eyes turned skyward: 8,000 Buddhas and Third World Triage

Though we were sad to be leaving Kalaw, we were all looking forward to seeing Inle (also sometimes spelled Inlay) Lake. This extremely unique region is home to a very diverse and ancient culture, where the people still use the techniques in farming, fishing, and living as their ancestors. The Intha people live in stilt villages on the lake (Intha translates as Sons of the Lake) and are descendents of the Mon people from the southeastern part of the country. Shan, Paya, Kan-O, and Danu are all part of the various ethnic groups that comprise this region.

Before we reached Inle Lake, we would be stopping at Pindaya Cave on the way. Pindaya Cave has more than 8,000 statues of Buddha - that's a lot of Buddha's! The legend about the cave goes something like this (I know that I won't tell this nearly as well as Joseph!): A prince, who was kind of a playboy, traveled away from his region to avoid having to marry. While traveling, he met a beautiful princess and fell in love. There was a contest to see who could shoot the truest arrow - the winner would be allowed to marry the princess. The prince won, and he and the princess married. After a year, the princess gave birth to a baby boy and the prince realized that he didn't want to be married anymore (lame!). He gave his wife the excuse that he needed to visit his family and left. While traveling he came upon a cave, where there were 7 fairy princesses trapped by a giant scary spider monster. Right as the spider was about to eat the princesses, the prince shot it dead with a single arrow. Ta da! Thus was born the legend of Pindaya Cave (hope I didn't miss too many important details!). We visited the cave - the entrance is complete with a giant spider as well as a statue of the prince with his bow and arrow. So many Buddhas! So much gold leaf! Wow. Beautiful. Also, this region is said to be compared to Tuscany. If I squinted my eyes juuuuuuuuuuuust right I could almost see the resemblance. It is quite beautiful, with rolling green hills and red earth.

After we finished counting all 8,000 Buddha's, we were off once again. We had lunch at the Green Tea Restaurant, which was located on a beautiful lake. They had some of the traiditional parasols there, and greeted them with us as we stepped out of our van. They were beautiful and made for a great photo op! We stopped at a workshop to learn how paper is made from bamboo, and to see how the paper is used in the construction of traditional parasols and umbrellas as well as lamps and other goods. Very pretty and a great shopping opportunity! This great experience was enhanced by a cute little boy and a sweet puppy. We made a quick stop at a teak monastery, Shwe Yan Pyay Oval shaped monastery, which provided some great photo ops of monks and kittens. Puppies and monks and kittens and babies? Too much cuteness!

We were not staying on Inle Lake itself, but in a town right at the top of it, Nyaung Shwe. We arrived at the Hu Pin Hotel and had a brief rest period before going out on our city orientation walk. While we were in our rooms, we were given our first taste of the monsoon. When they say that "the heavens opened," they really mean it! Seriously, it was like the sky parted and someone started pouring water out of an extremely high pressure faucet. Awesome! It cleared up by the time we left for our walk, and we had a great time wandering around the village. One of the odd things that we all observed right away was the fact that there were other tourists. We have really seen very few Western tourists, so when we started seeing quite a few we were all surprised! For dinner we went to a (get ready.....) Italian restaurant! Too funny. We all ordered pizza and it was really good. We 4 ladies also ordered a bottle of local, made in Inle Lake region, Sauvignon Blanc, which was surprisingly good! I think we all had low expectations (seeing as the other 3 girls are all from parts of the world where delicious wine is produced) but we ended up loving it! Yummy meal all around, and great memories. We sat outside on the veranda, which was lit with paper lanterns, and we happily enjoyed the cooler temperatures.

What I'm about to describe is going to seem over detailed at first, so please bear with me. It will all make sense at the end. As we were wrapping up dinner, Phil and Tom decided to head back to the hotel a little earlier than the rest of us. After they left, the rain really started again. We all had our rain jackets with us, and Joseph said that he would find us some umbrellas. When he came back from making the call for the umbrellas, he also told us that he had a car that we could drive back to the hotel in (so nice of him!). We all thanked him but told him that we would prefer to walk. Sanjay was still finishing his beer, but the 4 of us ladies decided to head back - we were tired! We offered to stay with him but he encouraged us to go ahead. Joseph decided to walk back with us, as well. By now it was raining quite heavily, so we put our jackets on and headed out! One thing that we had noticed about Nyaung Shwe was the lack of street lights. Combine that with the rain and it was really dark on the streets and hard to see - Nyaung Shwe also has a lot of motorbikes. As we were walking we crossed over a small bridge and noticed some people clustered together. We didn't really think anything of it, but then we heard someone ask if everyone was ok and a girl said "my friend was hit by a motor bike!" Before I even realized what I was saying I said "I'm a nurse, can I help?" Mez, Barbara, and I ran over to the girls. The girl that had been hit was sitting on the ground (in the pouring rain, mind) holding her head. Joseph came up behind us and immediately got to work getting some sort of transport for her. Barbara held an umbrella over the girl and Mez whipped out her phone for me to use as a flashlight, and I did a quick assessment. She was bleeding from the nose and the mouth, and had minor lacerations on her left shin and right foot. Her friend told us that they had been walking when the bike hit them, and she had landed face first. Of course I thought "oh no, head trauma" and did a neuro check. Fortunately everything seemed to be ok neurologically, but we still wanted to get her to the hospital fast. Her nose was not broken and her teeth were not loose, but the poor girl was definitely in shock, and understandably so! How terrifying! I stopped her bleeding as best I could and covered her with my rain jacket and we asked Joseph what the transport situation was. He said that the local hospital wanted to send a motorbike - I said that there was absolutely no way that she should be transported that way, she needed a car or a van. Joseph then told us that they also suggested a rickshaw or a trishaw - I am SO THANKFUL that he was there to translate and help! I just kept talking with the girl, who was from Chile, and reassuring her that she was going to be ok, and did another neuro check. After what felt like an eternity (Mez and Barbara said that it was less than 10 minutes!) a van arrived to take her to the hospital. Joseph (best guide in the history of guides!) told me that he would go to the hospital with her to help her and to translate. I offered to go as well, but they had medics in the van so I went back to the hotel with the girls.

Once we reached the hotel, I realized how shaken I was by the incident! I was really worried about her and hoping that Joseph would come back soon, because that would be a sign that she was doing ok. Our group sat outside and had some medicinal beers and talked and decompressed together. I am so thankful for them!! After about an hour Joseph came through the gate and said that she was going to be fine, they had admitted her overnight but that everything looked good. I cannot even tell you how relieved we all were! It's so scary, because that could have been any one of us - or any traveler anywhere, really. The reason that I mentioned all of those details about us leaving the restaurant is because there were so many things that could have happened that would have made it so we would not have been there when she needed us. All it would have taken was one different decision or one other variable to be involved and who knows what the outcome would have been. I'm SO THANKFUL that we were there - Barbara, Joseph, and Mez were so instrumental in getting her the care she needed and the rest of the group was so great and supportive to us when we returned. Like I've said, we're a family now! I especially was so impressed with Joseph. His willingness to do whatever it took to get her to safety was above and beyond and so very kind of him. When we came back from our day on Inle Lake the next day, he called the hospital for me to check on her and we were all very happy to hear that she had been discharged. Happy ending to a scary situation!

I think that we all slept like the dead that night - we needed to rest up and prepare for the incredible day that awaited us.