Temples of Dogs

[Martin Hash]

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Some of the best travel adventures can't be predicted which is why when my wife, Gwynne, and I travel, we simply go with the flow. For example, while in Mandalay, Myanmar, after a wasted morning of seeing tourist-trap temples in the city, and just about giving up for the day, we took a short boat ride across the river, not knowing what was on the other side, simply following some other people, when we were confronted with a mass of horse-drawn buggies driven by local women through deep mud. Some of our party were appalled, claiming the animals were being mistreated and declined the opportunity to ride them, which convinced me to go wherever the horse-carts were going. Lucky me.

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Almost immediately, the awesomeness of the journey became apparent: shacks constructed of woven palm & banana fronds, Brahman cattle walking around loose, and families going about their everyday lives like it must have been a thousand years ago. After clopping along for about half an hour, we were wondering where we'd stop since so many interesting things had already passed, when finally we pulled up to an ancient temple, unique in that it was constructed of wood, and abandoned except for dogs. Further on, a 700-year old masonry temple was embedded in the jungle vegetation, a la Indiana Jones, with an overgrown Buddha hidden in an old, collapsing structure. Small puppies played joyously among the ruins, nibbling my fingers. We visited several other temples, all virtually silent. We could hear exotic bird calls and the wind blowing through the vacant structures, and the laughing of the local children playing among the ruins, an idealistic fantasy.

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