bowed to the barn. She went round and bowed
to every apple tree ... My grandfather, when we
were going away, took his hat off.”
I felt like bowing to Yangon. Believe me when
I tell you that in this life, or the next, I will pay
for abandoning my Burmese friends under such
circumstances.
I visited a tree-shaded neighborhood to say
goodbye to some. They were pro-democracy activ-
ists in hiding. The interior of the house resembled
a college dorm. Bicycles packed the foyer. A guitar
was propped in a corner. My friends stood around
a coffee table, earnestly learning to use a bamboo
bow and arrow against the troops of the junta.
How old are such scenes? The earliest known
arrowpoint dates back 61,000 years. It was found
at Sibudu Cave, in South Africa. The archaic Homo
sapiens I’m following doubtless invented it.
“Everybody’s going to have to take some heat in
this thing,” said a tattooed video producer in the
safe house. “Nobody will come out unscathed.”
LEFT: This young man
in India’s Haryana state
earns money by keep-
ing wedding guests
dry with his umbrella.
Late October to early
December —auspicious
months for unions—is
the busiest time for
weddings in India.RIGHT: A man breaks
from work during the
night at a round-the-
clock rice-processing
plant in Punjab. Over-
use of pesticides in
this part of the country
has contaminated the
water table—and can-
cer rates are increasing.This is Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Paul
Salopek’s 10th story about the Out of Eden Walk.
John Stanmeyer has photographed 18 stories in
the magazine.This seemed a benediction for the collective
journey ahead. What advice could I possibly
offer? To always walk toward rain? To share what
little you have? To never trust a wall? We wished
each other luck. The arrows lay stacked on the
table next to an iPad.
I told myself: Remember this. jA JOURNEY'S LESSONS 139