. . N 121  Continuation of Visiting Hometown 

•     U Sai had asked a friend U Maung Maung for some help to cross the border, to keep our car while we were in Taunggyi,and so he came for us at about 9 and we were driven towards the Thai Myanmar border. 
•     The crossing point was crowded with cars and peoples, many with bags and luggages. We got down from the car and went into the Thai immigration to get our passports checked, take photos and give our fingerprints.Then to the Myanmar immigration and got checked again . There was no problem until now. But after waiting sometime and my daughter and grandson didn’t appear we had to call her and learned that there was something wrong with their passports. They had gone to visit Singapore in October and though the departure seal was on their passports there were no records in the computer. Anyway they were released after waiting more than half an hour.
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• After that we went to UMM’s house and stay there for a short time. As our Tachileik plane will leave only in the evening,we have some time to visit some places in Tachileik. So we did what any Buddhists tourists might do, visiting temples and pagodas. 
• After Maesai, Tachileik is untidy and dusty. The one main road is crowded with cars and motorcycles and cannot drive fast enough. The bad condition of the roads also made driving slow. But we learned that only the main road is crowded while the other roads are not that much. Business seems to thriving . I saw many gold shops with aluminum barriers that is a sign of unsafe  condition.Comparing with Thai towns  and cities there are much municipal works to be done here but I doubt no officials are interested in doing so.

        We visited three pagodas. The Shwe Dagon replica pagoda , the Thuwanna Theingi  pagoda and Loi Yun Kham pagoda.All are situated on not very high hills

and all are gilded  and shiny with its gold and own designs.The Shwe Dagon pagoda is exactly like the Shwe Dagon, the Thuwanna Theingi pagoda is built on a boat, Loi Yun Kham pagoda is a small Thai design pagoda. Beyond this pagoda there is a place with big and small figures of men and beasts and other beings which a monk commissioned for them. People come to take photos with these figures ,so the place looks more popular than the pagoda itself.

After 3 we went to the airport . Traveling by plane is convenient for domestic travels

because they don’t take long.Let me narrate one incident we encounter on our way back. One passenger near me enquired about the flying time from Heho to Tachileik and when he was told about an hour he was amazed.He kept murmuring oh… only a little time, oh…. so fast.It would be his first time on a plane.When we landed he was still saying oh….really , like he even couldn’t believe it. 

Something about Taunggyi……the weather in Taunggyi is cold.We had to face it with warm clothes,wearing socks the whole time and sleeping with many layers of blankets. But it is hot if we go out in the daytime. I think winter in Taunggyi is not as cold as it used to be,when we had   to warm ourselves with coal earthen stoves, because there were no electric heaters then.Cherries are only budding , so we will miss the blossoming season this year and also for how many years to come ,nobody knows. About the town itself we can say it is bustling with a grown population buildings and traffic jams now that it can’t be said to be a cool and pleasant town.

The two weeks of my stay in Taunggyi went swiftly by.I saw the three friends who are all I have, ate with two of them twice and visited one whom I think was not very well.Visited relatives at Golden Valley-once and had lunch with friends Ko Aung -AAT at Shan Queen there. Went coffee shop hunting which my daughters like very much but ended at Ayetharya vineyard. Oh… nearly forgot to mention another one which we went to: The Pine coffee shop at Payar Hpyu.

I went on a day trip to Kalaw once. It is a popular visitor’s destination now and I had not really been there. I went and pay homage to the Bamboo Buddha and spent some time at a coffee shop (even in Kalaw  and not long after lunch ) We got to visit the Myin Mati cave,the Byaik mountain and  the new viewing deck which is beside the road near Aungban as new places I have never been.

While at home I sorted out old clothes for donations.My daughters also did the same. We got altogether 13 sacks, so with some cash a friend went and donated them to the needy for us.There are still many clothes and things which need to be discarded and we haven’t finished all this time.So they will have to wait for our homecoming  next time. I entertained guests who came and visited me but there were not much .Apart from these activities there are not any really interesting things done which are worth mentioning. But I have some regrets because I haven’t gone to some places I intended to go, like our Loikong farm and checking on trees we planted to see how many survive.

So when the day for our return arrived, we said goodbye to friends and relatives and to our hometown  and departed through Tachileik, Maesai, to Cheingmai. The border crossing, the retrieving of our car took much time and the 4 hours drive was tiring because it was at the end of the day. But at last we arrived back to our 2nd home safe and sound.