Our previous rather complex trips to Mon State for the purpose of making annual distributions of stationery, uniforms and the like to local children have always worked well but I had an intimation that the 2019 trip might be a little different a few days before I left England when the Doctor asked me to forward a copy of my Visa Introduction letter so that he could seek special permission for me to go to Ko Dut village in Mon state. Getting a basic visa approval to visit Myanmar is now easier than it was: the whole process is now conducted on the internet and, if successful, results in the issue of a Letter of Introduction in 'PDF' format which you print and hand to the Immigration Officer with your passport when you arrive in Myanmar. I've now used this process twice and it worked well.
However, in a country which formally recognises, I think, 135 different Ethnic Groups you may understand that travel to all parts of Myanmar is not possible for foreigners if the Government is not satisfied about security. Well, in 2019 the powers-that-be declined the special permit now required for me to visit Ko Dut which has always been one of our major distribution points.
The Doctor declined my suggestion that he should go ahead with the distribution at Ko Dut without me so, instead, the Doctor spent Monday morning working on an alternative strategy with Ma Yu Mon who runs Ko Dut D.I.C. (Drop In Centre) and had travelled to Mawlamyine to meet with us. This gave me unexpected and welcome free time in the Kyaung Myat Hotel to either rest or utilise the hotel's very acceptable Wi-Fi.
View of Mawlamyine from balcony of Room 304, Kaung Myat Hotel (Burma 2019)
It was decided that as many of the Ko Dut children as possible would be taken to Mudon Township by road for a combined distribution with children from Mudon. Because of the likely number of children attending and the relatively small size of Mudon D.I.C., the distribution was to be transferred to the local monastery and, because of the length of travelling involved for some of the children, a meal was also to be provided.
With a plan agreed, we walked across the road to one the excellent but economical tea shops where we enjoyed a tasty lunch. In the afternoon, I was free to catch-up with rest or work on the computer until 6.30 p.m. when we walked back to the same tea shop for our evening meal. We were joined there by our N.G.O. friend from the previous night, Zaw Moe Aung, and his wife.
Mawlamyine: Evening meal in the tea shop.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports
My pictures
I've uploaded lots of pictures to 'Flickr' but they're not all sorted and titled. I'll get onto it as soon as I can.
Burma 2019
Kyaung Myat Hotel, Mawlamyine (most pictures taken on earlier visits).
[Note on pictures added 21-May-2019]
