Off The Boat...

Yangon, Myanmar

il 9 - 11 novembre

We got off the boat this morning and boarded a bus for a long, but not unpleasant ride to Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon). While traveling on a tree-lined two lane road shared with bicycles, cycles, and small trucks transporting bags of rice, my eye took in fertile fields, villages, small towns at intersections with people buying supplies at the local stores, open-air markets with lots of fruit, vegetables, and dried fish, pagodas dotting the roadside, and the ever-present tea shops.

The drinking of tea is integral to life in Myanmar. On one of our stops to use the “Happy Place” ( I mentioned that it was a long bus ride), Mu Mu ordered tea for a group of us…strong and served with sweetened condensed milk and it was definitely a treat. Green tea is served with lunch and dinner and preparing tea leaf salad for guests is a sign of peace and demonstrates hospitality. People living in the rural areas of Myanmar eat from the land and traditions are carried over to modern times; thus, an invitation to a wedding might come with two packages of tea leaves. 

Now, as to the tea shops, they are primarily filled with men who gather there to discuss anything and everything, although, for many years, talking politics was risky as saying anything against the military dictatorship could result in a prison sentence or worse. The overwhelming victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party in the November 8th election is an indication that positive change will happen, although this will be a process and take time. Hopefully, the discussions at the tea shops have become a bit more free-spirited…

Arriving at the hotel late in the day gave us time for a swim in the pool and, if one was so inclined, a mighty fine mojito.The real treat, however, was a view of the Shwedagon Pagoda from my room.