Shan villager

I sought out Mr. Book, a guy famous for helping travelers, and featured in "Welcome to Burma," and even listed in Lonely Planet now. He was a quiet, unassuming little bald guy who spoke excellent English and was very friendly, which is surprising, since so many tourists must seek him out now that he's in Lonely Planet. I asked about going to Namsan, but he said it's impossible now, due to a big rainstorm. Maybe in a few days. He said I should seek out Johnny the Monk, since there's a festival tonight.

Back at Mr. Kidd's, I talked to a couple of girls who just got back from Namsan, described as the "Switzerland of Myanmar" in Lonely Planet. They said it's OK, but no Switzerland, and one of the girls was Swiss, so she should know. They also said there were tourists there. That's the problem with using Lonely Planet. If it says "few people go here," people will start going there. From now on it's Rough Guides for me. Well, after Nepal and Tibet. They liked Bhamo, which I had wanted to go to after reading "Welcome to Burma."

Then I walked out of town through some Shan villages. It was very beautiful and peaceful, with fields, the calm river, hills topped with paya, and plenty of friendly people waving. Not everyone seemed happy to see me, though. I wonder how many tourists come through here using Mr. Book's map?

Finally, I found Johnny the Monk, who proved to be a friendly, talkative guy of about 50, who had only been a monk for the past six years. He made a few allusions to how things started to get bad in 1962, but I wasn't sure about going down that road. Anyway, the festival was about to begin. Johnny said that on the last full moon of winter, the Shan people traditionally make an offering of fire to the Buddha so summer can start. (And believe me, it gets cold here at night. Taking an icy shower when you can see your breath is not a pleasant way to start the day. ) But now only a few people still do this, and indeed only about 100 people showed up. But they were lively with drums and dancing, and carrying a large bamboo scaffolding.

Kids at the festival

First, they went into the chapel to pray. Well, the adults did, but the kids were more interested in me. They wanted me to take their photo, and when I showed it to them on my digital camera's LCD, they literally mobbed me. Then they were just lining up for photos. Finally everyone went and danced around the scaffolding to the music, and then set it ablaze.

Afterwards me and the girls from earlier, who were there too, stayed and chatted with Jhonny until 9 pm. He talked about how people can't afford to buy food (average salary is $5 a month) because inflation is out of control. When people transport goods to sell them, the tolls are so high they can't make any money. He also said the government is "buying off" monks by giving them cars and TV's to encourage them to not lead any more uprisings. It was interesting, and Johnny was friendly, but it seemed a bit strange and too easy. Surely the government must know that he speaks English and talks to tourists. It was a good day, though, and a highlight so far.