One of the things that fascinated my most in Myanmar is the daily ritual of seeking alms by monks and nuns. No matter where you are in the morning hours, there is every chance that you will come across monks or nuns walking in a long line with a bowl, seeking alms. They do this with great discipline, rarely talking to each other and never breaking a line. Nuns especially, with their bright rose-coloured attire stand out distinctly on the streets.
I have been seeing the sights of Yangon, Myanmar, and am enjoying my first look at the country. One of the first things that I did after arriving was to take a local train that took me through the rural outskirts of Yangon City. The trains here are much older and much slower than what we see in India. While a local commuter would long for something newer and faster, for a visitor, they are like a living history.
The air in the coach is very casual and easygoing. Many traders use the train to ferry their goods into and out of market. Stuff that I saw entering into the train that day included this large load of Bananas, plenty of vegetables, bedding materials and a huge white sack of which I do not know the content. Conversations with strangers was easy to initiate and was much enjoyed despite constraints of language.
Food vendors also keep moving in and out too. On sale were beetle-nut to chew, groundnuts, quail eggs, grapes and fried snacks.
I could not have been more excited. In a week’s time, I will be in Yangon exploring its gilded Pagodas and conversing with its longyi-wearing people who always seem to be smiling with their beetle-stained teeth.
A visit to Myanmar is something I have been dreaming for years. I longed to travel into the country when reading Pico Iyer’s cultural experiences in the country, reading the stories of teak-country from Amitav Ghosh or hearing about Eric Newby’s adventure of sailing down the Ayeyarwady.
I always thought of it as a distant dream, but when the country began opening up in the last few years, my antennae were alerted. When the world–more precisely all the travel magazines and travel writings–started focusing heavily on Myanmar in the last year, I knew it was high time. It was the beginning of a transformational period in the country, and I wanted to be there before the country changed much.
I will be off to Myanmar next week, spending three weeks travelling through Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake. I don’t think I have looked forward any journey so longingly in the recent years.
Soon after I return from Myanmar, I am out again to visit another neighbour – Bhutan. Later, in November and December months, my travel calendar is lined up with trips to Varanasi on a photography tour, Darjeeling and its surroundings for a photography assignment, and Rajasthan for another photography tour.
In Varanasi and Rajasthan, I will be leading photography tours for Darter. Do join me on these trips.
