We are back in DC! After many hours of travel, we're finally home and everyone is in bed.
When I last posted, it was our first day in Myanmar. On Friday, Daddy went to the capital (Naypyidaw) and met with Aung San Suu Kyi (among other meetings) while the kids and I went on a tour of Yangon. It was an amazing day. We went to the city hall area, the old city, the port where the ferries come in, Scott Market, lunch at the Strand Hotel, the Reclining Buddha and the Shwedagon Pagoda. Photos do not do the latter two justice. Both of them were among the most amazing things I have ever seen. The Asia Foundation set up a great tour for us and we had a lot of fun hanging with the spouses and staff.
On Saturday, we woke up very early and headed to Bagan, another place that photos cannot capture. The serenity and beauty of Bagan is not to be believed. Thousands of temples dotting the landscape everywhere you look. We all took so many photos. Daddy hired a guide to take us around and he was very knowledgeable about the area, the individual temples, the architecture, etc. It was a gorgeous tour. We ended it with a sunset view of the temples.
YEsterday (was it only yesterday?) we got up and left Bagan to head back to Yangon. We had another good day in Yangon – back to Scott Market to pick up a few things, tea at the Governor's Mansion hotel, a stop at a gallery, then dinner with some of Daddy's former colleagues from SRAP who are now living in Yangon. We picked up our bags and headed to the airport for another THREE flights – Yangon –> Beijing –> Tokyo –> DC. The kids did great on the flights and we enjoyed seeing the different airports. We especially appreciated using Grandma Sandy's club card coupons in Tokyo, where we enjoyed free food and wifi in the lounge.
Back to school/work/soccer/rehearsal/lunches tomorrow.
I'll post a few photos but again, I will not do Bagan or Shwedagon Pagoda justice. Everyone else has lots of photos too, and lots of the family group shots are on Daddy's camera.
Also, Daddy worked with N tonight to list his memories and favorites from the trip:
Favorite things:
