froginmythroat (FIMT)

Pindaya is really hard to get to by public transport, there’s only one bus a day at a bad time.
The scenery on the way is very beautiful – rolling hills, different from the earlier surrounds. We went to Pindaya to see a cave containing several thousand Buddha images (statues). After the cave visit we sat and had tea with a local couple. They told us there was a flying English speaking monk in the nearby monastery. A flying monk? I had heard legends of such feats in Kyaikhtiyo, would I be actually be able to see this act of anti-psychics? So we went and paid him a visit. It turned out he could fly alright – he was a pilot for the Burmese air force in his pre-monastic days.

Kalaw is the trekking capital of Myanmar. The 3-day trek was a real highlight. We teamed up with an American girl and an excellent English speaking guide. Having a local English speaking guide and being able to ask questions really increased my knowledge of the country in a way that travelling independently doesn’t. I would recommend spending some time with a guide in any non-English speaking country you visit.

The first day we trekked to a viewpoint, where by coincidence I met friend Sam. I knew he was in Myanmar but it was still a surprise to end up at the same place in the middle of nowhere at the same time. We dinner at the viewpoint, prepared over the coal fire by a Nepali Myanmarian. He was a bit of a legend, what with his cows he milked, garden he tendered, and ‘restaurant’ he operated. He told us how he walked 22 days to Nepali, skirting around the border checkpoint because, being unconnected to the elite, he doesn’t have a passport.

That night I slept in a longhouse in the village of ****. A longhouse is a very long house. It is like one long corridor with 7 families in it. There are little rooms off to the side but most of the eating, sleeping, and general living is done in this one long corridor. We arrived at night and there were lots of fires going inside. I don’t know how they survive, I was choking and my eyes were watering because of all the smoke.

The next day it rained just after we set off and we took refuge in a monastery.

After the rain we travelled through several villages before staying the night in a local’s house in Ywapu village. Here I met a girl who sold cauliflower for a living. Each cauliflower sold for 20kyats (approx 2 cents USD) and today she had sold 40 cauliflowers for a total daily take of 80 cents USD. A usual day is about 50 cauliflowers. In one year she will earn approx $350USD. In one lifetime of 40 working years that’s $14000USD or 700 000 cauliflowers. I can can make her lifetime income in a year, after tax. I realised these people have very little materially. But does this matter? The 50x greater earning power I have means I have will have more opportunities and growth. I can experience more, do more. They will not experience or know any of what I can. Do they have opportunities for fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness? As I view it through my Western cultural lens, I think with goals and ambitions appropriate for their situation they can. However, do these intangibles have the same meaning? Do they matter or are other things more important to them? As yet I have more questions than answers.