Mandalay Burma Part II

On my first full day in Burma, while I was strolling up the stairs at Mandalay Hill, a young Burmese guy approached me and started asking me questions. At first I thought he was asking for money in exchange for being a “tour guide,” as this often happens at tourist sites. But he insisted that he didn’t want money and that he just wanted to practice his English and teach me about the history of Mandalay Hill. “My name is Zar Ni.” And as it turned out, Zar Ni was full of knowledge, spoke impressive English (though he would humbly tell you otherwise) and was one of the sweetest humans I was blessed to meet on my travels.

Over the next 3 days, Zar Ni and I were inseparable. “Where do you want to go?!” he would ask me each day when he picked me up at my guesthouse. “Anywhere!” I’d always answer back. And after a quick bite to eat at his favorite food stalls, we’d set off on his motorbike.

Rather than going to all the traditional tourist sites, I asked Zar Ni to take me to a village that no tourists go to. The village he chose was called Sinywargyi Village. While we were driving, Zar Ni would periodically shout things over this shoulder “Er eee kaa, have you ever had Toddy before??” After shouting back “huh?!” “what?! “i don’t understand!” a few times, he would pull over and explain.

“A toddy is the alcohol wine from palm trees. It is made by collecting the…the…” Sap was the word he was looking for, and then, I realized through tasting, it is fermented. The toddy is a staple drink in Burma, and it is often enjoyed with a dish of fried rat. “Wait, fried RAT?” I had to make sure I heard him right. Yup, fried rat. Fortunately, they aren’t the dirty subway rodent found in New York, but rather a type of field rat that lives in the grass. But my mind still couldn’t shake the idea of NYC rats, so after trying a small piece, I gave my portion to Zar Ni, much to his delight.

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