Happy Birthday!

Today is Jan's 33rd birthday! The sun is shining, and the temperature is just perfect—about 24 degrees. We had a great night's sleep in a comfy bed and didn't freeze at all. I had prepared a little picnic. I thought we might be in the mood for some treats and cozy vibes, so I packed some juice (we drink a ton of water all the time), energy drinks, muesli bars, and licorice. The real gift is waiting for him back home in Denmark. I had arranged with our guesthouse to write "33" with bananas on Jan's pancake. His fruit plate was also set up to say "33." When the food was served, they sang a local birthday song for him :) We rented a couple of bikes for 1000 kyat each for the day and headed around the lake. Our goal was the hot springs about 10 km from town, but they turned out to be pretty modest and didn’t look very clean. Instead, we cycled on to a small village where we could get a boat to take us and our bikes across the lake for 6000 kyat per person. From there, it was about a 15 km ride back home. It's incredible how friendly people are here. I don’t think we’ve ever been in a country with such smiling faces. Little kids ran up to us for a "high five" as we cycled by. They picked flowers for us and ran alongside, handing them over as we passed. We relaxed with a massage for 4000 kyat each before heading to the big balloon festival in the evening. We shared a taxi with an Australian for 45000 kyat for the ride. It was a bit pricey, but everyone was heading to the festival, so the prices have gone up. Today is a full moon, and the whole country is celebrating. Taunggyi, a neighboring town, is hosting a massive festival that’s been going on all week. Today is the last day. The entire country is partying, drinking, having fun, and setting off fireworks constantly. All traffic heading to Taunggyi was one-way—toward the festival grounds. Bicycles, scooters, cars, and trucks were packed to the brim with people sitting on roofs, hanging out of windows, or clinging to the back. Many vehicles were so overloaded that their brakes didn’t work anymore. So, there were people running around in traffic placing wooden blocks behind the wheels whenever the traffic came to a halt. About 200,000 people were heading to the festival, so the traffic was insane. There are often many accidents on days like this due to drunk driving. Last year, our driver’s brother crashed into another man, who died. The brother ended up in jail, but the family managed to buy him out for 5000 USD. There was a parade all the way to the festival grounds. People walked with lights in their hands and had made large figures decorated with lights and Buddha statues. It looked really beautiful. We had heard that there were way too many people and too much gunpowder. Other tourists who had visited the festival earlier in the week felt unsafe. But we didn’t think it was that bad. The highlight of the evening is when a balloon is launched. Lights are lit in different patterns on a giant hot air balloon, which then takes off. Sometimes it goes well, and it flies far. Other times, it lands right in the crowd. There are also balloons with fireworks attached, and those often end in disaster. This year, one got stuck in a tree before it broke free and flew away. All in all, it was an exciting and very different experience. It felt a bit strange to see people genuinely enjoying themselves when you know there are also really terrible things happening in the country. As I mentioned before, it’s definitely possible to have a good life in Myanmar, as long as you keep your path clean—no political opinions and no societal critiques.