Tag 84: Yippieh Ye!

On our way to the south, we stopped in the small town of Ye on the Ye River. There are not yet many accommodations there that have a government license to accommodate tourists, because tourists have only been allowed to visit this part of Myanmar without a special permit for a few years.

In Ye, like in every city, there is a night market where you can buy snacks like steamed peanuts, corn, and okra skewers. Plastic toys for children are also available in abundance at the night market, especially toy machine guns. Orange fruits for drying can be found everywhere on the streets. Later, our guesthouse owner David explained to us that these are the husks of betel nuts, which almost everyone in Myanmar constantly chews. Betel nut is sold here as naturally as water on every street corner, as it is a kind of people's drug and more popular than alcohol. Because of its stimulating effect, I would like to try chewing it myself, but the idea of ​​getting dark red and rotten teeth from it has deterred me so far. However, the Burmese do not seem to perceive their red tooth stubs as unattractive at all.

But the most beautiful thing about Ye is the surroundings. A twenty-minute scooter ride away are the impressive Buddhist sanctuaries of Ko Yin Lay Pagoda: Four buddhas facing in all directions and, once again, a giant reclining buddha. People look tiny next to these structures. Concrete pillars for the next buildings are already standing on a red, dusty area next to them.

We continued our scooter ride through an idyllic landscape to the small village of Kyaung Ywar.

Once we arrived in the village, we found a spot by the river to swim and watched a man repairing his wooden boat. In the center of the village, there was a bustling area by the river where children jumped from trees into the water and women tossed wet laundry on stones and washed themselves and their children to techno music coming from huge speakers.

A river as a meeting point

Our journey home took us past palm trees with orange fruits. Now we knew what those fruits were.

Quickly across the street!

The next day, during our four-hour minivan ride to Dawei, we had the opportunity to practice in peace and inner calm. Despite 33 degrees in the shade, our air-conditioned van had no air conditioning and instead of 15 people, the number of seats it had, it was occupied by 20 people plus children. In order for all 20 to be squeezed together, tiny stools were pushed onto empty spots on the floor and the upper bodies of a row of seats had to be arranged behind each other, similar to dominoes, in the curve. With slightly strained nerves, we arrived in Dawei and then celebrated Christmas with French red wine by an empty pool.