Monkeyrockworld

It’s not rare to see a horse cart on the right, a woman carrying a huge basket full of goods over her head and a tractor alike machine transporting as many as 10 people on the same stretch of unpaved road, while women with dark faces smeared in golden thanhaka fry samosas and chapatis as if there was no tomorrow. The strength of this place lies in its unique captivating mixture of Southeast Asia and mountainous South China, the background of an untamed mountain valley  filled with humanity and machinery out of a science fiction movie set in 1845. It’s really quiet, and welcoming, and beautiful, because the sky here is so blue that you would wonder what’s wrong in your country’s sky, when compared to this. Pollution is something that here is still largely unknown, and my lungs almost suffer as I inhale some fresh air.

The good thing about Hsipaw is the fact you can walk anywhere around it, and feel like it’s the most beautiful and surreal scenery you can see. Even if you skipped the mighty waterfall jutting out of a cliff a little over an hour walking to the Southeast of the city centre, Hsipaw would still have so many aces up its arm to beat you, your friend and your family altogether.

And it’s exactly out of these bucolical grounds that, walking around the next day visiting some Shan villages and meeting locals working their daily activities, like wood carving and cheroot cigar making, that we get to know that all of the produce of these lands is sold to China. Every crop, apparently, gets shipped across the border. Why?

Kit Yeng tries to be tough in the cheroot workshop, but believe me, she never smoked anything before...

Somebody says because China needs to feed its overgrowing population, but I think differently, as if instead there must be some sort of control over this area of Burma. It’s not a secret, apparently, that China played a very significant role in crippling Burma to a satellite state, possibly exploiting most of the heroin sales revenues. As long as Mandarin is spoken around these parts, people look a little bit afraid when somebody says they are from China. But again, sealed lips, as if you had to understand everything as if it was written behind those sorry but prideful eyes.

The rest of this magnificent state is out of reach. They say foreigners cannot travel due to social unrest on the mountains, rebel groups armed to the teeth and ready to shoot anybody walking by, but again, I think it’s just because somebody doesn’t want people to see the poppies sprouting everywhere, in their lethal, magnificent beauty.  It’s quite sad to see such a cheerful people bound to a sort of perennial isolation because of somebody’s else greed for power and money. I am not rewriting the wheel saying this, but this problem needs to be taken under a broader spotlight, so I think it’s my little duty to make my readers know something about it, and push them to investigate, ask around, make other people know about this. Because many times, when you say Myanmar, most of the people don’t even know where this country exists. If it’s on Earth, or not, a little minority knows. This is probably why it’s our duty to see, witness and tell others about it. You can come here and see, and experience one of the most pristine places left on Earth, where life goes slowly as a slow boat ride, or a ox cart pushing through the muck, but you have to realize it’s not just coming over here that you can help. You have to spread the word. A few people care about this, and still think of Myanmar as an off the beaten track tourist destination. I feel differently, and although I’m powerless like you, I’m using my wit to arouse yours, and make you long for a little research, for these people to step up a bit on the humanity ladder. I think they truly deserve, such smiles on such internally sad souls and faces cannot shine forever on like this, believe me.

Some balloons are a simple way to bring these kids some happiness