waiting.....

Every 4 or 5 days I have to have my water tank filled up. This is a tank which is in the bathroom and holds an unknown amount of water. This usually involves me having to text the landlord ,who owns a gold and jewellery store on the corner, who then sends one of his workers to attend to the pump. I have to then switch on the pump in my apartment whilst the worker attends to the main pump downstairs. The tank usually fills within an hour or so. I probably don't need to fill so often but it has run out on occasion. Today the difference is that switching on the pump caused the electricity to go out completely so now I have to wait....I think! It can often be very hard to understand the instructions from the workers as they speak little or no English. So here I sit and wait. I think I'm waiting for the electricity to be properly reconnected so that the water pump can be used. There has been a few interruptions to the electricity over the last few days. I assume this is due to the work that has been going on out in the street. They have dug up the footpath and of course the hole has been filled with monsoon water. It certainly has disturbed the rats. I've seen a couple of rats and mice scurrying about in the day time: not their favourite time to be active. They have built some precarious looking steps over these ditches. People actually get in here and dig out the mud and dirt. I was nearly swamped by some as a worker shovelled out onto the street.

The monsoon seems to be a good time to do this type of work. The ground is nice and soft and easy to dig. Of course the safety precautions are no where near what they would be in Australia. Certainly there would be no open drains like this. There is also the problem of mosquitos. I'm not sure if any precautions are taken to ensure mozzies aren't breeding in these places. Dengue is a problem even in the cities here. Well I'm still waiting for the water....further missives later

Sunshine

Today was your correspondent was greeted by sunshine. Indeed this was the first sunshine for a number of days;actually weeks. And this sunshine forced me to continue my often interrupted attempts to do 10,000 steps a day. This goal is a way of getting the required amount of exercise in per day. I'm not sure if this is in fact the required amount of exercise to do per day. Seeking this sort of information from the internet of course often contains conflicting views on various health related issues. Sunshine? Yes back to the point. Yangon Myanmar during the monsoon and as a result most outdoor activities have been curtailed. Most of my outdoor activities. Life still goes on in the streets of Yangon with or without the rain. A bit bit of sunshine does provide some relief and even allows for careful checking of vegetables. This spot is Kon Zay Dan St deep in downtown Yangon somewhere between Chinatown and what is called little India. Umbrellas are year round accessories here. In the summer they provide shade and in the rainy season well...

Both shoppers and sellers enjoy a brief respite from the monsoon.

 

A nun enjoys a street meal. This is before a period of abstinence which begins during the rainy season

Once I was under the impression that they couldn't leave their monasteries but I seem to be wrong about this. That's not surprising as there are many aspects of life here that can be confusing or misleading for a naïve westerner.