Our time in the country known both as Myanmar and Burma has been short and we have not made it far outside of its capital city of Yangon. We flew from Veintiane, Loas.. via Bankok.. to Yangon because foreigners must fly in due to restrictions on entering the country at a “land border”.   Our passports are almost out of pages now which is becoming a major concern for us and we may have make arrangements to visit an embassy soon.  Since we have been in Myanmar, it given us deeper insight and understanding into the problems that exist in this region of the world, as well as the cultural differences between these countries.  Although Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are all predominantly Buddhist countries, we have seen an astonishing variety of customs, architecture, and daily practice. Where we used to see tiered towered pagodas, we now see moundlike or dome shaped structures also known as stupas… all places that hold shrines and relics for the purpose of worship and meditation.  Buddhism in Burma is practiced by 89% of the country’s population, and it is the most religious Buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks in the population and proportion of income spent on religion.  Despite being under renovation during our visit, it was hard not to be impressed by the Shwedagon Pagoda coated in 60 tons of pure gold and decorated with jewels and surrounded by ornate structures and different hundreds of Buddhas of all shapes and sizes, and even postures (our favorite was the reclining Buddha)

The monks that we see with their robes everywhere we go continue to intrigue us.  Apparently anyone can be a monk for as long as they want.  Most locals we’ve met were a monk for at least a certain period of time for certain reasons but the freedom to stop being a monk is up to you.  Some stay as a monk for weeks, months, years, and even lifetimes.  Another thing has intrigued us about Buddhism is that it is one of the worlds few non-theistic religions – meaning there is no belief in a God.  While most of the worlds religions seem to claim that their belief or holy book alone understand god while other religions do not.   Buddhist’s believe that “the Buddha” was just a man named Siddhartha Gautama, learned and meditated and who gained enlightenment, and became a great teacher known as “the Buddha”.  The Buddha taught that each human has the capacity to purify the mind, develop love and compassion, and achieve greater self understanding.. through meditation.   It seemed strange at first to learn about a religion was promoting independent spiritual approach as opposed to religions based on faith and fear that we have been so accustomed seeing in other places.  It is easy to understand why there is so little crime here in Burma.  The strong belief in Karma is also considered an essential aspect to one’s way of life and daily practice.  Karma is known as a genuine understanding of one’s intentions, actions, and the results it causes, and that every action of body, speech, or mind is considered to be karmic action.  Developing a genuine understanding of karma is considered to be an essential aspect of the Buddhist “path” and way of life. Seeing how these beliefs have become so integrated into daily life helps explain why people here are so friendly, and also has inspired us to start thinking about meditation, and trying to achieve our own self understanding a little more.

We have also felt that we are further off the beaten tourist path out here in Burma. Hitting the night markets and taking a local train around the city gave us a glimpse into everyday life here in Yangon, and a good way to meet some locals.  Just until recently, the borders of Myanmar were closed to outside visitors, business, and NGOs.  The restrictions are a mostly the result of sanctions and embargos put on Myanmar.   It was only in 2008, in response to growing civil unrest, the military leadership drafted a new constitution, which led to democratic reforms and a significant opening of relationships with outside countries. The military regime overwhelmingly won the first election, which most observers believe was rigged, and remains firmly in power today. Debate remains whether the country is making significant strides towards true “liberal democracy” or whether the military is further institutionalizing itself into Burmese politics   “Quasi-military rule” and “disciplined democracy” are terms used to describe the political situation today, and the government is bureaucratic and corrupt, making it difficult for business or NGOs to operate here. This is a shame because of the 53 million people living in Myanmar, the majority of them are rural farmers in extreme poverty.

So we now must shift our focus towards our own upcoming challenges so despite how much we would love to stay and explore more of this country, its time for us to say goodbye to Burma and as Elliott heads off to the Philippines, we head back to Tamarisk which has been parked in Phuket, awaiting our return for almost 6 weeks now.  The next leg of our voyage is not only the longest but without a doubt the most challenging.  The options of which way to go from here become limited, and none of them are easy.  Heading east toward the Red Sea and back to the Mediterranean would be the most ideal, except for the obvious threat of pirate attacks through the Gulf of Aden near Somalia.  Heading south toward South Africa is not favorable this time of year because of opposing seasonal winds and bad weather, and sailing back to east would also be heading directly against the trade winds.  Its a dilemma that many sailors face once they arrive here.  Many yachties who have made it this far are either storing their boats, selling their boats, or putting them on cargo ships to be shipped back to the Mediterranean.  We are not taking this decision lightly and our list of provisions and preparations is as long as it’s ever been so we will be working hard over the next few weeks, getting ready to face whatever challenges we may face on the next passage.

It’s true that no matter where we happen to be, we’re always happy to see boobies. It’s even more true than usual here in the Galapagos, which is the place that made the Blue Footed Boobie one of the most famous bird species ever. This was one of the birds that captured Charles Darwin’s interest during his time in the Galapagos in the 1830’s. He found that the color of the male boobie’s feet was a signal to female boobies that the male is healthy, well fed, young, and thus capable of looking after her and her offspring. That the females chose mates with the brightest blue feet was a form of natural selection which caused the blue footed gene to pass through to future generations, weeding out the boobies with other colored feet in the process.

Looking at the exotic creatures in the Galapagos and admiring their unusual features is a huge part of what makes the Galapagos so interesting. But if that’s all you find here, you’ve missed a big part of what the Galapagos is all about. Every species and sub-species here has an interesting story like that of the boobies about why its physical or behavioral characteristics were somehow helpful for its survival and reproduction, and trying to figure out why the animals evolved the way they did makes the Galapagos experience unique. If your mind is open and alert, you can learn a lot about life just by studying the wildlife and thinking to yourself about why the things you’re seeing are the way they are. The long bird beaks, the rugged tortoise shells, the shape of the hammerhead shark’s head, the spikes on the iguanas’ backs, and the fire red color of the crabs are just some examples of interesting traits that have helped these animals survive the unique conditions of their own habitats, but the list is endless, and that’s why you could probably spend a few years here and not get bored. We probably aren’t the first visitors to come to the Galapagos and wonder about the process for becoming an Ecuadorian naturalist.

But for the time being we’ve committed ourselves to a different type of endeavor that permits no more time for exploring this group of islands. The islands of the South Pacific are still over 3000 miles away and the clock is now ticking on the upcoming cyclone season that will force us to get through the South Pacific and into the Arafura Sea north of Australia by mid December, meaning every day is now precious. We’ll again have far less time than we need to see everything there, a condition we’re now so used to that it no longer bothers us… almost certainly this won’t be our last time through this part of the world in this lifetime.

The next three weeks will take us through one of the most remote and untraveled places in the world – it’s unlikely we’ll see another boat during the three week passage, nor a bird, and some people tell us we’re unlikely even to catch a fish (which won’t stop us trying). Our remoteness limits our ability to communicate as our normal onboard satellite internet connection is out of range, forcing us onto a more expensive network with data costs that are outrageous ($13 per megabyte instead of our usual $1). We will try to update our blog (www.tamariskrtw.com) during our passage, but if you’re following our journey on Facebook you probably won’t see much till we touch land next month – we’re OK, please don’t panic. Conditions look excellent for a departure this morning, so we’re loading up with fruits and veggies and will be pulling the anchor for our longest ocean passage yet in about two hours.

Well, here we are again in the middle of one of our sailing rampages where we move huge distances over a few days to get to another part of the med. This time our decision to sprint north about 400 miles was driven mainly by the unusually good 20+ knot winds which have been blowing steadily to the north for the past few days. When we saw this in the weather forecast it was like being offered a free ride to northern Italy… and a free ride to northern Italy is something nobody should ever decline.

When we left Malta a few days ago, northern Sardinia (a big island to the west of Italy) was our destination. To break up the long passage we stopped for two nights in Trapani, Sicily, then hopped on the back of a big wind system yesterday morning for the 220 mile ride to Sardinia. This is the type of sailing we dream about. With 25 knot winds pushing us from the rear quarter, we cruised out of Trapani and crossed 180 miles over the next 24 hours, a new personal record. We also hit a top speed of 16.3 knots (17 mph) of boat speed, which is also a personal best, and we believe the fastest this boat has ever gone (although Gibby may correct us on that).

As we finish up this leg, with Sardinia now emerging from the haze on our port (left) side, we can’t help but notice that again we’ve seen not a single other sailing boat the entire way here. It seems the pace of our program, and the distances we are now covering probably puts us in a small group of the most aggressive cruisers in the med. Most yachties out here spend several months in each country, so it takes them years to see it all, while others blast across the southern route without seeing the most interesting parts tucked up in the north. We start to wonder if Tamarisk might see more of the Med this year than any other cruising yacht.

The greatest thing about these longer passages is the confidence we build from them. Before we started this trip in April, we had such little experience on the open water (neither of us had ever done an overnight passage) that the idea of a circumnavigation seemed a distant dream. That is no longer the case – we are starting to feel in control of this mission and understand that we can deal with the challenges when they arise and learn what we need to along the way. It would have been a mistake to wait until we were “ready”. We only have one life, and we’re glad we didn’t waste too much of it “getting ready”.

The Black Sea Run is now in full swing. Two of the eleven cars have dropped out because the driving was simply too much for either themselves or their cars. The route yesterday took us from Bdvha, Montenegro through Albania to the famous Lake Ohrid in Macedonia – the deepest lake in Europe and we’ve heard home to Alexander the Great. A drive like that takes at least 10 hours and is not for amateur travelers… the roads are awful, the signage almost non-existent, there are random police checkpoints nearly every 15 minutes (in Albania) and endless towns and cities with their chaotic roundabouts and intersections to slow you down constantly. But this is not our first rodeo and we’ve seen all this many times before, so Team Tamarisk cruised through without incident and with the fastest transit time for the day.

The border crossings and police presence along the roads out here can be intimidating for someone used to traveling in more western countries. We’ve had our car emptied and fully searched twice in the past three days by border officials who seem convinced we’re smuggling drugs, humans, or whatever else it is people smuggle out here. These searches can take nearly an hour while they go crawling under every seat, checking through every pocket in every piece of luggage, and practically go disassembling small sections of the car. It’s all a big waste of their time and ours but it’s an inevitable part of a trip like this.

Today we head another 450 km further east towards Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia. We are back inside the EU now where things are a bit more civilized than Albania, but still the roads can be slow. Despite the backwardness out here, the landscape is stunning and filled with surprises the whole way so we’re looking forward to another amazing day on the open road.

All the teams on the Black Sea Run gathered in the center of Budapest on Saturday morning for the official start of the rally. There are 11 cars this year who are hoping to make it to the finish line in Ukraine in two weeks which is over 3000 kilometers and 10 countries away from the starting line. Sometimes the cars travel together in convoy, but most days it’s a free for all, so cars are free to explore different places and get lost as often as they please. After mixing in breakdowns, confusion, and people getting lost, it works out that about 50% of the teams make it to the target spot each night.

The first day included some long distance driving as we headed south from Budapest towards the Croatian island of Pag. Pag is known for its famous Zrce Beach, which is packed with beach clubs and has become one of the most famous party-places in the world. Mature adults would be horrified that Croatia has allowed such a beautiful beach to be defaced by jumbo sound systems, swimming pools, dance floors, intelligent lighting systems, and go-go dancer stages. That explains why there are no mature adults here, and also why we think it deserves its reputation as a premier party spot.

We intended to leave Pag yesterday morning, but because everybody woke up with raging headaches and couldn’t get out of bed, it was early afternoon before the first cars started rolling. Most of the cars headed to Dubrovnik, which is the Croatian tourist town that we went to with Tamarisk several times in the past few weeks. So we’re diverting our own route and headed into Bosnia for something different tonight. Bosnia is a huge country but only has a few short miles of coastline, so they pack it full with hotels and millionaire’s homes. We’ve fallen behind the other cars but we should have no problem making back our 100km deficit tomorrow.

It’s easy to understand why this part of Croatia between Dubrovnik and Sibenik is so packed with charter boats. Every place you go has something unique to offer – if you don’t like the fortresses and castles, you have the beaches, or the quaint harbor boardwalks, or the stunning views, or the incredible nightlife that never stops – it’s the whole package.

Yesterday it was about the waterfalls for us as we headed south from Vodice towards the 8 mile narrow inlet that begins near the town of Sibenik. Like something out of a mid-evil novel we entered the narrow canal by navigating our way around the old fortress that guards the entrance. If we were Turkish, and this was 500 years ago, there would have been a serious confrontation at this point, but because that wasn’t the case we passed without incident. We spent the next two hours winding our way up the spectacular narrows towards the Krka waterfalls, which is a Croatian National Park and a major tourist attraction. We get easily frustrated by tourist traps, mainly because Photoshop doesn’t yet have a “remove tourist” function. But keen photographers have ways of getting around these things (which normally involves jumping over a fence when nobody’s looking), so we left the falls with the pics we wanted despite the collective efforts of the tourists to prevent that.

We’re now back in Sibenik on our way out of the canal and have awoken to another gorgeous windless day. As much as we love Croatia, we do miss the winds we had in Greece, and if we could change one thing about Criatia it would be that. The low wind levels make planning and anchoring simple, and there are countless other benefits (no ripped sails, swimming is fantastic, no need to stay on the leeward sides of the islands, no bouncing around at night, etc). But we are true yachties now and our lives depend on the wind for everything we care about – we miss our old friend.

Every preconceived notion we had about former Yugoslavia has been crushed by our experiences here over the past week. Croatia is as modern and forward thinking as any place in the world and its natural beauty ranks right up there with the Greek islands – it has everything you could possibly ask for in a country. The cities are safe and clean, the culture is neat and well organized, everything just seems to work the way it should.

Our first stop after leaving Hvar was the mainland city of Split, which is Croatia’s second largest city and a major sea port. Unlike most of the coastal cities here that focus heavily on tourism for income, Split is a “real” city, meaning you get to see real Croatians doing their thing. The attraction in Split is the harbor promenade and the adjacent historic Old Town which is a maze of cobblestone pedestrian streets (cars not permitted) filled with street cafes, taverns, and retail shops on the ground level, and small apartments on the upper levels. It’s a lifestyle so efficient that it makes you wonder why we ever bothered inventing cars in the first place.

After leaving Split we headed back into the islands and have been anchored in a small bay near two tiny towns (Tisno and Jazera) that we access using the dinghy. The original idea was to relax for a couple of days and recharge our batteries, but that plan took a dive when we discovered a music festival in the next bay over. Because the festival was sold out we cooked up a plan to swim in under cover of darkness, but then the Italians on the boat next door gave us their wristbands as they pulled anchor to sail home – thanks to them for that. Figuring we can sleep later (when we’re dead) we’re about to head in for a second night in the festival.

Tomorrow we turn around and begin our trek back south. This is as far north as we will go on our circumnavigation. Because we are now backtracking towards Greece we’ll get to see some of the spots we missed on the way up – many of which we’ve been saving for the return trip.