03/09/05: From Kalaw to Inle Lake

Hello Everyone!

So I've just spent 20 of the last 24 hours in bed recovering from some sort of flu or fever but I'm feeling much, much better now and thought I would spend a relaxing afternoon inside from the elements and send an update. It seems that the reports of "no internet access" are exaggerated for Myanmar...I think it goes to show that repressive government or not, it's very difficult to stop progress and the exchange of ideas.

When I last wrote, we were in Mandalay...one of the dustiest, hottest places I've ever been. From there we took a long bus-ride to Kalaw which is in the hills (and has a much nicer climate). It's really a beautiful place...the British used Kalaw as a vacation spot of sorts to escape the heat. There we met a high-60 year old gentlemen named "Sam"who ran a trekking/guide service. I have never been so impressed with someone's character as much as I am with Sam. He runs his guide service in the most responsible way (e.g. no gifts to turn village kids into beggars, no staying in monasteries (where food and accomodation are free but many people then do not contribute to even make up the cost)) - and then gives back to the villages as much as he can. Sam has hired a health-care professional to visit the 80-something villages that his treks run through to visit the different villages and provide basic services. He has also begun a program where village children live at his house and go to school...completely paid for by him. Sam was just an outstanding individual and Deanna and I were quickly sold that this was the right guide service for us for a three-day trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake.

Our specific trek guide was Sam's nephew, Tay-Zar...who was very well educated - pretty good English, majoring in French at University, and speaking three village dialects - and provided a lot of detailed information about what we were seeing. Beyond all of the "guide"information, I also spent a lot of time speaking to him about music - his great love - and he shared a lot about his opinions of the Myanmar government and controlling ideas. In the last month, the government has stopped all sales of English language music, movies, and books. Tay-Zar talked about how this hurt him as music and movies are how he learns English pronunciation, but also how the government is trying to control foreign/outside thought and ideas by restricting information even further. One difference in talking to Tay-Zar versus some of the other Myanmar people I've spoken to is that he was a bit more "textured" in his opinion of the government...he recognized that they were not the right answer but that the next regime might be even worse or the price that people would have to pay for independance might be too great.

The first night we stayed in a Pa-O village. The women dress in black outfits with colorful head-coverings...designed to resemble the look of a dragon. The Pa-O legends tell of their people being born from the egg of a dragon - what a great heritage! In the village, I was struck again by how young the Pa-O children take responsibility...seeing 8-year old girls pounding rice with what looked like a giant mortar and pestle. To get enough force to break the rice from the husks, these girls would literally have to lift the wooden pestle to the full extent of their reach. Much to the amusement of two little girls, I took my turn pounding rice and found it to be a little more difficult than I had thought - even being two feet taller and three times their weight. I couldn't tell if they were laughing because:
a. I was a foreigner with bad clothes.
b. I was a man doing women's work.
c. I was talking to them while pounding rice (which later I found is traditionally the time in this village when young men approach young women they're interested in marrying!)
d. All of the above.

After dinner, we were invited by a local family to visit in their house. We entered their home into a room with a fireplace in the center of the room and no apparent ventilation for the smoke. Much to my surprise, it was a very pleasant experience...apparently the smoke is absorbed by the bamboo or escapes somehow. A normal Pa-O family is four to five kids...but this family consisted of Mom, Dad (who was absent that night), and eight daughters! According to our hostess, they kept trying for a boy until they finally decided (after 8!) that it just wasn't going to happen. Our guide (who acted as a great translator as well) asked the 22-year old daughter why she wasn't married yet and she joked that if she was like her mom, she needed to wait until she was older before starting to have kids to keep the total number down. It was a really fun night.

The folks we went trekking with were also great - Dani and Anna...from California and Denmark, respectively. Dani and Anna had been traveling together for a few weeks and then were determined to learn all the countries, capitals, of the world and the 50 US States. It was a bit humbling that I had never heard of half the countries they mentioned...but even more humbling to realize that I didn't know the capital of Montana or Alabama or several others. We've hung out with them here in Inle Lake and had a great time...also meeting another American, Tim from Minnesota, who we had met previously in Luang Prabang. A hilarious guy (and walking medicine chest), we're hoping to meet up with him in Bangkok and then India where he's going next as well.

Inle lake has been very interesting but a bit of a let-down from what I was expecting...mostly because I thought we could stay closer to the lake itself as opposed to a few km's away. We did take an all-day tour around the lake and saw some very interesting things. One attraction here at Inle is all the floating gardens...the villagers saw out huge pieces of dirt and land and place them in the lake (with bamboo poles jammed through to hold the pieces together) and use this "new land" to grow tomatoes, other vegetables, and flowers. Another attraction is the distinctive way they paddle - standing balanced on one leg and using the other leg to paddle - you really have to see it to understand how it works. The balance and grace the fisherman show is pretty amazing - in one fishing method used here, the fisherman paddles very slowly looking for oxygen bubbles, and then when they see a fish drop a basket with a net inside on top of (around) the fish. The fisherman then stands precariously with one foot on the basket and one foot on the boat while he inserts a spear through the top of the basket, thrashes around to make the fish move, and draws the net closed with a string tied around his toe! It's like a ballet really.

The other highlight of Inle...although it's more of a novelty...is a monastery they call "Jumping Cat Monastery". The monks in this monastery have actually trained their cats (about of them) to jump through hoops. While it's funny just to see cats jumping through hoops, much of the hilarity comes from the thought of what would possess someone (much less monks) to undergo trying to train cats -perhaps it teaches the monks discipline or how to conquer the impossible. If I don't find what I'm looking for when I come back to the US, I may just shave my head (even more) and don the robe to traincats.

Hope everyone is well. I'll upload all the Myanmar pictures when I return to Bangkok on the 13th of March!