So, I have left Myanmar 7 weeks earlier than I intended.
As mentioned before, I had a job teaching yoga there in Bagan, the city of temples. Look it up, it’s pretty nice in the photos.
When I first arrived there I was absolutely bursting with joy to be there. It was amazing. I got picked up from the airport by a driver and got taken around Yangon for the day. I was taken to the main city centre, the temples and some local restaurants. It was fantastic as I got to ask all of my questions straight off the bat. I then got put on an overnight bus to Bagan where I would be teaching.
I got there, settled in and the other yoga teacher took me around town to show me the ropes. Bibi, the other teacher, was leaving in three days time. There’s always meant to be two yoga teachers there, however, the other teacher meant to be starting with me was having passport and visa problems so was stuck in the
I was ok with this. I was going to have some time to myself to practice yoga, meditate, reflect and think about my life.
I realised quite quickly that this place wasn’t for me. First, it’s low season, so there’s not a lot of people around. But the community of expats there in the high season is made up of the hot air balloon pilots and others. This pool of people now was down to just a few working at the hostel. Don’t get me wrong, lovely people. But maybe just not enough people for me.
I realised as well that a lot of the classes I went to teach ended up not happening as there was no one there, or would consist of one or two people. These classes were not going to challenge me. Unlike Gili Air where people might stay a week, these people were leaving in 2 or 3 days. Meaning I could teach the same class every day and no one would know the difference.
A beautiful girl came along to fill a temporary spot for a yoga teacher with me called Lyndsay, and I think the combination of everything, plus her, made me realise that I needed to leave.
But what was I going to do?
I had a chat with the guy who was the manager of the hostels affiliated with the yoga who wanted me to stay until the end of the month. If I’m honest, I wanted to leave at the end of the day.
Now, this is something that I don’t think I’ve ever done before. If I promise someone that I’m going to do something, I usually stick it out. I have a pretty strong work ethic that I think my years of dancing has taught me that if you make a commitment, you see it through. This job, I was not going to see through. I needed to leave for myself because I was not happy there. I decided to leave the following evening on a night bus to a beautiful lake that everyone keeps talking about. I told the guy and it did not go down well. He was very passive aggressive and cancelled all the classes the following day.
I know that this is his business and his livelihood. But when I first started, he told me that the yoga didn’t actually make any money at all and it was just an added service they offered from the hostel because they had space. So I would have hoped that he would understand. Also, we’re yoga teachers. We run around all the time on to new things. But also, you swing a cat and you hit a yoga teacher these days – I wouldn’t be hard to replace.
So when the time came for me to actually leave, the guy came to the apartment I was living in to collect keys and have a snoop around the apartment I think. He then told me that he wasn’t going to pay me for the 9 days I was there because “it was expensive to get me there” and “it wasn’t worth it” for them. Take into consideration that I paid for my own flight to get there which was over $300. I think this has made me the most annoyed. This is wage theft. I paid a lot of money to do my teacher training and learn how to teach. If he had someone building a house, who did the concrete, then had to leave for some reason, he wouldn’t fail to pay him. There was a service provided. Doesn’t matter how long the builder was there for. The same with me. It’s not a lot of money I’m owed, but as I said, it’s not about the money. It’s the principle. And I think a lot of yoga teachers will know what I’m talking about with this as well.
Anyway. I left. I cried on the bus on the way out as it was all just such a horrid experience and I hate to disappoint people. But I know I made the right choice for myself.
I spoke to one friend as well who said something that made so much sense. When I left, I was telling the guy that I had no ill intentions in coming herethe and I’m not leaving with any bad vibes between us. He shook his head, looked at the ground and told me that if I was happy with my choice then that was fine, but I was “affecting peoples lives” by doing this. I mentioned this to a friend who
And yeah, I’m gonna go and do that somewhere that I’m appreciated.
So, what’s the plan?
I spent a couple of days at a beautiful lake with Lyndsay which was stunning. A reset that I needed. I’m now heading back to Yangon, to then catch a flight on Thursday back to Indonesia. A lot of my friends have had to evacuate Gili Air and have gone to either Lombok or Bali. So I’m going to go to Bali and be near the ocean for a while, dive with my friends and see if anyone wants to learn yoga from me.
I open to whatever the universe has in store for me next. And I’m really proud of myself for taking my life into my own hands and making my own choices.
On to the next adventure then….
Below are photos from Inle Lake, the beautiful lake I went to. The other temporary yoga teacher and I went on a bike ride, collected a kiwi on the way, drank some wine and had the best time. It was beautiful.
Then Lynsday and I treated ourselves to cocktails on our last night, because we deserved it.
