Ethel and the Pagoda...

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As we wandered around Yangon, getting use it the taste in the air and
the dust in our eyes, i was suddenly distracked by an old lady sitting
under a tree. She had bright blue eyes and was smoking a cigar, her
name was Ethel.
As Myanamr is changing more and more people are traveling without
guides and Ethel, is losing her profession. At something about 78 she
had a broken hip, cracked teeth and a wicked look in her eye. She was
amazing, we sat for tea and she told us tales of ex husbands, forgin
loves and of course her excellanct tour guideing abilitys. We all knew
that she was buttering us up, but it was nice to be buttered, she was
interesting and diffrent the kind of woman that could have been a
world leader. We aggred to let her take us to a little temple
complex/villiage out of town where we wandered though old stauts, new
constuction and a few basic stalls for locals. She then got us a good
price for a taxi to the main Pagoda just to the west of Yangon city,
we gave her a small amount for looking after us and wished her well.
The sunset over the Shwedagon Pagoda is anything but over rated, the
temple complex glisterned in the deep magnolia sky.
I bent for pray to the world just as the rubys shone in the last of the sun.

Just before leaving for the night bus to Manadaly i spent an hour or
so in the reception of our hotel, with everything in Burmese it was
ovious that they had only just opened to touriest, i suggested him to
read out te rules and i'd traslate then to English for him. As he
roughly traslated them, we spoke though actions, words and facial
expressions, it was like a game of sharades. One of the rules was no
human trafficing or dyinomite, which was a little crazy! I handed him
the pages and he smiled, then i ask if i could borrow the book and
type them up for him. When i returned and handed two copys to the boy
he looked confussed, i thought i wanted to type them for myself, when
he relised they were for him he was so schoked, he smiled from ear to
ear, i then dug out a slip cover to protect them on the wall he asked
me to sign it and made me promise if i even returned to Yangon i must
stay there... Its crazy how something so simple and evoke such a
reaction.

Lots of love

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