Golden Divinity – Thiwala, Myanmar – [03/10/2015]

Every crew tour is a little different, but their chaotic beginnings almost always seem to be the same. We’re never quite sure where the bus is, no one else seems to be either, and the one person who is sure is usually running madly about trying to make sure that we have packed lunches – and hoping that said lunches haven’t mysteriously disappeared from the Crew Mess where they were being stored for pick-up.

Because we’re still in Code Red the Hotel Director popped into the bus before the tour began and warned us all to be careful what we ate while ashore and to make sure that we washed our hands at regular intervals…he cares about everyone on board, and he wants to make sure we stay safe and healthy, which is something we’re all grateful for.

Then there is always the inevitable crew member who is a few minutes late, or some other reason that departure seems to be delayed – which just seems to be a part of whatever tour, no matter what. But at last, we finally did get underway.

My first thought as we rattled and bounced our way through the arid and narrow streets is that Myanmar seems to be a country that is dying even as it lives. It’s dry season, and there seems to be nary a spec of green. Even the palm trees seem dry and dusty, as if they’ve been crisped under the heat and have forgotten what colour they are supposed to be. The country seems to be wilting under it’s own sun. Nature’s grandeur at the end of its cycle. But as I’ve noticed with so many other places that I have been privileged enough to visit, there is a beauty here – even if it is a touch singed by the Burmese sun.

I remember, standing on a roadside in Puerto Rico once, looking out over the slums of the city with Amras,

That’s how about half the world lives Sis…aren’t we the lucky ones

Oh yes, oh yes we so very much are…sometimes I forget that, and it takes something like looking out a bus window at dusty brown and tumbledown ramshackle to drive it back home again…

Once we reach Shwedagon Pagoda – I found myself in a position that is rather rare for me as a writer – I was lost for words.

Firstly, the temple complex is massive. In the 45 minute fly stop we had there was nowhere near enough time to see it all. And everywhere you look is gold, gold as far as the eye can see; I’m told that when the sun sets it looks like it’s turned to molten. I found myself feeling like Aladdin in the cave of wonders

Just a handful of this stuff would make me richer than the Sultan

And yet, I can’t help but think…in a country with this little…that one roof…it could make so many smaller ones. Not that I should dare to question a culture or it’s priorities but…I can’t help but wonder…

Anyway it’s not about the wealth, there is something about the place that makes it about so much more than that.

They also require you to remove your shoes before you enter the temple complex. It’s been a long time since I went barefoot, and the temple platform is located in direct sunlight. I wasn’t the only one who learned to walk on her toes very quickly, and not to step on the green tiles (the dark colour must absorb the heat more than the light).

Once our visit to the temple was over – far too quickly – we loaded back into the bus and made our way to the sprawling expanse of Scott’s Market. I will admit I would have been in a better position to enjoy the market – which was complete with a line of 7-year old nuns filing through the stalls looking for donations – if by that point the extreme Myanmar heat hadn’t been starting to get the better of me, the world was starting to swim ever so slightly in front of my eyes, and I was seeking out shade more than I was jewelry. I am – at heart – a northern girl (okay, the west of Canada is not nearly as ‘north’ as the rest of the country, but still, I’m not built for extreme heat levels) and the temperature today was topping out at 101F. That’s not just hot, that’s boil-a-lobster…

Having never had a fantastic tolerance for the sun, I was just as glad when the bus rattled it’s way home and deposited us back to the blessed A/C of the ship…