Mother Land (2)
Trip Start
May 15, 2007
1
6
22
Trip End
Jul 15, 2007
Yangon,
Myanmar
Saturday, May 26, 2007
I'm so confused, and who wouldn't be. We've covered a lot of ground since the last entry - hard traveling, good traveling. Also, about half the keys on this and several other computers we've used have the characters worn off - Ha!Ha! (that ones for you montyman) Blame it on the computer. I already wrote about Shwedagon and here I am doing it again. So, the day after we went to Shwedagon, we checked out of the Mother Land and caught a taxi to the bus stop for short journey to Bago (formerly Pegu). Once again, I'm sorry I cannot post photos yet - the "bus stop" was something else. So we got on the bus and after it filled up the assistant (every bus has one) set out little blue stools (like the ones you can get at the dollar store) down the aisle. The baggage, boxes, etc. was piled into the the area by the front door of the bus. Away we go - WooHoo!
Music pretty good, and we could hear it all because we were right in front of the speakers - I was about half deef to start - now eh, what did you say? We pass the back of Shwedagon and woman next to me offers prayer. Me too. I'm offering prayers for Burma, for the Burmese people. Pray to God for Burma and these people who suffer so much (did I mention this is a police state?). The music on the bus is really pretty. It's hot on the bus - well, it's hot everywhere. The sun is on our side of the bus. My heart is aching for this land, these people, this beauty. We pass the British Cemetery - it's big, I offer prayer for the souls of these men who died and were buried so far from home.
I fall into conversation with the woman sitting on the little blue stool next to me. She tells me she is retired, a physician. She and her husband (slso a doctor) have a small practice in a village near Bago. I ask her what is the biggest problem they see and she says, "Poverty." Diagnoses-wise, they see the basic primary care things, except more parasites. I ask her how people pay for the care and she smiles softly, "They cannot pay very much." I say, "So you are choosing to do this." And she looks at me directly and says, "Yes."
The bus lets us in front of the Hotel Emporer - uh-huh. We rest for awhile (pillows are pink with ruffles and cute little puppies with bows on their heads) and are awakened by the electricity going off.
Off we go in something like a tuk-tuk to visit the Shwethalyaung (reclining) Buddha image - which I've wanted to see for the last 25-30 years. It is as I expected, very beautiful. There is a charge for foreigners to visit this and other sites in Bago ($10 for all the major sites), but we just went as far as the top of the steps to the image and rested there for awhile, then went in and took some photos and when we got to the pay place, said we only want to visit this and one other place. The woman said "You should go outside now." Okay, no problem.
Onward to the Shwemawdaw (Great Golden God) Paya. The tuk-tuk takes us to the back entrance so we needn't pay (entrance fees go to the government, not the monastary. Like most others in Burma, it is a huge golden stupa with lots of Buddha images. Temple dogs all around - and unlike in former times, not pitiful mangy beasts.
It's really hot. This is the transition season, from hot to monsoon, which means we get some of both. Hot mornings and rainy afternoons.
Peanut butter, grahams, and water for dinner. Up early to catch the 8:30 bus to Moulmein (A man said, "It is 3 times better than the other one."). Breakfast at the 555 Hotel (it's not a hotel, it's a restaurant) - coffee, toast, eggs. Somewhere behind the restaurant there is a drum beating. Back to the room, getting ready leisurely and here comes a man, "Hurry it is time!" We have the most amazing flurry and scurry to get our bags out to the bus - unbelievable, several people involved and Leslie counting bags the whole time - 1 - 2 - 3...
On we go,
Off we go,
Through Burma countryside,
Ahhhh.
Comments
Nothing to say...
Just allowing all these images to wash over me. Thank you. cecile