The Monk Who Would Not Sleep

Airports in Myanmar are decades behind in technology. There may or may not be a flight departure board, and when a flight is ready to be boarded, there may or may not be someone with a sign yelling out flight numbers (in Burmese of course). Passengers get these little airline stickers to put on their clothes, so one needs to watch if others with the same sticker line up to board. All flights leave in the morning within an hour and a half of each other.

Buddhas in Pindaya Cave

So imagine the chaos in the small dingy waiting room – mostly filled with foreigners with confused and dazed looks. So when we arrived at the airport to fly to Heho, and actually see a flight departure board somewhat functional, it was reassuring. Until we noticed our flight had a different time one hour later. In panic mode, I try to explain the discrepancy to the girl who looks like the one making boarding announcements. She just shrugs of course and continues doing whatever. I head to some more official looking guys (security?) and at least he looks mildly interested. He shows my ticket to another guy. Then I am asked to go back through security and follow him back upstairs to the check-in desks. I stand there while there is a lot of discussion, and finally the first guy gesters for me to return downstairs and that it is OK. I see that indeed it is OK, there was an error on the departure board and now all is fixed. Whew!

When we stepped out of the airport we noticed with relief how much cooler it was, as we were in the mountains. We were picked up by our guide and driver and driven 2 hours along the” road from hell” – dirt surface with deep ruts -- to get to caves filled with Buddhas. But it was a very cool site! The caves were ancient, carved out of limestone with stalactites and stalagmites, and every niche had a Buddha inside. Was it worth the drive? Hmm….debatable...then of course we had to drive on the same road back to get to our hotel. Kalaw, our hometown for 2 nights, is a small old British Hill town (used by the British, when they occupied Myanmar late 19th early 20th centuries, to escape the heat) ,and it still has areas filled with colonial houses.

Our hotel was average and near the highway, but we couldn’t hear the traffic as a monk ,aided by a loudspeaker, was chanting. How atmospheric, we thought ! We wandered on our own through the small market area, found a recommended restaurant from our guidebook (excellent- best food we ate on the trip), while the monk chanted in the background. Still quaint! When we were relaxing in our room preparing for bed, the monk continued his chants. He must stop by 10pm of course as people have to sleep. At 10, still going strong, at midnight still going, at 3am…well, you get the picture! In fact, because it was the Light Festival, tradition has the monks chanting 5 days before and 5 after! We had that monk-sound with us for 2 days! Sleep? Not! 

Village children wait for us to pass -- they look a little hostile

Being in the hills, Kalaw is known for its trekking opportunities. We had booked a day trek that would take us through the valleys and farmer’s fields, through the forests past hill tribe villages and through the jungle back to town.  The trails were well-established and easy to walk, although there were a few steep sections and with the heat it was a bit challenging (for me). Farmers in the area grew many crops, especially tea, squash, and oranges. Some of the homes we passed seemed relatively affluent, then we’d pass a village with bamboo huts and run-down buildings. At one village a small group of children were positioned at the end of a driveway, as if waiting for a foreigner to take a picture—which I did. They didn’t so much as blink. Then when I brought out a little bubble-blower and showed them how to blow bubbles, they seemed reluctant to take, staring at me with huge eyes. We gave the bubble-blower to the oldest looking child and as we walked away we looked back to see them in the same position watching us with solemn faces---not normal for your average child if you ask me!

Laurie meets a local woman on the trail

Our lunch point (and return point) was perched on a hill top with amazing views. Some guy from Nepal built a home and opened a trekker’s restaurant Indian-style. Sitting outside with amazing views eating yummy pumpkin soup, chapatis with roasted squash and an ice-cold beer—we were in heaven!

An hour later we passed through another village where kids came running out to meet us and showed great enthusiasm for the bubbles. But an old lady stood nearby and as we passed she said quietly “bring medicine?” I was later told by our guide that common western medicine like Tylenol and Polysporin are desperately needed as the hill tribes still relied on traditional herbal medicines. If I had only known…

Chapatis and roasted squash--and look at those avocados!

The return trip was along the open muddy farmer’s road—pretty boring. When we got back to town we enjoyed a cup of sweet tea with our guide and driver. Later we returned to our most favourite restaurant so far – 7 Sisters—for another excellent meal......while the monk continued to drone on in the background!  

The hills near Kalaw -- amazing views from the restaurant