For perspective

By special request, here is another photo of the Shwedagon pagoda with people in the foreground to provide some scale. The pagoda is 325ft tall.

OK, PHOTO TIME

 Akha Woman

 Ann Woman

 Rice terraces taken from HIGH ABOVE

Sake Still

Lahu, Akha, and Ann people oh and saki

Enough lollygagging about. Today was trekking day. I will grant you that it wasn’t quite as bad as gorilla trekking in Rwanda. We certainly aren’t at that high of an altitude – though quite honestly I don’t actually know how high up one has to get to feel the effects of altitude if you live your live at 35 ft. But this was still tough. We drove a way out on pretty bumpy roads to start with and then walked a way through a Lahu village. The Lahu do not wear traditional clothing anymore. But they are still living a very simple life. Again the wooden houses up on stilts that are standard here. Plenty of pigs and chickens and water buffalo. And plenty of rice drying and bagging and transporting going on since they are well into the harvet now.

We drove again a bit past a political meeting put on by the White Tiger party out lobbying for votes in the upcoming elections that will be held shortly after we leave. And then we started our trek up the hill. We were told it would take about 30 minutes. Hah. Now granted we were not moving very fast but still it took 2 or 3 days….no sorry…probably 1-1/2 hours that seemed like 2 or 3 days…trudging straight up hill on a deeply-rutted, still slightly soggy in places, clay road of sorts. The ONLY thing we had going in our favor was that it was mostly shaded. but then, of course, laws of gravity and all, we had to come back down.

But we saw several Akha women famous for their silver helmet headdresses made of rows of heavy silver balls and beads sewn onto bamboo and fabric caps. They also create embroidered items (belts, bags, etc)…though we now know that they outsource some of the embroidery to Lahu women since we talked with one such ‘contract’ worker. ;-)   At the very, very top of our trek was the Ann village of Panlor. WAY HIGH up on the top of the hill. These folks are the lowest on the minority group pecking order. Apparently quite looked down on by everyone else. They are still animists (most of the other peoples in the area were converted years ago and are now Catholics or surprisingly Baptists!). They dress in traditional black costumes and paint their teeth black so their hearts can be pure on the inside.

For anyone who asked me before this trip if I thought the tribal folks we would see would be ‘real’ or just ‘acting’ for the tourists….no this is not Williamsburg or the Polynesian Cultural Center show in Honolulu. These unfortunate folks are living a very difficult, primitive life. In fact everywhere we went our guide would have a few acetaminophen tablets or some soap to give to someone who complained of aches and pains or a skin rash the last time he was in the area. We sat for tea (which I politely declined) and bananas (which I gingerly ate) and then headed back down the hill. A lunch stop consisted of fried rice and fried noodles our guide bought at the local market this morning. And then we finally found our way back to the car.

On the way back to the hotel we made a stop at “Wan Kam, famous for its rice wine production.” We expected a factory. What we saw was a massive but extremely rustic distillery that looked more like a bootleg operation than an apparently government sanctioned (i.e. taxes) production system. Just a big, long, lean to next to the river, with big metal drums for the distilling tanks heated by burning bamboo poles. They ferment the wine in big plastic bags set out in rows on the ground. And then package the finished product into other big 25 liter bags for distribution. Michael asked where he could buy a bottle of the finished product (which we did get to sample fresh out of the still with a ladle from a plastic bucket). We were expecting a bottling plant somewhere. Nay. Nay. This stuff is just portioned out into plastic water bottles for sale to the masses. We were tempted. But really aren’t sure we could get that through U.S. Customs so we passed.

(Meanwhile, sorry but still no photos. Michael is shooting NEF raw images and I cannot find any way to convert them to jpg so I can upload them.  Jaeson? Any idea?)

 

Keung tong

After a good night’s sleep we woke up this morning and headed downstairs for the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Your typical eggs and bacon with the standard fruit and grilled tomatoes but also some noodles soups, fried rice, and John Denver playing on the sound system. Even after all of these years that never ceases to make me laugh. You can be sitting anywhere in any little corner of the world and they will be playing old U.S. songs.

Then we were off to airport. Our flight was at 10:30A. I found it on the board. Happy to have done so I waited to see notification of boarding for one of the only two flights on the schedule ahead of us. We were there 30 minutes before their take off times so I figured it would be soon. And I wanted to familiarize myself with the process – not because this is my first rodeo but because (1) there was only one door/gate to exit to the buses outside so the formation of a line in and of itself would in no way indicate that it was MY line and (b) because I don’t speak the local language to understand the announcements. Well, it would appear that, much like the fancy schedule board they installed at the never used airport in Anguilla, this board was just that – a schedule board for all of the flights for the day. It was not a reality board. Flight statuses never changed. No ‘proceed to the door’, no ‘Now boarding’. Nothing. So when I thought I heard Heho and 109 we got up and got into line. Luckily we were right. It was our plane departing exactly on time and with all of our remaining luggage. We felt quite blessed.

Speaking of luggage, no exact word on ours yet. We kept getting reassurances from our guides and our tour agency that it would arrive. And then it dawned on me. We were not being specific enough. Much like when we would vacation on some island somewhere and be hit with unfortunate rain. We would half jokingly ask someone ‘is it going to stop raining?’ And they would also answer, Yes. We weren’t being specific enough. Of course it was going to stop raining. It always had in the past. We just weren’t asking WHEN it was going to stop. So today we had the local guide in Kueng call and ask THAT question. Presumably it will be waiting for us in Kalaw two nights from now. Fingers crossed.

After we got settle in our hotel room here in Kueng tong, we headed out for our afternoon of sightseeing First stop the rice fields where they were in the process of harvesting. Some areas already cut and stacked. Some not cut at all. And some areas were being handcut because the weather last week blew the stalks down. Those had to be hand cut before the tractor could come in to cut the rest. Just a beautiful valley. Then off to see a palau village where folks still in live in VERY primitive conditions in wooden slat houses on stilts so the flood waters can flow underneath and the animals (buffalo, pigs, chickens etc) can stay there all of the rest of the time. Some of the older women in the village still do hand-weaving and were amenable to our watching and taking pictures with the tacit understanding that we would buy something. So we drank green tea and ate sunflower seeds and chatted. I marveled at the fact that these clearly older souls could do this fine work without eyeglasses. And then was shocked to learn that they were 65 and 70 years old. Apparently with great vision but with prematurely aged bodies from their very difficult lifestyle.

We stopped at the lake. Went by the Lone Tree on the Hill and the lacquer factory.  And on the way back the guide pointed out the one restaurant in town that the tourists seem to enjoy so we would know how to get there for dinner on our own. When we headed out, the jasmine trees along the hotel driveway were blooming and the perfume was really strong – so strong, in fact, that we knew we were nearly home again after dinner by that sweet aroma in the air long before we saw the hotel. Next: trekking for a day.

PS: Sorry no pretty rice filed photo. Have only had this brief window of opportunity for internet so didn’t take the time to load one.

 

 

 

 

Yangon

It was 48 hours from the time we last rolled out of our own bed until we landed in Yangon. We were feeling surprisingly good at first. We put in the report on our missing bag and then went out to meet our guide. We weren’t really expecting that much from Yangon, but our guide was determined to fill up the time. The reclining Buddha. The Royal Lake and park. Downtown to see some colonial architecture And the jetty. But it was beastly hot and as soon as our room was available we checked in, took a brief break and had a bite of lunch here in the hotel. Then we were off to Scott’s market where Michael bought a knife for his collection before we headed out to see ‘one of the world’s most spectacular monuments’, the Shwedagon Pagoda (shown in the picture).

 

I have to admit that it was truly spectacular. And we’ve seen a lot of temples and pagodas and stupas in our days but this one was stunning. In size and brilliance and colors. Really lovely. In fact one of the places that the photos just can’t see to do justice.

 

Meanwhile, coming to places like this never ceases to amaze me in different ways. Take, for instance, the fact that here is an environment where folks paint their faces with a pale, yellow paste (thanaka) made from tree bark but are wearing/using iphone watches.

 

Meanwhile, we are beat. Really beat. Gotta go find a quick dinner and get some sleep.

 

Tomorrow off to the country.

Doha by the skin of our teeth

Well we are here in doha in the first class lounge. Freshly showered but in strange led lighting. But the miracle is not that Michael is bathed in a rosy glow but rather that he is here at all ...our travel tale of near woe unfolded like this:
It was sunny and warm as we took off on time from SXM. With about a2-1/2 hour layover in Miami we were elated.   Until we landed in Florida. .on time but. ..wait. .the guys in the seats next to me said. ..hmm this isn't Mia. ..what? What?
No it was fort myers!  Look it up on Google maps. ..that is a close but no cigar. ...seems there was bad weather blowing through Miami so we had to touch down and refuel elsewhere. ..
No worries you think. Certainly our outgoing flight will be likewise  delayed. Nope 
Long story short. ..Michael went ahead to the gate where I waited for the one stupid bag we shouldn't have checked in the first place then I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me as they kept calling my name over the PA system ...last call. ..as I'm saying oh please somebody call gate 14 and tell them I am almost there. ...and when I arrived ...the agent said 'lucky you,  20 seconds later and we would have shut the door. ...
Whew. ....
But on the upside. .empty plane so pretty much everyone in coach had the seats to themselves. ...thank god. ...now on to Yangon 

If it's Tuesday, This Must be Burma

Actually, it isn’t either, Tuesday or Burma, yet.

But it will be both.

Tuesday we leave home, and Thursday we will land in Burma/Myanmar.

Right now I am just testing the email posting process to be sure that everything is in working order.

I have the promise of free wifi in most of the (nicer) hotels where we will be staying but I cannot guarantee that (heck I can barely guarantee that here in Anguilla). But I will do my very best to stay in touch as this should be a really wonderful trip – at least if the three cameras Michael is toting is any true indication.

So, catch you on the flip side.