Off to Hsipaw

Sunday, Sept. 11, Maymyo to Hsipaw

I'm sitting at the train station. I got up at 6:30 to find that the fire providing hot water had gone out during the night, so I just sponge washed. I was dressed at 7 and had breakfast. Then I left the hotel for the 25-minute walk to here.

I bought a 1st class ticket ($4 versus $2 for ordinary class) in hopes that it would be better. At least I will be assured a seat, and maybe the seats will be a littler more comfortable.
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I just arrived in Hsipaw after six hours on the train. First class wasn't as luxurious as I had hoped. The backs of the seats were wooden and didn't recline. The seats had cusioned pads on them that were worn so thin that there was little affect. What was nice was the fact that I had two seats; no one sat beside me. What was even nicer was the company I had opposite me.

I can't pronounce his name properly, so I will use a name I made up based on what he said was his nickname (James) and the meaning of his real name (Autumn)--James Autumn. He is 22 and from Shan State (where I am). His father owns a grocery store, and his mother died when he was 13. He is a university student who has completed 3 years of a degree in economics. He will go two more years if he passes his honors exam with one year being for classes and the other for a practicum. He hopes to work with an airline or some other way in the travel industry. His English is very good. He was reading Macbeth for fun! Therefore, I gave him my two books I had finished. He was so happy to get them, because books are expensive here. Whether that happiness was due to looking forward to reading them or to what he could sell them for is another question, however.

James and I talked the whole 6 hours (except for a brief time I took to finish Reading Lolita in Tehran so I could give it to him). He answered lots of questions I had about Myanmar. My guess is that he will be a great success because of his facility in English.

When we made a stop for about 20 minutes he took me to a tea shop where we had tea and shared a pice of cake. He insisted on paying (as thanks for the books, I guess). Just to remind me, some of the topics we discussed were: his having been a monk two times for one week each, his somewhat lack of belief (He has taken good ideas from various religions.), his lack of interest in politics, his interest in BBC, his favorite types of music (rock, classical, jazz), the makeup people wear here, which temples are best to see in Bagan, his learning to cook from the lady who rents him a room, what he will do on vacation for the next 4 months, what movies (S. Korean) and movie stars he likes, the fact that he gor malaria recently and hated both the symptoms and the treatment, etc.

The owner of the guesthouse was at the train station with a trishaw, but I thought he was a tout who would either want me to pay or would get a commission causing my rate to be higher. I insisted on walking (which was good for me anyway). It started to sprinkle fairly heavy drops, however. I was lucky to get here when I did. A very heavy, although brief, rainfall came down as soon as I was under the shelter having a complimentary glass of hot tea here at Mr. Charle's Guest House where I have a nice room with hot water bath and breakfast for $6.

Back to Lolita: I gave it 2 1/3 stars out of 4. I thought she would never stop talking about Nobakov, apparently one of her favorite writers. I enjoyed the chapters about what was happening to her life and those of her friends, family and students. The chapters outlining her teaching of various books were interesting to some extent but seemed to be too much too often to me with only little to parallel them with life in Iran. Her command of the English language is impressive.
_____The rain stopped almost as quickly as it came, so I decided to go explore town. I walked down the main street and turned left toward the river. There's not a lot of town here. It's bigger than a village, but it tends to have mostly the village look. A couple of blocks look like a downtown, but the rest is small houses and shops in less permanant locations. There's a nice feel to it--somehwat easy going.

Being here, I have gotten myself in quite a remote area. It's only about 3 hours to the border with China. And I am at least two days from the airport in Yangon.

Some people asked if I weren't afraid to come to Myanmar. There has been no hint of danger. Everyone is friendly, and I get the sense of people being honest also. Yes, they may charge foreigners more, but it becomes an agreed-upon price; there seem to be no attempts to steal from people.

While out tonight, I had another typical meal--pork curry this time with all the usual side dishes. I'm ready for a change. I will try to find a place selling Chinese food tomorrow night, I think.

Train Ticket $4
Hotel (2 Nights) $12
Dinner 1750 kyat
Total = $17.68