Thursday morning started SO EARLY!!! We woke at 4 am and left the hotel at 4:30. Yikes! Of course, 3 days ago I would have been awake at this time anyway due to the time change, but I seemed to become accustomed to the current time zone on Tuesday. Waking up at 4 felt like waking up at 4!
We took a bus to the Rangoon airport and headed north towards Bagan. Our plane made a brief stop in Mandalay where we did a passenger exchange, then we continued on. The total flight time was about 1 /2 hours, so it was quite fast. It was so funny, because when we got to Bagan it was only about 8:30 am but we all felt like it was nearly lunch time! Our first stop was a trip through the local market in Nyaung Oo, the town that is on the outskirts of Old Bagan. We had a fabulous time wandering through the local market - this market had not only food but also handicrafts, and it was really neat to see all of the things that people were selling. I'm not much of a fan of shopping, but it's hard to restrain oneself in these markets! I had the same problem in Morocco.... and Peru.... ok everywhere that has local markets! :)
We saw so many children running around in the market. Joseph told us that even though more children go to school than, say, 10 years ago, there are still many people who cannot afford to send their children to school. Not only because of the school fees, but because they need the children to help sell things to supplement their income. Beginning this year, primary school will be free to all children, and they expect that to help increase the number of children enrolled in school and decrease the number of child laborers.
Walking through these markets almost feels like a time machine. Other than the few stalls that have radios playing or electric lights (and of course the ubiquitous smart phones!), you could really be anywhere in time anywhere in the world. It's so special to interact in that environment, where you know that you are seeing people practicing the same traditions as their ancestors.
One major difference that we all noticed right away about Bagan was the presence of motorbikes. Motorbikes are banned in Rangoon, which is actually great. One less thing to worry about when trying to cross a busy street! Of course we immediately saw a large amount of motor bikes upon our arrival in Bagan. Now, I know that the Burmese are absolutely WILD about English Premier Leauge football. We've seen lots of people sporting caps and shirts with many different team names. It was so funny though, in the market here I saw several bikes that had team emblems on their seats! True dedication to a team! I guess it's kind of like having a Broncos license plate holder on your car. :)
We decided to walk towards a cafe to have a quick tea break before going on to see a bamboo fan weaving house and a soy paste plant. As we walked to the cafe some ladies came up to us with Thanakha. Thanakha is a paste made from the sandalwood tree, and the ladies of Burma rub the stump on a piece of marble with water to make a thick paste, that they then apply to their cheeks, foreheads, and sometimes noses. This acts as a sun screen as well as a cosmetic. Generally only women and children wear it, although we have seen the occasional man wearing it. These ladies approached us and asked if they could apply some to us! We all said "of course!" and they proceeded to beautify us. It doesn't look nearly as glamorous on our pale skin as it does on their lovely darker skin. It actually felt great, really cooling and refreshing, and had a nice, clean aroma. Of course we had to take photos to document our indoctrination into being locals! The women were so sweet to share their thanakha with us. Once again, this is such a generous and loving country.
After our much needed tea break (it was very hot in Bagan, though fortunately much less humiid) we walked towards the bamboo fan house. We were really seeing our first snapshot of rural life here. Once we walked away from the market, we were in a village - passing houses mostly made of woven bamboo walls, as well as a few concrete buildings. To further this point, we passed a sty of squealing piglets on the way! They were just right by the side of the road. On the way back we saw a little boy laying in the pigpen! We also saw a little girl getting her morning bath from her mother at the village well - she was so cute, after her bath she ran quickly past us with her mother chasing after her with a towel.
The bamboo weaving house was very interesting - it was one family that lived there and they all practice the trade. The men prepare the bamboo and then the women weave it. The children help and start learning their craft at an early age. Once the fans have been woven, people from the village will bring printed out invitations that are then pasted onto the fans. While we were there we saw fans that were invitations to family parties, anniversaries, weddings, novitiations, funerals, and birthdays. What a great multipurpose idea! The ladies kindly gave each of the girls in our group a fan. We have been really grateful for the fans the last few days!
After this we walked to the soy paste plant. This was hot, smelly, hard work for the people. They boil the soy beans for a really long time and then scoop out the paste to be sold. It is used in many dishes, especially traditional Burmese curries and soups.
Now that we had finished in this part of the village, Joseph informed us that we would be taking local transport to a lacquerware factory. So, you are all now familiar with the concept of the Chicken Truck that I took to Golden Rock. This truck we were taking with the locals was essentially the same, but much smaller. Tom and Barbara hopped up in the front seat with the driver while the other 5 of us hopped into the back, much to the amusement of the locals. Unlike the chicken truck, this truck had an awning for a roof and no seats inside, just benches lining each side and some tiny wooden stools in the middle. Eleonore, Mez, and Sanjay squeezed onto one of the benches, and Phil and I sat (which basically means fell) on the little wooden stools. It was the 5 of us and about 10 local women and children packed in there like sardines! Once we were loaded we expected we would leave - nope! We waited while they loaded giant bags of textbooks for the school children onto the metal rails of the roof. Then about 5 more people hopped onto the roof and 5 more (including Joseph) jumped onto the tailgate. Once you included the driver, Tom, and Barbara in the calculation, there were 28 people on/in that tiny truck! What a laugh. It was hot, uncomfortable, and hilarious. We were trying to cool ourselves with our new fans, and as I was using mine an older Burmese lady next to me gave a sigh of impatience and grabbed it out of my hand, only to start fanning all of us - herself and the other Burmese ladies next to her included! Clearly I don't know how to use a fan! She was smiling and laughing at/with us.
After 10 long hot minutes of waiting, we were finally off! After a pretty exciting 10 minute drive we reached our destination, and realized that we were nervous about getting out of the truck! We all squeezed out the back by going down the "aisle" in the middlee (which is Phil and I were sitting). We basically army crawled out of there and then jumped off. It felt SO GOOD to stand up! Of course we then had to tease Tom and Barbara about sitting in "first class!" I'm loving all of these local transport experiences! Before we went to the lacquerware factory we walked to a restaurant on the Ayeyarwady River for lunch. This place was BEAUTIFUL! Flowering trees were everywhere, and it looked so inviting. The dining areas were under a thatched roof and we had lovely cool breezes blowing onto us off of the river. Relaxing there with a Mandalay beer and fresh lime juice felt pretty heavenly. I had an amazing Thai green curry for my meal, and the others had a variety - many of us had some form of chicken in our delicious dishes. Seriously one of the best meals of my life! Once lunch was finished it was time for the lacquerware.
The lacqueware factory was really interesting. We learned about how they make it - most interesting to me was that the lacquer is made from tree sap, and that there are only 4 colors used in traditional Burmese lacquerware. Green, red, yellow, and black. We were able to watch the artisans working, both on making the plates, bowls, etc. that they apply the lacquer to as well as the application and decor process. For one small pot that is very detailed, the artist will spend 1 whole day on 1. The amount of skill and concentration that it takes is just amazing! Then we walked into the store where they sell all of their product - DANGER ZONE! So many beautiful things.... we all browsed around and then decided to go back the next day when we had more time.
We then checked into our guest house, New Wave, where we would be for 3 nights. After a 2 hour much needed rest period we all met up to walk down to a pagoda that was about 15 minutes walk from the hotel. On the way we stopped to see the restaruant where we would be having dinner - we would be viewing a traditional Burmese puppet show there! We ordered our food in advance and then walked on to the pagoda. Unfortunately, at this point Mez started feeling unwell and decided to go back to our room - we had all been lucky so far to not have any GI illness in our group, so we were all worried for her and hoped that rest and water would cure whatever was going on.
The rest of us enjoyed sunset at the pagoda, and it was really beautiful. Unlike the pagodas in Rangoon, this pagoda was not all "glammed" up. It had gold leaf on it, but not much and it was really easy to picture it how it looked 200, 500, etc. years ago. It was really peaceful.
After this we were all excited for our dinner at the puppet show - after our super early and busy day we were ready for some rest and relaxation! The food was delicious and the show was really really great. We were able to see the performers a few times while they manipulated the puppets, and the things that they do are pretty amazing. I have a video that I will try to load on here but I'm not sure if it will work because of the low internet bandwidth. Phil and Tom said that they enjoyed it much more than the water puppet shows of Vietnam.
We were there for several hours, and had a great time relaxing. After it was over we ambled back down towards our guest house. I stopped to buy some water for Mez and myself and then we all turned in. She was feeling a little better when I got to the room, but had been feeling really poorly. We both fell asleep and I thought that was the conclusion of the day. Unfortunately for both of us, it was not.
I woke up at midnight and then was sick every few hours until 8 am. Then my body had mercy on me and gave me a bit of break. Finally by 8 pm that night Mez and I were both feeling so much better. She was well enough to go to dinner, I decided to give it a miss. Our group was kind to us, we meant to have spent the day biking around the ancient temples of Bagan and then have a free day the day after. They and Joseph swapped the days so that we wouldn't have to miss the temples, which we were both really looking foward to. Mez and I slept like the dead and woke up feeling like our normal (although very weak and dehydrated) selves for the activities of Saturday. Fortunately no one else in our group had what we did - we were afraid that it was from the chicken at the lunch restaurant on the river. Barbara was a bit under the weather as well, but she never had the GI upset, thank goodness!
We've all heard of Bali belly and Montezuma's Revenge - now we know that the term in Burma is the Rangoon Runs! (Sorry if that's too much information!)
Afer breakfast we were all excited to head off on our temple tour of Bagan.
But that, my friends, is a story for another day.
Here are some market scenes:
Sanjay sporting some thanakha
Eleonore and Mez with thanakha
Eleonore and me with thanakha
oh hey piglets!
Part of the family at the bamboo weaving house
Here is the lady who taught me how to properly use a fan! :)
Our beautiful lunch location
Pagoda time!
The picture above and below were at the puppet show theater and restaurant
Once again, a captivating read! And the title.....so applicable in many areas! Well done, Linds!
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