Today’s post tells the story of Inle Lake’s tomatoes, complete with pictures for the kiddies.
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Inle Lake
Note: if you want to start planning your trip to Inle Lake, read this article for a bunch of practical tips.
Myanmar is incredible. Â I spent most of my time in two places, Inle Lake and Bagan. Â Go to Inle Lake for its people, and Bagan for its history.
The locals at Inle Lake were the friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever met. Â Never before had I seen so many genuine, straight-from-the-heart smiles in such a short amount of time. Â For reasons beyond my cynical mind, people here were always happy to see me, always joyful in the present moment.
Heartbeat from Yangon
I’m doing well in Myanmar. Â Left the monastery a couple of days ago and I’m headed to Inle Lake tomorrow morning. Â Here’s a picture of the humble room where I lived for two weeks. Â Yes, I admit, it’s very comfortable for a cave dwelling. What the picture doesn’t show is that the bed is 5 feet long so I ended up sleeping on the ground on trusty old Thermarest. Â This once again goes to prove that the Thermarest is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and one of my wisest REI purchases ever. Â Actually, maybe my only wise REI purchase.
Best electric clipper haircut ever
Note: Â This will my last post for at least two weeks. Â I am headed to Myanmar in an hour, where I will have no internet access for two weeks and questionable internet access for an additional two weeks. Â Fight on without me!
I never thought I’d pay for someone to shave my head with electric clippers. Â But I found myself in Kuala Lumpur alone and without electric clippers, so I could either buy some clippers or pay for a haircut .
Since throwing money away is an even more deeply held prohibition of mine, I gritted my teeth and walked into a barber shop in Chinatown.
Escaping toxic Beijing
The air in Beijing was especially bad the last couple of weeks. Â According to the U.S. Embassy’s air quality monitoring station, Beijing’s Air Quality Index was consistently above 200 (unhealthy to very unhealthy) for many days in a row. Â I knew the air was bad because I could see it, and Beijing is too dry to be foggy 24/7!
Fortunately, I had an out.  A family friend has a place in å…«è¾¾å² (ba da ling), a town northwest of Beijing known for its touristy section of the Great Wall.  A mere hour away from central Beijing, Badaling is a great place to go for some fresh air.
Northern gate of Chadaocun
Even better, Badaling has more to offer than the commercialized, crowded, re-built section of the Great Wall for which it is best known.  My friend who lives out there showed me a quiet, beautiful old village called å²”é“æ‘ (cha dao cun) with a history of 450 years and an amazing, largely intact village wall.