LIFE UNLEASHED

We have mentioned how everything in Burma seems to be behind 100 years but one thing that only goes back to the late 80’s - the music!!! During our 12 days we learned that rock ballads are just about as prevalent as the temples, stupas and smiles in Burma. So if you’ve been missing your daily dose of heart wrenching smaltz, pop on a Chicago album and join me in belting out the classics.

“It’s Your Love…..it does something to me, sends a shock right through me. ….Can’t get enough”.

At every tea house, restaurant, hotel lobby and streaming from open windows we heard them. Covered in English by some unknown band or sang with Burmese words you would see shop keepers humming and often hear a rousing karaoke version from private apartment blocks. Kenzo our horse cart driver would hum them as he trotted us off to 11^th century temples. I even joined in to my favourite Tim McGraw anthem (above - ok maybe some included late 90s) and of course plenty of Chicago, Boston, Scorpions and Queen had our vocal chords vibrating.

In addition to providing listening enjoyment, we would find ourselves stopping in the middle of the street wracking our brains to figure out the original song name of what we were hearing. Just a few of the many we heard:

“Who wants to Live Forever” - Queen (sung in Burmese)

“You say it Best —When you say nothing at All” –??

“Winds of Change” - Scorpions

“Hold me now - It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry” - ?? (EVERY Burmese person knows this song)

“I’m the one who Wants to be with You” - Mr Big

Burmese TV provided additional musical escapes and lessons in culture with full concerts of Bonnie Taylor‘s greatest hits by a Burmese woman dressed like Sheena Easton. All concerts had sponsor’s names running at the bottom in a continual streaming add not to mention government propaganda broadcast at varying intervals.
However, the belly laughing best had to be watching old Michael Jackson and Beyonce videos dubbed over with Indian music. And yes, it actually works in some strange way. Who would have thought Michael Jackson could get weirder J

So if you don’t think those bands get enough air play these days, jump on a plane to Burma and you’ll be singing along in no time.

We left Mandalay for the smaller town of Monwya in an attempt to see a place less corrupted by tourism. We joined the locals on a small minibus, an experience in itself, with every free space occupied. As we bumped along dusty roads, the shadow of the bus betrayed those passengers stowed away, safely, on the roof above our heads. Children waved to us as we passed, yelling “Migalaba” or “Hello” and vendors selling fruit, eggs and just about anything else from the trays perched atop their heads approached the bus on every stop. How they managed this precarious balancing act is beyond western comprehension.

Monwya proved to be free of the usual postcard vendors and others trying desperately to sell their tourist paraphernalia. It gave us a chance at seeing a ’normal’ Burmese town, complete with a local market and a 1000 year old temple which was one of our favourites. Picture a carnivelesque, Dr Suess style place outfitted in pastel pink, green, yellow and 500 000 tiny Buddha. Inside was a Technicolor temple, endless in depth. Really it’s all too hard to describe and better seen (see Flickr photos.)

Kenzo took us to the most amazing spots. Some featured the largest temples and best relief’s or paintings while others he chose just because they were quiet or had the most spectacular views. His knowledge of the area was unending and he would often help us find the “key masters“ who could unlock the gates to many a secret entrance. Kenzo also taught us the magic word for the area - “where bebe!” “Where bebe” meant “I have one already!” and was possibly the only defence against the many vendors selling sand painting, Buddha carvings, lucky bells, post cards and the like.

So by the end of the 2^nd ‘stage’ of our trip to Burma, my mind was still reeling from all that I saw but my heart had definitely warmed. Meeting people who have so little, yet approach each day with determination and each person they meet with loving kindness is a lesson to us all. I couldn’t help but feel sad for the struggles they face and be angry at government that is the primary cause of such troubles. We spoke as much as possible with our Burmese friends about their lives and learned that many are not happy with their countries situation. Yet what to do, as even speaking to us about it put them at risk for retribution. We hope that a democratically elected government will one day be allowed to rule (since during the last election the government that was elected but simply not given power) and that the process of democracy does not mean more hardship and violence directed at the people.

It might sound a bit depressing to visit a place with such challenges but in fact, it was just the opposite. By meeting the people, understanding first hand their struggles, watch them work hard to support their families, smile at every stranger they met and generally just want for the simple things in life — food, shelter and love we can learn a lot about what is important to our own hearts. We several times heard the song ‘It’s a small world’ while in Burma. And in fact it is. “After all, we are all the same when seen in our shadows“.

If you’re not quite sure what to expect from Burma, I don’t know that our impressions will even scratch the surface of this land of contrasts.  It’s been one of the most challenging countries we’ve visited but also rewarding in it’s amazing architecture and constant smiles and “Hello‘s” from the locals.   To clarify some confusion I may have caused -Is it Myanmar or Burma?   The people are still often refered to as the Burmese, although technically that represents only 1 of many tribes throughout the country. However, the country was named back to it’s original title, Myanmar after they ceased to be a British colony. I suppose it’s the colonist in me that couldn’t stop calling it Burma no matter how many locals said differently.

So what is Burma like? Imagine as you step off the plane, instead that you’re stepping off a time machine and into rural life 100 years ago. The daily life in much of the country is still one of ox carts, horse drawn carriages and thatched roof houses, albeit with a few motorcycles thrown in.  Burma is a land of contrasts. Amazing beauty in the way of stupas, payas, temples and Buddha images, but also a feeling that the people have nothing…and not much going for the future. Modern conveniences are almost non-existent outside the major cities (and for many, also in the cities). Power is something that could come and go at any given time. Motorized vehicles were a luxury and mostly cobbled together from a hodgepodge of parts. Education is a dream that only the very few wealthy can afford. Computers and electronics are intangible for most.

But the Burmese people seem genuinely happy for the most part, and from the areas we saw, they do have food provided by the very rural farming culture. It was with the people that our camera got overworked. In all our travels we never met people more willing to have their picture taken. They didn’t want anything for it. They just kept asking us to take their picture or posing before we even had a choice. All they wanted was to be in the picture but if we showed them their picture on the small LCD screen of the camera we would get ecstatic responses, laughter and even cheers! We think our photographs here will be unrivalled in our travels for show the true beauty of a people. And it was the people, in the end, that makes Burma such a memorable place.

We spent a day in Yangon (Rangoon) visiting the stunning Shwedagon Paya filled with locals wishing for good luck on the 1^st of January. Brad and I paid respects to our relative idol animal for our birth day of the week and enjoyed our first day in Myanmar amazed by the gold decadence surrounding us.

As if to starkly contrast the opulence of the stupa, we hopped on a train the next day bound for Mandalay. Well, that’s bound for Mandalay 14 hours later on one of the narrowest single gauge track built by the British (and Aussies my friend Squizzy tells me) in the early1900‘s. Judging by the speed (maybe 30-40 km./hr) and the rocking back and forth, I wondered once again if it was actually 2009. But isn’t that why we came to Burma, to see an Asia of the past so we happily occupied the daylight hours marvelling at the view out the window. Houses literally reaching distance from the tracks, farmers ploughing their fields with ox carts, locals jumping on the train as it lumbered through villages to sell their goods and mile after mile of thatched roof housing.

Our compartment mate, a 64 year old, skinny, wiry Burmese man heading to Mandalay for heart surgery readily taught us a bit of Burmese to help us along our journey. He kept a lime firmly placed in the gap between his upper lip and his nose for most of the journey, presumably to help his breathing. Or maybe he just liked the smell? After subsequently seeing people on buses and sometimes just on the street doing the same thing, we reason it may be due to the poor air quality and respiratory issues. Not a bad idea, since by the end of the train journey our eyes burned from the dust and Brad left with a banana up each nostril. (ha ha).

When we wandered the train puzzled at where to put our trash, lime guy just pointed out the window and made a throwing motion. Morals aside, it was too awkward in the ensuing miming for us to hold onto our trash and our Styrofoam dinner remains joined the mounting piles of trash along the tracks. Did we feel terrible not only seeing the trash mounds of trash next to someone’s home but knowing that we contributed to it? Of course. It brought to mind several questions all travellers face –is my presence only adding to the current state of the country? Should I be there contributing to the waste? After many weeks afterwards of local people telling us to please visit again, to tell our friends to visit, I can honestly say that the good of the tourism industry outweighs our additional negative impact on their environment. But that doesn’t mean we were not aghast at the situation we were confronted with. This was the first of many times that Myanmar challenged our core beliefs and how we see the world. And perhaps, that’s why it will likely end up one of the most memorable places we’ve visited.

We clambered into Mandalay at 3am, jumped in the back of a ‘blue taxi” (a tiny blue Mazda pick up truck) and arrived to our hotel where they gave us a room without charging us for our early morning arrival.

A short sleep and grime rinse off later, we stepped outside our hotel and soon met our first good friend in Myanmar, a tricshaw driver named Kyaw Kyaw (said Chechaw). Dressed in the traditional ’longhi’ worn by most men in Myanmar (like a checked table cloth worn as a skirt and tied with a big knot around the waist), Kyaw Kyaw gave off a stately manner like he and he alone controlled the comings and goings of the tricshaw trade at the corner of 76^th and 33^rd street. At 55 years old he wasn’t a strapping man per say, but he had a quiet strength and wisdom that made us feel he was sent to take care of us. Not to mention, he spent 2 days cycling BOTH of us around the incredible sites of Mandalay!

Mandalay itself is an ancient city, full of temples and history. The most notable was a giant temple made entirely of teak wood and covered in thousands of small carvings and the longest teak bridge in the world which made for incredible photos at dusk. Kyaw Kyaw also was a humorous guide, who freely discussed Mandalay history, his family, struggles to support 4 children, 2 in university on what likely amounts to less than $4 /day on average.

At one point we passed an area the Myanmar government uses for generals and soldiers, including a massive mansion with landscaped grounds and not facing the electricity outages that most of the population does. Kyaw Kyaw was careful in what he said about the government, as most Burmese must be for fear of repercussions but he out right expressed distaste of the generals lavish lifestyle. “Look. They live in Heaven while we struggle in Hell”. Yes, behind the idyllic smiles and warmth of the Burmese lies a struggle we can’t really imagine in the West. But something that sticks with me after these 2 weeks is the strength of the Burmese spirits and souls. Despite the hardships they face, for the most part if they have enough food and a roof over their heads, they remain happy. Not content with their countries leadership but happy that they can feed their family and live a ’good’ life. And you’ll never meet people who are more helpful to tourists and proud that you are visiting their country.

Upon finishing our 2 days in Mandalay, we were overloaded with first impressions and truthfully, I was reeling with culture shock. Everything we’d seen thus far left such a big impression that I couldn’t process my feelings and ended up a bit down. Not to mention, run down from lack of sustenance as Myanmar food is not what we would call a foodies dream. It wouldn’t be until we moved a bit more off the beaten tourist track to a small town called Monwya and then followed by copious amounts of Indian chapattis at the laid back, yet touristy temples of Bagan that I would open my heart to Myanmar fully.

(to be continued)

Note:  Click on the Flickr link on the right to see more photos of Burma (best viewed via the “Myanmar” set slideshow). 

 As luck would have it we stumbled upon an organization called Andaman Adventures that had continued working on Tsunami relief projects. AA does various things including running a school, organizing volunteers for labour projects and running homestays in small fishing villages to offer a secondary source of income to the people. As there is no place like home for the holidays we opted for a weekend homestay option.

Our stay turned out to be on a little Island called Tung Nam Dam where there was a small fishing village. We were put up in the village chief’s house. They told us too call them Ma and Pa as the whole village did. For the next two days we helped them cook local foods including festival sweets and took part in everyday life such as planting Orchids and collection delicious sea snails for dinner. We had and great time and lots of laughs even with limited communication (although there was a translator around).

For Christmas eve until boxing day we wanted something even quieter so we took a boat 40 km’s out to the Surin Islands to camp. The Surin Islands is a marine park with crystal clear waters, lots of fish and nice beaches. We had seen the islands a few years ago when we did some diving nearby but the chance to stay on them in a tent for Christmas was too tempting.

We had a great time snorkelling and lounging around until we met a few Thai Navy Search and Rescue (SAR’s) on a snorkel trip. They invited us back to their camp for a Christmas dinner that included approximately 40 grilled fish, Squid, rice, salads and lots of beer and rice moonshine. After a short while the SAR’s were quite drunk and ready to bring out the guitar for a few hours of load and off key singing! We had a blast! there is nothing like getting driven home on Christmas in a military Zodiac inflatable! (note - they did have a designated driver who even escorted us down the jungle path directly to our tent). Oh…almost forgot to mention our “tent monkey“! We often had to defend our food supplies from a particularly cheeky monkey who got into a tug-of-war with Lisa over some granola bars!!!

What a Christmas!!!

“Sun, fun and nothing to do, come on baby I love you!” Not even this simple refrain sung over and over in a Swiss German accent could negatively effect the tranquillity of Koh Jum / Koh Puh island nestled in the Andaman sea in Southern Thailand. In fact the song sums up Koh Jum perfectly and it was being repeated to the delight of Belle, the 18 month old daughter of our wonderful hosts Ann and Nat of Luboa Hut’s.

Approaching the Island by ferry boat we couldn’t help but feel excited for the week ahead. As soon as we saw Nat, who came out to pick us up in his small 6 person Long Tail boat for the final transfer to the island, we knew we had made the right choice to come back. Their beaming smiles and friendly welcome makes you feel right at home. Of course, it was even better with the new addition of their daughter Belle, who is a total charmer and the best tempered 18 month old we have ever met. Belle is wip-crack smart repeating any word in any language at any time and keeping everyone laughing. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that they had made many improvements since our previous stay with bigger and better bungalows and a nicer sitting area and more hammocks for relaxing. They make spending week doing nothing extremely easy.

Okay, we didn’t do NOTHING. We did an 8 km hike to a fishing village, kayaked, went squid fishing in the evening, had a bonfire, went snorkelling at a National Park marine reserve, swam at the beach and read books but it was a pretty relaxing week.

…and the food! We had always remembered the food especially the Massaman curry. When we were informed the old chef had left and now Nat had taken over the cooking we were a little weary. Nat came through though. He had taught himself to cook and had done an amazing job! All the guests were going on about his delicious Massaman which did no disappoint. His sweet and sour squid was the best we have had in Thailand (not to mention that he caught the squid himself that day). There was creamy coconut milk based green and red curried, dry Muslim style curries, steaming Phat Thai noodles with shrimp and beautiful bbq’d Marlin. A morning favourite was fresh squeezed orange juice or papaya and banana blended with ice. The food at Luboa Hut’s is as good as it ever was!

We were also quite fond of their new cat Batman! To steal someone’s line from the guestbook “Batman is the essence of Zen in the form of a cat.” Batman would sleep 23 hours a day and only open his eyes if he smelled fresh fish. He could also sleep in the most amazing positions. You would find batman draped over just about anything or lying on his back with four paws in the air and his tongue hanging out. Attempts to awaken him (and once even resuscitate him) would inevitably lead to disappointment. He embodies the spirit of Koh Jum!!!

As a final note about the character of Ann and Nat and how much they care about their guests, the only thing Nat went back to get while Ann ushered everyone up the hill during the 2004 Tsunami was their signed guest books and pictures of their former guests! He said it was too important for them to leave behind!  We will definitely see them again some day!!!

Note:  Luboa Hut’s website is www.luboahut2008.com