Internet is sparse and the views breath-taking…
We arrived and headed straight for the mountainous hills of Kalaw. We trekked three days thru mountain villages, tea plantations, valleys of farmland and rice fields. We spent our nights in village home and a Buddhist monastery sleeping on the floor, awakening to the sounds of traditional Burmese life. Our trek was guided by Mr. Rambo Singh, a 4th generation sihk whose great grandparents moved from India to build the railway here during British colonial times. The people of the countryside opened their homes and lives to us again and again, whether to share tea and bananas, or to show us their livelihood. Some of those we met included farmers, blacksmiths, a shaman, weavers, and builders.
After three glorious days, we arrived in Inle Lake. It is a floating city in the middle of a lake in the mountain valley. The homes, villages, shops, farms and markets of the lake are connected by water canals and traditional SE Asian longboats are the means of transportation. We enjoyed two days of traveling thru the floating gardens, markets, workshops- while resting with the calmness of the lake.
We then flew to the ancient city of Bagan. It is a plain of 4400 Buddhist temples built from 1000-1200 C.E. it is the work of a king who had a midlife conversion to the Buddhist life, though based on the size, scope and historical accounts of their building, he may have missed some of the fundamental tenets. In any case, it is a wonder to behold.
Sorry for the brief update, this is the first wifi we have seen here, and our plane is boarding soon. We’ll try to post a few pictures. Have a joyous holiday.
With love, a + b
