14/03/2018 / myanmar , Travel
Thingyan Water Festival Myanmar: what you need to know
Myanmar (Burma)
You may have heard about the Songkran water festival in Thailand, but have you heard of the one in Myanmar. I suspect you haven’t unless you’ve been and experienced it for yourself. I didn’t even know it existed until we were a week into our trip and glanced at a calendar in the hotel reception. I didn’t even consider that it might be similar to the one in Thailand and completely forgot about it until it actually began.
One positive of the Thingyan festival being a lot less famous than the one in Thailand is that if you choose to involve yourself in the festival it is nowhere near as touristy or hectic as the Songkran festival. I’d still very much like to experience this one and was a bit disappointed that our route meant we were missing it but I’m so glad we still got the experience in Myanmar.
Obviously, the festival will vary depending on which areas of Myanmar you are in during the festival period. We met people who had been in Mandalay and they told us that it had been quite intense, the streets had been flooded with water and you couldn’t go anywhere without being soaked.
We experienced it in a quieter area of Myanmar; Bagan. Still very much a big part of the tourist path in Myanmar but a much smaller town Bagan seemed like the perfect place to experience the festival. Not that we’d chosen it, it just so happened to be the next stop on our route.
Now I’ve experienced it for myself and knew very little if anything before my trip I thought it would be useful to others to put together a post about the key things you should know about the festival and what you should expect.
Well, February went a lot quicker than January. Like, super quick. Blink and the month is done. I did manage to fit quite a lot in but I'm looking forward to March and hopefully some slightly warmer weather.
Considering we've been friends for four years this was my first time visiting her in London. We lived together at uni and did some travelling together last year. Since then I haven't seen her very often so I hopped on a train one Sunday to have a day of eating in cute cafes.
We went to Elan Cafe which seems to be the new insta cafe. After reading some reviews online I was a bit worried that it was a place just for cute pics rather than good food. However, I was wrong. The brownie I had is up there in the top brownies I've ever had. And trust me, I've had a lot of brownies. I opted for the white chocolate and raspberry one and our waitress asked if I wanted to be heated up and I'm so glad she asked as it was so good. It must have looked good too as the girls on the table next to us ended up ordering after seeing me eat it.
FEBRUARY ROUNDUP
I went to Copenhagen
Yes, I finally got to visit Copenhagen after a few failed attempts. It was cold but a lot of fun. I went with my mum and it really nice to have a mother, daughter trip. Although we did have a few minor arguments, including one that involved my mum moaning that I was taking too many pictures. Sorry, mum.
I did a lot of research for this trip and booked a few restaurants before we went so expect a post on where to eat.
I visited a friend in London
Considering we've been friends for four years this was my first time visiting her in London. We lived together at uni and did some travelling together last year. Since then I haven't seen her very often so I hopped on a train one Sunday to have a day of eating in cute cafes.
We went to Elan Cafe which seems to be the new insta cafe. After reading some reviews online I was a bit worried that it was a place just for cute pics rather than good food. However, I was wrong. The brownie I had is up there in the top brownies I've ever had. And trust me, I've had a lot of brownies. I opted for the white chocolate and raspberry one and our waitress asked if I wanted to be heated up and I'm so glad she asked as it was so good. It must have looked good too as the girls on the table next to us ended up ordering after seeing me eat it.
I booked a one-way ticket to Hong Kong
Ok, I might have booked it on the 31st of January at about 10pm so it was practically February, right?!
Anyway, the day of booking doesn't matter that much. I mean, I booked a one-way ticket to a country I've never been to before. I wrote about this in more detail in my here's to new adventures post so I won't bore you with the details again.
It was a bit of a last minute decision. Well, I had been thinking about it for a year or so but the actual cutting of hair was last minute. I woke up, waited for my mum to get home from work and asked her to cut my hair. Yes, I got my mum to cut my hair. No, she's not a hairdresser. But I was only having a cut nothing fancy so I figured she could handle it.
I went from waist length hair to hair just below my shoulders and you know what? I'm actually so glad I finally cut it. I was a bit worried I'd regret it, especially the horrible grow out. But so far I'm very happy with my decision.
Yes, a good old-fashioned movie night. With pizza and cookies. My friend and I try and have a get together at least once a month. This time instead of going out for dinner I asked her if she fancied coming over to mine for an evening of movies and food! I love eating out but having a movie night allowed us to have a better catch up. I also got that Dominos I'd been dreaming about for the last month!
I'm happy to report that I am still reading. Not quite at the same pace as I was in January but I'm still doing a lot better than last year when I read five books in the whole year. Although, I now am reading two books at once which is never a good idea!
This is also something that's being done but rather slowly. In really exciting news my new external hard drive arrived so I've been able to transfer everything over to that. I've also booked an appointment at the bank to talk about credit cards which makes me feel like I'm adulting but in reality, I'll probably have no idea what they're saying to me.
Just about! Right at this moment, I have exactly 900 followers. Whether that's still the case in a day or two, or even an hour or two remains to be seen!
I cut my hair!
It was a bit of a last minute decision. Well, I had been thinking about it for a year or so but the actual cutting of hair was last minute. I woke up, waited for my mum to get home from work and asked her to cut my hair. Yes, I got my mum to cut my hair. No, she's not a hairdresser. But I was only having a cut nothing fancy so I figured she could handle it.
I went from waist length hair to hair just below my shoulders and you know what? I'm actually so glad I finally cut it. I was a bit worried I'd regret it, especially the horrible grow out. But so far I'm very happy with my decision.
I had a movie night
Yes, a good old-fashioned movie night. With pizza and cookies. My friend and I try and have a get together at least once a month. This time instead of going out for dinner I asked her if she fancied coming over to mine for an evening of movies and food! I love eating out but having a movie night allowed us to have a better catch up. I also got that Dominos I'd been dreaming about for the last month!
IN RETROSPECT: FEBRUARY GOALS
1. Keep reading
I'm happy to report that I am still reading. Not quite at the same pace as I was in January but I'm still doing a lot better than last year when I read five books in the whole year. Although, I now am reading two books at once which is never a good idea!
2. Get through my to-do list
This is also something that's being done but rather slowly. In really exciting news my new external hard drive arrived so I've been able to transfer everything over to that. I've also booked an appointment at the bank to talk about credit cards which makes me feel like I'm adulting but in reality, I'll probably have no idea what they're saying to me.
3. Reach 900 twitter followers
Just about! Right at this moment, I have exactly 900 followers. Whether that's still the case in a day or two, or even an hour or two remains to be seen!
______________________________
I've decided not to set my self any goals for March, I have a massive to do list to sort before going to Hong Kong but I really don't think I need to bore you all with it.
I hope you all had a lovely February and are enjoying March! Personally, I'm loving the fact that it's still light after 5pm!
Sophie
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