Burma - Village Overnight

Although most of my travel is done solo, from time to time I hook up with other travelers. Sometimes we travel together for a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks. It all depends on whether the person is interested in seeing and doing the same things that I am interested in seeing and doing. In the case of Burma I met Yossi my third day in Burma and we traveled together for about 2 1/2 weeks. One of my favorite experiences in Burma was a village overnight.

Yossi and I along with 3 or 4 other travelers took an hour or two boat ride to a village. The boat was actually filled with locals bringing goods back from market. Earlier in the day they had brought goods to sell and now they were returning to their villages.

The village we stayed at was absolutely gorgeous. The homes were built on wooden stilts. The walls were made up of weaved patterns. The roofs were either thatch or some form of metal such as tin or aluminum. In all the homes looked sturdy and well maintained.

Our small group met our host family. We had some fresh fruit and a drink together. Our guide translated some for us. It was a very nice gathering. About an hour later the 3 or 4 other travelers and our guide returned to the boat. Yossi and I stayed behind. Arrangements had been made for use to sleep over 1 night with our host family. Yossi and I were the only foreigners in the entire village now.

Yossi and I went exploring. We walked around the village, which had many different fruits and vegetables growing. This must be what they take to market to trade each day. Again, this village was absolutely gorgeous and pristine. There were children outside playing everywhere. We ran into a couple of cute little girls. We saw a boy carrying water back to his family's home. We joined a group of children who were playing jump rope. It was really wonderful.

By the time we returned to our host family's home, it was time to wash up before dinner. I chose to bathe in the river. Yossi chose to clean up near the well. I am really glad we picked two different options, because half the village followed Yossi and the other half followed me. Had we both gone to the river, 100% of the village would have been staring at me while I was bathing.

Dinner was a wonderful meal of rice, spinach, and lentils among other things. Our host family really made us feel welcome. If I recall correctly, there was a mother, father, and 3 girls. We were limited in our communication due to a language barrier. I struggled with even 1 word of Burmese, since the English alphabet used to represent Burmese words in my guide book did not match the true sounds. In other words, my guide book would show me the letter 's' but it would be pronounced like the letter 't'. I did not understand the sound system and had a very difficult time picking up the local language.

After dinner we were taken to a village meeting area. It seemed like a small tea shop. Many from the village met us there. Again, there was a language barrier but we found a few things that we could communicate. For example, there was a world map on the wall. Yossi and I each pointed out our respective countries. We enjoyed tea together and just enjoyed each other's company.

We returned to our host's home. It was time to go to sleep. Since our host knew that Yossi and I were not a couple, they gave us separate bedding. They gave me the bed and Yossi got the floor. Yossi did not say a word, but my guess was that he was not all that happy about that. Truthfully it really did not make a difference, since the bed was just a wood board set off the ground.

One concern I had was the bathroom arrangement. The toilet was actually an outhouse a significant distance from the house. If I had to go at night, I would have to make my way down the steps of the house and along a curvy path in the dark. Maybe I would find the outhouse but surely I would get lost on my way back. Without me even saying anything my host brought me a metal pot. She explained that I should use this in the night and it would get dumped in the morning. That night I had a difficult time falling asleep. Sure enough I heard someone in the next room urinating into his metal pot. For just a brief moment I chuckled to myself.

The next day our host made use a nice breakfast. I felt the finest and best of everything was put out for us. We were really treated to feel special. I was truly overwhelmed by their hospitality.

Shortly after breakfast our host mother took us back to the river to wait for the return boat. No one from the village besides our host mother was around. This was a perfect time for Yossi and I to offer her some money for all the food and trouble she went through to host us. Although we insisted, she absolutely would not accept even a penny.

The guide who arranged this overnight did not take any money from us either. Time and time again we found the people of Burma to be incredibly hospitable, while asking nothing of us in return. If anything, I was asked to share my experiences inside their country with the rest of the world.