Names and identities in the following stories have been changed to protect individuals against action from the police and military.
It was December 1999 and the biggest event was about to happen in two weeks. The new Millennium was coming at 12.01:01 am , 1 January 2000. From then on, calendars will read 2xxx instead 1xxx and never will history repeat itself, at least calenderically.
Dire warnings had been issued on the impending chaos when internal clocks in computers switched over from 1999 to 2000. What would happen ? Some experts predicted electricity power supplies will fail, trains will stop moving and worse. nuclear missiles launched to end the world.
Some people bought candles, stocks of food and water to prepare for the impending doomsday. Me ? I was wondering how and where to celebrate the Millenium. And there it was I decided to spend the eve of the Millennium in Bangkok, Thailand. Before that can happen, I wanted to visit Myanmar first. Myanmar. the country which had replaced South Africa as the no. 1 Pariah nation.
I am a history buff so one of the places I wanted to visit was Bagan. Bagan has a history of over 1000 years. It has played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in Myanmar. The main attraction for me was the temples of which there are still about 2,200 left from the original 13,000 number.
I still recalled it was a hot and sunny day when I started my journey from Bagan on a local bus from one of the main bus stations in Yangon. The bus left the station at 12.30 pm. It was going to be a long bus trip. The bus trip would take about 16 hrs with an expected arrival time at Bagan around 4.00 am, the next day. It was also the fasting month so I could not drink and eat during the day light hours.
I ppassed by countless villages and towns during the day. What I most remember was the tiny main road (in fact it was the main highway which when there were two vehicles, one had to give way and move on the road shoulder. I was on the bus so the rule "Might Rules" applied - the other vehicle had to give way except when there is a truck heading on the opposite lane. Then the rule " The Mightier Rules" applied and we had to drive on the road shoulder.
The second memorable incident happened when we stopped at 6.00 pm for dinner. Most of the passengers went to restaurant to order dinner. I too went to have a look at the restaurant. There were several dishes which were likely to be leftovers from lunch. Mindful of the risk of getting a stomach upset, I bought a can of coke and a bottle water instead. There were two more restaurants nearby so I checked them out too. Unfortunately they were quite dirty so I had to rule them out.
I dug into my bag to retrieve some buns and looked for a connfortable place to sit. A shady tree with a dusty table and wooden chairs was underneath the tree. A few passengers joined me as well under the tree. I noticed an unpleasant smell from a a dilapidated wooden shack about 50 m away. However I was too hungry and thirsty and the smell did not ruin my apetite. Suddenly I heard animal sounds. In the dim light, I could see a figure feeding some sort of animal. The sounds grew louder and more distinct as the animals became excited. "Oink, oink, oink". He was feeding his pigs in the pig pen. I reacted with disgust for having dinner 50 m from the pigs in their pen. It was dinner time for them too.
To be continue in part two..............
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