Wow is all I can say about these last couple of days in Burma. I had one of the best days of my life - but that will come later.
Bagan, known for having over 2,000 temples and pagodas, was quite amazing and made me speechless most of the time. Just biking around and seeing a temple with architecture I have never seen before made me realize how special of a place Burma really is.
Our second day in Bagan started with the Lacquerware Museum.
Burma is known for its lacquerware so it was interesting to understand the process behind making each piece. I couldn't believe how every piece was made of bamboo! The museum was connected to a college so we knew all of the pieces in the gift shop were legit and not knock offs.
During our tour we met a woman from Tennessee who was traveling on her own after visiting her daughter in Bangkok for a couple months. We decided to all grab lunch together at a restaurant called "Be Kind to the Animals and the Moon" (all of the restaurants in Burma have such interesting English names.) Her nomad life seemed so cool after hearing stories of her life.
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to rest. Word for the wise - if you come to Burma in the hot season (summer months), be prepared and rent e-bikes not regular bicycles. Though we enjoyed the exercise, it's difficult to fully enjoy the sights when you're completely covered and dripping in sweat.
We headed to the Shwe San Daw Pagoda to watch the sunset as it is one of the only temples in Bagan that you can climb up to the top. The summer months are "low season" here since it's so hot but there were so many tourists at the pagoda! I can't even imagine what high season would be like. Many tourists had massive cameras and tripods and didn't seem to notice or care that they kept bumping into people or getting in the way of someone's view! It was actually pretty hilarious.
The sunset was truly amazing. Looking over Bagan and seeing stupa after stupa after stupa was quite beautiful.
Bagan, known for having over 2,000 temples and pagodas, was quite amazing and made me speechless most of the time. Just biking around and seeing a temple with architecture I have never seen before made me realize how special of a place Burma really is.
Our second day in Bagan started with the Lacquerware Museum.
During our tour we met a woman from Tennessee who was traveling on her own after visiting her daughter in Bangkok for a couple months. We decided to all grab lunch together at a restaurant called "Be Kind to the Animals and the Moon" (all of the restaurants in Burma have such interesting English names.) Her nomad life seemed so cool after hearing stories of her life.
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to rest. Word for the wise - if you come to Burma in the hot season (summer months), be prepared and rent e-bikes not regular bicycles. Though we enjoyed the exercise, it's difficult to fully enjoy the sights when you're completely covered and dripping in sweat.
We headed to the Shwe San Daw Pagoda to watch the sunset as it is one of the only temples in Bagan that you can climb up to the top. The summer months are "low season" here since it's so hot but there were so many tourists at the pagoda! I can't even imagine what high season would be like. Many tourists had massive cameras and tripods and didn't seem to notice or care that they kept bumping into people or getting in the way of someone's view! It was actually pretty hilarious.
The sunset was truly amazing. Looking over Bagan and seeing stupa after stupa after stupa was quite beautiful.
That night we went to a traditional Indian restaurant (we knew it was traditional because Indians owned the restaurant!) it was one of the best meals of the trip! 
Tuesday we flew to Inle Lake which was the most relaxing part of our trip. I credit one of the best days of my life to Inle Lake!
We arrived and took a boat to Nyuang Shwe, the main town in Inle Lake. During lunch we were able to watch a storm roll through which was such an amazing sight!
After the rain stopped, we walked around the markets and grabbed a taxi (well a tut-tut which was such a fun experience!) to go to the Red Mountain Winery - who knew Burma made wines! It was so enjoyable and relaxing to just sit, talk and drink while watching the sunset over the Inle Valley. 
We ordered a "Hawaiian pizza" and I put quotes around it because it was nothing like the Hawaiian pizza back in the states! As I tried to cut it, some of the pizza ended up on my pants -_-
After the winery we went to Win Thyuat Family Traditional Massage to get a Burmese/Thai massage. The place is actually their home and they weren't expecting clients because it's the low season so they were so excited we arrived! We received massages from a woman and her mother which made it really special. They fed us lots of cookies and tea after - so sweet.
After such a relaxing day, we walked around town and had dinner at a place with a San Diego couple we met. It was fun to hear their stories as they had been traveling for over 3 months!
The next day we took a day long tour on a boat around floating villages and markets. It was so amazing to see "the lake life" and how each family specializes in some craft or skill that provides for the town. They all work together to support each other!
After a long day on the boat we went to our hotel's hot spring baths to relax and I think the workers were shocked to see American women in bikinis...made us feel quite uncomfortable...
We had an enjoyable dinner at our hotel (though quite expensive) and spent the evening relaxing on our deck. It was such a lovely way to end our time in Burma and our time together!
The next morning we flew to Yangon and waited for our respective flights (me to Ho Chi Minh and Eliza to Hong Kong). It was sad to say goodbye to my travel buddy!
Once I arrived in Saigon (also called Ho Chi Minh), a woman, Vi, from my program met me at the airport to take me to my guesthouse. I'm staying in the backpacking district...quite loud and a lot of foreigners...and SO MANY MOTORBIKES!! People were not kidding when they warned me about the motorbikes! Luckily Dalat is a quiet town so I won't be scared for my life to cross the street.
I got dinner with Vi and another woman Tran who also works for my program. We had pho - how fitting! After dinner I met a couple of American volunteers from St. John's University in New York that are working in Saigon.
Today (Friday) I went with the other volunteers to their placements. The first stop was a Catholic shelter for women who have babies or are pregnant that are not married. The shelter is meant to help them reconnect with the father of the baby or their family. It was special to see the women and their babies and how touched they were by the volunteer work! 
I experienced my first Catholic mass - all in Vietnamese...hahahha. They provided us lunch, spring rolls and soup with rice noodles! It was so delicious!
We then went to a shelter for girls and they performed a dance for us, it was so sweet! 
Tonight I'll be going to dinner with the other volunteers (3 girls and 2 professors), it's so nice to have people to hang out with!
Tomorrow I'll be touring the city with Vi and then having dinner and doing karaoke with the group! Can't wait for karaoke!! But actually.
Sunday night at 11pm I'll be heading to DaLat with Vi via a sleeper bus. She will be staying with me for about a week in DaLat to help me adjust! I didn't know someone would be going with me so that makes me feel a lot better!
Thanks for reading all that! I'll make sure to not wait this many days to write!
Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a book to read about Vietnam (maybe an interesting war narrative) - please let me know!
Love and miss you all! Shout out to Tucker on his 3rd birthday! Wish I was there to celebrate!
-Whit
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