Thaipusam in Batu Caves, why has it taken me so long?

The last thing i can remember about spending Thaipusam in Batu Caves amongst the trances and the kavadis, I was on my fathers shoulders so i could get a better view of the crowd and not be squashed to death. Now, if you've seen me recently you would know that I'm way too big to be sitting on anyones shoulders, so yes it's been THAT long.

Anyway, so this year we're going back to the chaos once again! 

Things I am definitely looking forward to:

1) The grinding --  Anyone who's ANYONE, on the KTM knows about the grinding! In thaipusam, there will hardly be space for you to breathe let alone distance yourself from the crotches of men wearing the thin white cloth of purity. 

2) The shoving -- Every year we read about stampedes almost, recently one in India, makes me think it's almost an Indian thing really and at a religious event. Ah what awesomeness, proof that religion brings out the beasts in us all.

3) The scams --  So I've heard about the legendary scam artists and the announcers that keep track announcing " One thalli missing, two thalli missing" "3 wallets missing", now if thats not something to experience i dont know what is. And then the famous trick of people falling into a trance, and then wham bham your thalli has gone missing as the perpretrator has dissolved into the crowd before you.

4) The chaos  -- I love the chaos and i love the loud music and the shouting and the COLOURS! and the FESTIVEness of it all. 

5) The stairs -- This I'm not sure I'll attempt doing, just the thought of being sandwiched between men, not because i want to. And the thought of suffocating there, between two things in life i;ve fought so hard to keep away, religion and perverted men, ah not how i'd thought i'd die.

Ah something new I'm anticipating this year is : the RM 10 indian tops! I would be sorely disappointed if there aren't any!  

But for the exact same reasons as above, Thaipusam in Batu Caves is something every person should see and experience i think. Once is more than enough, but wow to say you've survived Thaipusam, could it almost be as rewarding as conquering Mount Kinabalu?

Preparation for Myanmar (Burma).

So I've recently just experienced my first ever vacation overseas, in Myanmar and there seems to be a lot of bullshit stuff that goes into this whole passport visa stuff and I thought it would be good to compile all the little things we did that helped a lot in our 10 day travelling around Myanmar. And the most important step is always the preparation.

So i spent the whole week before leaving Malaysia, just READING about Myanmar. About transportation, places worth going to, prices, budget inns, budget everything. It would be safe to say that a RM 50 budget per day would serve just about right, WITHOUT shopping. Hotels are relatively cheap, even on peak season (November to March) about 12 USD per night for a double room, 4 or 5 for a single room.

For a 10 day stay, 2 places are ideal to visit. Yangoon itself is really not quite worth it for more than half a day perhaps. Its just KL dirtier, dustier, less shopping malls, and really nothing much to see except old abandon buildings that used to be owned by the previous government.

Things we needed BEFORE we left :
1) Visa -- You have to have a visa to visit and people have told us that its better to steer clear from occupations related to the media or any kind of camera work to ensure a smooth application. We don't know how true that is but maybe you can try. Its about RM80 for 4 months, and takes 5 working days inclusive of the day of application. The express one costs RM 150 , and takes 2 working days.

2) Not many clothes, but sweaters and thick jackets -- If you're travelling in the peak season, its the cold season in Burma, which means temperatures drop drastically at night and at Inle Lake and further up north, it plummets to sub zero because we saw frost on the ground and couldn't believe we survived the cold with a simple sweater, shorts and no winter clothes..as torturous as the night was.

3) Small change -- So in Burma, the currency that is usually accepted is Kyats (pronounced cat as in paint in Malay) or USDs. They are fairly concerned about the condition of your USD notes though so it's advisable to get good notes when you change your money. Notes with no major creases and folds on them. And it's also advisable to have small change because vendors and such hardly have change to give it back to you. Hotels will always be able to give you change though in USDs. We took about 80 Dollars of small change consisting of 1 USD, 5 USD and 10USD, and that was more than enough for the entire trip. And the best thing to do is to change the dollars into kyat in Burma as you get a better price!

4) Bring enough cash -- For a 10 day trip, we (two of us) spent about RM 1400 for both of us, inclusive of accommodation and transportation and food, and this is with a comfortable amount of shopping. Also, when we were there we found out from another travelling tourist that money was not allowed to be taken out from ATMs in Yangoon, not now at least. It may change in the upcoming months but for now it has not and the money you bring from home is all you have to last you throughout the trip, so budgeting would be wise. And also, we were forced to pay USD 10 each as airport tax before checking in for departure. This money obviously goes directly to the oppressive military government. Although we made a big fuss about paying the amount (we had the money in malaysian ringgit), and that we were not informed, and that it was not written anywhere in the airport or on the departure card, we eventually had to give in when they started using the walkie talkie and seeing our names highlighted in green had us a little shaken up that we may not leave the country if we pursued the matter.