The last of Ngapali beach!

This was written on Sunday, but the government in Myanmar blocks blog sites sometimes, so i couldn't update our blog. Here is Brandon's update from the last few days in Myanmar with my parents! After snorkeling we returned to the resort Emilynn and mom b. went for a message. There's full body messages and then there's southeast Asian style full body messages, where close to nothing is off limits, as Emilynn discovered to her surprise and embarrassment. We fit in lots of body surfing that evening and watched the sun dip below the waves from our ocean side dinner at our resort.         The next day after a tasty breakfast we set out on bikes for the thandwe market, rumored to be very good for tourists. The bike ride was agony in the heat and after we reached a point we decided to trade up at a local stand for rentable scooters. Down the road we flew on our Chinese assembled 70 cc bikes, awkwardly changing gears in flip flops and trying not to get run over by passing trucks or hit a goat. We drove an additional four miles up country, putting our backs to the ocean and eventually found the big market. It was only a temporary market as the main one had burnt down earlier in the year. We picked up some odds and ends and then cruised around the small town stopping at stands, taking pictures and delighting the locals with our clumsy riding.          By the time we arrived home we were famished but too exhausted to go out. The perfect solution presented itself, as a thin Burmese women came walking up the beach carrying a basket of fruit on her head. Perfect. We lunched on coconut milk, bananas and drippy, juicy mangoes. This became a ritual, every time this Burmese women passed, we hailed her to resupply on mangoes and other fruit. After enough money was thrown her way she started giving us free watermelons and even a pearl bracelet to Emilynn as a gift. The gifts didn't stop there. After spending a considerable amount (by local standards, not ours) at a small jewelry stand a sweet women set up on the beach everyday in front of our room, Emilynn was gifted  with a beautiful pearl necklace and four bracelets. The pearls came from the same pearl island we snorkeled at the previous day, they are natural pearls, so they're not perfectly round like the ones you're used to seeing on jewelry. Be reminded that spending a considerable amount is maybe $30. Though on that day, having made what many make in a month off us, our lady packed up her jewelry stand, said an exuberant goodbye, and went home early. She even invited us to her home to come see her village, but we had dinner plans already. That would have been neat!         We had dinner at the paradise restaurant where we'd preordered the day before. The red snapper overflowed our plates and the coconut curried prawns and avocado salad were delicious. We could barely walk home we were so stuffed. We tried the pool hall but it was too hot and the A/C didn't work, so we returned to our room and ended the night over cards and dice games.        Crazy, I know, but we requested a 5:45am wake up call in order to get a ride to a nearby fishing village. We had just gotten used to sleeping in past 5am and getting rid of our jet lag, and we decided to get up early to get a photo op at the fishing village. We taxi'd a few miles along the coast and the roads became impossibly narrow, full of sand and rocks. I quickly understood why pedal biking there was strongly discouraged. We arrived in time to see the night fishermen pulling in their nets and filling baskets with fish. Mainly the small silvery fish we saw laid out in the fields to dry by the thousands. It's amazing how much of the fishing is done by night here. As the sunlight fades the ocean becomes spotted with bright white boat lights like stars against the dark water. It was another of already several humbling moments in our trip. Seeing the struggle of everyday life, the immense poverty at the fishing village.         Carey stayed back nursing a nauseas stomach after her lime juice the night before, which she suspected was made with tap water. After a few hours she was feeling good again and all four of us were playing on rented inter tubes in the waves and taking our last pictures of the Ngapali coastline. More mangoes and some restaurant leftovers for lunch, a quick nap and then it was back to the airport. What an Amazing chapter in our trip!!