A visit to Southern Shan State

One day we went to southern Shan state through a valley and mountain range, near a river. It took us 13 hours to drive 500 miles. On the way my dad accidentally ran over a village puppy. When we finally arrived we went to the hotel we were staying at on the top of the mountain. It was really windy and there was also a swimming pool. We unpacked and went to dinner. We were sooooo tired when we got back, so we went to bed. The next morning it was New Years eve and there was a fire lantern festival all over Shan state.

Thabyekan Village

One day we met up with some friends from Australia who had come to Burma and we went together to donate some things to the school in my great grandmothers village. The biggest thing we did was pay for a new floor to put in the classrooms. There are so many of my relatives in that village I can’t remember their names. We also donated pencils, pens, sharpeners, school books, balls, cups, and some food. This is because around half of the kids are so poor that they can’t bring lunch to school. We paid for our relatives cooked heaps of fried noodles for all the kids, and they all got some soy milk and some sweet snacks. They were really happy and ate a lot. We also ate the same food. It was delicious. We took a bus organized by my mums friends, because we needed to bring many supplies to the village. On the way there we stopped at a market to get some steel cups and we looked around the market. Another place we stopped at was the pottery shop to get the water pots and stands for the classroom, and we looked at a furniture shop and ordered new desks and chairs for the school because the old ones were falling apart. Then we arrived and my mum told me that one of my cousins is in that school- he was very shy. I met the principal of the school as well as my great grandmothers younger sister who was very old. We waited until lunch time to give out everything. When we did it was the first bit of school was over by then we had given all the books out to the 550 students. We watched the kids walking home with their new books. Last year my mum and everyone else donated computers and a TV but they are not very good at using them to teach the kids. In the next few months my mum will visit there and train the teachers how to use that stuff to help teach the children different things. This kids were really happy to have some balls to play with at school. Many kids don’t have toys or books and they have to walk to school for almost an hour every morning and then again after school. In their spare time they have to help their parents on the farm or at the house.

After all that we went to my grandmas sisters house and she gave me and zaw zaw a ice cream. We cooled off a bit and then we left. When we go back we had dinner at a fancy restaurant called Monsoon with white table cloths and lots of waiters. Then we went to a shop called Pomelo and it had lots of art work like sculptures, paintings, handmade dolls, bags, dresses, and lots of colorful paper mache things too. Poor people learn to make the items in the shop and they can get a good income for that.

Our trip to Kyaik Htee Yoe in Mon State

We went on a trip to Kyaik Htee Yoe for a couple of days at a resort with a swimming pool and a mini zoo. At the zoo there was a white squirrel that someone caught in the jungle nearby who had been running in circles so much it fell in a tired way. My uncle and aunty came too. Then the next day we woke up when it was still dark and went to a sp

ecial rock that is balancing on top of a mountain called Kyaik Htee Yoe pagoda. There were also bells that if you rang them they are supposed to they give you good-luck. My mum bought a big bell and the man wrote all of our names on it in Burmese. We didn’t tie it to the fence but are going to take it home with us and hang it at our house to remember our trip. My dad told me in the old days the villagers below the mountain tried to take it down because they were worried it would fall down and destroy their houses. They couldn’t do it. My dad said the rock is magically balancing there because of some magnetic power. We had to take a bit truck up the steep mountain to get there. It took 45 minutes. The road is only one way so you have to wait sometimes for the trucks coming down to get out of the way.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Today me and my family went to a famous pagoda called Shwedagon Paya. It is very, very old and 300 metres high covered thick with gold. At night it shines very brightly. When we arrived there were two huge lions guarding the entrance [they are actually lions mixed with dragons called chinthe!!!] to the pagoda. Then we got to the entrance we had to take off our shoes. Then when we got inside there were lots of Buddha images guarded by chinthe. Buddhism is a popular religion in Myanmar/Burma. When my dad was little he used to sweep the floor there. We walked around together and because I was born on a Saturday I had to pay my respects to the dragon Buddha by pouring water on top of it three times and then praying three times. We walked around then we decided we should go home.