India and Myanmar

Here is a picture of the alphabet script (with English pronunciation) that is used in Myanmar.




We took a trip up the side of some mountainous hills outside of Kalay (the "myo" ending of the city just means "town") and from this height we could see the whole city plus the surrounding valley.
Many of the classrooms that we visited had quite rudimentary equipment: benches to sit or write on, a teacher's desk, bamboo walls, and a worn out blackboard that was often merely framed boards painted black. This classroom had a cement floor.




When we were in Chennai we took a trip out to the Bay of Bengal. This beach is the second longest in the world (Brazil has the longest). Unfortunately the water that I touched didn't stay at this level and it washed up and came half way to my knees!





In Myanmar the license plates are permanent and stay with the vehicle for the life of the vehicle. When they get worn out people repaint the lettering themselves. On this plate the first two symbols indicate the district (the first symbol is the number "7" followed by a letter of their alphabet. The slash divides the district from the license number which is "8450."







At the Taung Za Lat Hotel in Kalay we met a British couple who offered to teach English classes for free. They were finally able to enter under a business class visa because someone was able to contact a Senator in the Myanmar government. However, the government claimed that the program was their idea and put up official government advertising posters to trumpet the free English classes. As you can see they didn't check for accuracy since their names were Mr. Clive Scott and Mrs. Ann Scott.

Everywhere we went the people wanted to honour us with a gift of some kind so often it was with a shawl or something to put around one's neck. (This one happened before Wilf's arrival.)





In both India and Myanmar, I did not see one stroller or baby carriage. Babies and toddlers and even young children under three were carried by moms, grandmothers or girls. Men seemed to be exempt from this chore.




In India the contrast between century old traditions like transporting goods by oxcart and basket weaving, and the building of a sky-train is striking.




In Kolkata I discovered a street sign that said "MCLEOD STREET" but I have no idea who it was named after. The eastern style toilets were interesting. Leaving Yangon we saw a couple of stewardesses who were from Turkey who were accompanied by an Australian pilot. While we were in Kolkata we visited the tomb of Mother Theresa and we also visited the orphanage that she made famous which was about a block away. The next pictures is a lineup of pilgrims returning from Mecca. And the last picture is part of the welcoming party in the Saskatoon airport.