Note: The wifi signal in Myanmar has been too weak to attach photos thus far, but I will add many when I either get a stronger signal or get back to Denver. This is a fantastically photogenic country, so check back.
OK. On to some charming stories of this lovely region. I woke this morning to long, rolling rumbles of thunder and great sheets of lightning. Heavy rain, which is really needed right now--all repeated this afternoon.
We started with a visit to a very large market, packed tightly with tiny stalls selling everything from chicken feet to fresh vegetables to plastic baskets. There is no refrigeration, which our guide said was not needed because everything would be sold today. Nonetheless, in the heat and the flies and plenty of dirt, I would vote for ice at the very least. It was in the 90's by 9 a.m., so I hope those fish sold quickly! Young boys carried huge, heavy baskets of flowers, bananas, clothes and all other goods sold in the market. Women in colorful longyi slipped through the crowds with loads on their heads. Everyone was busy preparing food, talking to their neighbors, bargaining, or enjoying a breakfast of rice or noodles with vegetables, fish or chicken, and lots of hot chilis.
Next we visited a village, relatively prosperous because many tourists go there, but still not spoiled. The houses are made of bamboo, wood and thatch, like most of them in this region, with large open rooms on the ground floor (dirt or concrete floor) where most of daily life takes place and more private, but still airy, second floors where the family sleeps. Cattle share the village with the people, quitely sitting in what shade they could find as they chewed their cuds.
A pretty, bright young woman showed us around, including her own home where she demonstrated her weaving skills (piles of shawls she'd made available for purchase) and demonstrated how dried grass is cut up for the cattle (with a sharp blade pumped up and down with a foot pedal while she fed the grass under the blade). She introduced us to her grandmother who is 86 and has only 2 teeth, but a faceful of wisdom and wrinkles. The grandmother was cooking lunch of curry and vegetables. She showed us how she makes cigars by mixing crushed tobacco leaves and other organic components (maybe bark) and rolling the mixture in corn husks. She sat smoking one of her creations quite happily and offered me the chance to try it as well. A year old baby was nearby swinging wildly in a cradle, but sleeping quietly.
Next stop was a very fine lacquerware factory--a craft staple in Bagan. This lacquerware has 21 steps, from the bamboo or teak core to 18 layers of lacquer. The lacquerware is etched several times, each time adding a color, then lacquerring again over the color before etching the next part of the design for the next color. The etching is very finely done and the final product is beautifully polished and durable enough to go in a dishwasher. The factory is shaded, but very hot. All the work is done by hand by workers sitting on the dirt floor, including wiping the powdery colors into the etched designs and applying the lacquer. We loved a beautiful chest of drawers headed to a buyer in Switzerland.
After another huge and delicious Burmese lunch, plus a siesta, we headed for the archaeological zone again in a horse-drawn carriage. The horse, a young mare named Sashi, was peppy and fast, but not inclined to go where she didn't want to venture. Three times our cart driver tried to get her to go to a particular temple complex and three times she refused to respond to threats, cajoling, and tugging. So, being wise, the driver let her go in her direction, at which point she took off at a rapid trot. We did see plenty of temples, but only the ones Sashi wanted us to see.
Last night, we climbed one of the temples, along with hundreds of other people, to watch the sunset over the huge array of temples from the fifth level of one of the larger pagodas. Gorgeous as the late light shone softly on the temples. Tonight, we took a boat out on the Irrawaddy River, 3 miles wide at Bagan, and watched the sun set over the gleaming, golden river. All along the banks, women were washing in the muddy water, men were bathing, and children were swimming. Fishing is a major activity, from small canoe-shaped boats, equipped with outboard motors and nets.
No comments:
Post a Comment