Bagan Photos

I could not say it better, but this signals my next ten days of Vipassana, see you in March!

Homage

to the peace of Moe Wai

Bagan Ends with What my Heart Wanted

This 5 part story starts with "Unexpected Kindness In Bagan" below

Later, back at the guesthouse, I saw how much money I had left and thought about giving it to my friend. I ran into the two women I saw in Mandalay who would not bring the $2 bill, surprised to see me. I was cordial and said I came back to help the boy(who helped me) and his family it was already a clear intent at that point. Knowing that they share everything they have as a family. It seemed so extravagant to use my remaining money on solitary travel, now that I know them and saw what they face everyday. A chance encounter allowed me to wake up, yet again. I could give them 205,000 Kyat (about $250) I had left, asking my friend if this would help when we were talking at a temple. It was then, that he told me his appendix operation used the 115,000 kyat they had saved for a used motorcycle, and he was so happy and grateful. I kept wondering in my head, what if they did not have the money for his operation. Just that afternoon, Mom had to bicycle to a far away village to chop trees for money, he told me when we talking at temple. At no time did he ever give me the impression that they needed money. They were very friendly, void of any requests, and certainly casual in interaction. It would help him when he goes to college which is far from the village they live in, and for his family to get around for work too far for a bicycle. You know they often ride three on a bike.

I decided to bring the money to dinner that his family wanted to prepare for me to give it to his father, so they could buy a used motorcycle or whatever they wanted. I put no restrictions on my gift. He and his brother picked me up on the old worn out motorcycle they had borrowed with no lights on it. And this time Mom and family were not embarrassed to have me eat at the house instead of in the garden, and she could try out the rice cooker and a neighbor told her what works best for ratios with their rice. She made my favorite fried fish and hot peanuts along with 10 other Burmese dishes all prepared with firewood. We talked and ate, my friend and I, while the family had eaten earlier this time. The youngest boy of 4, played a drum with great precision and joy, and kept us laughing. I had the following day until three to see a few more out of the way temples I missed before, but I told him I had no demands. It is up to you, he would say. Time was flying by but this time I felt this was a natural ending to what my heart needed to do. In the morning we met and I bought him over a year’s worth of floss, and his Mom a half-kilo of curry powder she could never afford. I knew he did not chew betel nor smoke or drank, and could keep his teeth if he took care of them. In my head I am thinking about when I return to help him with a dental care and make sure he went to college. The rest of his family it is too late with all the betel they chew, even his 24 yr old brother. My friend had the most opportunity with his morals and goals with his college planned to help change his family’s future.

My last day we went to his father’s old temple where he had ordained, at my friend’s age. It had extensive underground caves to meditate in, some even tiled. It had fallen from popularity as the monks matured, but the whole area is very devout, but I feel that economics dictate that more people had to work or sell to tourists to eat. I would like to ordain there, because it is away from the tourists and could offer me time to develop my Jhanas. We sat on a quiet bench and said our good byes in a relaxed manor knowing I would return to at least see him follow his dreams. We sat down to meditate in the temple to wrap it up, and he gave Thanaka gift he bought. He made the whole trip special with his natural friendliness and made it into a real human experience rather than a photo journey. It really was not a sad goodbye, we both knew that the world just got a little smaller or my family bigger! I have chosen not to show a photo the family out of respect. END

Back to Bagan

I made it back to pack in Mandalay and leave for an afternoon flight back to Bagan and the guest house I stayed at before, who were so happy to see me return that I got a free ride wanting at the airport. It was all beginning to be seamless unlike Mandalay. I felt it would all be a breeze, took a deep breath and I grabbed a bike to find my friend.

He was not at his friend’s bike stands, and so I rode to his house long the dirt road shortcut. I am pretty good with directions, guessing the road into his village, but off by one street. I know small villages, everyone knows each other and when I saw a young boy asked where his house was, and he lead me there. His mother was shocked to see me, ran to a neighbors house to get another boy to bike to get her son while I had tea she made. My friend arrived 40 minutes later and I said. “Guess what you asked about that I have?” He replied, “I forgot.” It was more a matter of things don't matter, but people do and he was just glad to see me again. I put an envelope in his hand and told him why I returned. With it, I bought 5 washable facemasks to wear while riding bikes in the dust to help save their lungs. It was great to see the ring on his brother’s hand, as he shared it with him because he wanted to wear it. That was something unheard of in USA. We made plans for the following day while mom cooked dinner again.
It was then that I decided to buy her a rice cooker, since they did have power and with 7 people it would make life easier. Early morning, we planned to meet at the village ordination ceremony called Shinbyu, where the boys are dressed as Buddha princes and shown off on horses. I found out this visit allowed me to see this once a year ceremony that happens after Full Moon festival. It has been happening yearly since the 11th century.



After that we planned we would bicycle to buy Mom’s rice cooker and take it by. And with the end of the day we planned to see his father’s ordination temple nearer my guest house. Continued...

1. This 5 part story starts with "Unexpected Kindness In Bagan" below

Times Running out in Mandalay

Amarapura U Bein Bridge

Mahamuni Buddha

Amarapura U Bein Bridge

Kyauktawgyi Buddha

Kuthodaw Paya Tripitakas

Amarapura Sunset

This 5 part story starts with "Unexpected Kindness In Bagan" below

The Surprise that Sparked it All

I awoke early and it became obvious what that the cause was. The time change did not register in my cell phone, because I had no SIM card in Myanmar. We took off at 8:30, and went to a gold leaf pounders shop first, and then it began to seem like a typical tourist trip. Everything from there on, took on an even greater feeling that this whole leg of the journey …that something was not right. Next stop, we went to see monastery morning alms round, and as soon as I saw tour buses, I walked in the opposite direction into a village and bought 40 drinking yoghurts to give them. I walked back and the taxi drivers near by helped me quickly unpack them. Instead of lining with other tourists to photograph them, I passed them out to the monks as they came from various buildings and lined up, avoiding all the shutterbugs at the opposite end. You can either live the life or photograph it but you can’t do both.

Moving on in the program, I felt like we had bought a tour so it all seemed lackluster. A hill of temples, boats ride, and horse cart but all at a local taxi’s price divided by 3. For a little excitement, I saw a government spy on the boat ride, dictating quietly in a hidden phone. Sure we saw bus tours and their guides paying 4 times what we did, but being lopped into the same tour it was getting old. At one site in Inwa, in an Asian leaning tower, Nanmyin I was asked by a vendor to change her dollars for Kyat and I quickly said yes, among three or four people. She pulled out the dollars out of her bag, and what was in it... but a new $2 bill. I just laughed, I get one now, after I leave Bagan. The mind just flew to Bagan. A few minutes later, in the horse cart, I was talking to the women about my experience in Bagan, since it was next on their route.

I told them about my friend there and asked them if would they take this $2 dollar bill to him saying he easy to find. I never got a real answer, but later went to ask again, at the end of our journey that day, and they just ignored me. On to Amarapura to see the U Bein's bridge, and they avoided me the entire time, which was just as well. I used this as yet another sign to get out of Mandalay, and I waited until they were done talking to the owner of the guest house, and told her of my plans to see if I can leave two days early, go to the airline office and change tickets to go back to Bagan. I thought I might as well make it a real surprise; I’ll give him the $2 bill in person since he thinks he won’t see me for another year. I managed to get the ticket changed free and buy one more leg, so damn easy that I had time to run around with a motorcycle taxi to see the temples I missed recommended by the Israeli earlier. While waiting early morning for the airline office to open we sat in a tea shop. It always amazed me how people would just crack a huge smile inviting them into their heart that I would see in the tea shop, and others coming by the pick-up some sweets to take. Continued...

This 5 part story starts with

"Unexpected Kindness In Bagan"

below

Waiting for the Dust to Clear in Mandalay

On to Mandalay with the Isreali man, on a similar flight, I said, while at the airport I was talking to him, “I feel like Mandalay will pale in comparison to Bagan,” just like a fortune teller. At times I wish I could turn off my gut feeling. When we arrived we got the same taxi, in hopes to cut down the fair, but in general he was somber. There just was no joie de vivre with him, and he was already saying this would be my only trip here. Mandalay in the morning fog, smoke and dust was not a pretty sight, and I was trying to relax. When he said, “Well, there goes my light to photograph," and I was happy to leave him in the taxi when we got to my guesthouse.

The guesthouse owner was talking to me, after a cup of strong coffee, when suddenly without any abrupt or strenuous moves I had valsalva ‘attack’ where I could not talk to her. This is a unexpected blood pressure drop, made worse in the areas affected by my strokes, like my left side and speech. She said relax, and I looked at her with a puzzled face trying to figure why this happened. If I jump up or squat down fast can cause this, but this was becoming one more sign about Mandalay. I put my luggage in the room when done and walked out to go to the fort. Long dusty blocks faced me and I walked for an hour to get there, and there was nothing to see. Most of the fort is off limits and the only to see is a rebuilt ‘half-ass kings palace’, and aversion hit with full force. I walked to the top of the lookout, and saw a city smothered in an ugly haze overall. Luckily, I met a nice Burmese soldier and a Thai man working in Mandalay who I talked to and they warmed up my mood. I walked down to a tea stand and a German woman joined me for tea and treats. We talked travel and plans for an hour. I rested and it was already 2pm, and I have not seen much.

I grabbed a motorcycle taxi to the hill, skipping the temples that lay at the base; he rode me up the hill on the backside, getting there about 3:30pm to walk up the rest with ease. I ran into some English tourists that I kept seeing in different places and we chatted about the travel. They were sweet and relaxed. I saw the Israeli at the top, we talked about what he had seen, and what not to miss and then bid farewell. I stayed to photograph sunset from the top but I was non-plussed.

On the walk down the steps, I got hooked up with a chatty Monk about the school he has and he walked me down. I was cordial but did not like his hard sell approach, never giving me space. I guess he figured he could just pester me enough to give money, but I was having none of that knowing that money is not supposed to be a concern of monks. As soon as I got to the bottom I thanked him for his time and walked right to a motorcycle taxi, so fast that he had no more time with me. It seemed like the only way to get away, regardless of how honorable his school was. I made it back in time to have dinner at the guest house and talk some more with the owner, and plan my next day. We were to see surrounding cities with two other guests said the owner and we could split the pick-up truck taxi. Continued

This 5 part story starts with "Unexpected Kindness In Bagan" below

The Labor of Lacquer Ware

This is a photo of my Burmese friend’s aunt(and her son) who makes lacquer ware from scratch for sale as a tourist item. She has to wet and spin bound the forms out of bamboo, gluing them, drying them. Next apply clay to smooth out the finish, drying then sanding it. And then add many coats of lacquer are applied letting each one of the dry. When that is all through, she engraves a scene, pretty amazing freehand. Maybe uses rulers for some, then she applies various paint colors to them. The price wholesale of the 6” piece she is working on the top of ...is only 5 cents. I was amazed at how much time is involved in each piece, so I guess when life seems a bit tough... remember this.