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At nine the next morning, Mya is again waiting for me in front of the Hongta Hotel. He is absolutely crazy about me...

Burma 2003 [2]

Cora
2004-02-22 16:12:30

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SAGAING – AMARAPURA – MANDALAY

Thursday, November 20

A day at the countryside

At nine the next morning, Mya is again waiting for me in front of the Hongta Hotel. He is absolutely crazy about me and he lets me know as often as he can. “I love you” and “You are so beautiful”; I didn't keep count, but back in Holland I can still hear him say it. And I am falling more and more in love with him, but I try to keep my head cool. It's a Mission Impossible. There are too many obstacles. Age, culture, distance.
Today Cho and I decide to give Mya the day off from his hard life on the bicycle taxi. For 15.000 kyat a taxi (a real one, with tyres and an engine) will drive us around the countryside of Mandalay.

Snakes

We start with the Yadana Laba Muni or Snake pagoda in Paleik. The pagoda dates from 1338 and the story goes that in 1977 a monk had a vision where he had to clear the pagoda of the vegetation that had covered it. After doing this, the monk found three snakes resting on a statue of Buddha: one on the head, one on the knee and a third one on the shoulder. These snakes died since then, but two young pythons, that now rest on both sides of the statue, have replaced them. The pagoda is well maintained and the colourful snakeheads above every Buddha are certainly worth the visit.

We drive on to Sagaing Hill, where last year I didn't go up, but which we now climb together. A splendour where Mya seems to belong, in spite of his humble descent. The heat of the tiles doesn't seem to bother his bare feet. On top we sit down a while to enjoy the view, and he starts kissing me again...
Holding hands in the backseat of the car, the taxi driver brings us to Amarapura, to U Bein Bridge where Mya hadn't been for fifteen years. We stroll along the bridge to the other side and he proudly holds my hand, not ...