Mingalaba!! Today we are in for a very long day and it is hotter than Hades. The ship has dropped anchor at Myin Mu, where we get off the boat and into the bus. Our first stop is a peanut factory, then lunch, where they fanned us while we ate.
We are on the way to a copper mine, which is a joint venture between the junta government of Myanmar and a company from Canada. As we are driving, we cross a bridge that was paid for by the women of this community, by way of selling their hair to China.
We visit the Peace Pagoda, with 5000 Buddha figures.
The locals do a primitive variety of mining seperate from the large mine. They use tin cans, acid and water from ponds of fetid water. One man sucked on a hose, and when the acid began to come, he then put it over the cans. He then spit, but what a way to make a living. I would think the acid would eventually destroy the tissue in his mouth. One need not worry about teeth in this part of the country, because most people chew and are addicted to the betel nut. When they chew this, the spit looks as if they are spitting blood. It destroys the gums and the teeth fall out. We give the kids in this village the peanuts we had bought earlier in the day, hoping they eat those instead of the betel nut.
We don't get back to the boat until dark and are all exhausted.
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