12th December, 1990
When it was time to return to town, Shay Reh, in his habitual blue-grey sarong and clutching a plastic bag, climbed onto the bike behind Kyaw. We arrived in Mae Hong Son unavoidably caked with dust. Kyaw and Shay Reh refused to fly without having a bath. We just brushed the dust off as best we could and prepared the plane whilst, on a pretext of returning the bikes, they vanished and reappeared squeaky clean. The plastic bag Shay Reh had clutched to his chest on the motorbike had contained a smart pair of jeans for the occasion.
The flight was memorable for us all. Our grinning passengers showed not the slightest fear. Both gazed out of the windows, nudging each other at the familiar landmarks. In minutes, we were above Nai Soi and circling Kyaw’s house on the river bend, where his wife waved from the courtyard. Then following the dirt track where we could discern it through the trees, we found Doh Selle.
Disappointment clouded Shay Reh’s face as he saw how insignificant his chiefdom was compared to the immensity of the forest. But the excited chattering soon resumed and, upon landing, they thanked us profusely and sped away to tell their friends all about it.
From Freedom of the Skies
Glimpses of the journey:
- Around the world
- Crossing the Atlantic
- Saint Louis, Senegal
- Bubaque, Guiné-Bissau
- Timbuktu, Mali
- Cottars’ Camp, Kenya
- Virungas National Park, Zaire
- Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
- Sossusvlei, Namíbia
- Lumbo, Mozambique
- Antananarivo Madagascar
- Adis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Misfat, Omã
- Jaipur, India
- Himalaia, Nepal
- Mae Hong Son, Thailand
- Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia
- Borobodur, Java, Indonesia
- Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya
- Gimbat, Australia
- Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands
- Hurricane in Apia, Western Samoa
- Anaa, Tuamotu, Polynesia
- Easter Island, Chile
- Crossing the Andes, Chile-Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
