To A Village Near Nyaung Chaung Thar

"The bumpy road is ahead," he said, "but just 10 minutes." In complete darkness, there's only the headlights of our motorbikes.

It was almost 8 pm  in mid-June, with tiny raindrops falling on my face. I was standing at the junction close to Nyaung Tone, on the highway linking Yangon and Ma-U-Bin, accompanying my friend Dr Wai Zaw on his way back from Yangon, to visit his workplace. That's a village with a local station hospital called Chaung Gyi, or Big Creek.

In fact the town Nyaung Tone, at the helm of the Delta region, is just two-hour drive from downtown Yangon. Nyaung Chaung Thar, a recently popular resort destination is just day trip from Yangon, is just close by. But it's another half an hour or so to the west to reach Chaung Gyi.

Only some scattering population, and most infrastructure far from 21st Century sophistication. Their main business is heard to be cultivation of betel leaves steadily exported to Yangon. There's no power, and only diesel generator or solar power can be used for electricity like charging your mobile phone or laptop computer. He said that there's a newly-built ridges at the edge of the village, so as to prevent the flooding of a bypassing creek. What a disaster if the creek overflow in our sleep, I wondered! 

It's anyway a sound sleep at that night. It's also a kind of relaxation, getting away from the mounting stress in the city. The village may also be a different experience for my friend who's transferred from faraway northern Shan state a year ago. For me it's definitely a different journey. Tribute, Sayar Wai Zaw!