Mio Ye Blues

I walk to the monastery in Mio Ye, at the end of a long road through the forest. Passing through villages, wooden houses and paradise like scenes.

There is a mermaid near the entrance of the monastery. Mio Ye means something similar to the Blues, a colleague tells me. She seems to be waiting for someone. 

The place is quiet. Only the long sound of the bells of the monastery and the wind on the rocks disturb the silence. 

I can see the beach of Maungmagan in the distance. Beautiful, undisturbed – still – by the forces of development.

The storm arrives and I run away leaving bells, monastery and mermaid behind. In the way back, the children from the villages play with the rain laughing. Some really look like taken from a Rudyard Kipling novel.