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Trip Start May 15, 2007 Previous
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  Yangon, Myanmar
Monday, May 21, 2007

At last ... Flight HK to Bangkok fine, short - Leslie had only seat on plane with empty seat next to her. Housekeeping - I think I gave all credit for great plane seats to seatguru.com. I should have said Leslie and seatguru. Also, I'm not taking the time to edit much, what with sticky keyboards and unreliable internet. And finally, no photos posted while in Burma - the internet is really s l o w

David (and anyone else) - gmail is blocked here, so please use travelpod to communicate. 

Song of the day: That Old Rugged Cross ... till my trophies at last I lay down ...

On to Burma. What has it been? 20? 25 years since we were last here in this unbearably beautiful place among these unbearably beautiful people? One day, long ago we were cruising down a street in a trishaw in what was then the great sprawling dusty country town of Mandalay. We saw 50-60 people standing together dowen a side street and so turned down that street to see what was happening. When we stopped and walked up to the people they pushed us to the center of the crowd where there were several dances and a little band just starting to tune. The strings were kind of noodling along and the drums and gongs kind of aimlessly tap-tap-tapping and ringing and all of a sudden they hit a groove and took off and the dancers (men dressed as women) caught the groove and went into a trance (it felt real, no doubt) and they took off and it all got really intense - music, dancers, crowd, everyone riding the music/the trance and THAT is Burma to me.

We met a monk in Bangkok airport - maybe will post photo later. He invited us to the monastary where he lives and teaches. Probably won't go, but it was a good start to the Burma trip.

We're staying in the Mother Land Inn - $15/night. Aircon works pretty good. Quiet. Breakfast included in room price - eggs, toast, cake, fruit, coffee - I put a spoonful of salt in mine. Bad coffee but good laugh for waiter. He brought me another to try again. I got it right the second time. Who ever heard of a bowl of salt?

Today - Monday - we caught the train that goes around Rangoon. Very slow, 50 or so stops, wooden benches along the side, people packed in, bags of who knows what in the floor, holes in the floor (see the tracks rushing by) smell of cheroots and paan, oh SO FINE.

Jeff, you blew it big-time - you should be here - it doesn't get much better than this! We are into the mystery now!

So we're sitting on the bench, watching the countryside slip slowly by and watching the other people in our car. There is a young couple, the man sick, his wife loving and patting on him, wiping the sweat from his face. She never took her hands off him. Woman with baby, breastfeeding, loving him, and then falling asleep. Many of the women have flowers in their long black hair twisted upo behind their head. I can smell sweat and it is truly sweet summer sweat - a good smell. There is a man with a bunny in a box. Here comes a woman with a tray balanced on her head, selling fruit with chili oil on it. Here comes a young man selling paan and cigarettes (one stick at a time). There is a little boy selling water. He has a bucket with a top like a plate and 6 or so cups upside down in the 1/2 inch of water on the top and he dips a cup into the bucket and when the buyer is finished, sets the cup back on the top in the water.

I'm so happy (well, not happy about how the water is being sold) this is all so good and Leslie says, "Can you put it into words?" Uh, uh, well, the woman taking care of her husband - the smell of cheroots, I don't know ...

And then, like some glorious finale, the rains start in great sheets of water - yeah, it's monsoon and I'm in Burma with the woman I love.   

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