Burmese Days...Part II

Well, eventually the bus commander realized that holding the windshield in place was futile. That is, after 6 hours of two men frantically pushing at the plate glass window with an old frayed pillow as we sped down the highway. So, they pried the windshield out at the nearest rest stop and we drove the rest of the way to Mandalay without a wind sheild.


As you can imagine, it got quite windy. Windy was an understatement. More like a wind tunnel with an occasional bug smacking to smack you in the face at 60 mph. ...But who could complain at $4.00 per person. Sixteen hours of exotic excitement for only 4 bucks! Really, I didn’t mind. For me it was a trip of a lifetime. I can still hear the crunching and crackling of the glass at the same time the men were yelling for the driver to slow down or the window would buckle from wind at high speeds.


FYI, I say bus commander because he was the guy in charge, but sat in the seat behind the driver like Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. His wife (Mr. Spock) sat next to him chewing beetle juice while he barked orders at the actual driver (Mr. Sulu). I think Ohura and Checkov where the ones holding the window in place with the pillows.


Once I got over my fear of flying glass, I started noticing that everywhere, people had painted their faces with a very light brown cosmetic. I guess it is called thanakha. <---Click the link if you want to learn more...
The women applied it to themselves with beauty, style and creativity...


...However, they just slapped it on their kids like sunscreen. Still, it looked quite exotic...


...Lyra thought she would give it a try. Quite beautiful...no?

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