Please exile me to the most beautiful time

Chapter 8 Southeast Asia: Love, Hate, and Vigorous (3)
Among the backpackers who came to Vietnam with me, there was also a Japanese father who traveled with his Japanese-Vietnamese son. The 30-year-old Japanese father was a backpacker 10 years ago. He traveled to many countries alone. When he came to Vietnam, he fell in love with a girl. After that, he chose to stay in Vietnam to get married and have children. This stay lasted for 10 years.Sounds like something that would only appear in a novel. "I started a motorcycle business after I stayed in Vietnam. At that time, Japanese motorcycles dominated the Vietnamese market. You know, those familiar brands. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, and Chinese motorcycles appeared soon..."

On the bus to Vietnam, the Japanese father talked about Chinese products that swept the world like Godzilla. "Although the quality of Chinese motorcycles is average, maybe not average, but the price is very low. A large number of Vietnamese began to choose cheaper Chinese motorcycles. People think that it doesn't matter if the quality is discounted. At worst, buy two or three. It’s worthless. Japanese companies are all dumbfounded. With Japanese production standards and costs, it’s impossible to be so cheap anyway. It will bankrupt the company... Finally, Japanese motorcycles were forced to cut prices, reducing profit margins even further. It's dying now."

In the matter of backpacking, China missed the first ray of sunshine in the morning and did not wake up until the sun hit its buttocks.Fortunately, under the trend of globalization, the Chinese economy has caught up with the trend.From the expression of the Japanese father, I saw his pride and tears through his expression.

Japanese backpackers have been popular since the 80s and 30s, more than [-] years earlier than China. Today, Japanese backpackers have spread all over the world. For example, in India, you can often see a Japanese woman holding a mixed-race child and an Indian man. Walking together, it is said that many of them are Japanese backpackers who choose to stay and live after traveling to India, and there are even roadside stalls selling a book called "How to Chase Japanese Girls".

So we still have a long way to go.

Carnival of Songkran Festival
In Thailand in mid-April, the streets of Bangkok were almost flooded by carnival crowds. The mighty brigade marched along with the deafening music, and vendors selling water guns and waterproof bags occupied many corners.Against the sweltering heat like a steamer, the streets of Bangkok are cooler than ever.People fired colorful water guns to fight around. Long guns and short cannons went into battle. Water arrows sprayed from all directions. Experienced young people occupied a "base area" in groups of three or four, defending a large bucket full of water. They took turns scooping up water and splashing it on the crowd. What's more, those buckets were filled with ice cubes. When a large spoonful of icy water poured over their heads and faces, everyone had to give a severe shock.If you want to experience the refreshing feeling, it is very simple, just turn right when you go out and walk for 4 minutes!
This is the annual Songkran Festival, also known as the Songkran Festival.People splash each other with pure water to wash away the troubles of the past year.There are water fights in the streets and alleys of Thailand, and laughter is flying all over the sky. This is the first time I have seen such a huge formation.Not only do they become drowned chickens, but they also become "painted". People smear white talcum powder on each other's faces, so that everyone has a big painted face.

Waterproof bags are in as good a business as water pistols.The situation of electronic equipment here is that the sky should not be called the ground is not working. You can't help you to beg and explain. A ladle of water will be poured on you from all angles. If waterproof measures are not taken, mobile phones and cameras will be in the air. Killed within minutes.It's useless to hide it in your pocket or the inside of your clothes. Someone always sneaks up from behind with a scoop of water, pouring ice water from the collar straight into the clothes, making sure that you don't have an inch dry from the inside to the outside.Therefore, it is not enough to just stare at the left, right and front, but also keep an eye on the back at all times.And the best way is to wear simple and easy-to-wash clothes, leave electronic devices in the hotel, and take to the streets to accept the baptism of ice water and talcum powder with peace of mind, and also wipe away your troubles by the way.

Thailand's neighbor - Myanmar is also immersed in the happy atmosphere of Songkran Festival.When I arrived at Yangon Airport the next day, I took a taxi into the city with two European backpackers on the same flight. I just took out my small camera to record the streets of Yangon during the Songkran Festival, when suddenly there was a big bucket of water. Without warning, it was poured directly into the taxi from the side of the road through the window, and the person had nowhere to hide, and was severely doused.I turned around and used my back to block the attack of the water, desperately protecting the camera that was almost killed.The driver just nodded to the splasher with a smile and continued to drive his car.

As the former capital of Myanmar, Yangon's Songkran Festival is much more earthy than that of Bangkok, which has an international style.The taxi drove and stopped along the way, passing one crowded and lively water battle concentration place after another.Small pickup trucks full of people are running all over the city. People drag out water pipes from their homes or shops and form "water spray points" on the side of the road. Fortunately, the people in the car cheered, screamed, laughed and danced like a disco carnival.

Spraying must be done on a first-come, first-served basis. If the ones in the front are not finished, the pickup trucks behind will have to wait in line, and the pickup trucks that have been sprayed will slowly drive to the next "spray point" with singing and dancing crowds.When walking on the street, a large bucket of water may be splashed at any time, anywhere. Many roadside vendors saw my foreign face passing by, and quietly scooped up a large glass of ice water and poured it into my clothes from behind. It was so cold. !It is useless to watch all directions and listen to all directions. There may be a bucket of ice water falling from the sky at any time. People living on the second and third floors secretly poured water down from the balcony, taking advantage of the natural geographical advantages to "sneak attack". One standard.After taking turns washing in Thailand and Myanmar, my bad luck in the past few days should have been completely washed away.

Burma in forbearance
Once Songkran is over, it’s the New Year’s Eve in the Burmese calendar.According to the custom, it is necessary to bathe and change clothes on the day, clean the body, and welcome a new beginning.The Shwedagon Pagoda has become the most lively place in Yangon during the New Year festival.People in Yangon wear new clothes to worship Buddha at the Shwedagon Pagoda. The girls wear long braids that reach their waists, and the men wear colorful sarongs.A sarong is a robe made of a piece of cloth wrapped around the lower body. Most countries in South and Southeast Asia have the habit of wearing a sarong. The Burmese call it "longji".The clothes of the little nuns are the most beautiful, all of them are lovely light pink robes with orange red sarongs, they are really the well-deserved "Pretty in Pink".

Myanmar is a Buddhist country, more than [-]% of the people are Buddhists, and monks are highly respected in Myanmar.Burmese men must shave or become a monk at least once in their lives, and most of them choose to become a monk for a short period of time in their adolescence, which has almost become a necessary ritual for men growing up.Most people will return to the secular world after a week, a few weeks, or a few months, while a few choose to become monks for a long time or for life.

The Burmese believe that building pagodas is a great merit, which leads to the fact that there are many pagodas, temples and monks in Myanmar, so it is called the country of pagodas.I sat quietly by the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon for a day. In fact, this is the most sacred pagoda in Myanmar. It enshrines the relics of 4 Buddhas. The surface of the pagoda is plated with gold, which looks golden. At night it is even more spectacular, almost sparkling.People put their hands together and sincerely prayed for blessings under the golden pagoda, but it was crowded but not noisy.

The Shwedagon Pagoda has been the core of the political arena many times. General Aung San and Aung San Suu Kyi have delivered speeches that shocked the country here. You can always see books about them at the old bookstalls on the side of the road.Compared with old bookstalls, I prefer to look for those strange snacks on the street.Myanmar’s food is influenced by Chinese and Indian food. It not only has Southeast Asian style, but also has Chinese and Indian accents. In small restaurants on the street, you can eat Chinese-style wontons and noodles, Indian-style milk tea and curry rice, Burmese-style glutinous rice and All kinds of unnamed snacks.Chinese spring rolls and Indian snack samosas also appeared at Burmese tea stalls.

There are always people sitting around the stewed meat skewer stalls. The small skewers are small pieces of cut meat. People sit in a circle, and there is a big pot full of hot soup in the middle.As soon as the diners are seated, the boss immediately delivers a bowl of hot soup, ready-made meat skewers for you to pick up, dip in the marinade, drink the soup, and swallow it in one bite.The price is also extremely cheap. Calculated by string, the price of 20 strings is about one dollar.

This scene reminds me of the food stalls in Nanjing.I remember when I was still at work, I couldn’t resist the temptation of food stalls on weekends, so I invited two girlfriends, ordered a few side dishes, a pinch of sour plum soup, and spent the afternoon just like that.Looking at these diners in front of me, my appetite suddenly increased, and I wished I could rush to Nanjing immediately to have a good meal.

Desire is too sweet to keep up with the skinny reality, so let's wash up and sleep.

During the few months in Southeast Asia, I went around Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and other countries. Myanmar is the most natural place where foreigners can almost become "rare animals".Walking on the road, there is always a large group of people watching, it is very lively.Everything was comfortable except for the excessive heat in April.Backpackers always seem to prefer immature travel destinations for fun, but this is a generalized impression after all.What travelers care about is not whether you have mature travel facilities, but whether you have a strong sense of life.Just as I like Cairo, although it is a world-famous tourist city and has encountered many scams, this does not stop me from loving Cairo.

And the journey is not about convenience, nor is it just about the scenery and the mood of watching the scenery, but about integration, experience, and fun.As long as there is a living area of ​​character, it will not be monotonous.If the whole process of travel is contained in a set circle, then it enters a cycle of isolation from the world, which deviates from the real side.The world is the best university in life.

After walking through Myanmar, the trip to Southeast Asia is coming to an end.After that, I flew from Myanmar to Yunnan. After two years, I finally returned to the embrace of the motherland.

(End of this chapter)