Chaung Tha Beach

During these four months when we are attending GCC there will be some weekends when we are off. This spare time will be used for exploring Myanmar, visiting our families (at least for the Burmese participants) or just relaxing at the platform.

This weekend the 25^th to the 27^th of March the Danish participants decided to go to a beach called Chaung Tha Beach. In order to get there we had to go for a seven hours long and bumpy bus trip from Yangon. Slowly moving away from traffic noise and street kitchen inferno and exchanging it with the sound of waves and windy walks at the beach. We wanted to escape the big city life for a weekend and take advantage of the climate in Myanmar. Especially because we do not have the weather conditions to swim in the ocean and lay by the beach to sun tan in rainy Denmark.

And so our bags were packed with swimwear, sun lotion and towels, matching our expectations. But as we entered the beach Friday morning we realized that we were the only ones with that intention. The beach was filled with people of all ages, but none of them were pale foreigners trying to get a sun tan. Instead it was Burmese people playing in the ocean, eating seafood and hiding in the shadow. Obviously it was difficult for us to hide, but instead we had the pleasure of so many friendly greetings, curios children and group pictures, making the trip even more exiting.     

And still there was plenty of time to enjoy the peaceful beach life before we were heading back to the busy city. All together a very fun experience and at the same time a relaxing weekend, where we gained new energy for further adventures.

// Julie Lassen & Freia Bille