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Published: October 11th 2011
(Damenglong, Yunnan province)
The bus from Jinghong dropped us off at the edge of Damenglong which consists of a few dusty streets. The entire town seems to be a construction project. The road from Jinghong was new and in good condition. China seems to be pushing new roads towards Burma, which is only a few kilometers from here. The road workers are Han and the area is populated by many minorities. The Dai, similar to Thai linguistically, are one of the dominant groups. After a siesta and late lunch of Dai food, we head down the road and climb the steep path to the Black Pagoda, a Dai monastery. Terraces of rubber trees, over 30 feet tall, lined the walk.
Buddhists always seem to locate their temples with superb views and this pagoda was no exception. We looked over rice fields and up the tea covered ridges beyond. A smiling monk spoke in Chinese with Jacob. He pointed to the ridge tops to the south and east and told us that is the border with Burma. He showed us locations of the checkpoints on the roads and said that everyone crosses back and forth using paths over the mountains.
The people working on the monastery, some of them monks, had come from Burma. “We used to have nothing and now we have everything. But they (pointing towards Burma) have nothing, so they come here to work.” The authorities know about the paths, but must be happy to have the cheap labor source and allow the crossings to continue
I have been interested in seeing Burma, now Myanmar, ever since my mother and sister visited there in the early 1980's. They were able to get a strictly controlled travel permit for a week. Now, looking at the full moon over the ridges, I am reminded of their adventures. The monk indicated an area to the south where the authorities don't check and we could explore. Having no interest in learning about either Chinese or Burmese prisons, we confined our future explorations to the north.
Kathy
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Julie
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I think an impromptu visit to a Burmese prison would add quite a bit to the stories of your trip (of course those stories are always better appreciated after the fact). The dragons by the stairs are wonderful. That is my favorite photo so far!