MYANMAR
Though we left India just a
week ago, it seems like we have been gone much longer. Myanmar, though it
borders India and Bangladesh, is a country so different from where we came, in
every way. How is it different?
Mike in his Longo, the main male attire in Myanmar
We were taken back, as we arrived
at the airport itself, with the peace and serene calm. The drive to the hotel consisted of cars driving
in an orderly fashion, down streets with marked lanes. The constant horn honking,
cows, goats, broken trucks, masses of people and chaos were gone. No beggar children approaching the car, hands
open for food or money, or hawking plastic toys. Upon arriving at the hotel, it
felt like we were in Asia, not India. There was the grandeur of Asian artwork
in the lobby, hallways and our room itself.
Clean, it felt clean!!! Simple things, like a hot running shower,
tissues and a comfortable bed were so welcome. Free internet access! All
amazing. It was worth the wait!
A most delicious breakfast,
with so many choices, awaited us the next day. For five weeks, though we loved
being with our girls, the food we ate was the food we were served. No choice,
no meat, just overcooked, overspiced vegetables, cold rice and dal. Bucket baths, with a bucket of hot water, and
a cup was our shower. Paper products of
all kinds are not available in the village. We quickly ran out of tissues
brought from home. Toilet paper, just for volunteers, is obtained in Delhi.
Thank you for small favors!!! We never complained, though, as we focused on the
girls, not our own creature comforts.
The pool overlooked a
beautiful and serene lake, with a golden pagoda, so picturesque, on the other
side. A scene postcards are made for. We learned this pagoda to be a floating restaurant,
where we enjoyed dinner and a culture show the next night. A boardwalk encircled the lake, with young
lovers, umbrella to shade his lady, walking hand in hard. Wow! In India, men
and women are not seen walking together very often, unless they have kids in
tow. Public displays of affection are forbidden by the opposite sex there. Men
can walk hand in hand, or with their arms around one another, but not men and
women! Here in Myanmar, a Buddhist country, these young lovers are smiling,
happy and together by choice, rather than by their parental arrangements.
Our days in Yangon(first of
5 destinations) were relaxing and
glorious. We mixed visits to the largest temple in Asia, with poolside reading,
walks and some shopping, where bartering is required. We were then on to Bagan, a UNESCO site, and the
ancient ruins(dating back 1000 years) of
almost 5000 temples and pagodas. Pretty
overwhelming, though made more interesting by a tour guide who has lived here
her entire life. We covered the
highlights, having to remove our shoes way too many times, to visit many pagodas and temples, which
housed Buddha in endless variations.
We were then onto Mandalay,
to visit monastaries, walk across a 1.2 km teak bridge, built in the 1800’s. We
stopped so an astrologer and palm reader could tell me about my life and
future. A boat ride back to the other side of the river, took us to our taxi,
whose driver had lost the keys to the car. We walked around the village, and
had a cup of tea, until the keys turned up. We don’t even begin to ask
questions here, as the answer will make no sense at all.
After an adventurous day, and
a long drive, we were in another village, up in the mountains, to stay at another
incredible inn, just like the ones you see in a travel magazine. The next morning we walked to a spectacular
botanical gardens, with a petrified wood museum(housing pieces estimated to be
a million years old), the most incredible butterfly exhibit(collected over 30
years) and orchid garden(where they come from in the US). It was then onto a
coffee plantation, which was more simple and ordinary than I ever could have imagined.
Rows of coffee trees, lush with red and green fruit, and the owner, who invited
us for a cup of coffee. Our coffee was Nescafe instant, as his beans are all
exported by the government. Though he spoke not a word of English, we smiled,
looked at photographs on the walls and moved on. We are very used to this experience now, as
we have had it many times this trip.
Yesterday, it was back to
another airport, for a flight to Inle Lake, a 22 km long lake. Since the
closest road to our resort is 45 minutes by boat, the ride was another amazing
experience. As we sped across the water
on a very old, noisy skiff, we passed people bathing in the river, fishermen rowing one legged, floating huts throughout the villages, and
natives carrying boatloads of produce.
We now sit on the deck of our
floating cottage, at a resort most will only dream about. Surrounded by water and bungalows here, it is
so peaceful, only the sound of boats going by, fish jumping and birds tweeting.
Heaven! How many times since we have
been here in this country have I felt like we are in heaven? Many! Below our
bungalow, snakes slitter(not too happy about that! Just so they stay down there
and don’t slide up the pilings!), waterlilies bloom profusely, and fish swim
and splash.
This morning we took a boat
to a market, where we went between having fun and buying some fun, great stuff
and being stressed by the call of “happy money. You will be my first money of
the day, lucky money”. Though she didn’t understand, I felt compelled to tell
one woman that it wasn’t my job to bring her lucky money. We do feel good about doing something small
to support the local economy, while at the same time, bringing back gifts and
surprises.
Tomorrow, we are on to the beach
on the Bay of Bengal. We understand there is a slice of heaven waiting there
for us, too. My angst and apprehension I
experienced in India, before heading to Myanmar, is gone. What a beautiful country,
beautiful people! How grateful we are to have experienced it!
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