Well, I decide, what the hell, don't worry about the downpour that just stopped at 9:30 am, I'm not sitting here all day long doing nothing. So I take a taxi to the ferry port for the quick skip over the river to Dalah, with the general plan to take a pick up truck trip over to Twante, the mission from the moment I got here a lifetime ago.
Things get in the way .... they sort of have a tendency to do that.
I'm the only white guy on the entire massive ferry and people have a talent to point that out. Once again, huge amounts of chickens are all tied up and inside wooden baskets, others are selling the standard fruits, and everyone gets on and off as if tomorrow is December 21st, 2012.
We get off on the other side, and EVERYONE is waiting for me and the other billions of people. They want me to hop on their motorbike, or their bicycle side seat, so I have new friends without even trying, over and over and over. I smile and keep walking. I figure I mid as well sort wander around the market that everyone tells me is so fantastic, but I have a tricky time figuring out where exactly it is. Maybe in fact every street is the market?? I sort of think that I saw the pagoda that they tell me about?? Either way, I just wander around the streets and everyone is friendly. I can easily see why that area was devastated by the cyclone back in 2008. There is no shelter or high ground and the road infrastructure is basic at best, so it makes sense you would have needed permission to visit this area of the greater Yangon area by the bosses around here. The houses must have just been simply knocked down and submerged, then rebuilt with anything you could find. So many people smile and say "Mingalaba" (hello) and everyone wants their picture taken, as it comes as no surprise they don't see Westerns or tourists often. I think I saw another Asian group of three tourists from Japan or Korea, and that was it.
Soon I bump into the same people over and over, as I realize I've pretty much walked around all these unnamed streets. Then, I walk past a makeshift restaurant and everyone is watching the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics, so I sit down, drink down a litre of water and join in the viewing. Very nice break or time-waster, whatever you prefer to call it.
Then I say so long after about half an hour, and keep walking the way I came from the ferry port, but then notice a building of the National League of Democracy (NLD) and say hello to the people selling the party souvenirs. They were very nice and then a young guy tells me to come in . I find out it is a school and charity building belonging to the party that was opened in February. I ask if Aung San Suu Kyi is here, since I rang her, and we all laugh. The funny part is, we go inside, they ask me if I'd like some soup and low and behold, there is a lady who looks almost exactly like her. The young man who welcomed me in, had a magazine with Aung San Suu Kyi picture on it, so I took a picture of the lady posing with the magazine. How cool/weird is that?? I ask them about the electronics store on the bottom floor of the red house from yesterday. They seem to think that in fact I was right, the store and the house do in fact match. I almost feel better about it.
The economics lesson that the school has at 2 pm then 3 pm is about to start, so I take some more pictures of the people, sign their guest book and say goodbye. Almost like a happy family for an hour or so, then off to do something. What that something is ... I didn't know yet.
I bump into a bicycle driver on my way back to the ferry and I ask him about Twante, and the pottery shops that are there. He tells me that the pottery shops are closed in the wet season and they open in November or something like that. Someone else had sort of mentioned this, but I thought they were just lying. I figure since I told him first that I'm taking the ferry back to Yangon, he'd be less likely to be lying, but my suspicions were still lingering. Either way, the rain came down almost as I got off the ferry back in Yangon, so maybe the extra wild goose chase just wouldn't be worth it.
So, I did the most elegant of alternatives and wandered into the first luxury hotel ever built here, the colonial Strand Hotel. I was thinking about having a meal or a drink, but looked at the prices and just wandered around the art gallery near the foyer. Then sat down and read the newspaper (God Bless the International Daily Tribune) until magically the rain stopped.
All in all, I probably took about another 300 pictures ..... the most lasting impression of this country is that you can visit all the temples and pagodas and anything else, but the people still make the place what it is. Everyone wants to smile, say hello & pose for the camera. It's like I have magic potion or something .... that's when you remember you're not at home. Whose nice to me out in public at home ?? ... yeah, something is definitely strange and wrong about this.
Tomorrow ... no clue ..... probably a good thing if today is any indication.
:o)
Things get in the way .... they sort of have a tendency to do that.
I'm the only white guy on the entire massive ferry and people have a talent to point that out. Once again, huge amounts of chickens are all tied up and inside wooden baskets, others are selling the standard fruits, and everyone gets on and off as if tomorrow is December 21st, 2012.
We get off on the other side, and EVERYONE is waiting for me and the other billions of people. They want me to hop on their motorbike, or their bicycle side seat, so I have new friends without even trying, over and over and over. I smile and keep walking. I figure I mid as well sort wander around the market that everyone tells me is so fantastic, but I have a tricky time figuring out where exactly it is. Maybe in fact every street is the market?? I sort of think that I saw the pagoda that they tell me about?? Either way, I just wander around the streets and everyone is friendly. I can easily see why that area was devastated by the cyclone back in 2008. There is no shelter or high ground and the road infrastructure is basic at best, so it makes sense you would have needed permission to visit this area of the greater Yangon area by the bosses around here. The houses must have just been simply knocked down and submerged, then rebuilt with anything you could find. So many people smile and say "Mingalaba" (hello) and everyone wants their picture taken, as it comes as no surprise they don't see Westerns or tourists often. I think I saw another Asian group of three tourists from Japan or Korea, and that was it.
Soon I bump into the same people over and over, as I realize I've pretty much walked around all these unnamed streets. Then, I walk past a makeshift restaurant and everyone is watching the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics, so I sit down, drink down a litre of water and join in the viewing. Very nice break or time-waster, whatever you prefer to call it.
Then I say so long after about half an hour, and keep walking the way I came from the ferry port, but then notice a building of the National League of Democracy (NLD) and say hello to the people selling the party souvenirs. They were very nice and then a young guy tells me to come in . I find out it is a school and charity building belonging to the party that was opened in February. I ask if Aung San Suu Kyi is here, since I rang her, and we all laugh. The funny part is, we go inside, they ask me if I'd like some soup and low and behold, there is a lady who looks almost exactly like her. The young man who welcomed me in, had a magazine with Aung San Suu Kyi picture on it, so I took a picture of the lady posing with the magazine. How cool/weird is that?? I ask them about the electronics store on the bottom floor of the red house from yesterday. They seem to think that in fact I was right, the store and the house do in fact match. I almost feel better about it.
The economics lesson that the school has at 2 pm then 3 pm is about to start, so I take some more pictures of the people, sign their guest book and say goodbye. Almost like a happy family for an hour or so, then off to do something. What that something is ... I didn't know yet.
I bump into a bicycle driver on my way back to the ferry and I ask him about Twante, and the pottery shops that are there. He tells me that the pottery shops are closed in the wet season and they open in November or something like that. Someone else had sort of mentioned this, but I thought they were just lying. I figure since I told him first that I'm taking the ferry back to Yangon, he'd be less likely to be lying, but my suspicions were still lingering. Either way, the rain came down almost as I got off the ferry back in Yangon, so maybe the extra wild goose chase just wouldn't be worth it.
So, I did the most elegant of alternatives and wandered into the first luxury hotel ever built here, the colonial Strand Hotel. I was thinking about having a meal or a drink, but looked at the prices and just wandered around the art gallery near the foyer. Then sat down and read the newspaper (God Bless the International Daily Tribune) until magically the rain stopped.
All in all, I probably took about another 300 pictures ..... the most lasting impression of this country is that you can visit all the temples and pagodas and anything else, but the people still make the place what it is. Everyone wants to smile, say hello & pose for the camera. It's like I have magic potion or something .... that's when you remember you're not at home. Whose nice to me out in public at home ?? ... yeah, something is definitely strange and wrong about this.
Tomorrow ... no clue ..... probably a good thing if today is any indication.
:o)
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