I made my first trip to Burma in 1986 after being told repeatedly of this exotic Buddhist haven and a "must visit "country which was unexploited by outsiders. I was told to bring 555 cigarettes and a bottle of Johnny Walker whisky of any label, the cheaper the better as these two items could be exchanged for cash or souvenirs that were worth three times more.

My duty free bag containing these two things was immediately snatched up on arrival by the highest bidder, who had also become my guide and driver in Rangoon and Pegu. He was the most interesting and sincere person I have ever met whom I nicknamed "I do for you" because of all the possible little business transactions that he had proposed to me. His popular line being "madame, anything you want I do for you", no problem "I do for you". He has given me so much insight into his country whether it was regarding politics, places of interest, where to find antiques, how to make extra money from their duty free shops and whatsoever, he would always recite the famous line. "I do for you".

He drove me to Pegu, round about an hour and a half away from Rangoon and being a tourist I was taken to the main pagoda where a well known reclining Buddha which is covered in gold was in place .In the courtyard behind the pagoda were worshippers cleansing Buddha images by pouring holy water over them from beautifully incised silver bowls(tabeik), many of which have been replaced with simpler metal ones. At a little corner I saw a man with cages full of colourful parrots. Buddhist believe in releasing captured creatures in order to have better karma but these birds have been trained to return to their master later in the day and I thought this little scam was somehow only symbolic and consoling but harmless.

A fortune teller who has been watching me releasing those birds smiled and walked up to me. He led me to his little shelter and I sat facing him with my palms stretched out to have my fortune told. He opened his drawer and pulled out a pair of reading glasses which is cracked on its remaining single lense. With a loud and clear voice he predicted that I would meet a" big big man". An old woman who was lining her clothes out to dry, and must have heard this same nonsense over and over again burst out laughing uncontrollably; exposing her gold- capped teeth. We looked at each other and we too burst out laughing. This has been a good joke on me and I haven't met my big big man yet.
I left Maung Maung Aye, "the driver's name" behind to visit Pagan and Mandalay on my own for a few days. Pagan is expansive with many little stone stupas scattered around a wide field .Many lacquer wares ,stone beads, rubies, sapphires, silver boxes as well as rare and interesting shaped opium weight were plentiful. The old capital of Mandalay is a walled up city which is serene and peaceful with reminiscence of the majestic past. People were relaxed and did not seemed so anxious as their contemporaries in the other capitals.
I did not return to Myanmar till many years later in 1998 because I was too busy discovering other parts of South East Asia. I decided to return to Yangon on business and as usual I relied on cabbies for my work. One afternoon on my back from Pegu in a cab, the driver pulled over to have a chat with another driver who was waiting for a passenger. To my surprise, it was Maung Maung Aye but it took him a little while to remember me. We were so glad to meet each other again after all these years and it seemed like he is dedicated to his job. We exchanged phone number and since then he has been my guide following my other trips to Yangon. Besides sourcing for antiques for my shop, I also brought home fresh cut flowers and huge prawns that were big as lobster .This was all from the idea of "I do for you", who has driven me to the wholesale fish market by the Irrawaddy river early in the morning. It is unthinkable to carry these fresh produce on board now. What a pity. Travelling is no longer simple and spontaneous with so many regulations imposed on the passengers. I plan to make Burma my next stop!