Travels with Pat

Started the day by seeing 3 lionesses meandering on the road as the sun was rising.  After a male rhino with family charged our jeep. we saw a harem of impala, herds of wildebeasts and Cape Buffaloes, a dazzle of zebras and some wart hogs.  We were fascinated by watching brother cheetahs playing and marking their territory on the side of the road

Back in our camp for lunch the big excitement was having a monkey grab a loaf of bread from a neighbor’s picnic table and scurry up a tree.  On our afternoon game drive Elvis, our guide, said that because of the plethora of elephants (14,000) and buffaloes (30,000), the government needs to cull the herds.

The highlight of our wild life viewing was seeing a leopard cross the road.  While Elvis parked on the side of the road waiting for him to cross back, several cars stopped and the drivers thought it was very unlikely that the leopard would cross the road again.  Our patience paid off when the leopard not only walked across, he stopped and looked at us.  What a thrill!

That evening we walked to dinner through some impalas – some asleep and others just chewing their cud.

     Our day started in Katha with Kathy helping a crew member serve food to the monks by placing a hard boiled egg on top of each bowl of rice which the ship provided.
     After breakfast we boarded local buses for an extremely BUMPY ride over pot-holed dirt lanes, past colonial houses next to thatched roof shanties, rice fields and dense vegetation until we reached the dirt path which led to the Myanma Timber Enterprise with 15 working elephants.
     I climbed onto the motorcycle behind one of the mahoots and held onto him as we veered along the winding trail.  In the camp, Kathy fed the large elephants bananas while I gave a tamarind to one of the calves.  Then, it was into the river where the mahoots scrubbed their charges with soapwood.
     Back in Katha we got into horse carts for a city tour which included the 1934 home of George Orwell when he wrote “Burmese Days.”

     Today in Katha encompassed 3 highlights of our trip to Myanmar.  It began with Kathy assisting a crew member by placing a hard boiled egg on top of each monks’ bowl of rice provided by our ship.
     Then we boarded local buses for an extremely bumpy ride on pot-holed dirt lanes past colonial homes, rice fields and dense jungle vegetation until we reached the path to the Myanma Timber Enterprise where there were 15 working elephants.
     First, I had to straddle a motorcycle and hold on to a young mahoot as we zig-zagged on the winding path. When we reached the encampment, each blue suited mahoot guided his elephant by using his left bare foot under the elephant’s ear.  After Kathy fed bananas to the larger elephants and I fed a tamarind to a baby elephant, the mahoots took the elephants into the river and used soapwood bark to give them a bath.
     Back in Katha we piled into horse carts to see specific places which George Orwell mentioned when he wrote “Burmese Days” in 1934.

  The beetle-nut chewing captain enjoyed quizzing me on Burmese language:  “Knee-kung lah?”(How are you?) “Kan day”(Fine)  And then he’d flash a huge smile.
     Early in the day we passed through the 3rd defile(gorge) with dense jungle like vegetation covering the steep sides in addition to the occasional river town and ever present stupas.  Some of our group disembarked at Kyar Nat where men and women were bathing and washing their clothes in the river.  Houses were on stilts here with long nets on poles used to catch bats, birds and crickets.  Originally, I thought these nets were only used for fishing.
     In the evening when we were having dinner on the open air upper deck, we noticed that 6 villagers were squatting on the bank watching us.  Later some other people came in shifts to check us out.  We were their live action TV!

     Our beetle-nut chewing captain enjoyed testing me with Burmese questions:  “”Knee-kung lah?””(How are you?)  “Kan -day” (Fine)  And he’d flash a big smile.
     When we cruised through a 29 mile long defile (gorge) with dense vegetation covering the steep sides,  we still saw small river towns and stupas.  Some of our group disembarked to walk through Kyar Nat where men and women were bathing and doing their washing in the river.  Houses were on stilts here with long poles holding nets to catch birds, bats and crickets.  Originally I thought they were only used for fishing!
     Later  when we docked for overnight and were eating dinner on the open air upper deck, we noticed that 6 villagers were squatting on shore watching us.  Other people came in shifts to check us out – we were their live action TV.

     After wending my way through very aggressive vendors, several crew members hoisted me into a waiting ox cart.  Our first stop was the Mingun Bell, the world’s largest working bell, where I rang it 5 times before going to the “wedding cake” temple that truly resembled a white confection and which  Kathy later climbed barefoot to the top.  Then it was on to Pahto Daw Gyi – an unfinished pagoda that is the largest single mass brick building in the world.
     One of the vendors who had been following me on my ride, convinced me to buy a pair of orange trousers and matching top before I returned to the ship.
     Later in the day, we stopped at a small riverside village on Parrot Island for a “Pioneer” walk.  Since we were the first visitors, we were definitely the parade as the villagers with their children followed us around.  I sat outside when we visited a local clinic, and everyone was very interested in my lace-up shoes and 4 pronged cane.

     Our morning excursion took us to Mandalay, the last royal capital which is also the religious, cultural and economic capital of upper Burma with a population of 2 million.
     We stopped for photo ops of the Royal Barge, the Royal Palace (currently home of the military), the intricately carved teak wood decorations of the Golden Palace and the white stupa plantation reflected in the water.
     Later on I saw first hand the world’s largest book composed of 774 white marble slabs (stupas) containing all the sayings of the Buddha .(Guiness Book of Records)

    Sailed by the confluence of the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers as we chugged up the river to Yandaboo, famous for its production of terra cotta pottery from the river bank clay.                          After securing the boat, the crew had to build steps into the shore.  A crew member helped me ascend the bank and held my hand the whole time while Kathy pushed from behind.
     At our first stop a woman “threw” about 10 pots while a man used his feet to keep the wheel turning.  Further on a crew member brought me a chair so I could listen to Daniel’s explanation about firing the pots – 600 – 1000 – in a huge dirt kiln.
     The day ended with a HUGE black thunderhead hovering over the river which prompted the captain to moor our cruiser near a riverside village.  When the ensuing squall started to fall, there was zero visibility.
    

     In the morning some of our group hiked up a mountain to visit a stupa and then descend 1,000 steps to the river bank where villagers performed an elephant dance.
     We arrived in Bagan later that afternoon and transferred to an air conditioned bus for a partial tour of Bagan, a 25 square mile World Heritage Site, filled with an overwhelming array of more than 2,000 temples and stupas everywhere we looked.
     Daniel explained that one reason for so many monuments was that when one of the kings  embraced Buddhism, he told his subjects to build individual stupas to “gain merit.”  Since most structures are composed of bricks made of riverbank clay, earthquake damage has necessitated a considerable amount of reconstruction.
     Vendors selling sand paintings, lacquer ware, books, post cards and clothing were very aggressive and followed us from one site to the next.  Some enterprising salespeople sat on the riverbank and called out,”I give you cheap price,” “I see you,” “later” and so on.
     That evening two local puppeteers presented several traditional shows featuring a monkey, a flying sorcerer and deer hunting with a green spirit (nat).

     This morning as our boat sped toward Sale, Daniel gave a presentation on how to set up a Myanmar altar to Buddha.
     Once we docked in Sale, Daniel procured a very basic ox cart with large wooden wheels.  I was the main attraction as I passed by villagers – men chewing and spitting red beetle nut, women holding their babies up to see me, small children calling “Hallow!” and motorcycles whizzing by in both directions.
     I arrived at the first teak monastery built of teak with intricate designs.  When the walking group joined me, Daniel explained the history of the building.  The purser who accompanied me that day held my hand as we walked up some steps to visit the courtyard of a “working” monastery with young and old monks sweeping and praying – gaining merit with Buddha.