Pagan

Since no one had opted to take a guide for today, we contracted with our guide from yesterday again. This time with an A/C car and driver. We got an explanation of naming conventions in Burma. There are no family names. Your name is based on the day of the week that you are born (for example, if you are born on a Thursday, your name had to start with Tha)- and the advice and consent of your astrologer. Our guide was a charming man- and told us of his concern that Intrepid is being pressured to discontinue trips to Burma due to human rights violations. Evidently Amnesty International is not convinced that Intrepid uses private vs. government hotels, guides, etc- so they want to shut them down in Burma. It would devastate our guide, the owner of the guesthouse, etc- who depend on the regular tours to keep them alive. We didn’t have much to give them as thanks- but gave his children a few small toys and crayons and I offered a lipstick (in high demand by the women) to his oldest daughter. Our guide immediately said, “I think that will go for my wife”

After a glass of tea- we headed to the local market (where we bought Bob an old Burmese tattoo book and tattoo kit- the men in Burma have tattoos everywhere). Then it was on to the cave temples of Hmyatha Umin, the village of Minnanthu Saw and the Monastery of Lemyethna and Payathoncu. The descriptions of the 4 enemies (big boar, big bird, the big gourd and the flying squirrel) were really hard to listen to without cracking up.

We also made a stop at Shwezigon- to exchange our alms bowl for one without a ding. We were greeted by “Welcome back yesterday!” We saw what the government has designated as a typical Burmese village at Pwasaw and saw the Temple of Manuha. At Dhamma Yan Gyi- we saw the chopping block used for the hands of masons who didn’t get the bricks tight enough.
After lunch, we headed for the boat jetty and watched an interesting negotiation by the local women for the pieces of wood they use to make their face makeup.

Each piece of wood was carefully inspected, smelled for the right scent and passed among all of them before buying.

(Cost for the entire day for an A/C car with driver- $15. The guide- $5/half day).
The handicrafts were spectacular—lacquerware is a specialty at Pagan- and we picked up a beautiful bowl- for $2.50.
Our second evening of dinner at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Irewaddy River- and again, we had the entire restaurant to ourselves (Nandawun Restaurant and Sandbank).

We've been learning about the state of things in Burma. The government takes over any prime piece of property- and takes in huge profits from large tour groups. The universities have been closed for over 6 years—so the young people have no future. Most of them are waiting tables or selling postcards—with no hope of getting an education beyond the 10th grade (except for the children of the government/military- who send their children to international schools abroad). There’s a real feeling of hopelessness among the people. Business is divided into three camps” 1- run by the government, 2- owned by the government with a private “front” and 3- the private business. We asked about the monks- since there are so many of them and found that they really don’t provide any services; i.e., no ceremonies, counseling, providing for the infirmed or elderly). They do provide general prayer and work on their next life, trying to attain nibbana (nirvana). Not a bad life- no real responsibilities (other than to yourself) and free food (it’s considered a merit to give food to the monks), free transportation and generally free of charge services for anything they need.
The group returned from dinner- and it was a group “birthday/wedding” cake for the honeymoon couple from New Zealand) and Doris, the German woman.