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| The sun sets over Ngapali Beach |
Yesterday we arrived at Ngapali Beach, a lovely spot on the Bay of Bengal, with clear, turquoise water, long, sandy beaches, and pretty coves. The water is soupy warm--which I love, despite the common adage of my childhood that "bracingly" cold water is better for me. Since it's really hot and humid, we are reacting appropriately by doing nothing except reading, swimming, napping and generally relaxing. Not a bad way to end our trip to Burma.
Yesterday evening, we walked along the beach, enjoying the thousands of crabs darting about at extraordinary speeds. On the dry sand, the sand crabs had made beautiful fan patterns as they dug their holes in which to hide until the next high tide. We watched the tide come up to the wall of the resort where we're staying, and a group of fisherman struggling to haul in a huge fishing net through the low surf while the tide was still high. Far out on the horizon was a long line of light from fishing boats shining their floodlights on the water in order to attract fish, which they then haul into the boat in their large nets.
Tomorrow we return to Yangon for one night before flying back to Bangkok, then home on Saturday. So, my blogs will be more occasional as something of travel interest comes up, until we leave for that other extreme of weather, Antarctica, on November 14.
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| Unfortunate mother dog under 21 puppies |
As an animal lover, I've had mixed feelings here as in many developing countries where animals are treated not as pets, but as essentials or nuisances or both. There are countless back-to-the-basics mutts, usually in pretty ratty condition, roaming everywhere, reproducing, scrounging for food, and barely dodging cars, carts and bicycles as they seem to find the roads the best places for napping. At one monastery, I watched a man drag a poor little female, still with a lot of milk, to a pile of 21 puppies, obviously not all hers, and keep hitting her to force her to let the puppies swarm over her to nurse. I finally yelled at him to stop, which I know was culturally inappropriate and did absolutely no good, but it made me so sad to see her struggle to get up only to be hit and once again inundated with wriggling, hungry pups.
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| Don with Burmese Cat |
On the other side, I mentioned that we visited a restaurant whose owner has brought Burmese cats back to Myanmar. These gorgeous, silky kitties live in a small paradise, with outside spaces, lots of kitty beds and perches, toys, special food 3 times a day, and an inside room to keep them warm at night (not hard to do in this climate). Most other cats live on the streets and search for food in competition with the dogs. So, it was a delight to see the beautiful, well-cared-for Burmese cats.
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| Happy cow after peanut treats |
At one small farm, we watched a young cow, attached to a 6 foot long wooden bar, which itself was attached to a post inside a grinding stone, going round and round in a small circle, grinding peanuts to extract the oil for cooking. Her front hooves were splayed out oddly because she had been doing this since she was a calf. She didn't seem to mind her fate because she loves the peanut meal that is left over after the oil is extracted and the boy who tends her pets her and feeds her the peanut meal constantly. I fed her some of the peanut meal, which she took very gently and munched very happily.
One of the joys of a tropical climate is the flowers--bougainvillea, water hyancinths, orchids, lotus, and countless flowering trees. One of our drivers hung fresh strands of jasmine on his rearview mirror each morning, filling the car with lovely scents. Flowers are a constant at the markets as they are a favored offering in the many shrines of Myanmar. For those of us who live in cold, dry Colorado, this is all a luxurious bounty.
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| Lotus flower |
One final note on the economy here. Myanmar is likely to open up soon to significant foreign investment, as the political climate improves and sanctions continue to be lifted. Meanwhile, the economy is one of multitudes of small businesses ranging from restaurants to guest houses to tiny handicraft factories to retail stalls in the many markets. Most people live by farming, mostly very small plots they plow with wooden or wood and metal plows pulled by cattle or, not often, horses. We saw only 1 tractor in one of the villages we visited. The fields are too small for a tractor to be efficient and agriculture is too important a provider of jobs for families to move too quickly towards larger and more mechanized farms. Tourism is clearly becoming an important economic driver and is one the government is working hard to stimulate.
We will probably plan a small group trip to Myanmar either late next year or in 2014. This is truly one of the great travel destinations and now we have checked out hotels, best cultural and historical places to visit, and some great business visits as well. We'll let you know when we have an itinerary ready for you to consider.
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