Did You Know That...?

Well, as my travels through Myanmar have sadly (and abruptly) come to an end, here’s some fun, weird and simply jaw-dropping facts I’ve come to witness first hand.

For one thing, everybody wears a skirt. And I mean everybody! Hell, I probably looked like a deranged person for not having a longyi, which would have been the norm for both sexes. Even the gold leaf pounding guy had one while pounding away at thinning the gold leaf:

Motorcycle drivers across the country, government officials and beggars, kids, monks and nuns and, of course, women of all ages, all wear their traditional skirts. Look at these guys curiously ogling the ferryboat:

And how about this guy, carelessly rowing through the floating gardens of Inle?

Let’s just say it’s a really, well… airy country.

And the only other place where I’ve seen so many Children of Bodom t-shirts was a medium sized European hard rock festival. They just love that black, dangerous feel they get from those shirts, and the death metal t-shirt – longyi combination is simply a fashion statement.

The trip to the swimming pool was also illuminating. The murky bluish waters of the pool are as inviting as a crypt and the smell of fresh disinfectant might just turn you into a happily intoxicated zombie but once you plunge into its depths, you’ll find yourself at a loss on the proper direction of swimming. It would make sense to swim the length of the swimming pool but only if you weren’t in Myanmar. Here it’s common sense to swim the width of the swimming pool, about a third of its length and there are carefully marked lanes for that. But I repeat: you’d have to be in Myanmar to experience that.

The length is in front but do you see which way the kids look?

Lastly, there are the temples. Again. Because the temples are a big part of the country and so much orbits around them. Specifically, everything revolves around the Buddha statues. And, oddly enough, there are not many Buddhas that look alike. The images differ not only in appearance (surely because they have been fashioned according to their respective era) but also in expression, and so the serene, unattached yet benevolent Buddha can turn either into a puppet or into a clown. Just watch this:

Something-smells-funny Buddha

Robot Buddha

Surprised Buddha

Female Buddha

Tired old Buddha

Golden chunky Buddha, who gained over 2 tons of golden weight
from the gold leaf applied each day only by men

Sideways glancing Buddha. And driver.

 And my personal favorite:

Snot-nosed child Buddha

And if that’s not enough, just look at what other temple guardians they have:

The very last Burmese image that will stick to my mind dates from the airport in Mandalay, where, before boarding on the plane to Bangkok, I did a little exploring hoping to find a place to have a smoke. And following the ‘VIP Lounge’ sign, I stumbled upon this:

I couldn’t say if that’s the VIP Lounge but it’s definitely a smoking lounge tucked away at the back of the duty free shops, where Burmese life goes on as it has for centuries. And this is why I loved this country!