[When the buses or boats stop there are usually women with trays of bananas on their heads and they say, "Hello banana."]

In 2002 Andrea and I met Glenn and Sheila Ord on a small boat going up the Nam Ou River in Laos. I remember it well; Glenn and I eating bananas together on a beach during a break in our voyage and Glenn stating simply, "Not all bananas are the same." Of course I knew not all bananas were the same but it struck me as a funny statement - two strangers standing there on the sand bar. What I didn't know, at that time, was that I was rubbing shoulders with a world class banana aficionado.

Through the years we've not only kept in contact with Glenn and Sheila but have become good friends. They are the most traveled people we know and they keep a fascinating travel site in which you will find funny, insightful writing, gorgeous photos and Glenn's "Banana Index" (How many bananas he's gotten for a dollar all over the world.) You should check it out here: https://sites.google.com/site/chickensrunamok/

And this leads me to tell of a recent banana debacle. Already on this trip Andrea and I have had some of the best bananas we have ever eaten. Both in Yangon and Bagan. They weren't especially cheap, something like 14 for a dollar, but they were so delicious that you couldn't eat just one.

But I had been remembering the bananas in Monywa six years ago which were not only the best but the cheapest ones I had ever bought. I think I bought 24 for a dollar! It was one reason I was looking forward to returning to Monywa. The other was peanuts but that's another story.

When we got to Monywa the other day - first things first - I went looking for bananas. But I couldn't find any, not even one!! During our three day stay in Monywa I searched for bananas in markets but to no avail. It was the strangest thing. No bananas? How could this be? I've never been anywhere in Asia that was out of bananas. There are always bananas. I was starting to think there was some weird banana boycott in Monywa.

Then, yesterday, we rode our bikes 17 miles down a tiny and terribly bumpy road way out in the country to an ancient Buddhist site that no tourists ever went to because it was so out of the way. On that bad road we found bananas for sale! I don't know if I went a little crazy because of banana deprivation or if a miscommunication occurred but something went awry in the transaction. I picked out a bunch of about 14 bananas and the woman said a price that was way too much. Not knowing English at all I think she made a mistake in her numbers. It seemed she had given me a price five times higher than she meant to. Then she started putting five times the number of bananas in the bag and I didn't know what was happening. All I knew was that I hadn't had a banana in a long time and that we were on bikes. Bananas don't do well on bikes. So, I motioned that we couldn't carry that many bananas. It was a mess of miscommunication and I shoved too much money in her hand because I didn't care anymore but that made her very confused and we were on our way eating bananas as we rode flipping peels willy nilly at pigs and cows. I learned that cows in Burma, unlike India, don't eat banana peels.

As we rode on that road for hours the banana debacle went through my mind and I finally figured it out. I'm certain that if I had taken all the bananas she wanted to sell me it would have come out to around 52 bananas for a dollar. That means they are by far the cheapest bananas I've ever bought. Absolutely great taste too.

Glenn, the Burma Banana Index Challenge is on! (Glenn and Sheila are scheduled to arrive in Burma in just a few days.)

Lovebruce

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