Myanmar; November 2003.
I was back from the visit to Kyaukse this morning. I suppose I can describe it as fruitful. Enjoyable it certainly was.
We (one Mr. Haji Hassan, Mr. Ashraf, Mr. Maung and myself) left Yangon on Tuesday by Mr. Haji's car- a Toyota Markhi in excellent condition; at 17=45. The route was familiar, as I had travelled along it twice earlier, the last being the abortive visit in July. The distance to be covered was 650 kms. to a village called Kyaukse(pronounced Chausey). The drive was very smooth, as both the road and the vehicle were in excellent shape. At 20=00, we stopped at a place called Bago for dinner, at a small dhaba-type restaurant on the highway and feasted on rice, chicken curry, dry prawn and dal. Later, at 21=00, we halted for tea(!) at one of the many small, wayside stalls. As we sipped tea, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the song "Dekha ek khwab..." in the air. On close inspection I discovered that the song emanated from one of the homes just behind the tea stall. A family was clustered around the T.V. set , enjoying the song from 'Silsila'. As the song finished, it was replaced by another and then yet another from the same movie and it dawned on me that the family must be watching a 'songs' VCD. Just as we were leaving the place, the strains of "Kab ke bichade hue..." from 'Lawaaris' came wafting over the cool, night air and then it became clear that the VCD was some sort of an 'Amitabh special'. I was taken aback to discover that the Big B's fans also existed in a small, obscure village in Myanmar! Speaks volumes for the man's popularity and charisma!
We drove on, Haji and Maung sharing the night-driving burden with me enjoying the drive, passing through the dark countryside with an occasional railway crossing and a hamlet making an appearance. We reached our first destination - the village of Pyaubwe, some 100 kms. before Kyaukse, and the home of our Turmeric supplier, Mr. Thit Lwin (pronounced Thilwin); at the unearthly hour of 03:00! As Mr. Thit Lwin was expecting us, he was not exactly disturbed, but I felt pretty odd waking up someone at that hour. We started discussions and even saw in action the turmeric polisher he had installed inside a small building in the adjoining compound. This was at 05:00! To add intrigue to the whole affair, the electricity chose to exit at that point and the working of the polisher was observed in the headlights of Haji's Toyota! Mr. Thit Lwin's house was actually an old-fashioned bungalow but what impressed me was the abundance of teak used in its construction; and the nursery in the veranda. A rare sight now-a-days, especially in our large cities back in India. With plywood being the cheaper alternative, genuine wood has all but disappeared from the modern monstrosities.
Breakfast was laid out for us at 06:30 and it comprised Plain Paratha, Dal, Roasted Chicken; Chicken Noodles; Chicken Spring Rolls; Mixed Vegetables; the works !! Imagine stuffing oneself with these items at that hour; that too without a visit to the toilet or bathroom! I managed to eat only a plate of the noodles and reluctantly but politely declined everything else. At 07:30 we started for Kyaukse with Thit Lwin, his wife and two others joining us in their car. The road was unmetalled for the best part and it took us three hours to cover the distance. From Kyaukse village we left the highway on a dirt track perpendicular to it, to the actual Turmeric fields. We witnessed the processing of turmeric. Returned to Pyaubwe by noon and after a break for lunch(needless to say, I had nothing but fruit - delicious watermelon and papaya, we went on to the nearest city, Mandalay. At Mandalay Mr. Haji refuelled and we checked into a hotel for a much needed RSS - rest, shit, shampoo! A couple of hours later we emerged from the hotel quite refreshed and ready for the long journey back to Yangon. Stopped for dinner (one cannot escape food in Myanmar!) at Mr. Thit Lwin's home at Pyaubwe at 23:00 and left his place by 23:40. After a long and tiring drive-punctuated by a 45 minute halt at some village this morning at 06:00, where Mr. Haji and Mr. Ashraf disappeared into a masjid for Namaaz - we were finally back to the pavillion at 09:00.
Overall, a good visit !