Memory

[ People say when we get older day by day, some of our memory will be lost. We could not remember everything we did, saw, heard, spoke, and memorized. It is true that I will loose some of my memory too. It is also true that there are some memories that I will never forget. ]

Myitkyina Bazaar
There are two bazaars in downtown Myitkyina, bazaar no.1 and no.2. My house is just in front of bazaar no.1, which is located in Min Yat area. So it is very convenient for us to buy food everyday. When I was young, I went to the market to have my breakfast every morning. There are many kinds of delicious foods such as Chinese noodle, rice noodle, wan to fu, pan dae noodle, and Burmese sticky rice.

Ayeyarwaddy(Irrawaddy) River

The location of my house is perfect. The market is in front of us. Also my house is at the corner of a main road. Across the road, you can see Ayeyarwaddy river, a famous river in Burma. Ayeyarwaddy river is the place where many people go to swim and take a bath. The water is crystal clear. The river is also the place where me and my friends spend time every evening before we take a bath. Especially in summer when the weather is very hot, you can see huge crowd of people along the riverside. Every year, the river floods some areas in Myitkyina. The water level rises too high and sometimes, it almost crosses the main road in front of my house.

Myit Sone (Confluence)
The Ayeyarwaddy river originates from the confluence of two large rivers, the "Nmai Hka" and the "Mali Hka". These two rivers rise in the northern most of Burma and join at Tangphre village, 27 miles north of Myitkyina, to form the Ayeyarwaddy. The confluence of the Ayeyarwaddy is called "Myit-Sone" in Myanmar. It literally means a place where two rivers join to form a third river.

Myit-sone area is so beautiful and scenic that it attracts many people to come and enjoy its natural beauty.
There is another place called "Myit Sone Lay", which means smaller Myit Sone, located about seven miles from downtown Myitkyina. Because it is closer than Myit Sone, many people often visit there to have picnic. Especially in Christmas, New Year, and Chinese new year holidays, the area is packed.

Myitkyina - Mandalay Train

Traveling by train in Burma, especially in Myitkyina - Mandalay route, is a very exciting experience. Since there are not enough flights, and air tickets are hard to get, train is the most popular way of traveling in Myitkyina. It takes about 24 or 27 hours from Myitkyina to Mandalay. When you take a train, you should expect delay, derail, and long wait at some stations.

Along the route, you can see beautiful scenery of Kachin State, mountain, forest, trees, farms, green grasses, water falls, streams, and wild animals. Your heart will be pounding so hard when the train is crossing bridges which are so old and deteriorating.

Another interesting thing you will see is there are many children and teenagers giving away free water filled in clay pots at each station. Travelers pay tips to those free water suppliers to get the water. Whenever a train stops at any station, you will hear a lot of noise, which comes from people selling foods, and giving free water. I don't know this situation still at Myitkyina - Mandalay rail route.

I traveled a lot by train in Burma. I enjoyed the scenery along the railway. I loved passing a night in train when traveling to Mandalay. I slept on train floor, and I couldn't use the bath room because some merchants' large amount of goods were in there. I believe most people experienced such situations before. Anyway, it was a good experience.

My Home
My house is located at the center of the town which is in Min Yat township. It is at the corner of two main roads. ( I never know the names of the roads.) The house is facing North and Myitkyina bazaar is in front of it. Famous "Aye Yar Oo garden" is also located diagonally across my house. Just about four hundred feet East of my house across the road is Ayeyarwaddy river. I can see the river from the second story of my house.

The most beautiful scene is the view from the balcony of my house at night when there is clear sky and full moon. I can see through some tall trees, the Ayeyarwaddy river is flowing with the golden color reflection of the moon. I can never forget that view in my life.

I still remember my grandfather, who passed away when I was around twenty. He loved listening radio and writing. He listened Burmese and Chinese language channels all the time. When there was no news broadcasting, he would do writing. He wrote a lot and there was a huge stack of books in the living room. His hand writing was so neat and beautiful both in Burmese and Chinese, and much much better than me. I used to ask him about current news when I was young. My grandfather loved me very much.

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