My Krispy Kreme Donut Challenge I am far too attached to food. And within the world of food, I am far too attached to Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts. I don’t like the other flavors or the other bakeries. And sometimes I have an idea, such as running some number of miles, eating an entire box of joy in one… Read More
Things I Cannot Ignore Regarding Anny To my pleasant astonishment, a girl from the Brazilian Amazon reached out to me on Instagram. I had posted about some clinical volunteering with a medical team from Yangon and was about to head to ThaBarWa for my first experience with social work. Anny told me she was a doctor, and asked if I knew… Read More
Barefoot Begging And Patient Caring At ThaBarWa Meditation Center Life was hard and it was what I needed. During my week with the 3,000 residents (1,000 of which are patients) of this donations-run sanctuary for all, I focused on self discipline and awareness of the present. I woke at five to meditate, ate two meals a day, and meditated once more in the evenings.… Read More
A Lengthy Thought On Donations Southeast Asian Summer Day 32 Yangon, Myanmar Three days of medical experience were done. I finally got to sleep in, so naturally I felt the need to draft a Go Fund Me from my phone in bed and unexpectedly raise enough for not one, but two refrigerators over the course of breakfast because even… Read More
Clinical Volunteering In Yangon: Finding Truth In My Intentions In Burmese, Yangon means void of danger. After nearly a month of sightseeing, I was ready to volunteer and connect with a local community of medical staff to take away the dangers that patients in the rural jungle villages might suffer from. Nothing felt more reaffirming of “Yes, I want to be a doctor” than seeking a presence… Read More
Shan State: Over The Gokteik And Across Inle The more I travel the more I find alone-ness to be dangerously addicting. I submerged in this feeling I have tried explaining before as I took a train across an engineering wonder of the rail world and a boat ride through parts of a famed lake. Two of Myanmar‘s most iconic landmarks would have been ideal at… Read More
Shan State: Adventuring Around Hsipaw Usually ignored by most backpacker itineraries, Hsipaw and it’s ever-growing popularity was a nice little town that many use as a base for jungle treks and village home stays. I checked out the ruins in “Little Bagan,” listened to a tragic love story in the historic Shan Palace, and befriended a couple Oregonian hippies who… Read More
Kachin State: Elusive Elephants At Lake Indawgyi When visiting Myanmar’s largest lake one will find a ring of quiet villages, a floating pagoda, and few foreigners. Working elephants have been traditionally used by the Burmese for logging and some were still around the lake. Upon learning this, seeing one of the gentle giants quickly became my sole goal for this destination. … Read More
Kachin State: Bilingual Hitchhiking Through Myanmar’s Red Zone Ashley met a guy in Laos who said he boated from Katha to Bhamo, and then hitched from to Myitkyina. So here we were, ready to give it a shot. Did this random guy mention that the road would be restricted to foreigners due to the regular spats of military violence? No. Did this random… Read More
Kachin State: Taking In Katha And Bhamo Katha was the setting for one of George Orwell’s first novels, Burmese Days. A favorite read for backpackers in Myanmar, I made sure to grab my own copy before I got there. Bhamo was to the west and had a bamboo bridge that got washed away and rebuilt by villagers each year. Both towns don’t… Read More