Today, when I was the only foreigner on a stuffed decrepit local bus, passing by the red light street, listening to Justin Bieber, looking out to the busy trading scene on the bumpy street, I told Mai that I would miss Myanmar.

I really do.

I miss those afternoons jostling with locals around animated street markets, trying to bargain over those stuffs from decades ago. Markets are everywhere in Yangon. I love to ask the prices in Burmese and try to guess when they answer me in Burmese as well.

I miss pork sticks, Myanmar curry, bamboo shoot. Some people might say that Myanmar food is boring, I find it simple but delicious. I love it when Chann, Khine Thi or Mai took me around, checked out all irresistible food stalls and ate like like crazy. I love it when I just paid $1 and people brought me a full table of food. Only in Myanmar that you can eat like a King with just $1.

I miss those days cycling around completely isolated temples in the middle of nowhere. I miss it when I took a nap in windy temples, hiding away from the heat.

I miss it when a cute local guy waited in front of my hotel at 5am to take me for sunrise.

I miss the gorgeous views of sunsets in Myanmar when I can feel the last rays of the day shedding on my skin. I know I wouldn’t be able to find it anywhere in the places I used to live.

I miss the smile of Myanmar people. Just now I’m in India, when I smile at people and they just stare back, I know how warm it felt to be smiled back by a stranger in a strange place. I love it when a local guy told me that he’s Joker, and told me a bunch of jokes in broken English. I couldn’t help laughing hours after that

I miss it when I traveled around Myanmar and could recognize all tourists’ faces I had met, I love it when a local shouted my name when he accidentally ran into me on the street.  Myanmar is small. It seems like everybody knows everybody. It makes me feel like at home.

Feeling so lonely in India now

Tags: Local, Myanmar, Smile