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Published: December 11th 2013
Slow afternoon drive to Mawlamyine We enjoyed the drive through the countryside to what was once called Moulmein. Mr Lin, our wonderful driver, told us we were travelling on the same road that many of the Generation 88 protest leaders and participants had travelled on or near as they made their escape to Thailand.
Mal got to indulge his love of railways as we stopped and took some photos of level crossings. Also, on the roadside were many piles of rice husks that were to be burnt (I think that was what Mr Lin said).
Off in the distance we spotted a very large building at the foot of some mountains. There was nothing else for many kilometres around this building and when I asked what it was I was surprised to find out it was a university. I wondered out loud if it was in the middle of nowhere to avoid any possible student uprisings.
Sad news and a dash back to Yangon When we arrived at our hotel about 4pm and I connected to the WIFI I got the news that my father was critically ill and not likely to hang in too long.
After some frantic phone calls we made the decision to get back to Yangon, then Sydney as quick as we could.
At this point I was totally overwhelmed by the kindness, generosity and love that was extended to us, not only by our travel companions (who were amazing) but also by everyone involved in helping us get back home.
Mr Lin, the driver had just finished a tiring five-hour drive and when the situation was explained to him he had no hesitation in telling us he felt safe to drive the 6 hours back to Yangon. When we asked “Are you sure you are not too tied?” He replied (in Burmese) “If you buy me a case of red bull I could drive you back to Sydney”. What a gem of a guy.
After some phone calls back to Auntie in Yangon and Aye Aye from Woodlands Travel we had seats booked on a flight from Yangon to Sydney via Kuala Lumpur. These people went to amazing lengths to make sure we got tickets, a hotel in Yangon and as little stress for us as possible. Auntie overwhelmed us by paying for the extra ticket costs out
On the road to Mawlamyine
a brief summary of Buddhismof her own pocket without even a moments hesitation. All our travel companions did what they could also and their support was amazing. Aye Aye’s mad dash through peak hour Yangon traffic to get to the Air Asia office before 5pm was amazing, she even had to apologise to some other travellers she was supposed to meet that afternoon so she could make sure our tickets were booked and paid for. We found out later that the airline computer crashed and Aye Aye made sure that the booking staff did not leave until the system was back online and the tickets printed at about 7pm.
How can we ever thank these people enough for what they did? Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu.
A peaceful end At the hotel in Yangon the WIFI was down, it was not working at the airport either and our mobile would not let us make any international calls. I soon realised that it was a lot later in Sydney than I thought and decided it was best to try and get some sleep. We had an 8am flight to KL, then an 11-hour wait for our flight to Sydney. We could not make any
contact with anyone back home until we touched down in KL and I found out my Dad had passed away peacefully at 11:35pm (Sydney time) Friday 25 October. My brother, my sister and my Mum assured me he did not suffer and “just went to sleep”. He was 83 years of age and had lived a very happy life, who could ask for more?
Ooops, we had the ice We let our guard down at KL low cost terminal and had an ice coffee. We paid the price for consuming the ice about 2 hours into the 8-hour flight. We lost count of how many sick bags we used. When we touched down at Sydney all the passengers were told to stay in their seats, the announcement went something like “We have two sick passengers on board, and customs and quarantine officers and ambulance staff will escort them from the plane before any other passengers can exit, thank you for your patience”.
We had been seated in the last row and had to do the walk of shame past all the passengers on the plane. Some looked like they were thinking “Oh, ok so the condoms have
burst in their stomachs hey” or “OMG, If I get what they have I am suing”. On the tarmac we got checked over in an ambulance and after passing all the basic checks it was decided that we had nothing contagious and were suffering from food poisoning.
We were then escorted from the tarmac, through immigration, directly through customs and out into the arrival area by a customs officer who was very pleasant and joked with us about the circumstances we had found ourselves in.
We were so thankful that my brother and his wife were there to pick us up. We could not have faced the train trip home.
Dana for my Dad Having cut our travels short by a week we were thankful that through our travel companions we could contribute to one last act of dana in Myanmar in honour of my Father. The OK Team travelled to Kyauk Tan township, about 1 hour from Yangon to the Zabu Oak Shaung Nunnery. This nunnery was started by two Buddhist Nuns and caters for just over 200 young orphan girls. Here they are offered clean accommodation, decent food, a good education, guidance and love.
Zabu Oak Shaung Nunnery
Metta Sutta - Prayer of Loving Kindness At the nunnery our team donated lunch for the nuns and students, plus enough exercise books and pens for all the students and some money for more supplies. In fact, there was so much food that after the Nuns and students had eaten the team offered the remainder to about 40 road workers who were working nearby in the hot sun.
Our team made donations at this location on the suggestion of one of the Aunties who said something like,
“If you are looking for somewhere to make donations please consider this place and not just the larger, well funded monasteries, these nuns do a lot with very little”.
Lorenza and I were so pleased to be able to make a contribution here in memory of my Father … As Sayadaw U Pannathami said in regard to my father having lived to 83
“He lived beyond the average 75 years due to his good heart and good karma”.
Dad was a humble man and knew how to go with the flow of life. Two things I hope I have learnt from my Dad are be open hearted and compassionate and for that and many other things
Zabu Oak Shaung Nunnery
Metta Sutta - Prayer of Loving Kindness I thank him so much.
(Thanks to Yong and Ohnmar for the photos taken at Zabu Oak Shaung Nunnery.)
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Blessings on your journey
I'm so sorry about the loss of your father; he sounded like a wonderful man. You were so blessed to have him as an example and a father. How blessed too, to have the love and support of everyone of your tour, and then to be able to give dana to those adorable children at the nunnery. How blessed they are to grow up in an atmosphere of loving-kindness. Best wishes in bidding farewell to your dad!