I just came back from Burma 3 days ago. All of my family was kinda afraid of me going there, especially
because in the group were buddhist monks. Even if so many people didn't pay any attention to it in September, some people do remember the crackdown in Myanmar, the beaten-up monks, the killed
journalists and the detained pacific demonstrators. And with these images in mind, Burma didn't seem like the perfect place to go...
I do agree with them, and I was kinda scared to go. During the Monks-led demonstrations and the crackdown, I was in Sumatra and hardly
able to get informations on all of this. Unknown is usually scary, especially in this kind of situation.
And yet I wanted to go... I know Aung SanSuu Kyi said not to go to her country, in order not to support the junta. But I'm more and
more feeling like I have to teach my relatives in France and elsewhere how life is here. I don't care being in danger sometimes, if it can help open eyes and make this world a better one.
Burma Junta is one of the worst in the world, over-looked by many countries and just forgotten by so many people, who
concentrate much more on China and North Korea. Yet, China is one of the main supporters of the junta, getting energy and goods for a really cheap price, in exchange for its protection on the
international stage. During the crackdown in September, the UN were prevented from any real action and resolution by the veto of China...
I have been there only 4 days but I received so much from the people there and from the monks I was with, I could just not go back and forget. I
then looked on internet for more informations about September crackdown, and I just began to cry in front of my computer. The guys on the streets, these monks on the videos, they are not the guys
I met and the monks I chant with. But it's all the same. They are the people of Burma, the people I met and to whom I'm now connected in my heart.
Knowledge is power. And if you can forget the past, let's never forget the present... They need our voice.
So, know that we're here, let's update you to my current situation. Still in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) for
tonight, but I'm heading to Mae Sariang tomorrow afternoon. I wasn't really supposed to go there at first, but I saw that the only real Thai CSer (www.couchsurfing.com) (meaning that he's Thai
and not a Western expat) of the area lives there. So... Go ahead ^^ I wanna see life as it is, not as tourism industries want us to see it.
It's a little off the beaten track, but not so much anymore. Nothing much to do, except signing up for a trek in the hills nearby, dropping
for a night at one of the hill tribe villages. But the "not much to do" is part of it ^^ It's not like the "real life" is packed with museums to visit, beaches and clubs to chill out (anyway, i
don't like clubs so...) and adrenaline-based activities. I guess Mae Sariang will be the perfect place for me :) But I already have some places which have this "second home" feeling. I'm still
wondering where to settle my backpack (which is basically my real home now...)
I got this feeling that I should stay in Chiang Mai for a while. Since the day I arrived, everything seemed to
lead me to Buddhism and the temples, Wat Suan Dok being the most important for me. I feel... integrated and accepted. I enjoy so much talking to the monks, walking around aimlessly, testing all
the food I find, trying to survive the mass of the tourists. True enough, I would like Chiang Mai better if it was not so crowded by tourists and a little less polluted ^^
One of the monk of Wat Suan Dok, Phra Sanet (hope I'm writing it correctly) is going to Burma on the 24th with Phra Chai (the monk who's always at
the Monk Chat room ^^) and other people. And I hugely wanna go with them. After what happens in last september, with the demonstrations and the monks being tortured (and sometimes killed ?), it
could be kind of hazardous. But it's one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to go to Burma with monks to help refugees and see how things are going.
Unfortunately enough, it takes 7 working days to get the visa. We're the 17th, they leave on the 24th, sum it up : got no time. Except if
they're going to the far north border, where you could enter for 14 days without a visa (but that was before September's events). Anyway... I'll have to accept I cannot go this time. Maybe if I
stay in Chiang Mai and help at the temple, I will have another opportunity ? I really hope so.
I don't know how long I'm gonna stay in Mae Sariang. Probably until Monday morning, then I will could go to Chiang Rai until the 22nd and pass into Laos on
the 23rd. I need to get a new visa for Thailand, but I'm still wondering whether 1 month will be enough or if I should apply for a 90-days. That is... if I stay in Chiang Mai to give a hand in
teaching at the Buddhist University, I would need a longer visa... ^^
Here it is. A new blog. I already have so much to write on the French one but it looks like I'm masochistic enough to try and
create a new one... I guess it will be worth it, though. So here we are, on the wings of the wind ^^ It's dedicated to three persons who made my trip so much brighter. Namely : Rully, my
Indonesian brother, Alan, my favourite twisted CSer, and Phra Chhunny, the chicken I'll never dare to eat (ok, private joke, sorry) EDIT 21-01-2008 - Note to myself : does that
mean i would dare to eat the other monks ??!?
I wouldn't have enjoyed my travel so much if you haven't be part of it, so... I'm gonna take you all in my backpack and share with
you too all (or not quite so much ^^) that's happening to me in this never-ending story. I know I'll not be able to post here as much as I do on my French blog, and it's not gonna be the same
texts, but I'll try to make it worth reading !
Rully, can you tell Rendra, Arif and Iksan about it ? So that they will be able to see it from time to time, if they do connect in Bukit Tinggi. I know Arif
will not really be able to understand my English but if he wants to try... Sorry, I cannot create a 3rd blog in Bahasa ^^
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I just came back from Burma 3 days ago. All of my family was kinda afraid of me going there, especially
because in the group were buddhist monks. Even if so many people didn't pay any attention to it in September, some people do remember the crackdown in Myanmar, the beaten-up monks, the killed
journalists and the detained pacific demonstrators. And with these images in mind, Burma didn't seem like the perfect place to go...
