Burmese tattoo

I got back to Zodiacs with one thing on my mind. He had already proven to be our biggest asset in Inle and I was wondering if it was possible that he knew a local tat artist who could provide a new needle and bottle of ink. Zodiac is covered in ink and if it was possible to obtain safe shit here in this part of the country he was the one to do it. 

He agreed, made one phone call and had his buddy at the travel shop within the hour with an unopened package containing a bottle of black ink and a new needle. 

How he does it I don't know. I did know however that with today's events, among them, touring Buddhist Temples, researching ancient Buddhist body art and meeting an old school master I would be damned if I wasn't going to do my best to be my word to U Josep. I told him if I found new ink & spikes I would add "Nat" to my collection. 

Nat is a Buddhist spirit who is believed once to have been human and died a violent death (known to Buddhists as a "Green Death"). She is considered a Guardian Angel of sorts and is enlisted to ward off evil. Considered a Goddess of Knowledge she  is very respected in ancient as well as modern Burmese Buddhism. 

When I saw her initially she immediately awoke a sense of familiarity in me. Call it a previous life maybe.

 I initially told the great master U Josep my plan and now the plan seemed to be breeding an outcome. 

As I sat in a chair in my new friends travel agency kiosk located on the dirt road connecting the mountain range to the lake I couldn't help to think how interesting it was that I am here. 

Myanmar (previously British Burma), a land that has been repressed for hundreds of years by both foreign powers and their own military regimes. 

A beautiful land filled with Temples worshiping an enlightened man, Siddhartha Gautama. Amongst his many Devine characteristics, Buddha's incredible resilience, his pain over seeing human suffering spawned his commitment to enlightenment, as well as peace for all. 

My mind swirled around thoughts of Kings and politicians who have traveled these same roads and historically done as they want as self absorbed Nobles. All of them human and as human abusing human rights within the  move upward. 

Many used the Buddhist flag to level the karmatic field. 

By building another pagoda, another shrine to represent a good side some noble Buddhist believe they make up for all the evil they displayed in their quest for upward mobility. 

I became attuned to all these thoughts as a modern Burmese Buddhist free handed a symbol of his native culture on my arm with a ballpoint pen. In just a few moments he was to puncture my skin with a mark that would represent (to me at least) all I am thinking and all that has come before me in this beautiful land. 

I sit in the chair next to Zodiac's desk as the first foreigner (& most likely first human) to ever get a tattoo in this spot. 

People wandering by as the process begins, catching a glimpse of what is happening. 

The crowd growing as my artist gets close to finishing his drawing straight to my skin with no picture to refer to except what is in his mind from his many years of study provided during his upbringing as a Buddhist.

He lifts his head and I get a look at his rendition. It's a perfect match to what I saw in U Josep's texts earlier in the day. Amazing freehand! 

Now it's time for the fun stuff.

 Make it stick;)!

                     (Tattoo pen)

He pulled out the old school kit, fitted the new needle, dipped into the fresh ink and  cemented the rendering into my skin. 

Actually, straight through the ballpoint ink drawing.

 For a slight second I considered it to be a less than sanitary method,  given that no alcohol or cleaning agent was used on either the skin or the needle and now this ballpoint ink was being driven into my bloodstream along with the bottled stuff.

  I quickly accepted the process and enjoyed the sweet pain a tattoo always seems to provide. 

I watched the entire process. Barely took my eyes off of the needle. Not normal for me as I'm super squeamish about needles (I've passed out giving blood,(more than once)). It turns out the lighting in Zodiac's shop is made to provide for the sale of bus tickets and not quite sophisticated enough for the critical eye of an artist. 

Just so happens that I was wearing my new ski cap equipped with a halogen headlamp. If I looked up I feared a disruption in the linear functionality of my piece. 

Having eyes on also gave me the opportunity to orchestrate the process by assuring the lines were thin to my liking and he was moving quick enough to prevent future bleed out of the ink. 

When he was done he took some "London" TP with a little water from a plastic bottle and wiped it down. 

"That's it?", I said, as he looked at me with question in his eyes, "No alcohol or cleanser?". He waved me off with a "no!" and again I accepted the motion. 

I'm easy like Sunday morning;).

Hopefully Sunday morning I'm not in an emergency room in Bangkok with a blood disease! 

              (My artist and possie!)

                        (Zodiac)

After a bunch of High Fives, a few toasts of the many Myanmar beers by now flowing through the busy travel agency turned tattoo parlor and a few pictures with the players I was off to buy a pint of Whisky to pour over it and kill any infection before it had a chance to set in. 

All & all a good day in Inle Lake, Burma. A place I'm not likely to forget!

                       "Nat" on Pat!