Cyclone: 1 Meighan: 0

I'm feeling a tad bit defeated as I write this. I am currently in Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal and on my way, by flight, back to Yangon with an uncertain plan. From Ngapali I travelled by "line bus" to Thandwe. A line bus is basically a small Japanese style truck with a short cab and a longer box with benches built in the back to move people and cargo. In Thandwe, my motorcycle taxi driver got me on a larger line bus ... Basically a covered flatbed truck, full of people and cargo. I have no idea if there was a real bus but he said this leaves now, let's go! So I climbed in and we rambled away. We rode on top of the cargo through hilly Rakine rice fields to Taunggok. I had to spend the night in Taunggok which was very basic (and I got a whole new set of swollen bed bugs bites!). In the morning I caught the ferry to Sittwe through the Bay of Bengal. It was a 12 hour ride with blaring Burmese TV and little excitement. It was neat to pull up to small villages scatttered through the islands and also interesting to have the ferry be met by small wooden boats from where people climbed aboard the ferry. I had planned to take the small river ferry to visit the ruins in Mrauk U in the morning. Unfortunately in the morning when I went to the jetty the ferry had been cancelled due to a tropical storm forming in the Bay. I spent the day visiting a small weaving village accessed by small wooden boats on a little creek. Although the weaving was interesting, a highlight was visiting the school and meeting all the little cutie pies there. At one point about 30 little kids were all gathered around me screeching and laughing as we took photos. The school is extremely basic. Equal to or possibly worse than the schools in the refugee camps in Thailand. The village has no power and the students are definitely not getting anything that even comes close to a 21st Century education. 

This morning I got up to the sound of heavy rain and knew the ferry would be cancelled. The problem with Mrauk U is the it's fairly remote, and foreigners are restricted from travelling by bus through many places in the state. On top of that, Rakine is one of the poorest regions in the country and infrastructure is crumbling and non-existent. There is no internet, limited power and patchy running water. This does not make living, or travelling, easy. After I learned the ferry was cancelled, I was told I could get a seat on a bus but when I went to the bus station they said that buses were cancelled as villages and roads were completely flooded. After discussing it with the hotel staff, it was decided that it was best to give up on getting Mrauk U and fly back to Yangon (the only available destination from Sittwe) and decide what next. The BBC is warning this storm could turn into a cyclone, so it's best to be safe even if I am questioning my initial decision to travel here. It's been an interesting journey and I've learned a lot about real life in Burma, and the daily struggles people experience. Although not everyone agrees how, every single person is clear that they want change in their country and they want fair and just democracy. This is so evident in Rakine, which feels completely left behind. Life in Burma is living meditation practice - be in the moment, be flexible and accept what you cannot control. I'm also reminded that as a Westerner, I have the fortune of being able to buy my way out on a flight. So - to Yangon - and regroup ...