Mel and Matt on the Move

Whew! It’s been a busy blur of a few days since Matt and I landed in Yangon and presented our e-visa paperwork at the Myanmar immigration desk. After collecting the third passport stamp of our trip, we navigated through the unexpectedly fancy and seemingly brand-new airport to purchase Matt a SIM card, exchange rupees for kyats, and download the “Grab” app—Myanmar’s version of Uber. We were immediately taken by Yangon, a city that feels so drastically different than any we visited in India that it could be a world away. We began noting differences between the two countries from the outset; first off, how quiet everything felt in comparison to Indian cities. In Yangon there were fewer cars on the street, no motorcycles, barely any honking, and Burmese drivers would ask only once if we wanted a taxi (instead of repeating the question and following us around despite our polite declines). The population here in Myanmar is significantly less dense than in India, and there is more personal...

Matt and I bid farewell to India very early on the morning of February 23 rd after almost four weeks of travel through the diverse and vibrant country. At the time of writing this post, we were en route to Myanmar, where we will spend the next two weeks! Our final Indian hurrah was two full days in Kolkata , the capital of the northeastern state of West Bengal. Kolkata was the capital of the British-held Indian territories until 1911 before Delhi was designated as the new site. Known as the cultural hub of India for its literary and artistic influence on the country, Kolkata is the location of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, an organization she founded to serve the poor, sick, and orphaned. Mother Teresa later won a Nobel Prize for her work in Kolkata and around the world. Despite this interesting history, few friends or acquaintances had actually visited the city and some recommended that we skip out on it altogether. Perhaps this was because of Kolkata’s mid-20 th century...