I can’t in all honesty
say it was the best
night of my life. The
floor was hard and it
was cold, despite the
blankets, added to which
Dave snores!
on the ground beside a small pile of
cabbages or chillies, or little bamboo
baskets of strawberries.
Our second night was spent in a
monastery. We’d assumed that our
accommodation would be in a separate
building so it was a huge privilege to
find that we were eating and sleeping in
the main temple hall – a lovely, old teak
building – along with the novice monks!
We had a little corner, curtained off to
give us privacy. The “bed” arrangement
was the same as the previous night
but this time I had a cunning plan
and sacrificed one of the blankets
as a mattress, which was a lot more
comfortable, and I actually got some
sleep!
We were woken at 5.30 the next morning
by the delicate tinkle of temple bells and
got up to watch the monks’ morning
ritual. The novices (the youngest was
six years old), who had all slept in front
of the temple’s shrine, went to dunk
64
their sleepy heads in the freezing cold
tank of water outside, then squatted
in a row while an older monk led the
chanting, which went on for about half
an hour. Ko Kyi told me later that the
monks were paying respect to Buddha
and his teachings. Morning prayers
over, the novices went outside again to
collect the breakfast food brought by the
villagers. Sometimes it works the other
way around and the monks take their
alms bowls from door to door. Donating
food to monks is just one of the ways of
gaining merit on the road to Nirvana that
are evident in practically every aspect of
Buddhist daily life. Another example is
the placing of clay pots of water by the
roadside for thirsty travellers to refresh
themselves (we saw these everywhere
and they are assiduously checked and
refilled when necessary).
The final day of the trek, although mostly
downhill, was hard because of the
heat and lack of shade, apart from the
occasional massive stand of bamboo