Today we have another early start, 7:45am, in order to take the Experience Local Life in Thanlyin excursion. This is a small village (small is a relative term in Southeast Asia in terms of population. It’s a bustling place full of people) about one half hour from where our ship is docked. First of all, we are grateful not to have to slog through ninety minutes of commuter traffic. It’s near the ship and it’s Saturday.
We have four segments to our four-hour tour. The first stop is at Bon Pyan Monastery, a relatively small such place where monks are trained. It’s a requirement that all males attend a monastery for several months sometime during their lives beginning as early as seven years old. It is a very quiet morning, and we have the opportunity to meet one monk and tour the century-old main building made entirely of teak. This is quite the opposite of the overwhelming Shwedagon Pagoda in terms of grandeur. It is our understanding that all things used at the monastery, including the food, are donated. The monks own nothing, and it must bond them very closely to the villagers. [It actually reminded me a lot of the emergency shelter in Wallingford: lots of mixed up dishes and various assorted furniture, all obviously donated. Very very peaceful however, unlike the shelter!]
One of the many endearing aspects of the people of Myanmar is their willingness to be photographed by us busybody tourists. Even the monk. Of course we ask permission, but the people are so unfailingly polite. I got a wonderful photo of a mother with her maybe four-year old daughter and maybe two-year old son. As well as photos of the buildings, of course.
From there we head for the village market. This is not like the other “shopping opportunities” we encounter on most excursions. Those are fine, of course, because we do want to purchase some souvenirs and gifts along the way, but they are pretty much set up for such purchases. This market, on the other hand, is the real deal, a village market where vendors sell all manner of food, household items and so forth. This visit shows us just how the villagers trade. It is fascinating – and packed with people. We stay there for almost an hour. We actually do make a purchase of some table napkins, and would love to have tried some of the food if our western digestive systems had been comfortable with the experience. Another opportunity to photograph the lovely women of Myanmar. And the food for sale, of course. [Everyone was so friendly! We were the only white people there. I told Peter the lecturer later how much we liked it and he said “that’s because it was real.” Absolutely.]
Our next adventure is a trishaw ride through part of the village. A trishaw is a three-wheeled bicycle – a bicycle with a sidecar for someone to ride in. There must be thirty of us in our tour group, and each of us ride in one, so we present quite a scene riding through the village. The drivers are a fairly senior group, God bless ‘em, and the ride lasted about twenty minutes. While we tourists cannot communicate directly with them, it is interesting how quickly we build a rapport with such kind folks.
After the trishaw ride, we take a walk through one of the neighborhoods. Yet again, there are locals interested in this unusual group of mostly senior citizens from the west, and again are willing to have their pictures taken. It is another pleasant and encouraging communication opportunity with the people of Myanmar. Tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in the country, and was strongly discouraged by the military regime. What a shame to have such fine people hidden away for so long.
Our last village event is a ride through another part of the village in pony carts. Each cart holds two people, so again we are quite the procession. The ponies are adorable and look quite healthy, the carts are gaily decorated and the drivers polite and helpful. The fifteen-minute ride wends through some of the village roads while we experience Saturday morning in Thanlyin.
Alas, this fascinating and reveling glimpse into the real life of some Myanmar people must end. Talking amongst ourselves as we head back to the ship, we agree that this is one of the best excursions we have had on our trip. The market especially was an opportunity to get a true sense of life in a Myanmar village, interact with people conducting their daily lives and communicate – wordlessly for the most part – with some of the people we have come to admire.
We arrive back on the ship around 1pm. The afternoon is spent relaxing, reading, and discussing what we experienced in our visit to Myanmar. As we were preparing for our trip back last fall, we were puzzled that we were scheduled to spend so much time in a “backwater” place like Yangon, Myanmar. No longer. There are times when you visit a place and know that you have arrived on the cusp of a boom in tourism that will change it forever. That is us here. Lucky us.
As the lines are cast off at 5:30, we have one last opportunity to share time with the lovely people of this country, as the port officials and shuttle bus employees spontaneously begin waving good bye to us (in unison) as our ship edges away from the dock. Of course we all wave back. It is a very touching moment of communication and farewell. May the optimism we see at this moment be their future. We will be pulling for them.
