Every time I book a bus ticket in South-East Asia I ask hopefully if there's a TV on the bus, and every time the clerk laughs and says yes, yes there is. There's a deeply rooted cultural expectation here that entertainment should be provided on buses. This is usually karaoke or the local soap operas, played on skipping, pixellating video discs at such a high volume that the overhead speakers peak out every time someone screams, cackles, shrieks, bellows or hits a shrill crescendo, and Burmese entertainment features a lot of screams, cackles, shrieks, bellows and shrill crescendos. This plays constantly from the time you get on the bus to the time you disembark, with a brief and glorious period of respite between 12.30 and 4.30 a.m. Earplugs don't even touch it. After a particularly long and torturous ride from Yangon and Bangan, I decided to supplement my earplugs with earmuffs. Unfortunately, Nyaungshwe market didn't sell earmuffs, and I was forced to improvise. This, then, is how to create a pair of earmuffs from goods readily available in the average Burmese village.
First, take your crappy Burmese headphones:
Wrap the headband with wire, for strength and flexibility:
Remove the electronics:
Stuff the cavities with cotton wool:
Wrap the headband with tape, for style and comfort:
Problem solved!
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