Relaxing in the Hills Near Myanmar

Wednesday, July 23, 2008--Mae Sariang (Continued)

I met a missionary from California as I walked out of the cyber cafe. He told me directions for food stalls here in town. I ate at one of them--peppers and garlic with pork over rice. Tasty.

While out walking, I passed an outdoor games area. I watched some school boys playing basketball, then I walked to another area where adult men were playing with a ball I know from elsewhere (made of woven bamboo and bounced by either kicking it like hackisack or with the forehead). But I had not seen the game the way they were playing it. There were three rings with nets tied together to serve as goals that faced 3 directions (every 120 degrees). The goals were raised on a wire about 3 times the height of the men. They were kicking and head-hitting the ball to try to make a goal by getting it through one of the rings. The nets would hold the ball as proof that the goal was made. A wire would lower the rings/nets for removing the ball after a goal had been made. It was a fun game for them and an enjoyable one for me to watch.

I returned to my room and read for a while, but I was tired. I went to sleep about 21:00. There was rain outside, so I could hear it as well as the flow of the river just below me. The fan and the mountain air kept me cool, but my body was sticky from the humidity.

Thursday, July 24, 2008--Mae Sariang

It is very humid here. Even after showering, the body gets sticky quickly. Of course, it occurs even more quickly when one goes hiking as I did this morning. I went out the road that my guest house is on until I got outside of town. I came to a Karen village that is 200 years old. Most of the houses are wooden and are built on stilts. Many have large animals living under them. And most have other buildings on the grounds housing other animals. The village had a school and a church. (I don't remember seeing a temple; maybe the Karen people are Christians.)

I continued walking for almost 3 hours. I came back into town and went out another local roadway. Then I returned to town again and explored the central area. By then, it was almost noon. I found some ladies selling coconut desserts. I bought two kinds--one was a dark cake I have had before. The other was a sweet gooey pastry with a custard on top. Both came wrapped in banana leaf. The latter was the best. Unfortunately, it was top-heavy, and I lost about 1/3 of it when it plopped out of my banana leaf onto the sidewalk! They made a delicious treat, however.

I napped for 2 hours at the room. It is so easy to sleep here. The moving river makes a nice relaxing sound. Then it started raining hard--just a typical afternoon tropical rainfall. I read while it continued. When it ended, I decided it was time to get out again. Now that I am finished at the cyber cafe, I will go walking another direction. Tomorrow, I head to the next village in this area.