We trekked with Nanda, Yola’s wife, for 3 days. Nanda is the best guide we’ve ever had, compared to Cambodia, Nepal and Laos, where we also trekked with local guides.
She is the only one from her tribal village that went to university, and that’s why we gained so much insights into Myanmar’s culture, birth, death, wedding, schooling, local banking system, etc etc.
She did stop me and my daughter when we were trying to give some snacks to local kids. My daughter came home and wrote an essay about that experience and reflected on what she learnt - she, being an urban kid, is no different from those poor village kids, waiting to be fed. That’s how precious this experience was to us.