F E L I N E R S

Nine hours train ride away from Pyin U Lwin is Hsibaw (pronounced Thibaw in Burmese). Hsipaw has that quaint small-town air to it and the outside world feels very far away. Attractions include paddy fields, a popcorn factory, nearby Shan villages and a Shan-style palace that was featured in the book Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess (memoir by Inge Sargent, an Austrian American who was married to a Shan prince).

I ended up staying longer than I had initially planned. Mr Charles' Guesthouse where I stayed was as homey as it gets - electricity gets cut off at 10pm at night and we all had to scramble back to our rooms in the dark after our beer session on the front porch

Armed with a hand-drawn map borrowed from the guesthouse I set out to explore the area.

These local kids pointed me in the correct directions when I was unsure which way to go.

I also asked these boys for direction. They ended up showing me all the places I wanted to go to on my map as well as a brief tour of Hsipaw.

Teak, 100-year old monastery.

Area in Hsipaw called Little Bagan.

The elderly monk who said a prayer for my journey.

The boys brought me to the central market to visit one of their dads who owns a sandal stall. I later insisted that I buy them Shan noodle here.

I met this lady whilst wandering the streets of Hsipaw on my own. I stopped outside a house to look at some men at work producing furniture. I greeted them and they pointed up to the veranda at this lady. After much persuation, I went upstairs to meet her and we ended up having a really interesting chat on life, religion, and her personal history.

She was educated in a convent during the British rule and was sponsored to study in the UK for her diploma. She reminisced about her childhood friends from the UK and told me how things used to be then. She gives six to seven sessions of English lessons a day to children, monks, adults - "anyone who is interested in learning the language," she said. "I'm not interested in politics much, I love my country, and I just want to pass on my English knowledge to those who are interested," she added.

I complimented her eyesight, seeing as she was separating the dark grain of rice from the lighter ones without the help of eyeglasses. She turns 90 this year!

I met this Burmese guy who was in town for an 'orchid research'. He was also staying at Mr. Charles guesthouse and after chatting for awhile, ended up inviting me to come along for his research in the outskirts of town with a few other colleagues. He said he will show me a few of the Shan villages.

Most houses, even in villages, have these satellite dishes.

She's very intrigued by me and poses for the camera.

The black animal in the background is actually a pig.

These village children are preparing food for their pigs. And this little guy here is adorable, I know.

I 'hung out' with these novice monks whilst waiting for the rest to finish their orchid hunt. They were shy at first (especially this one on the right in the last photo) but after showing them photographs of various places in Myanmar in the Lonely Planet guidebook, as well as my camera, they opened up. They giggled when I pointed to a photo of a group of novice monks in the book. I was told that a lot of these kids join the monastery simply because their parents aren't able to provide for them. In a monastery, their food and lodging are taken care of. Before we left, the guy that invited me to come along for the trip even handed out small bills to them as donations.

The orchid expert (he has a degree and a diploma) who earns USD35 a month working for the Forestry Department. He carries a pocketbook Burmese-English dictionary with him in his tiny bag wherever he goes. He told me that he wishes to buy the latest edition of the Oxford Burmese-English dictionary but in Myanmar it costs as much as he earns in a month.

Our rideMohd Isa
I spent several nights chatting with Mohd Isa at his book stall after eating dinner. He usually start up his business after the evening prayer - he lays down a huge plastic mat on the sidewalk and arranges his books on them.

I had amazing conversations with this guy seriously - actually now that I think of it, I really wondered how. Mohd Isa reads English but when it comes to conversing, you have to be really patient to understand him. He speaks very slowly, at times, word by word. He said that he has had hardly any practice of the language and that his pronounciation is bad. When I didn't understand him, he would spell out the word for me.

We talked about Socrates and Plato and other philosophers, we discussed religions of the world. He asked me about Malaysia - about Anwar Ibrahim as well as Mahathir. Maoism and Chiang Kai-Shek. Tibet. We told each other what we thought about George Bush. Often I left feeling perplexed, and delirious - my heart filled with admiration for the people in this country. Everyone I meet seem so aware, so knowledgable in spite of the oppressive regime.