#cheroot = cheap cigar

[dailyjimmybuffett]

Cowboy in the Jungle

There's a cowboy in the jungle And he looks so out of place With his shrimpskin boots and his cheap cheroots And his skin as white as paste

Headin' south to Paraguay Where the Gauchos sing and shout Now he's stuck in Porto Bello Since his money all ran out

So he hangs out with the sailors Night and day they're raisin' hell And his original destination's Just another story that he loves to tell

With no plans for the future He still seems in control From a bronco ride to a ten foot tide He just had to learn to roll

Rolled with the punches. Played all of his hunches Made the best of whatever came his way What he lacked in ambition, he made up with intuition Plowin' straight ahead, come what may

Steel band in the distance And their music floats across the bay While American women in muumuus Talk about all the things they did today

And their husbands quack about fishing As they slug those rum drinks down Discussing who caught what and who sat on his butt But it's the only show in town

Tryin' to drink all the punches, they all may lose their lunches Tryin' to cram lost years into five or six days Seems that blind ambition erased their intuition Plowin' straight ahead, come what may

I don't want to live on that kind of island No, I don't want to swim in a roped-off sea Too much for me, too much for me I've got to be where the wind and the water are free

Alone on a midnight passage I can count the falling stars While the Southern Cross and the satellites They remind me of where we are

Spinning around in circles Living it day to day And still twenty four hours, maybe sixty good years It's really not that long a stay

We've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches Makin' the best of whatever comes your way Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition Plowin' straight ahead, come what may

And there's a cowboy in the jungle

#jimmy buffett #son of a son of a sailor #cowboy in the jungle #cheroot = cheap cigar #uncertain what Porto Bello is being used here but opted for the spelling for the fictional one #Spotify

[jblackbikes-blog]

Inle Lake

The hotel was able to call our boat driver from the day before and he picked us up at 8:30 from the dock at the hotel. We first headed to a silversmith's store in a building in one of the floating villages. The silversmith showed us how he melted the silver over hot coals until it was liquid and then he poured it into a mold and dunked it in water so we could hold the small bar of pure silver. They showed us in to a large show room and we decided to get some souvenirs and gifts. This was the first of many stops to see local artisans at work. The wears were not cheap, but beautiful and definitely worth it, with the added bonus of supporting these communities. Next we went to a "floating market" at Ywama Village. It was actually just a series of booths set up for tourists. We were really hoping to see the real floating market where farmers bring their boats filled with produce for the villages to buy, but those markets take place every fifth day. We couldn't find our driver so we decided to check out the temple in the middle of the village. Inside the middle were three gold globular shapes of gold leaf and it seemed like men were adding new pieces of gold leaf to them as their offerings (women are not allowed into this part of the temple). Next we visited a weaving shop that uses the fibers from the lotuses that grow everywhere in the lake to spin into thread and weave into fabrics. I had no idea that lotus plants had fibers that could be used for weaving! I decided to get a scarf that was a mix of dyed and natural colored lotus silk. We then went to see the traditional wooden ships being built and also got to see older women making cheroot cigars. They contain cheroot leaf, tobacco, honey, tamarind, brown sugar, rice wine, banana fruit, and star anise. After that we went to an umbrella making studio. It was really cool to see the way the wood handles and paper are made. Two Kayan women were also at this shop. The Kayan are a small ethnic group in Myanmar and the women wear brass rings around their necks. Because the rings are worn from a young age, the girls' collarbones get pushed down so that the neck appears lengthened. We went to lunch after. It was pretty bad and really the first truly inedible meal of our trip, probably because it was a spot that solely catered to tourists. We then took a boat trip across the lake and got dropped off at the base of a hill. We walked up for about 30 minutes under covered stairs until we got to a bunch of stupas at the top of the hill. We stopped at some other stupas on the way back down. When we got back to the boat our driver took us past a bunch of floating gardens. We saw tomatoes being harvested right from the vines growing out of the bogs in the water. After that we returned to our hotel. Daneille wasn't feeling well so we had a light dinner and decided to have an early night.