At 5'5" (165cm) I'm already taller than most people in Myanmar. Just standing on a crowded bus, I'm usually one of the tallest people.
I'm also MUCH heavier than anyone else here. I see tiny Myanmar women wearing children's t-shirts that say things like "Daddy's Little Princess" I've had a few people comment, "You're fat." when walking through a market. It doesn't feel like an insult, but more like an observation. What I have found the most difficult is finding any clothes to buy. There is NOTHING in my size. To by honest, it would be hard to find much in a US size 12. I can't even find shoes. I wear a size 9.5 to 10.5. I have been buying men's flip flops.
At one point we were in Bangkok and I thought we would pop into a H&M and look for some leggings. I have purchased them before at H&M outside of Asia.
The ONLY size available was XS.
Fortunately I am a mediocre seamstress. I cut my sewing teeth creating 16th century garb. It was a huge passion of mine for many years. When we moved I gave up my sewing machine and have not sewn in a while. I don't have a sewing machine here, and since we are moving soon, I didn't see any reason to buy one. I have been hand sewing a few items for myself. I don't have any patterns with me, but I do have a few pieces of clothing that bit the dust and I use them for as my pattern.
My advice is, if you're bigger than a size 12, pack heavy!
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