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Bob Hope and Bing Crosby did a whole

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bunch of what they used to refer to

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as road The road movies. Yeah. They were

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all done in Los Angeles, I believe. I'm

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pretty sure. Okay. But they all were supposedly

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going to some relatively exotic or very exotic

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location.

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And they got into all sorts of problems,

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and there was a love interest, which would

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usually fought back and forth between the 2.

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And then there would be a resolution usually

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that neither one would get the love interest.

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Uh-huh. And I'm probably really over summarizing, but

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that was it. But they were very, very

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popular, and they they made several of them.

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This is back in the forties or 19

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forties. I would say the forties, maybe the

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early fifties. Fifties. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. Somewhere in

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there. Well, The Road to Mandalay. I remember

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that title. Yes. The Road to Mandalay is

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definitely one. That was one of them. And

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Mandalay is in is in Burma. Was was

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in Burma at the time and now is

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in It's still in Burma. Oh, okay. Yeah.

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It's it's the north it's the main northern

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city in Myanmar.

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Okay. Except we refer to it generally now

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as Myanmar. Right?

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This is complicated. Okay. Well, then maybe we

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should talk about this. Well, you know, why

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don't we? Because there's probably a cultural aspect

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to it. Right? Who who knows? Well, let's

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investigate that because

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Dean Foster,

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we're here talking with you about that. And

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I'm Tom Peterson, and we're here with Torren

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again Hi.

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And our producer, and we're all here to

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play,

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oops,

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your culture

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showin'.

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So Burma,

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Myanmar

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are not 2 different places. They are the

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same place. Correct? They are. They are the

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same place, but we're talking about terms that

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have been politicized.

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Yes. And and and there and one of

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the reasons this is interesting. We're talking about

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We'll be the judge of that. Go ahead.

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Is

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you always are. Right? And everybody who's listening

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always is. They should be. Right. If they're

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paying attention, are you paying attention? I was

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I was very fortunate to travel to Myanmar

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slash Burma Uh-huh. In that very small window

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that opened up where both the United States

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government

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and the Burmese government

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allowed visitors

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to go in. And I I think this

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was back

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in the in the early part of Obama's

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administration.

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I'm I'm having I'm not very good with

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dates, so I I but I but in

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the back of my mind, I was coming

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up with this this

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realization that I was approaching the anniversary

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of making this extraordinary trip Mhmm. Which happened,

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so I would say this is about 12

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years ago. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Which happened, I

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think,

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around the same time that I that I

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I was working in,

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in Bangkok. Mhmm. I I had worked in

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Bangkok and so

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I was able to,

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attach at this little side tour from Thailand

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to to Burma. Oh. And, and then we

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went from Burma to Laos and Cambodia. It

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was an so it turned out to be

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quite an extraordinary,

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trip. And I'm sorry, Dean. Just to quickly,

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interrupt and and ask. I don't mean to

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interrupt. I do. There it goes. But this

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is the time we're missing. Is just west

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of Thailand,

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just to put it place it geographically.

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It's between between Thailand and India, actually. Ah,

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okay. Can you That's helpful. Can you give

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here here's a quick quiz for you. Okay?

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A little visualization

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map quiz.

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Can you take us from India

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through along there, like your trip?

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What are the countries right along there? I'm

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just thinking this way people out there who

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may not be all that familiar with the

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geography can kinda place it. Part yeah. When

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getting over to Cambodia, Vietnam, that area over

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there, what's in between

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these things? Okay. So you've got India to

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the west, and that's South Asia.

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Right. And then you have Southeast, what's commonly

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known as Southeast Asia Yep. Which are the

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countries of Indochina,

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like Vietnam, Cambodia,

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Laos,

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and Thailand. Mhmm. And Burma is right in

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between

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Southeast Asia and South Asia. Okay. Okay. And

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that's actually been part of the issues that

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the Burmese

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and the Myanmar Government has been struggling with

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for

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centuries,

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in fact.

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So back to the back to the you

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know. Are we Southeast Asian, or are we

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South Asian

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Heavily influenced by Hindu culture to the West

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and Indian culture to the West. Mhmm.

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And also, heavily influenced by

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Indochinese

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culture to the East and Chinese culture. Yeah.

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And so,

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they it's been difficult for them to establish

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their own identity, and hence, whatever country was

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there, oftentimes

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throughout history was fragmented

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and was more

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aligned

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not with its neighboring

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identities, but rather with their own small regional

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identity. So creating a nation there

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was always a difficult thing because these different

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tribes and different minorities

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that lived together in the geography of Burma

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were always fighting with each other. Right. And

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and then you had co then you had

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European

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colonialists coming in and carving it up as

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well based on these regional

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differences that that they had. So they played

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the, the alliances

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to their own benefits. Mhmm. And it was

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mainly the Britain the British. The British coming

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in there in all in but now let

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me ask you this then. Is the

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and and I don't know if you know

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this or not because it's it's not necessarily

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it's somewhat cultural, but,

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cultural maybe for other areas.

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The the British came in and had a

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great deal of influence, but the They colonized

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the entire area. Okay. Right. And and then

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then World War 2, especially,

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World War 2 had an impact many places

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around the world. The Middle East had a

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a major impact there as to how we

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construct how it was ended up being constructed.

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Right. Where would how were these countries made,

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which is which was the funky thing of,

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like, a woman really drawing lines on a

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map. Yeah. And and so did Burma,

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was that impacted by that type of influence

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in in, I I would say, more recent

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times?

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Yes. Although I think the I think that

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they Meaning like World War 2 on, that

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kind of thing. The the geography of the

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of Burma, the actual borders of Burma had

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been established prior to World War 2. They

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had and remained that way, basically. Pretty much.

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Okay. But those were probably made by the

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British influence of I now

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I I think the British had some influence,

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but I think it was also determined

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more primarily

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by the the constant feuding between the different

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minority groups within Burma. So there was kind

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of an established

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regions of that they each control, let's say.

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Exactly. Exactly. Not an uncommon thing around the

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planet. But Now the the political issue between

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the name, Burma and Myanmar, is that the

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the majority

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of the people in Burma

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are Burmese,

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and they they see themselves as members of

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that ethnic group. Okay. But there are many,

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many other ethnic groups within that country. Right.

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Right. Sure. And they always were fighting with

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each other historically over the centuries.

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And,

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when

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the generals took over, the current dictatorship of

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the military Uh-huh. And this goes back to

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the

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19th,

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well when the British left actually. Right, okay.

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And it's been pretty much enforced

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for the most part since then. Right.

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When they came over, one of the things

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they did back in the eighties was to

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endear themselves with world,

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opinion, which at the time was very much

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against,

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the the military

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dictatorship.

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Right.

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They changed the name of the country from

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Burma, which they felt was colonialist

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because it because it didn't recognize all the

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other groups

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in Burma,

219
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and that seemed to be a pattern with

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a lot of colonial

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exploitation

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that you identified one group, and you called

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that name the name of the country, that

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group,

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or or you gave that group special privileges

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at the expense of all the other groups,

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and that seemed to be a very colonial

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pattern around the world. Sure. So the Burmese

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government,

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a dictatorship, a military dictatorship,

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said we're gonna change the name from Burma

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so that we can include all these other

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groups Right. And call it Myanmar, which interestingly

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in the Burmese language Yeah.

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Is how you refer to

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Burma.

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It's Okay. It so it's simply a linguistic

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Sure. It's it's basically just looping around on

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itself. Yeah. It's a it's a linguistic What

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a privilege.

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Such a brilliant political move. Move. Right? Yeah.

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Right?

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And so it seems to be anti colonial,

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but it's anti colonial with the end result

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being we're you you We're still doing the

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colonial. We're gonna keep us in charge. Right.

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00:09:01,899 --> 00:09:03,580
Right. Because it's about really got to power.

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Yeah. Well, of course. Exactly. Yeah. So the

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US government, I think, technically still, I'm I'm

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not sure. But but up until very recently,

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if they changed it,

252
00:09:12,035 --> 00:09:14,754
referred always and was very careful to refer

253
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to the to the to the country as

254
00:09:17,075 --> 00:09:17,975
Burma. Mhmm.

255
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Because they didn't wanna be affiliated with the

256
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oppressive regime Sure. That was Interesting. Right. So

257
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the anticolonial

258
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twisting that goes on. Right? Interesting. Once again,

259
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gets us to the the conclusion that humans

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00:09:30,399 --> 00:09:31,379
are very odd,

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just very, very odd. I would say that's

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true. Uh-huh. Yes. Yes. We are. Yeah. Yeah.

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That's interesting, Dean. That all ties into I

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00:09:39,644 --> 00:09:40,865
I will admit I know

265
00:09:41,485 --> 00:09:44,925
too little about Burma, Myanmar, and that ties

266
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into what I know from more recent times

267
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around,

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the human rights abuses against the Rohingya

269
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and Right. You know, Muslim Rohingya in in

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Myanmar. Yeah. So as you go The conflicts

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00:09:56,330 --> 00:09:58,649
between the ethnic groups. Right. I mean, if

272
00:09:58,649 --> 00:10:00,269
you take away national borders

273
00:10:00,809 --> 00:10:02,350
and just look at the ethnicities

274
00:10:03,764 --> 00:10:06,325
across the entire region from India right on

275
00:10:06,325 --> 00:10:06,825
through

276
00:10:07,365 --> 00:10:10,085
to Southeast Asia into Indonesia Hold hold on

277
00:10:10,085 --> 00:10:11,845
hold on a second. Is it an option

278
00:10:11,845 --> 00:10:14,325
to take away national borders? Well I mean,

279
00:10:14,325 --> 00:10:16,904
I didn't realize that there is. Academic exercise.

280
00:10:17,445 --> 00:10:17,945
Oh,

281
00:10:18,404 --> 00:10:20,079
okay. Okay. And if you just look at

282
00:10:20,079 --> 00:10:21,759
the ethnicities hoping there for a moment. At

283
00:10:21,759 --> 00:10:24,319
the ethnicities, you have you have the influence

284
00:10:24,319 --> 00:10:26,799
of the all of these groups very fluid,

285
00:10:26,799 --> 00:10:29,220
you know, influencing each other over the centuries.

286
00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,600
Sure. And so the Rohingya Wouldn't that be

287
00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,125
wonderful? Go ahead. The Rohingya were

288
00:10:34,684 --> 00:10:38,225
basically Muslim and and very close to India,

289
00:10:38,924 --> 00:10:41,644
and they were always marginalized by the Hindus

290
00:10:41,644 --> 00:10:44,304
in India and by the Buddhists in

291
00:10:44,845 --> 00:10:47,184
Southeast Asia and the Burmese.

292
00:10:47,750 --> 00:10:50,490
So they were always marginalized in that re

293
00:10:50,710 --> 00:10:52,970
in where they were in their homeland, actually.

294
00:10:53,909 --> 00:10:54,309
And,

295
00:10:54,870 --> 00:10:55,690
most recently

296
00:10:56,549 --> 00:10:58,490
most recently that reemerged

297
00:10:59,750 --> 00:11:02,730
in when the Burmese, in an effort to

298
00:11:04,065 --> 00:11:07,125
again try to try to create this unified

299
00:11:07,345 --> 00:11:08,485
nation Mhmm.

300
00:11:09,184 --> 00:11:12,725
Only under a terrible military dictatorship Right. Right.

301
00:11:13,824 --> 00:11:15,524
Basically sacrificed the Rohingya.

302
00:11:16,750 --> 00:11:18,430
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you have And

303
00:11:18,430 --> 00:11:18,776
played

304
00:11:19,470 --> 00:11:21,550
come in and lead and for a few

305
00:11:21,550 --> 00:11:24,110
years. Right? And had been an advocate for

306
00:11:24,110 --> 00:11:25,809
human rights and democracy.

307
00:11:26,670 --> 00:11:28,110
And I know I remember in the in

308
00:11:28,110 --> 00:11:29,649
the States, in the US,

309
00:11:30,190 --> 00:11:32,375
a lot of feelings that not enough Suu

310
00:11:32,375 --> 00:11:35,495
Kyi wasn't doing enough to address the abuses

311
00:11:35,495 --> 00:11:36,475
against the Rohingya.

312
00:11:36,934 --> 00:11:38,855
And then in, I think, 2021, I wanna

313
00:11:38,855 --> 00:11:40,235
say That's right. The dictatorship

314
00:11:40,615 --> 00:11:42,714
just, you know, decided she had

315
00:11:43,095 --> 00:11:45,174
sit cited some crimes, and now she is

316
00:11:45,174 --> 00:11:47,039
in jail and is no longer in power.

317
00:11:47,039 --> 00:11:49,600
I mean, the twists and turns of politics

318
00:11:49,919 --> 00:11:52,480
Yeah. Here and and just human nature. I

319
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,519
mean, she wasn't the god that obviously so

320
00:11:55,519 --> 00:11:57,620
many believed her to be.

321
00:11:58,154 --> 00:12:00,475
At first in her career, she started out

322
00:12:00,475 --> 00:12:02,554
as this human rights advocate. Nobel Peace Prize

323
00:12:02,554 --> 00:12:04,875
winner. Nobel Peace Prize winner. Right? And and

324
00:12:04,875 --> 00:12:07,434
then as it turns out, when she had

325
00:12:07,434 --> 00:12:10,634
the opportunity to take political power, I mean,

326
00:12:10,634 --> 00:12:14,259
she was basically imprisoned by the, by the

327
00:12:14,259 --> 00:12:14,759
military

328
00:12:15,220 --> 00:12:15,720
for,

329
00:12:16,419 --> 00:12:18,100
oh, I think it was over 10 or

330
00:12:18,100 --> 00:12:21,059
15 years. Long time. And then when things

331
00:12:21,059 --> 00:12:23,299
opened up a little bit, when that window

332
00:12:23,299 --> 00:12:23,799
happened

333
00:12:24,325 --> 00:12:26,264
and she was able to take back

334
00:12:26,725 --> 00:12:28,664
political control, she was always

335
00:12:29,284 --> 00:12:32,884
the immensely popular leader of the people, and

336
00:12:32,884 --> 00:12:34,725
when they had the opportunity to put her

337
00:12:34,725 --> 00:12:36,345
in power again, she did,

338
00:12:36,884 --> 00:12:37,384
and

339
00:12:38,325 --> 00:12:39,784
once she took power,

340
00:12:41,019 --> 00:12:43,420
then the issues that were always under the

341
00:12:43,420 --> 00:12:44,720
surface in Burma

342
00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:46,480
emerged again. Mhmm.

343
00:12:46,940 --> 00:12:48,800
And she had to become

344
00:12:49,899 --> 00:12:51,580
I guess I I'm not using this as

345
00:12:51,580 --> 00:12:52,240
an apology,

346
00:12:52,620 --> 00:12:54,855
but as a but as an explanation Right.

347
00:12:54,934 --> 00:12:56,615
Some some way that I don't know. I

348
00:12:56,615 --> 00:12:58,454
don't I have no information. Speculating as to

349
00:12:58,454 --> 00:13:00,154
what you're saying. You know,

350
00:13:00,855 --> 00:13:02,695
when you have political power, you have to

351
00:13:02,695 --> 00:13:03,995
start to deal with realpolitik.

352
00:13:05,174 --> 00:13:06,214
And I think,

353
00:13:06,695 --> 00:13:08,615
one of the ways she was able to

354
00:13:08,615 --> 00:13:11,370
maintain power and control was to suddenly start

355
00:13:11,370 --> 00:13:14,669
to play these different ethnicities against each other,

356
00:13:14,730 --> 00:13:17,129
which was a historic way of managing things

357
00:13:17,129 --> 00:13:17,789
in Burma.

358
00:13:18,490 --> 00:13:20,169
I'm not saying that's what she did and

359
00:13:20,169 --> 00:13:21,949
I'm not saying it was right or wrong,

360
00:13:22,329 --> 00:13:24,625
but it's an interpretation. It's a speculation. And

361
00:13:24,625 --> 00:13:26,465
it's a pretty common I'm I'm sorry. Go

362
00:13:26,465 --> 00:13:28,305
ahead. And and so she you know, she's

363
00:13:28,305 --> 00:13:29,684
a human being who

364
00:13:29,985 --> 00:13:32,305
did what she thought she had to do.

365
00:13:32,305 --> 00:13:34,485
Right. Yeah. It's it's just yeah. It's

366
00:13:35,904 --> 00:13:37,764
that's the the little that I know about

367
00:13:37,904 --> 00:13:40,299
essentially about Myanmar. So I'm interested to sorry.

368
00:13:40,299 --> 00:13:41,740
But I Well, you know, she comes from

369
00:13:41,899 --> 00:13:44,720
your experiences there personally. Yeah. She comes from

370
00:13:45,179 --> 00:13:47,339
Aung San Suu Kyi Suu Kyi. You know,

371
00:13:47,339 --> 00:13:50,539
her father was the liberator of Burma against

372
00:13:50,539 --> 00:13:52,960
the Brits. Mhmm. And he was assassinated.

373
00:13:53,914 --> 00:13:55,274
Okay. See, I didn't know this. Okay. He

374
00:13:55,274 --> 00:13:55,934
was assassinated,

375
00:13:56,314 --> 00:13:56,814
and,

376
00:13:57,834 --> 00:13:59,934
she was she spent her years,

377
00:14:00,875 --> 00:14:01,615
in Britain,

378
00:14:02,074 --> 00:14:04,394
and and she was educated in Britain. And

379
00:14:04,394 --> 00:14:05,534
she married a British

380
00:14:06,169 --> 00:14:06,669
guy.

381
00:14:07,370 --> 00:14:07,870
And,

382
00:14:08,730 --> 00:14:10,889
so she was very much at of the

383
00:14:10,889 --> 00:14:11,389
elite

384
00:14:11,769 --> 00:14:14,490
in both Burma and in the west in

385
00:14:14,490 --> 00:14:17,289
many ways. She was a diplomat. She was

386
00:14:17,289 --> 00:14:18,190
of that class,

387
00:14:18,904 --> 00:14:19,404
and,

388
00:14:20,985 --> 00:14:22,825
and her story, of course, is one of

389
00:14:22,825 --> 00:14:23,644
great sacrifice.

390
00:14:25,065 --> 00:14:27,325
Once her husband was assassinated

391
00:14:27,865 --> 00:14:29,884
and and Burma did become independent,

392
00:14:31,629 --> 00:14:33,949
and she had a life. She married the

393
00:14:33,949 --> 00:14:35,629
British fellow, and they had 2 kids, I

394
00:14:35,629 --> 00:14:36,129
believe.

395
00:14:36,909 --> 00:14:39,470
She had to return. And she returned Right.

396
00:14:39,629 --> 00:14:42,589
And she returned to lead, basically, a,

397
00:14:43,149 --> 00:14:46,269
an an independence movement against the military and

398
00:14:46,269 --> 00:14:48,804
to try to turn Burma into a democratic

399
00:14:48,865 --> 00:14:51,585
nation. Right. Which, unfortunately, all too often does

400
00:14:51,585 --> 00:14:54,545
not does not last Much harder than people

401
00:14:54,545 --> 00:14:56,325
ever Some may have. Ever imagined.

402
00:15:01,264 --> 00:15:03,259
Interrupted you earlier in terms of your your

403
00:15:03,259 --> 00:15:05,500
travels to to So I had this wonderful

404
00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:07,740
opportunity to try to experience something about this

405
00:15:07,740 --> 00:15:10,299
nation that was absolutely closed. Yeah. You know?

406
00:15:10,299 --> 00:15:11,919
Sure. Right? Couldn't visit,

407
00:15:12,220 --> 00:15:14,220
couldn't go. And there we were in Southeast

408
00:15:14,220 --> 00:15:15,820
Asia, and we were in Thailand, and we

409
00:15:15,820 --> 00:15:18,644
took a short plane trip and plopped us

410
00:15:18,705 --> 00:15:20,925
into Yangon. Mhmm. And

411
00:15:21,585 --> 00:15:24,384
Formerly Rangoon? Rangoon. Okay. Rangoon. People might know

412
00:15:24,384 --> 00:15:26,325
that. It's a former capital. Yes. Former capital.

413
00:15:26,464 --> 00:15:27,445
In the south,

414
00:15:28,544 --> 00:15:29,365
where the

415
00:15:29,825 --> 00:15:30,625
really where,

416
00:15:31,024 --> 00:15:34,450
the the plains people are. Mhmm. As as

417
00:15:34,450 --> 00:15:36,610
you go north, it becomes more mountainous Mhmm.

418
00:15:36,769 --> 00:15:38,450
And you get up to the border with

419
00:15:38,450 --> 00:15:38,950
China.

420
00:15:39,330 --> 00:15:42,210
But that's mountainous and fairly remote and lots

421
00:15:42,210 --> 00:15:44,769
of different minorities scattered about in different hills

422
00:15:44,769 --> 00:15:45,830
and valleys. Mhmm.

423
00:15:47,934 --> 00:15:49,855
But as you go further south down by

424
00:15:49,855 --> 00:15:50,995
Rangoon Yangon,

425
00:15:51,695 --> 00:15:55,554
it's it's Burmese. It's essentially Burma. Okay. Right?

426
00:15:55,934 --> 00:15:58,495
And the plane lands there and we get

427
00:15:58,495 --> 00:16:00,399
out and we have have no idea what

428
00:16:00,399 --> 00:16:02,159
to expect. I mean, just getting the visa

429
00:16:02,159 --> 00:16:03,700
was an interesting experience.

430
00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:04,980
How so?

431
00:16:06,559 --> 00:16:07,700
We had to.

432
00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,514
We had turned in our passport. He stroked

433
00:16:13,514 --> 00:16:15,115
out on us. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm trying

434
00:16:15,115 --> 00:16:16,875
to remember how it was. Yeah. Yeah. We

435
00:16:16,875 --> 00:16:18,795
had to give up our passports to to

436
00:16:18,795 --> 00:16:21,915
the Burmese representative. There was no Burmese representative

437
00:16:21,915 --> 00:16:23,514
in the U. S. I think we had

438
00:16:23,514 --> 00:16:24,735
to give it to the Swiss

439
00:16:25,115 --> 00:16:26,955
to Switzerland, and they represent the Swiss. Of

440
00:16:26,955 --> 00:16:29,899
course. Yeah. It was complicated. And for,

441
00:16:30,279 --> 00:16:32,840
like, several months, we didn't have passports, which

442
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,480
for me was deadly because we were traveling

443
00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,500
an enormous amount at the time. Right.

444
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,600
But, anyway, they they gave us back the

445
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,600
passports. We we land, and I remember getting

446
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:43,394
out into this

447
00:16:44,675 --> 00:16:46,995
this, suddenly, we're in a different not only

448
00:16:46,995 --> 00:16:48,754
a different land, but a different time zone,

449
00:16:48,754 --> 00:16:50,054
a different time period.

450
00:16:50,754 --> 00:16:52,274
Oh, oh, okay. It felt as if we

451
00:16:52,274 --> 00:16:54,915
landed on the on the jungle's airstrip Uh-huh.

452
00:16:55,075 --> 00:16:56,675
In the middle of nowhere. So you've gone

453
00:16:56,675 --> 00:16:58,549
back in time is basically Back in time.

454
00:16:58,549 --> 00:17:00,070
Yeah. And we get out of the plane.

455
00:17:00,230 --> 00:17:01,830
Be interesting. And we walk up to a

456
00:17:01,830 --> 00:17:04,570
Quonset hut. Mhmm. And there are these officials,

457
00:17:05,750 --> 00:17:07,829
with, you know, big guns as always the

458
00:17:07,829 --> 00:17:08,890
case in these countries.

459
00:17:09,269 --> 00:17:09,750
And,

460
00:17:10,070 --> 00:17:11,835
we had to turn over our passports once

461
00:17:11,914 --> 00:17:13,674
again and wait an hour until they all

462
00:17:13,674 --> 00:17:15,355
got stamped, and then they were all returned

463
00:17:15,355 --> 00:17:18,315
to us. Mhmm. And we met our handler,

464
00:17:18,315 --> 00:17:19,934
the person who was gonna be

465
00:17:20,714 --> 00:17:21,774
taking us through

466
00:17:22,234 --> 00:17:23,849
Rangoon, and we

467
00:17:24,650 --> 00:17:26,970
were driven into the city and checked into

468
00:17:26,970 --> 00:17:27,470
the

469
00:17:27,769 --> 00:17:30,490
into into these into our hotel, which was

470
00:17:30,490 --> 00:17:31,549
the best hotel

471
00:17:32,009 --> 00:17:35,069
in the city, but it was very dilapidated,

472
00:17:35,289 --> 00:17:36,109
very rundown.

473
00:17:36,569 --> 00:17:39,275
Okay. And here we were in this,

474
00:17:39,715 --> 00:17:42,115
this place that was redolent of of old

475
00:17:42,115 --> 00:17:43,255
British colonialism

476
00:17:43,715 --> 00:17:44,615
Oh, okay. Uh-huh.

477
00:17:44,914 --> 00:17:45,975
Along with

478
00:17:46,674 --> 00:17:47,174
incredible

479
00:17:47,715 --> 00:17:48,695
Buddhist temples.

480
00:17:50,009 --> 00:17:52,330
It just it's been the most Buddhist place

481
00:17:52,330 --> 00:17:54,750
I've ever been Okay. In that

482
00:17:55,130 --> 00:17:56,910
the people are extraordinarily,

483
00:17:58,970 --> 00:17:59,950
tuned into

484
00:18:01,529 --> 00:18:02,509
many of the

485
00:18:03,274 --> 00:18:05,994
the ethics and the ethos of Buddhism Mhmm.

486
00:18:06,394 --> 00:18:09,054
From the average guy on the street to

487
00:18:09,355 --> 00:18:10,654
the priest in the temples.

488
00:18:11,515 --> 00:18:12,015
And,

489
00:18:13,994 --> 00:18:14,970
it struck me,

490
00:18:15,369 --> 00:18:18,509
ironically, as this incredibly peaceful place

491
00:18:19,210 --> 00:18:22,169
with, you know, where everyone is blissed out

492
00:18:22,169 --> 00:18:24,909
and kind of smiling all the time. Uh-huh.

493
00:18:25,049 --> 00:18:26,669
And nobody is overtly

494
00:18:27,775 --> 00:18:29,555
aggressive or assertive

495
00:18:30,015 --> 00:18:33,474
in their personal behavior. Uh-huh. Everything is

496
00:18:34,255 --> 00:18:36,195
behind the screen of

497
00:18:37,055 --> 00:18:38,835
peaceful balance. Uh-huh.

498
00:18:39,695 --> 00:18:42,119
And yet it is an extraordinarily

499
00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:44,039
oppressive place. Right.

500
00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:46,680
And everyone is walking around

501
00:18:48,500 --> 00:18:51,000
unable to say anything Right.

502
00:18:51,299 --> 00:18:52,519
For fear of

503
00:18:53,025 --> 00:18:53,525
basically

504
00:18:54,384 --> 00:18:56,305
being taken off and hauled away and never

505
00:18:56,305 --> 00:18:59,365
to be seen again. Right. Okay. Sure. Yeah.

506
00:18:59,505 --> 00:19:02,144
So did you did you feel that there

507
00:19:02,144 --> 00:19:02,305
was

508
00:19:03,105 --> 00:19:04,865
that you were controlled in a way that

509
00:19:04,865 --> 00:19:07,390
there was security all around? Oh, absolutely. Was

510
00:19:07,390 --> 00:19:08,930
restricted. We could not walk

511
00:19:10,509 --> 00:19:12,509
walk around the corner from the hotel without

512
00:19:12,509 --> 00:19:15,230
being accompanied by our by our person. Okay.

513
00:19:15,230 --> 00:19:16,049
Wow. Yeah.

514
00:19:16,430 --> 00:19:18,110
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And

515
00:19:18,430 --> 00:19:19,845
Where were you able to

516
00:19:20,484 --> 00:19:23,284
venture out to given given those restrictions? Well,

517
00:19:23,284 --> 00:19:25,605
we couldn't in in Rangoon itself. And I'm

518
00:19:25,605 --> 00:19:27,525
sorry. How long were you there? I I

519
00:19:27,525 --> 00:19:29,784
think we were there for almost 2 weeks.

520
00:19:29,845 --> 00:19:31,684
Okay. Well, that's a good amount of time.

521
00:19:31,684 --> 00:19:33,605
There's a lot to see in Burma. Uh-huh.

522
00:19:33,605 --> 00:19:36,099
Okay? So, you know, Rangoon is the capital,

523
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:37,919
and what we did, our itinerary took us

524
00:19:38,159 --> 00:19:38,899
really. Right?

525
00:19:39,599 --> 00:19:42,000
Yangon still. I Thank you. Oh, no. They

526
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:42,480
did. The,

527
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,079
the the Tatmadaw, the military just moved Yeah.

528
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,039
The capital officially. Taw, I think, is the

529
00:19:48,039 --> 00:19:49,625
capital, but it was a former capital. Yeah.

530
00:19:49,625 --> 00:19:51,325
Yeah. But who knows? It's just

531
00:19:51,625 --> 00:19:54,284
the town that they built up. Yeah. Administrative.

532
00:19:54,424 --> 00:19:54,924
Administrative

533
00:19:55,224 --> 00:19:56,765
center. Yeah. Center. Right.

534
00:19:57,704 --> 00:19:59,644
Yangon is still the Cultural?

535
00:20:00,105 --> 00:20:03,250
Cultural and also economic to the degree that

536
00:20:03,250 --> 00:20:05,490
there's an economy. Okay. Sure. Interesting. Okay. Very,

537
00:20:05,490 --> 00:20:08,609
very poor country. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But rich in

538
00:20:08,609 --> 00:20:11,650
in natural resources. I mean, China has the

539
00:20:11,650 --> 00:20:14,529
Chinese are basically running the country now. They've

540
00:20:14,529 --> 00:20:16,815
taken over. Oh, interesting. Okay. And they're they're

541
00:20:16,815 --> 00:20:18,414
right on the Chinese border in the north.

542
00:20:18,414 --> 00:20:20,494
Okay. And that's where all the poppies are.

543
00:20:20,494 --> 00:20:21,794
That's where all the

544
00:20:22,255 --> 00:20:24,994
that's where all so all of the opium

545
00:20:25,535 --> 00:20:27,294
during the the days of the opium war

546
00:20:27,615 --> 00:20:29,670
Right. Were was grown in the

547
00:20:30,230 --> 00:20:32,950
the the northern portion. Triangle Yeah. Of China

548
00:20:32,950 --> 00:20:33,690
and Burma.

549
00:20:34,230 --> 00:20:36,890
And that's where the that's where heroin,

550
00:20:37,190 --> 00:20:39,430
the world's heroin comes from. Much of it

551
00:20:39,430 --> 00:20:39,930
anyway.

552
00:20:40,549 --> 00:20:42,809
And And is that is that the economy

553
00:20:43,024 --> 00:20:45,345
now? Well, yes. Much of it. And you

554
00:20:45,345 --> 00:20:47,105
knew it even then Uh-huh. Okay. When we

555
00:20:47,105 --> 00:20:50,464
were there. And then and also tremendous natural

556
00:20:50,464 --> 00:20:52,325
resources. I mean, rubies

557
00:20:52,625 --> 00:20:54,005
and precious stones.

558
00:20:54,784 --> 00:20:55,524
The world's

559
00:20:56,704 --> 00:20:58,804
a a significant percentage of the world's stones,

560
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,519
unfortunately, come from Burma. Right. Right. Okay. That's

561
00:21:02,519 --> 00:21:03,340
become a

562
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,039
political issue around Of course it does. Sure.

563
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:08,539
The trade of these gems.

564
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,000
And it's always been this way. So it's

565
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,815
always been a place of interest for big

566
00:21:13,815 --> 00:21:14,714
global powers,

567
00:21:15,894 --> 00:21:18,154
but itself unable to really

568
00:21:18,694 --> 00:21:21,015
turn itself into a nation state of of

569
00:21:21,015 --> 00:21:23,095
any But as in in most cases, and

570
00:21:23,095 --> 00:21:24,454
I'm not trying to put words in your

571
00:21:24,454 --> 00:21:26,535
mouth, I'm but I'm trying to read from

572
00:21:26,535 --> 00:21:27,509
what you're saying that

573
00:21:28,070 --> 00:21:30,710
it's like so many other cases in around

574
00:21:30,710 --> 00:21:33,190
the world where you have small countries that

575
00:21:33,190 --> 00:21:35,589
can be taken advantage of by large Global

576
00:21:35,589 --> 00:21:39,190
powers. Global powers of either political or corporate

577
00:21:39,269 --> 00:21:41,044
Right. Powers, maybe both,

578
00:21:41,424 --> 00:21:44,784
taking advantage of of their resources as opposed

579
00:21:44,784 --> 00:21:45,284
to

580
00:21:45,585 --> 00:21:47,904
the individuals who actually are there. Right. Right.

581
00:21:47,904 --> 00:21:49,825
Okay. We couldn't talk about any of this,

582
00:21:49,825 --> 00:21:51,664
any of the politics. Yeah. We were told

583
00:21:51,664 --> 00:21:53,480
that you cannot talk about In other words,

584
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:54,599
there might be a knock on our door

585
00:21:54,599 --> 00:21:56,119
here. I was about to say, are we

586
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:58,119
are we okay? No. No. No. When we

587
00:21:58,119 --> 00:21:59,720
were there. I'm sorry. Someone to start the

588
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,059
car for us? There. Oh, I see. Okay.

589
00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:02,859
Okay.

590
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:05,960
I'm I'm breathing again. It's alright. And if

591
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:07,240
you ask any and if you ask any

592
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,714
questions, you know, while we were there that

593
00:22:10,335 --> 00:22:12,815
really would were it were not to be

594
00:22:12,815 --> 00:22:16,654
asked. Borderline questions. Yeah. This very evasive you

595
00:22:16,654 --> 00:22:18,654
got a big smile and an evasive answer

596
00:22:18,654 --> 00:22:21,054
that didn't mean anything, and then they changed

597
00:22:21,054 --> 00:22:23,460
the subject. That could be Washington, DC. So

598
00:22:23,619 --> 00:22:23,859
but

599
00:22:24,899 --> 00:22:26,339
Right. And you couldn't talk to people on

600
00:22:26,339 --> 00:22:28,980
the street without without your without that guy

601
00:22:28,980 --> 00:22:30,179
standing next to you. Right. I was gonna

602
00:22:30,179 --> 00:22:31,619
say the consequences may be a little more

603
00:22:31,619 --> 00:22:33,079
severe. For them.

604
00:22:33,619 --> 00:22:35,779
A little bit. Let's hope. We're asking those

605
00:22:35,779 --> 00:22:37,880
types of questions. I don't really hope. No.

606
00:22:38,375 --> 00:22:40,455
Never mind. And and and if you and

607
00:22:40,455 --> 00:22:42,134
if you put somebody in the position of

608
00:22:42,134 --> 00:22:43,734
having to answer that kind of a question,

609
00:22:43,734 --> 00:22:45,894
you're really endangering their lives. Know they're not

610
00:22:45,894 --> 00:22:47,975
allowed to say a single name. Right. Right.

611
00:22:47,975 --> 00:22:49,815
Right. And so and so they sure. Everyone's

612
00:22:49,815 --> 00:22:51,734
at risk. But that's got to but that's

613
00:22:51,734 --> 00:22:53,730
got to take us just kinda jumping back

614
00:22:53,970 --> 00:22:55,190
into your experiences

615
00:22:55,730 --> 00:22:57,910
and and the overall cultural aspects.

616
00:22:58,369 --> 00:23:00,849
If you're living in any anywhere, and you

617
00:23:00,849 --> 00:23:03,009
feel like if you say the wrong the

618
00:23:03,009 --> 00:23:03,750
wrong thing,

619
00:23:04,369 --> 00:23:06,369
then that is going to potentially put you

620
00:23:06,369 --> 00:23:08,710
in jail. It's potentially going to put you

621
00:23:08,954 --> 00:23:11,434
someplace where you might be there for a

622
00:23:11,434 --> 00:23:13,454
very long time in a very difficult situation.

623
00:23:13,595 --> 00:23:15,194
It's going to put you somewhere where you

624
00:23:15,194 --> 00:23:17,595
never come back from. Right. Those kinds of

625
00:23:17,595 --> 00:23:19,054
aspects, those are frightening.

626
00:23:19,595 --> 00:23:21,994
And and so it's got to have almost

627
00:23:21,994 --> 00:23:24,154
an immediate impact But the greater on the

628
00:23:24,154 --> 00:23:25,589
culture. But the greater

629
00:23:26,210 --> 00:23:29,349
concern, actually, is the danger that you're putting

630
00:23:29,490 --> 00:23:31,970
the local people in by simply asking If

631
00:23:31,970 --> 00:23:32,710
you are there

632
00:23:33,329 --> 00:23:35,490
and and going in that direction and trying

633
00:23:35,490 --> 00:23:37,490
and and leading them even just out of

634
00:23:37,490 --> 00:23:40,075
curiosity because you're more likely more likely thing

635
00:23:40,075 --> 00:23:41,835
is that you're privileged enough to get in

636
00:23:41,835 --> 00:23:43,674
and get out with your Right. Right. Right.

637
00:23:43,674 --> 00:23:46,494
But these people have to endure this Understand

638
00:23:46,634 --> 00:23:48,714
that when you're there. Risk. If you're there,

639
00:23:48,714 --> 00:23:50,394
you gotta understand that. That's a good point.

640
00:23:50,394 --> 00:23:52,335
Yeah. And and I did in,

641
00:23:53,755 --> 00:23:54,654
up in Mandalay.

642
00:23:55,090 --> 00:23:57,890
Mhmm. So our our our because I because

643
00:23:57,890 --> 00:23:58,789
I encountered

644
00:23:59,730 --> 00:24:00,230
there

645
00:24:00,769 --> 00:24:02,450
some local people that I was able to

646
00:24:02,450 --> 00:24:03,890
speak with. Is that more in the north

647
00:24:03,890 --> 00:24:05,170
than the mountains? That's in the north. Okay.

648
00:24:05,170 --> 00:24:07,250
That's in the mountains. Okay. That became the

649
00:24:07,250 --> 00:24:10,365
hill country of the British colonial elite. Okay.

650
00:24:10,365 --> 00:24:12,304
Where they would retreat from the heat

651
00:24:12,845 --> 00:24:15,184
and the tropics of the south. Oh, sure.

652
00:24:15,484 --> 00:24:18,224
And and Mandalay was also the center of,

653
00:24:19,085 --> 00:24:21,644
it was Mandalay and Bagan, actually. Okay. The

654
00:24:21,644 --> 00:24:23,809
the cent which are 2 two cities very

655
00:24:23,809 --> 00:24:26,230
near each other. The center of the ancient

656
00:24:26,690 --> 00:24:28,309
imperial kingdom of

657
00:24:28,769 --> 00:24:31,650
of of Pagan. Mhmm. We say p a

658
00:24:31,650 --> 00:24:32,549
g a n,

659
00:24:33,490 --> 00:24:35,029
but they pronounce it Bagan.

660
00:24:35,464 --> 00:24:37,625
Bagan. Okay. No distinction between p's and b's.

661
00:24:37,625 --> 00:24:39,065
The b's and b's. Yes. Right.

662
00:24:40,345 --> 00:24:42,825
And when the Brits came, it became used

663
00:24:42,825 --> 00:24:45,785
in English as pagan. Pagan. Because that So

664
00:24:45,785 --> 00:24:46,765
any any

665
00:24:47,464 --> 00:24:50,125
society that was non Christian Uh-huh.

666
00:24:50,585 --> 00:24:51,710
Was pagan.

667
00:24:52,409 --> 00:24:53,769
Interesting. I was gonna ask if that's where

668
00:24:53,769 --> 00:24:55,849
that came from. Yeah. Well, it it saves

669
00:24:55,849 --> 00:24:58,169
time from trying to understand someone else, you

670
00:24:58,169 --> 00:24:59,609
know, if you can just label them and

671
00:24:59,609 --> 00:25:01,450
move on. Non Christian. There's just pagan. There

672
00:25:01,450 --> 00:25:03,450
you go. Yeah. Sure. Okay. And And it's

673
00:25:03,450 --> 00:25:05,755
lesser. Yes. So this was the site from

674
00:25:05,755 --> 00:25:07,275
the 9th cent I believe the 9th or

675
00:25:07,275 --> 00:25:08,575
10th century onward

676
00:25:09,035 --> 00:25:11,835
of a great kingdom, the the great,

677
00:25:12,394 --> 00:25:14,414
pre colonial kingdom in Burma

678
00:25:14,875 --> 00:25:16,015
of of Pagan.

679
00:25:16,529 --> 00:25:20,130
Mandalay developed as the northern commercial center of

680
00:25:20,130 --> 00:25:21,670
the of the country. Mhmm.

681
00:25:22,049 --> 00:25:24,450
So Mandalay is a good sized city, but

682
00:25:24,450 --> 00:25:26,130
it's in the north, and there's a river

683
00:25:26,130 --> 00:25:27,350
that connects the 2,

684
00:25:27,809 --> 00:25:28,309
Yang,

685
00:25:28,690 --> 00:25:30,390
Rangoon and Mandalay

686
00:25:30,984 --> 00:25:32,284
slash Bagan.

687
00:25:32,585 --> 00:25:34,924
Mhmm. The river is the Irrawaddy. Okay.

688
00:25:35,464 --> 00:25:38,605
One of the major rivers of of Southeast

689
00:25:39,544 --> 00:25:40,044
Asia,

690
00:25:40,744 --> 00:25:41,224
and,

691
00:25:41,944 --> 00:25:44,764
it starts in the Himalayas in India. Mhmm.

692
00:25:44,825 --> 00:25:45,325
Okay?

693
00:25:45,809 --> 00:25:47,909
We had the immense privilege

694
00:25:48,769 --> 00:25:50,069
of taking a

695
00:25:50,690 --> 00:25:52,950
take to of going down the Irrawaddy

696
00:25:53,409 --> 00:25:55,509
from Rangoon to Mandalay.

697
00:25:56,130 --> 00:25:58,929
Mhmm. Wow. Interesting. And we spent our days

698
00:25:58,929 --> 00:25:59,829
on the river

699
00:26:00,154 --> 00:26:01,294
going up to Mandalay.

700
00:26:01,835 --> 00:26:02,335
Now

701
00:26:03,194 --> 00:26:04,335
on the way up,

702
00:26:04,794 --> 00:26:07,774
we stopped in these little river towns. Mhmm.

703
00:26:08,875 --> 00:26:11,134
Nothing much to see. The country is extraordinarily

704
00:26:11,434 --> 00:26:11,934
poor,

705
00:26:14,070 --> 00:26:16,089
but these little river towns

706
00:26:16,950 --> 00:26:19,349
told a lot about and you could get

707
00:26:19,349 --> 00:26:20,650
off and talk to the people.

708
00:26:21,670 --> 00:26:23,430
And I remember one night Except you did

709
00:26:23,430 --> 00:26:25,029
you still even in these little river towns,

710
00:26:25,029 --> 00:26:26,984
you still had to be cautious for them

711
00:26:26,984 --> 00:26:27,484
because

712
00:26:27,865 --> 00:26:29,625
of what you might say and what they

713
00:26:29,625 --> 00:26:32,585
might say? Yes. Absolutely true. Right. Still even

714
00:26:32,585 --> 00:26:34,825
in those more remote areas. Right. But on

715
00:26:34,825 --> 00:26:36,825
the boat, we didn't have a handler. Not

716
00:26:36,825 --> 00:26:38,904
that I was aware of. Okay. And when

717
00:26:38,904 --> 00:26:40,825
we got off the boat, we could walk

718
00:26:40,825 --> 00:26:42,045
on our own. Okay.

719
00:26:42,460 --> 00:26:44,700
And one night after dinner, we got off

720
00:26:44,700 --> 00:26:46,220
on the boat in this little town, and

721
00:26:46,220 --> 00:26:48,320
we discovered that they were having a poi.

722
00:26:49,180 --> 00:26:51,039
And a poi is a,

723
00:26:51,740 --> 00:26:52,240
Burmese,

724
00:26:53,660 --> 00:26:54,160
entertainment.

725
00:26:55,515 --> 00:26:57,195
And most poise I think they call them

726
00:26:57,195 --> 00:26:58,494
zapuise, actually.

727
00:26:59,434 --> 00:27:02,394
Most poise start in the evening, and they

728
00:27:02,394 --> 00:27:05,115
go all night long, and they last until

729
00:27:05,115 --> 00:27:07,455
the sun rises. Nice. And it brings

730
00:27:08,149 --> 00:27:10,549
everybody in the town together. And these are

731
00:27:10,549 --> 00:27:12,710
planned things, or they go on as they

732
00:27:12,710 --> 00:27:14,869
develop throughout the throughout the night? Do you

733
00:27:14,869 --> 00:27:17,429
know? What? No. I don't I don't know

734
00:27:17,429 --> 00:27:18,569
how planned the

735
00:27:19,190 --> 00:27:20,649
the whole play is.

736
00:27:20,954 --> 00:27:21,855
They have different

737
00:27:22,394 --> 00:27:24,634
performers lined up. Yeah. So I guess there

738
00:27:24,634 --> 00:27:26,075
is a plan to it. And there is

739
00:27:26,075 --> 00:27:27,694
a there is a master of ceremonies,

740
00:27:28,315 --> 00:27:31,034
usually a man and a woman. Okay. And

741
00:27:31,034 --> 00:27:32,634
they talk with each other back and forth,

742
00:27:32,634 --> 00:27:34,630
and they banter a lot. And there's puppet

743
00:27:34,630 --> 00:27:37,750
shows. There's singing. There's a dance thing. Variety

744
00:27:37,750 --> 00:27:39,750
show of some form that goes on for

745
00:27:39,750 --> 00:27:42,069
many hours. Right? Many hours. Exactly. It's it's

746
00:27:42,069 --> 00:27:44,869
it's it's Ed Sullivan all night long. That's

747
00:27:44,869 --> 00:27:45,369
incredible.

748
00:27:45,670 --> 00:27:47,990
Right. That's a that's an old variety show

749
00:27:47,990 --> 00:27:49,545
for those of you who are not

750
00:27:50,184 --> 00:27:51,404
95 years old.

751
00:27:51,785 --> 00:27:53,625
Uh-huh. And it's like like we are. Yeah.

752
00:27:53,625 --> 00:27:55,484
Yeah. Alright. And will a play be done

753
00:27:55,785 --> 00:27:58,265
for a special occasion? Or But but also

754
00:27:58,265 --> 00:28:00,825
for not special occasion. Nice. Nice. Yeah. That

755
00:28:00,825 --> 00:28:02,700
sounds great. So we suddenly

756
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,000
Hold hold on one just one second. Is

757
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,759
there but is there a is there a

758
00:28:06,759 --> 00:28:07,900
underlying purpose

759
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:09,180
to when

760
00:28:09,559 --> 00:28:11,480
this thing happens? Yes. There can be. In

761
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,340
other words, it can be around a religious

762
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:14,625
ceremony Okay. Buddhist

763
00:28:15,744 --> 00:28:18,144
calendar date. Mhmm. Well, we just haven't done

764
00:28:18,144 --> 00:28:19,984
one in a while. Or that too. Okay.

765
00:28:19,984 --> 00:28:21,505
Right. From a way. Yeah. Yeah. And so

766
00:28:21,505 --> 00:28:23,025
we're getting off the boat, and we're walking

767
00:28:23,025 --> 00:28:25,924
through this little dockside area, and then,

768
00:28:26,464 --> 00:28:27,359
we were approached

769
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:31,679
the the we were approached by lots of,

770
00:28:32,559 --> 00:28:33,940
young women Mhmm.

771
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:35,859
With probably all sorts of things

772
00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:40,000
in Let's let's let's see where this leads.

773
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,640
Alright. Alright. Again, this is the terrible dilemma

774
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,095
of of course Of course. Of

775
00:28:44,715 --> 00:28:45,375
foreign situations.

776
00:28:45,914 --> 00:28:48,015
Right. Yeah. Obviously. But interestingly,

777
00:28:48,315 --> 00:28:50,654
just as a point aside, they were wearing,

778
00:28:51,115 --> 00:28:53,775
this white makeup, which looked like,

779
00:28:54,715 --> 00:28:57,615
white smudges on their cheekbones and their foreheads.

780
00:28:58,190 --> 00:28:58,509
And,

781
00:28:58,990 --> 00:29:01,789
all the women and girls were wearing this,

782
00:29:01,789 --> 00:29:03,650
and we learned that this is called Tanaka.

783
00:29:04,109 --> 00:29:06,509
Mhmm. Okay. And it's a Uh-huh. It it's

784
00:29:06,509 --> 00:29:07,569
a form of cosmetics.

785
00:29:07,950 --> 00:29:09,009
So it it supposedly

786
00:29:09,390 --> 00:29:11,755
makes you look more beautiful. Yes. But it's

787
00:29:11,755 --> 00:29:13,835
also it has lots of functions. It keeps

788
00:29:13,835 --> 00:29:14,494
your skin

789
00:29:14,875 --> 00:29:16,174
good nice and moisturized

790
00:29:16,474 --> 00:29:17,934
Okay. And it's a sunscreen.

791
00:29:18,474 --> 00:29:20,414
Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Alright. Multipurpose.

792
00:29:20,794 --> 00:29:21,934
Yeah. Right.

793
00:29:22,234 --> 00:29:24,234
And so we were kind of intrigued by

794
00:29:24,234 --> 00:29:26,015
that. Yeah. And, and

795
00:29:26,359 --> 00:29:27,420
and we were guided.

796
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,039
We we heard this noise and and and

797
00:29:30,039 --> 00:29:31,259
but it sounded joyous.

798
00:29:32,039 --> 00:29:34,119
And they took us into the play. And

799
00:29:34,119 --> 00:29:35,500
this is after sunset.

800
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,115
And because we were absolutely the only Westerners

801
00:29:40,255 --> 00:29:42,894
there Uh-huh. And there were thousands of local

802
00:29:42,894 --> 00:29:46,255
people Wow. We were treated as royalty suddenly

803
00:29:46,335 --> 00:29:47,234
Really? Overnight.

804
00:29:47,535 --> 00:29:48,035
Okay.

805
00:29:48,494 --> 00:29:48,994
And

806
00:29:49,775 --> 00:29:50,755
literally overnight.

807
00:29:51,134 --> 00:29:52,335
Yeah. Yeah. And,

808
00:29:53,380 --> 00:29:55,559
we were taken pretty close to the stage,

809
00:29:55,619 --> 00:29:57,619
which was all lit up. And they were

810
00:29:57,619 --> 00:29:58,119
also,

811
00:29:59,140 --> 00:29:59,640
like,

812
00:30:00,660 --> 00:30:01,160
torches

813
00:30:01,539 --> 00:30:03,380
all throughout so that you could kind of

814
00:30:03,380 --> 00:30:04,519
see where you were.

815
00:30:04,980 --> 00:30:06,660
And we were given kind of what we

816
00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:08,339
felt was a seat of honor really on

817
00:30:08,339 --> 00:30:08,839
these

818
00:30:10,865 --> 00:30:11,345
and,

819
00:30:11,664 --> 00:30:13,825
through through it throughout the time that we

820
00:30:13,825 --> 00:30:14,944
were there and we were all we were

821
00:30:14,944 --> 00:30:17,105
there for several hours. Yeah. You know, it's

822
00:30:17,105 --> 00:30:19,505
all in Burmese, so we understood nothing. Mhmm.

823
00:30:19,744 --> 00:30:21,664
But we were fascinated by what we were

824
00:30:21,664 --> 00:30:25,059
experiencing. Mhmm. Sure. Right? Yeah. And I remember

825
00:30:25,059 --> 00:30:25,720
this fellow

826
00:30:27,139 --> 00:30:30,119
sidled up to us, next to us, and

827
00:30:30,259 --> 00:30:33,299
he started using whatever English he had, and

828
00:30:33,299 --> 00:30:34,039
he obviously

829
00:30:34,419 --> 00:30:36,839
had learned some English. Okay. Yeah.

830
00:30:37,785 --> 00:30:39,644
And he was a local guy and

831
00:30:40,585 --> 00:30:42,525
we chatted in that very

832
00:30:42,904 --> 00:30:43,404
earnest

833
00:30:44,025 --> 00:30:46,125
and charming way where

834
00:30:47,625 --> 00:30:50,125
everything you say is acknowledged as wonderful

835
00:30:50,690 --> 00:30:53,329
and everything they say is is acknowledged as

836
00:30:53,329 --> 00:30:54,950
wonderful because we're all making

837
00:30:55,250 --> 00:30:56,630
an effort to overcome

838
00:30:57,410 --> 00:30:58,369
and to cross

839
00:30:58,849 --> 00:31:00,950
Mhmm. A river of differences

840
00:31:01,490 --> 00:31:03,670
Mhmm. That is so deep Yes.

841
00:31:04,289 --> 00:31:05,990
Profoundly cultural and linguistic

842
00:31:07,075 --> 00:31:07,734
and class.

843
00:31:08,434 --> 00:31:08,934
Right.

844
00:31:10,514 --> 00:31:13,174
And so I find myself in those circumstances

845
00:31:13,394 --> 00:31:13,894
developing

846
00:31:14,434 --> 00:31:15,654
a genuine,

847
00:31:16,914 --> 00:31:18,375
almost visceral affection

848
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,819
for for the relationship Mhmm.

849
00:31:22,919 --> 00:31:25,419
Very quickly. And we had to leave eventually.

850
00:31:26,519 --> 00:31:29,480
And I remember sitting there and at one

851
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,279
point in in in the Burmese way, he

852
00:31:32,279 --> 00:31:34,539
took my hand and he held my hand

853
00:31:35,375 --> 00:31:37,855
for a long, long time as we were

854
00:31:37,855 --> 00:31:40,414
watching this performance. Mhmm. And it was time

855
00:31:40,414 --> 00:31:41,555
for us to leave, and

856
00:31:42,174 --> 00:31:43,075
we got up.

857
00:31:43,455 --> 00:31:44,434
I thanked him

858
00:31:45,055 --> 00:31:47,455
for inviting us and for treating us the

859
00:31:47,455 --> 00:31:48,595
way he did. Mhmm.

860
00:31:49,455 --> 00:31:50,910
And his response was,

861
00:31:51,309 --> 00:31:52,450
when you go home,

862
00:31:53,390 --> 00:31:54,849
don't forget about us.

863
00:31:56,029 --> 00:31:56,529
Interesting.

864
00:31:56,830 --> 00:32:01,250
Tell the world we're here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

865
00:32:01,950 --> 00:32:03,309
I will never because they feel like they

866
00:32:03,309 --> 00:32:04,590
were on the other side of the moon.

867
00:32:04,590 --> 00:32:07,265
I will never forget those words. Sure. Well,

868
00:32:07,265 --> 00:32:08,944
I felt like I was on the other

869
00:32:08,944 --> 00:32:10,464
side of the moon. But you could go

870
00:32:10,464 --> 00:32:12,304
back to the side where the sun shines.

871
00:32:12,304 --> 00:32:14,384
Right. I was privileged enough to do that.

872
00:32:14,384 --> 00:32:15,845
Absolutely. Right. Yeah.

873
00:32:16,865 --> 00:32:19,630
And it that's that's that's very powerful. You

874
00:32:19,630 --> 00:32:21,390
mentioned something, though, in the in the course

875
00:32:21,390 --> 00:32:21,970
of that

876
00:32:22,269 --> 00:32:24,029
where you said in the Burmese way, he

877
00:32:24,029 --> 00:32:25,009
took your hand.

878
00:32:25,309 --> 00:32:27,230
Can you give a can because we don't

879
00:32:27,230 --> 00:32:29,950
have cameras. Can you give a a a

880
00:32:29,950 --> 00:32:33,025
a definition of that more specifically? We were

881
00:32:33,025 --> 00:32:34,465
sitting side by side, and he just took

882
00:32:34,465 --> 00:32:35,904
my hand. Hold on. But in in there's

883
00:32:35,904 --> 00:32:37,265
not a specific way or anything. He just

884
00:32:37,265 --> 00:32:38,625
took your hand for a period of time.

885
00:32:38,785 --> 00:32:40,384
That if 2 men do that in many

886
00:32:40,384 --> 00:32:42,305
parts of the world, it means something else.

887
00:32:42,384 --> 00:32:44,545
United States. It could mean something else. Sure.

888
00:32:44,625 --> 00:32:46,279
Meant nothing but friendship.

889
00:32:46,580 --> 00:32:47,320
Yeah. Yeah.

890
00:32:48,340 --> 00:32:50,340
Okay. Wonderful story. I think,

891
00:32:50,820 --> 00:32:53,140
yeah. And it and it to me, it

892
00:32:53,140 --> 00:32:54,900
it goes to show that there are these

893
00:32:54,900 --> 00:32:57,940
rivers of differences, right, that you're all waiting

894
00:32:57,940 --> 00:32:59,855
through. At the same time, there's not only

895
00:32:59,855 --> 00:33:02,434
the commonality of we're getting together and celebrating

896
00:33:02,494 --> 00:33:04,255
and it's joyous and we're, you know, this

897
00:33:04,255 --> 00:33:06,034
communal experience that we see

898
00:33:06,414 --> 00:33:08,335
happening in lots of different ways across all

899
00:33:08,335 --> 00:33:11,054
different countries and cultures, but also just that

900
00:33:11,054 --> 00:33:13,980
desire to be seen in that case,

901
00:33:14,279 --> 00:33:16,599
right, and also to connect. Right? To hold

902
00:33:16,599 --> 00:33:18,519
hands and be together physically, but also to

903
00:33:18,519 --> 00:33:20,440
learn from one another. Actually, making of you

904
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:21,960
being there, and you're excited to be there

905
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,140
and building those bridges. An actual physical

906
00:33:24,914 --> 00:33:27,394
connection Yeah. Right. As well as a kind

907
00:33:27,394 --> 00:33:29,075
of a spiritual one. Yeah. The most important

908
00:33:29,075 --> 00:33:31,715
one. Very much so. I think there's there's

909
00:33:31,715 --> 00:33:33,795
a lot to be learned for people of

910
00:33:33,795 --> 00:33:34,855
reaching out

911
00:33:35,315 --> 00:33:38,055
to understand the other person regardless.

912
00:33:39,460 --> 00:33:40,839
I mean, there are obviously

913
00:33:42,259 --> 00:33:44,339
lines you can draw about how people treat

914
00:33:44,339 --> 00:33:45,400
people, but nonetheless,

915
00:33:46,019 --> 00:33:48,099
if when when those factors don't come into

916
00:33:48,099 --> 00:33:48,599
play,

917
00:33:48,900 --> 00:33:49,559
the extremes,

918
00:33:50,019 --> 00:33:50,659
you can

919
00:33:51,140 --> 00:33:52,519
that that reaching out

920
00:33:52,845 --> 00:33:55,105
has a has a real impact

921
00:33:55,964 --> 00:33:56,464
emotionally,

922
00:33:56,924 --> 00:33:57,424
spiritually

923
00:33:57,964 --> 00:33:59,744
on on the people involved.

924
00:34:00,125 --> 00:34:02,204
I have to say that because I've been

925
00:34:02,204 --> 00:34:04,765
privileged enough to to go so many places

926
00:34:04,765 --> 00:34:06,779
and to do this this kind of work,

927
00:34:08,059 --> 00:34:10,400
that I've learned to evaluate,

928
00:34:12,619 --> 00:34:15,280
situations where I might actually be in danger

929
00:34:15,739 --> 00:34:17,340
because I don't want to be naive about

930
00:34:17,340 --> 00:34:19,734
the fact that -Sure. -there are there are

931
00:34:19,734 --> 00:34:21,494
agendas out there in the world that can

932
00:34:21,494 --> 00:34:22,795
endanger me. Mhmm.

933
00:34:23,175 --> 00:34:23,574
And,

934
00:34:24,135 --> 00:34:27,414
regardless of of how open and willing I

935
00:34:27,414 --> 00:34:28,234
am to

936
00:34:28,614 --> 00:34:31,539
to to be in certain situations, I I

937
00:34:31,539 --> 00:34:34,839
could be foolish enough also to endanger myself

938
00:34:34,900 --> 00:34:36,119
if I weren't savvy.

939
00:34:38,019 --> 00:34:39,719
So I'm always kind of evaluating

940
00:34:40,500 --> 00:34:41,880
how open do I be,

941
00:34:42,500 --> 00:34:44,839
or how much do I trust

942
00:34:45,299 --> 00:34:46,119
this situation,

943
00:34:47,494 --> 00:34:49,355
And I have to say that I've

944
00:34:50,695 --> 00:34:53,255
after all after all of this, I come

945
00:34:53,255 --> 00:34:54,795
down on the side of

946
00:34:56,614 --> 00:34:58,215
know as much as you can before you

947
00:34:58,215 --> 00:35:00,535
go so that you don't put yourself in

948
00:35:00,535 --> 00:35:02,075
harm's way. Yes. Definitely.

949
00:35:04,429 --> 00:35:06,429
But if you decide to go based on

950
00:35:06,429 --> 00:35:06,929
that,

951
00:35:07,309 --> 00:35:09,869
you are always safer trying to reach across

952
00:35:09,869 --> 00:35:12,510
that river. Mhmm. Mhmm. And that and that

953
00:35:12,510 --> 00:35:13,250
the similarities

954
00:35:14,269 --> 00:35:16,864
will will always overcome the differences

955
00:35:17,164 --> 00:35:19,905
if you stay open and knowledgeable

956
00:35:20,204 --> 00:35:22,364
about where you are. Yes. Yeah. And I

957
00:35:22,364 --> 00:35:25,324
felt very safe at that point. Yeah. I

958
00:35:25,324 --> 00:35:26,144
really do.

959
00:35:31,450 --> 00:35:33,550
We continued our journey from,

960
00:35:34,570 --> 00:35:35,469
mid Irrawaddy,

961
00:35:36,410 --> 00:35:36,910
onto

962
00:35:37,450 --> 00:35:39,530
up to the north to the Mandalay, and

963
00:35:39,530 --> 00:35:41,309
hence, I'm wearing the shirt Right.

964
00:35:41,610 --> 00:35:43,550
That of the Moustache Brothers.

965
00:35:43,849 --> 00:35:45,675
This is a t shirt that I got

966
00:35:45,914 --> 00:35:47,914
in the garage of the house of the

967
00:35:47,914 --> 00:35:50,335
mustache brothers who lived in Mandalay.

968
00:35:50,635 --> 00:35:52,414
Uh-huh. And the mustache brothers

969
00:35:53,275 --> 00:35:55,515
were 3 guys. I think right now, they're

970
00:35:55,515 --> 00:35:57,275
just 2 of them. Yeah. I think one

971
00:35:57,275 --> 00:35:58,050
of them died.

972
00:35:59,489 --> 00:36:02,550
3 guys who got themselves into serious trouble

973
00:36:02,610 --> 00:36:04,230
with the deal with the military.

974
00:36:04,690 --> 00:36:07,750
Really? Because they would start putting on shows,

975
00:36:09,010 --> 00:36:11,510
that were basically subversive and

976
00:36:13,055 --> 00:36:16,015
and were anti military. Yeah. Anti Yeah. And

977
00:36:16,015 --> 00:36:16,974
they were on the

978
00:36:17,615 --> 00:36:19,695
the first show that they did in their

979
00:36:19,695 --> 00:36:20,195
house,

980
00:36:20,494 --> 00:36:22,275
in the garage, in Mandalay,

981
00:36:23,615 --> 00:36:26,015
no. The first show was in Rangoon, actually.

982
00:36:26,015 --> 00:36:27,960
They were invited by Aung San Suu Kyi.

983
00:36:28,119 --> 00:36:30,039
Oh, okay. And they did and they did

984
00:36:30,039 --> 00:36:32,839
their performance. They're performers. They're jugglers and clowns.

985
00:36:32,839 --> 00:36:35,079
And it's a comedy. Right? Is that is

986
00:36:35,079 --> 00:36:36,760
that the root? Yeah. It's a comedy. Balu

987
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,599
Zah. Those are the 2 brothers' names, I

988
00:36:38,599 --> 00:36:40,359
think, if I'm reading your shirt correctly. Corporal

989
00:36:40,359 --> 00:36:42,085
Lau, I think. There's another

990
00:36:42,385 --> 00:36:43,525
one. Yeah. So,

991
00:36:44,545 --> 00:36:46,964
she invited them to put on the show,

992
00:36:47,025 --> 00:36:49,125
to do their show for her. Okay.

993
00:36:49,824 --> 00:36:51,045
She was subsequently,

994
00:36:51,744 --> 00:36:53,764
I think, later that year, arrested.

995
00:36:54,224 --> 00:36:55,444
They were shut down.

996
00:36:56,139 --> 00:36:58,460
Yeah. They were put in prison Oh, wow.

997
00:36:58,539 --> 00:37:00,559
For, I think, 7 years. Wow.

998
00:37:01,099 --> 00:37:02,480
And then they

999
00:37:03,099 --> 00:37:05,179
were released when things started to open up

1000
00:37:05,179 --> 00:37:07,340
a little bit again. Okay. And they were

1001
00:37:07,340 --> 00:37:10,105
given rights to perform their show

1002
00:37:10,644 --> 00:37:12,264
only in their garage

1003
00:37:12,724 --> 00:37:13,464
in Mandalay

1004
00:37:14,164 --> 00:37:15,545
and only to foreigners.

1005
00:37:16,885 --> 00:37:17,385
Interesting.

1006
00:37:17,764 --> 00:37:18,565
Okay. Every

1007
00:37:18,964 --> 00:37:20,264
Really to foreigners.

1008
00:37:20,724 --> 00:37:21,784
Every night

1009
00:37:22,804 --> 00:37:24,739
I can I can see? They play to

1010
00:37:24,739 --> 00:37:26,820
a, quote, unquote, full house, which is about

1011
00:37:26,820 --> 00:37:28,739
25 people in Yeah. In the garage. Sure.

1012
00:37:28,739 --> 00:37:30,679
That's right. And when we went to Mandalay,

1013
00:37:30,739 --> 00:37:32,500
we bought tickets Yeah. When we when we

1014
00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:34,500
went, and it's all foreigners. Yeah. Yeah. There

1015
00:37:34,500 --> 00:37:36,625
are no locals. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I'm not

1016
00:37:36,625 --> 00:37:37,158
even sure

1017
00:37:37,744 --> 00:37:39,345
control and power. I'm I'm not even sure

1018
00:37:39,345 --> 00:37:41,585
locals would want to go because they wanted

1019
00:37:41,744 --> 00:37:44,885
the danger. Dangerous. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

1020
00:37:45,184 --> 00:37:47,505
And I I remember sitting there. The show's

1021
00:37:47,505 --> 00:37:48,119
in English

1022
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,240
because it's all foreigners. Right. And so one

1023
00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:53,000
could say it's a it was the most

1024
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:53,500
unusual

1025
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,300
touristic show I've ever been to

1026
00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:58,519
because, you know, you can go anywhere in

1027
00:37:58,519 --> 00:37:59,960
the world and you can get a you

1028
00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:02,039
can sit down in a, like, a club

1029
00:38:02,039 --> 00:38:04,625
and see the tourist show of the local

1030
00:38:04,625 --> 00:38:07,105
dancing. Sure. Yes. Of a tourist show of

1031
00:38:07,105 --> 00:38:09,425
how to do tango in Buenos Aires. Right.

1032
00:38:09,425 --> 00:38:11,744
Right. Yep. Yep. And and the place is

1033
00:38:11,744 --> 00:38:14,105
full of just tourists. Yeah. And it's fun

1034
00:38:14,304 --> 00:38:17,204
Yeah. To some degree. Right? But this was

1035
00:38:18,099 --> 00:38:20,119
political dissent Yeah. Uh-huh.

1036
00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:21,000
In

1037
00:38:21,539 --> 00:38:22,679
Burma. Yeah.

1038
00:38:23,460 --> 00:38:24,280
Same. And

1039
00:38:24,820 --> 00:38:26,739
and it was and it was a tourist

1040
00:38:26,739 --> 00:38:29,780
show, but it was kind of edgy. Right.

1041
00:38:29,780 --> 00:38:31,699
Sure. And they were allowed to do this

1042
00:38:31,699 --> 00:38:34,635
only because this was the the deal between

1043
00:38:34,635 --> 00:38:36,555
them and the junta. Yeah. Right. So you're

1044
00:38:36,555 --> 00:38:37,855
not influencing the locals.

1045
00:38:38,155 --> 00:38:40,335
No. Right. Their power isn't being

1046
00:38:40,635 --> 00:38:42,394
isn't put at risk is how they're looking

1047
00:38:42,394 --> 00:38:44,074
at it. Right. Sure. And and the what's

1048
00:38:44,074 --> 00:38:45,835
interesting to me with that also is that

1049
00:38:45,835 --> 00:38:46,574
it's saying,

1050
00:38:47,340 --> 00:38:49,660
we don't believe you will have enough impact

1051
00:38:49,820 --> 00:38:52,619
Sure. On the foreigners Mhmm. To to to

1052
00:38:52,619 --> 00:38:55,500
have a any kind of global reaction Oh,

1053
00:38:55,500 --> 00:38:57,019
we don't even care. To who we were.

1054
00:38:57,019 --> 00:38:57,680
Right. Right.

1055
00:38:58,300 --> 00:39:01,099
So but the local people, that could drive

1056
00:39:01,099 --> 00:39:04,244
up, descent. Yeah. And that is a much

1057
00:39:04,244 --> 00:39:07,444
more real thing for the existing government. I

1058
00:39:07,444 --> 00:39:09,284
remember one of their jokes, and and the

1059
00:39:09,284 --> 00:39:10,824
show itself was kind of, like,

1060
00:39:11,125 --> 00:39:13,125
a little bit stale at times, and and

1061
00:39:13,125 --> 00:39:14,824
other times it was like, woah.

1062
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,360
This is am I gonna be in trouble

1063
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:18,820
here when I walk out of here?

1064
00:39:19,119 --> 00:39:20,980
You know? And every now and they said,

1065
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,400
we may have visits by the local police.

1066
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,980
Mhmm. You know, that's okay. Yep. Everything everybody's

1067
00:39:27,039 --> 00:39:29,280
gonna be cool. It's it's alright. Uh-huh. So

1068
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,235
we're all kinda sitting there waiting to see

1069
00:39:31,235 --> 00:39:33,155
who shows up. It's gonna happen. Yeah. Yeah.

1070
00:39:33,155 --> 00:39:35,074
Nobody did. Right. Right. We were there that

1071
00:39:35,074 --> 00:39:36,934
night anyway. Right. And,

1072
00:39:37,235 --> 00:39:38,835
I remember one of the jokes he said.

1073
00:39:38,835 --> 00:39:41,414
He said, and please, as visitors to Myanmar,

1074
00:39:41,635 --> 00:39:43,930
please don't steal. He said, because the government

1075
00:39:43,930 --> 00:39:45,070
doesn't like the competition.

1076
00:39:48,809 --> 00:39:51,150
Nice. Very good. Very, very good.

1077
00:39:52,090 --> 00:39:53,630
Well but that's fascinating.

1078
00:39:53,930 --> 00:39:54,170
The,

1079
00:39:54,969 --> 00:39:56,730
by the by the way, for those of

1080
00:39:56,730 --> 00:39:58,190
you who don't know, mustache

1081
00:39:58,885 --> 00:40:00,644
would be the way we basically would be

1082
00:40:00,644 --> 00:40:01,144
pronouncing

1083
00:40:01,525 --> 00:40:04,025
mustache. And they do have sort of outsides

1084
00:40:04,244 --> 00:40:06,485
mustaches. They do. They do. Uh-huh. What does

1085
00:40:06,485 --> 00:40:08,405
it say where the two sentences that are

1086
00:40:08,405 --> 00:40:10,005
on the bottom? Shirt that Dean is wearing

1087
00:40:10,005 --> 00:40:11,280
right now. Yeah.

1088
00:40:11,679 --> 00:40:13,619
If you have not seen our dancing,

1089
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,039
they do dancing. They do a a lot

1090
00:40:17,039 --> 00:40:17,519
of,

1091
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,280
slapstick comedy. Uh-huh. You cannot say you have

1092
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,599
been to Mandalay. There you go. Okay. Well,

1093
00:40:23,599 --> 00:40:24,880
you can say you've been there. Yes. I've

1094
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:26,394
been there. I've not seen the dancing, so

1095
00:40:26,394 --> 00:40:28,275
I have nothing. Cannot say that. Nope. Nope.

1096
00:40:28,275 --> 00:40:29,875
But I'd like to go. Yeah. Yeah. See

1097
00:40:29,875 --> 00:40:32,114
it. There's very large pictures of the 3

1098
00:40:32,114 --> 00:40:34,434
gentlemen on the T shirt too there. It's

1099
00:40:34,434 --> 00:40:36,355
very fascinating. It's a bunch of shirts. They

1100
00:40:36,355 --> 00:40:38,034
all have mustaches. Yeah. So that's the

1101
00:40:38,675 --> 00:40:39,414
or moustaches

1102
00:40:39,715 --> 00:40:41,550
is if we if we choose.

1103
00:40:42,590 --> 00:40:43,809
Alright. Well, great.

1104
00:40:44,269 --> 00:40:45,949
Very interesting. I I think so too. I

1105
00:40:45,949 --> 00:40:46,449
think

1106
00:40:47,070 --> 00:40:49,070
I've I know I've learned a lot today,

1107
00:40:49,070 --> 00:40:51,969
and that's that's saying something for this podcast.

1108
00:40:53,309 --> 00:40:54,614
Oh, I thought you just you just know

1109
00:40:54,614 --> 00:40:56,855
everything. It's No. No. No. What I'm saying

1110
00:40:56,855 --> 00:40:59,175
is that we've we've actually taught somebody something

1111
00:40:59,175 --> 00:41:00,775
here today. Oh, good. Well, we, Dean Yeah.

1112
00:41:00,775 --> 00:41:02,775
I was gonna say really. Dean has done

1113
00:41:02,775 --> 00:41:04,215
it. Yeah. I just wanna add that we

1114
00:41:04,215 --> 00:41:07,014
sat here going, oh, yeah. What? Cool. We

1115
00:41:07,014 --> 00:41:08,746
were And I grew a mustache, by the

1116
00:41:08,746 --> 00:41:10,039
way. No. I can't. During during it. When

1117
00:41:10,039 --> 00:41:12,119
we were on when we left Mandalay and

1118
00:41:12,119 --> 00:41:13,640
got back on the boat Mhmm. And we

1119
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:14,940
had to go back down

1120
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:17,480
river again. We were I believe we were

1121
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:19,579
going downriver to Bagan. Okay.

1122
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,215
Bagan is one of the most

1123
00:41:23,175 --> 00:41:23,675
spiritual

1124
00:41:25,015 --> 00:41:27,675
iridescent places I've ever been. Mhmm. It's

1125
00:41:27,974 --> 00:41:28,795
it's absolutely

1126
00:41:29,894 --> 00:41:30,394
quiet.

1127
00:41:30,775 --> 00:41:31,835
There are 10

1128
00:41:33,255 --> 00:41:34,235
well, there were

1129
00:41:34,535 --> 00:41:37,114
when Bagan was the capital of of,

1130
00:41:38,219 --> 00:41:39,199
of the Empire

1131
00:41:39,579 --> 00:41:40,800
back in the Middle Ages.

1132
00:41:41,340 --> 00:41:42,800
There were over 10,000

1133
00:41:43,260 --> 00:41:43,760
pagodas.

1134
00:41:44,940 --> 00:41:47,739
Wow. And there are still today, I think,

1135
00:41:47,739 --> 00:41:48,880
something like 25100.

1136
00:41:49,900 --> 00:41:52,639
Wow. Wow. And you walk a plane

1137
00:41:53,565 --> 00:41:56,284
and you just walk amongst these pagodas. Woah.

1138
00:41:56,284 --> 00:41:57,184
Over 2,000

1139
00:41:57,565 --> 00:41:58,224
of them.

1140
00:41:58,844 --> 00:42:02,144
Wow. It is the most remarkable place. Yeah.

1141
00:42:02,525 --> 00:42:03,025
Wow.

1142
00:42:03,565 --> 00:42:06,844
Very interesting. Spectacular. And and, honestly, something we

1143
00:42:06,844 --> 00:42:08,224
may need to investigate

1144
00:42:08,525 --> 00:42:09,025
farther,

1145
00:42:09,449 --> 00:42:12,010
but not today. Not today? No. No. But

1146
00:42:12,010 --> 00:42:13,849
just keep that picture in mind of all

1147
00:42:13,849 --> 00:42:15,690
of this because it's wow. May may may

1148
00:42:15,690 --> 00:42:17,949
you may you have peaceful visions.

1149
00:42:19,130 --> 00:42:20,650
Mhmm. Toren, thank you for your,

1150
00:42:21,530 --> 00:42:22,030
insights

1151
00:42:22,864 --> 00:42:25,664
in in this today and for your, involvement.

1152
00:42:25,664 --> 00:42:26,164
Dean,

1153
00:42:26,784 --> 00:42:29,025
a a wonderful podcast, in my opinion. I

1154
00:42:29,025 --> 00:42:31,984
think, very, very insightful. Yeah. Well, thank you.

1155
00:42:31,984 --> 00:42:34,385
And, it was a fantastic trip, but it's

1156
00:42:34,385 --> 00:42:37,210
something that was I was, again, very privileged

1157
00:42:37,510 --> 00:42:38,710
to make and and,

1158
00:42:39,909 --> 00:42:41,589
pleased that we were able to take advantage

1159
00:42:41,589 --> 00:42:43,349
of it. Except I was told on the

1160
00:42:43,349 --> 00:42:45,750
boat when I put my hand in the

1161
00:42:45,750 --> 00:42:48,550
river Mhmm. To remove my hand as quickly

1162
00:42:48,550 --> 00:42:50,804
as possible because the most poisonous snakes

1163
00:42:51,364 --> 00:42:52,405
in the world were in that river. Oh

1164
00:42:52,405 --> 00:42:54,484
my. They didn't want me to Well, that

1165
00:42:54,484 --> 00:42:55,844
was nice of them because that could've been

1166
00:42:55,844 --> 00:42:57,605
kind of interesting to walk right to the

1167
00:42:57,605 --> 00:42:59,605
other realm. Happens. Yeah. Let's see what happens

1168
00:42:59,605 --> 00:43:02,324
to this You would've been really spiritual at

1169
00:43:02,324 --> 00:43:04,885
that point. Exactly. Yeah. Then you certainly would

1170
00:43:04,885 --> 00:43:06,619
not have forgotten your your time there. There

1171
00:43:06,619 --> 00:43:08,780
we go. But fortunately have it anyway. Fortunately,

1172
00:43:08,780 --> 00:43:10,320
he got his hand out of the water,

1173
00:43:10,619 --> 00:43:12,460
and he is his hand. He's still Dean

1174
00:43:12,460 --> 00:43:15,340
Foster. I'm still Tom Peterson. But I put

1175
00:43:15,340 --> 00:43:17,500
my foot in my mouth. Well Well, what

1176
00:43:17,500 --> 00:43:19,340
else is there? That is not new. Not

1177
00:43:19,340 --> 00:43:19,840
news.

1178
00:43:20,175 --> 00:43:22,275
And we're here because

1179
00:43:23,454 --> 00:43:24,195
Oops. Oops.

1180
00:43:24,894 --> 00:43:26,114
Your culture show.

1181
00:43:26,815 --> 00:43:27,315
Smell?

1182
00:43:28,015 --> 00:43:28,515
Yeah.

1183
00:43:37,980 --> 00:43:39,900
Before you run off and disappear back into

1184
00:43:39,900 --> 00:43:41,119
your own cultures,

1185
00:43:41,659 --> 00:43:43,739
let me give you some information about something

1186
00:43:43,739 --> 00:43:45,659
we really want you to know, and that's

1187
00:43:45,659 --> 00:43:47,599
how to get hold of us.

1188
00:43:48,059 --> 00:43:49,094
Give us your questions,

1189
00:43:54,295 --> 00:43:54,795
oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

1190
00:43:57,894 --> 00:43:59,974
And be sure to follow us on whatever

1191
00:43:59,974 --> 00:44:02,474
social media you use at oopscultureshow.

1192
00:44:03,974 --> 00:44:04,474
Thanks.