their ration of fuel……and they call that “developing”?
Next stop: Chittagong. Oh boy.
