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<\/a><\/p>\n***<\/p>\n
There was a bit of the Panama Canal crossing to the voyage, passing under bridges, passing by other ships and barges.<\/p>\n
The seats were incredibly comfortable loungers, maybe a step removed from a dine-in movie theater chair. The sundeck was small and we were supposed to rotate around as only a certain number of people could be there for balance and safety.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Around 10:30 AM, we stopped at a mostly unspoilt village of nearly 1000 people; we bounded ashore like the gawking tourists we were, something straight out of a jungle movie when the western supposed “know-it-alls” encroach on an unsuspecting paradise.\u00a0 Yes, I know that\u2019s a romanticized ethnocentric and not-entirely-fair take but it had that vibe of scientists descending on a habitat to observe something alien\/foreign and ruining the environment by their efforts.<\/p>\n This sightseeing stop was arranged by the cruise company; they have donated a school and medical supplies to the area in exchange for access and to support the village itself.\u00a0 I felt a little better after hearing that because much like my feelings of observing the monks eating their lunch, I was feeling creepily voyeuristic.\u00a0 It still felt odd as I wouldn\u2019t want people traipsing through my house posing with my stuff for selfies and vacation mementos.\u00a0 Yet I snapped away photographs of the buildings and people.\u00a0 So while I felt weird, it didn\u2019t stop me from BEING weird.<\/p>\n It all carried on my conflicted sense about this trip and the belief that I might be the bad guy in all this.\u00a0 Sigh.<\/p>\n On the plus side, the village was hard at work churning out straw hats which when laid out in the sunlight to dry them out felt like a hat farm.\u00a0 Good crop of hats this year, Rory?\u00a0 Spectacular!<\/p>\n Like any good tour, we \u201cexited through the gift shop\u201d wherein we could purchase our very own straw hat made on the premises.\u00a0 I was tempted and then remembered I never look good in hats.\u00a0 Some folks did plunk down the 2000 kyat for a straw fedora and those that did really rocked those hats.<\/p>\n Just before returning to the boat, we passed some fruit trees.\u00a0 Yes, we have no bananas and underneath the mango tree, me honey\u2026<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n After visiting the village, I decided to go for the fortune teller.\u00a0 Five dollars and 10 minutes to hear the spiel.\u00a0 Do I believe in this stuff?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 A lot of it is hooey but it seemed like for some fun and giggles I\u2019d give it a shot.<\/p>\n I thought the guy was a palm reader but in fact he\u2019s a \u201cproper\u201d astrologist.\u00a0 He consulted my chart using my birthdate and a few leading questions to tell my fortune in Burmese which my tour guide Sheila translated for me.\u00a0 For the record, my birth year in the Burmese calendar is 1338.\u00a0 And his “charts” and figures were done inside a Barbie notebook.\u00a0 Barbie’s got a direct line to the cosmos…<\/p>\n Surprisingly, not a single negative thing was foretold.\u00a0 And the heart of it was that I should keep traveling \u2013 an easy prediction given my traveling to Burma to run a marathon.\u00a0 But there were a few details that seemed particularly apt.\u00a0 I was told I wasn\u2019t good staying at home (which I guess could\u2019ve been deduced from cruising down the river in Myanmar) but the implication and details were very close to my heart, born as it was under a wandering star.<\/p>\n The rundown is that I have good health, no diseases.\u00a0 When I was tellingly asked my occupation, I hemmed and hawed as I often do but after settling on an answer I was told that the signs like auspicious for next year.\u00a0 After April 2018 I\u2019ll apparently be in a good position to launch a new business but I\u2019ll do better and be happier if it\u2019s a shared business and not a solo venture; I also shouldn\u2019t deal directly with the employees (that\u2019s for sure as any of my former employees and colleagues can attest!).\u00a0 Sometime in 2018 I\u2019ll meet a new friend that will be as friend of my youth, the ones that redefine me.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure about that one as though my portfolio of friends is small, it\u2019s dense with greatness.\u00a0 As for romance, I was asked some leading questions \u2013 my favorite question was translated from the fortune teller to me as \u201cYou don\u2019t have a girlfriend or an official wife?\u201d to which I said I didn\u2019t have any unofficial wife either.\u00a0 The stars apparently say I\u2019m supposed to meet the love of my life sometime between February 2018 and March 2018 and she\u2019s not to be from America (how mysterious!).<\/p>\n I fully expect as I disembark the boat to be handed a card with the details of a Myanmar dating service.<\/p>\n Bottom line, I paid $5 for the experience and some goofy photos of my future being read.\u00a0 If it turns out to be true, hey, great.\u00a0 But if I don\u2019t meet the girl by Spring 2018 I\u2019ll have to wonder if it wasn\u2019t my fault.\u00a0 The future is what we make of it and there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.\u00a0 So although this gentleman fortune teller has seen the signs, it\u2019s up to me to make it a reality.\u00a0 Given my track record, I should probably be content to have gotten some good pics for my money.\u00a0 But ya never know.\u00a0 Ya never know.<\/p>\n Also, I\u2019m supposed to take my mom and brother on a trip after May 2018.\u00a0 So, Mom and Steve \u2013 where we going?\u00a0 With the power of suggestion and the desire to believe, I could say quite honestly to myself that I was thinking of pitching a Shanghai \/ Hong Kong double feature.\u00a0 Any interest?<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n And now for something sea-worthy.\u00a0 A few shots from the boat as we carried on for the remaining six (6!!) hours.<\/p>\n The crew did do a demonstration on the various styles of tying the longyi…<\/p>\n The traditional vs the fisherman…<\/p>\n The Burmese swim suit for the ladies…<\/p>\n The backpack…<\/p>\n The “ninja”<\/p>\n And after strutting their fashion stuff on a makeshift catwalk, the crew described the home made thanaka, a sort of combo cosmetic skin care\/sunscreen application made from grinding up the bark of a local tree and mixing it on a stone slab.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I’ll go into greater detail on Bagan tomorrow but I will say that we arrived at 4:45 (making it a ten hour and fifteen minute tour!).<\/p>\n After we checked into our hotel, I opted to go for a quick shakeout run in the hopes of restarting the ol’ running engines.\u00a0 It went… slowly… and a bit painfully.\u00a0 Hopefully in the next 36 hours I’ll miraculously heal for the marathon.<\/p>\n Oh, and apparently even with climate change increasing the number of rainy days in Bagan, they still only get about 5-6 days of rain a year.\u00a0 Tonight I guess was one of them as I got drizzled upon, making a humid night ever more drenching.\u00a0 On the plus side, I did see some of the route we’ll be running on Saturday…<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\u00a0 <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n