Shopping with the Chef

We had company when we set out this morning.  Not only the oarsman to take us to the point where our driver could start the engine, but also Kyawthu, the chef and his nephew Kaung.

Life on the lake was going on in the same way as it does every day.

The motor boats were speeding across the lake, taking people sightseeing and shopping.

The fishermen with the traditional conical nets were hanging around at the entrance to the Nyaung Shwe canal in the hope of attracting some interest from tourists and collecting a few tips in return for photos.

When we reached Nyaung Shwe there was a deal to be done: 5 of us to be transported to the market, so two trishaws perhaps?  Sanda, myself and Kaung could take one, and the two men the other.  Some hard negotiating went on I suspect, but eventually, we all hopped on board – well, I squeezed into a particularly narrow seat – and off we went.

It was a pleasant way to get there – the town is quiet and there weren’t so many people around.

We passed the temple – just another temple such as can be found all over the place it seems, and people coming back from the market having done their shopping already.

About ten minutes – no more – and we were there.  Kyawthu had a shopping list and Kaung carried the bag ready.

At the entrance were the flower sellers – a sweet smelling start to the expedition, but they didn’t feature on our list so we moved right on.

First thing – tomatoes!  Of course.  Tomatoes seem to feature in every dish here.  Whether that’s because of their ready availability or if they are a genuinely traditional ingredient, we don’t know.  We needed a large bag full and Kyawthu made our first purchase.

Next, we needed some herbs but needless to say, my eyes were elsewhere.  There was a group of Pa’O women with red scarves on their heads, worn to represent their belief of themselves as dragon mothers, Sanda explained.

They’d come to sell tea, tobacco and turmeric and then to buy other necessities with the money they earned. The might have walked for two hours before getting on a boat to cross the lake, since they live up in the hills.

Meanwhile, Kyawthu was buying limes, chillies, mint and garlic.

Just a little garlic…

Oh, and a few spring onions.  Six large bunches in all, tied together with a leaf and costing a total of 40p.

We needed some flour, from the woman sitting under the red awning – sorry about the colour.  That’s brown rice flour, sticky rice flour and plain white rice flour.

It’s measured in the same milk cans we’ve seen elsewhere, put into small plastic bags and tied with a piece of an elastic band – not a whole one!

We stopped to taste some of the snacks this lady was selling too.  Delicious.  Her daughter was so cute as well!

No cheroots needed today, thanks.  So we went a little further to the stall where Kyawthu’s wife was to be found and left the vegetables and herbs with her whilst we went into the wet market.

Chicken.  This was sold in pieces and we needed about three quarters.  Now, bearing in mind all the flies and the lack of refrigeration, we were a little wary here.  But hey, we were with a chef and he knew what’s what.  We held faith.

Now to the fish.  First a short snake head fish (!).  We watched as the seller showed how fresh it was, but rather than take her word for it, Kyawthu looked at the gills for himself, peered at the eyes and looked very closely before deciding to buy.

He did exactly the same at another fish stall, where there were some carp for sale.  This time, he picked them up and asked one or two questions of the woman selling them before agreeing to buy.

She bundled them in a bag – it was a little disconcerting to see that one mouth was sticking out of the top!

Last but not least, some coriander leaves.  Six bunches.  Really.

Did you notice that many of the sellers are wearing the same bags as the farmers were wearing yesterday at the cattle market?  Oh yes…

Seeing some watermelons over the way, he went over and bought one of those, as Kaung and his wife repacked the bags carefully, keeping meat and fish separate from vegetables and herbs.

Shopping complete, the chef and his boy led the way out of the market.  Did I tell you that Kaung supports Chelsea?  The team which narrowly beat Hull City last night or the night before?  I managed a small grin from him when I told him where I was born!

Time for another squeeze!   With the shopping to carry as well, the poor trishaw riders had their work cut out.

I don’t think Sanda even needed to whistle – our driver was there with the boat when we reached the jetty.  Good man!  considerate of him to wear a matching jacket too, don’t you think?

Off we went – not back to the hotel, though.

Oh no, we were going to cook lunch at this family home – with a little guidance, of course

Floating gardens

Leaving Inn Paw Khon we had a good chance to take a closer look at these buildings, which were really quite large and well constructed in spite of being on stilts.  This is such an interesting place!

We were soon back out into the lake, though, and were in a part where there were a few men working in small wooden boats fishing something out of the lake and piling it up on their boat.  Sanda described is as seaweed, which isn’t quite accurate but I think I knew what she meant.  These plants are gathered together to form floating islands which at tethered with a long bamboo pole.

So that’s what we’d seen earlier.

The farmers tend to their crops from the small wooden boats, sailing in between the rows.

All kinds of crops are grown this way, but mostly it’s tomatoes – 70% of the tomatoes eaten in Myanmar are grown in this area and it’s easy to see why, once you’ve got the idea!

The beds are neat and well cared for, some having wider channels of water in between the rows than others.

One area was growing squash, which needed a more elaborate structure to hold the plants up.

But mostly it was line upon line of tomato plants, doing rather well from what we could see.

Having seen the floating gardens, then, there was just one last thing on the programme for today.  Formerly known as the Jumping Cat Monastery – because the monks taught the cats to do tricks – it’s now referred to as Nga Phe Kyaung.

It was fairly quiet today, though there were a few young monks here doing what young monks do – taking photos of themselves by the Buddha.

Cats were most definitely not of the jumping kind.

But the Buddha was grand and had a kind expression.

Having walked around  (clockwise) and peered into a few dusty corners, we felt we could tick that one off.

Time to get back in our boat and head for wherever home was for the next three nights.

As we did, we couldn’t help but take so many photographs of interesting things – if ever I was glad I’d bought my new camera with the fantastic zoom lens, this was it!

Soon, we were approaching the entrance to our hotel.  Since these boats are so noisy, each one has to stop at this gatehouse and take on board someone to row us quietly in.

The young man who delivered us to the door – or should I say, jetty – used the leg rowing technique which is unique to Inle.  It’s a strange yet effective technique and seems really odd!  After the racket of the engine, what bliss to quietly float into the lotus lagoon where the Inle Princess Resort lay waiting for us.

One of those end bungalows was going to be home for the next three nights.

Mostly made of wood with a woven bamboo lining, it was peaceful and yet noisy because it creaked every time we so much as breathed!

We had a warm welcome awaiting us with hibiscus blooms on anything that didn’t move.

An “interesting” bathroom arrangement…

complete with outdoor shower.  I always had to check if something was looking to share it with me before I turned on the tap – and I never was brave enough to shower in the dark!

The grouting wouldn’t be easy to clean…but who would notice?

So, for the next three nights we slept soundly…or otherwise…but snug inside our mosquito net, until the call of the extraordinarily loud birds at dawn.  Oh, and if I tell you the outdoor restaurant offered an insect repellent spray on each table and an anti mozzie incense stick under each table you’ll guess there were quite a few of the little blighters about.

Nevertheless, it’s a grand place to be.

Another boat was waiting

Our drive took us over the hills and far away to Inle.  Though it had been just a 25 minute flight from Mandalay, it would have taken us ten or twelve hours to drive.  Seeing the train over the valley, we asked if that was a viable alternative to such a short flight.  Sanda pulled a face!  Not only is the train network somewhat limited, they travel very slowly too with the express service reaching the dizzy heights of 45mph.

We were glad to have flown.

We drove through rural landscapes where farmers were moving their cattle around and transporting produce around on small carts pulled by cattle or small tractors.

We drove through one or two villages where there were elaborate temples shining in the sunlight.

then out into the flat plain with paddy fields as far as the eye could see.

Busy times in the rice fields, right now with all hands on deck to get new shoots planted.  Back breaking work.

This man was taking the young rice plants from the nursery beds ready for them to transplant into the field.

Meanwhile, two small boys were playing nearby and getting very muddy.  Mind you, the chap using the rotavator hasn’t managed to stay very clean either, has he?

Shortly, we came to the tollbooth.  The Inle area is a protected area rather like a National Park and our driver had to pay a fee for us.

He took us as far as Nyaung Shwe, where we arrived at what looked like a small market, but on closer inspection we realised it was a boat terminus.

It was a busy place with tourists and local people coming and going.  Sanda called to someone and before long a colourful boat arrived at the jetty – our boat and driver for the next three days we learned.

In went the suitcases, the hand baggage and then ourselves.

I can’t tell you how pleasing it was to have not only the most colourful boat in the fleet but a matching tarpaulin, too!

The boats travel pretty fast – they’re powered by a basic lorry engine at the back – and they can be quite splashy too.  They form the major form of transport around Inle and we were to spend quite a lot of time sitting in ours over the next few days.

The first part of the journey was along a short stretch of canal, from Nyaung Shwe to the lake itself.  Local people who don’t use a motorboat get about using these shallow, wooden boats – a much more environmentally friendly alternative to the noisy, diesel engines of the majority.

However, when you don’t have all day to do things, then a motor boat has to be the way and so we powered out into the lake and joined a few others zooming about.

The light here is rather strange.  It’s hazy and the watery colours make for a bland landscape of neutral colours, but it’s dotted with white flares which are formed from the splash of the motorboats moving across it.

In the middle of the lake we came across a structure which looks a bit like an abandoned pier but which is actually a Government lodging, Sanda told us.  Each time we passed it, I though how spooky it looked out there.

To our right was a collection of bamboo poles and small elevated bamboo houses.  We didn’t find out what that was all about until later.

We turned into a small canal a little further on and found ourselves in the midst of Inn Paw Khon village which like so many similar communities has a single speciality.

As we parked the boat at the jetty, we guessed what it was from the sound we could hear from those open windows – the clatter of looms, shuttles and beaters.  Inn Paw Khon is renowned for ikat weaving.

Over a rickety bridge or two then and straight into the warping room, where a woman was walking to and fro with several warp threads in her hand, preparing what must be the most boring process of the lot.

In the next room were a group of ladies, sitting around with the swifts, winding thread and chatting amongst themselves.  Sanda explained that this gentler task was usually given to the older women who perhaps would have difficulty with some of the more intricate tasks.

The boys were doing the tying and resist work, following an exact pattern and with a sample of the finished result hung over their frame.  They worked quietly under the eagle eyes of the elderly ladies opposite – surely that arrangement was no accident?

It was quite a task to tie all those strings accurately and securely and their work was neat and precise – well, it has to be, hasn’t it?

One or two finished frames were there, ready for dyeing.  They were rather decorative as they stood, don’t you think?

There were also some bundles of cotton hanging from the frame though I’m not sure exactly what the intended outcome of these was – most of the work here was done in silk.

Into the next room then, where the looms were working and this lady was tying the orange fringe before going on to weave the green.

 

Bright colours were the norm and though the women working the looms were friendly, they didn’t miss a beat in the rhythm of their work.

For concentration was needed.  Each weaver had up to twenty shuttles with the ikat-dyed thread on them.  Each shuttle was to be used twenty times, maybe, or fifteen depending on the pattern.  So, she had to count, throw, work her feet on the pedals to shift the heddle and of course, beat the weft after each throw of the shuttle.  Maybe you can recall when we were in Laos and I sat alongside a young Lao woman who taught me the basics?  All I can say is that it’s a bit like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time – oh, and maybe play a Bach sonata whilst you do!

I guess that if you do the same thing day in day out, sooner or later it becomes easier?

But even so, this weaver took the trouble to check each line as she worked, to ensure the colours were going to line up and her work would meet the standard.  No slapdash work here.

This lady was weaving something special – lotus fibre.  We’d never heard of it so Sanda took us off to learn more.

Here the woman had soaked some stems of fresh lotus plants and made a cut about an inch from the end before pulling to reveal strong fibres which seemed to come out fairly easily.  She twisted it by hand and joined it to the previous piece – that small bobbin and the unwound thread in the bowl was the product of her morning’s work.  Slow progress indeed.

The woven cloth felt a little like linen but had a softer handle.

Sanda showed us the article about the jacket Loro Piano had made from the fabric made here.

Later, we looked at the scarves in the shop – prices ranging from $100 for the smallest to $500 for a reasonably sized, wearable one.

Notices in every language explained that this was a fixed price shop – no bartering here.

There was certainly a great deal of temptation – though actually, not so many of the ikat weavings, surprisingly.

Now, there’s one fewer there, as well

As soon as he saw us, our driver leapt to his feet and brought the boat over.  We stepped carefully in and were away.

The afternoon was young and Sanda had something else to show us before we went to our hotel.  I’ll tell you about it in the next post.

A short diversion in Heho

One of the drawbacks of travelling around Myanmar is that there is no practical option to taking local flights.  Though this one today was a mere 25 minutes, it involved all the usual check in procedure and worst of all another really early start because all of these flights leave so early in the morning.  So, we were up with a 4.30 alarm, to have breakfast and pack everything up again and meet Sanda at 6.  The streets of Mandalay were bustling, because although it’s Sunday for us, most of the people of Myanmar work to a lunar calendar and their days off fall every eight days rather than every seven.  So, today was a normal, working day.

Waiting for a flight is interesting.  Everyone is given a sticker for their flight and  from time to time someone will come to the gate and call something – who knows what, since we don’t speak the language!  There will be a rush of people and subsequently, the airline staff will go around looking for the missing passengers, looking closely for the right sticker.  Of course, we were fortunate to have Sanda by our side, which was just as well for two flights were called at the same time and it would have been so easy to have gone the wrong way and ended up who knows where!

People waiting for flights with us seemed to have a lot of shopping to take home!

When we finally did board our flight to Heho, we kept a lookout for the Solar Pulse, which we knew was here somewhere.  Sure enough, there is was, wrapped in a protective covering.

Arriving at Heho just 25 minutes later, the air was completely different.  Here it was hot!

Driving through the small town revealed a different type of person, too.  Hmmm!  Could be interesting!

A conversation between Sanda and our driver resulted in a short detour, which we thought was a real highlight.  Sanda had told us that “Heho” means “cattle market” and what was happening today but exactly that.  Would we like to take a look?

Of course we would!!

We began by taking a walk along the perimeter fence where a couple of prize cattle were tied up, their owner not really wanting them to mingle with the rest of them in the ring.  The farmer told Sanda that he was hoping to get around 3 000 000 Kyat for each of them – $3000 – but she raised an eyebrow and told us that she thought he’d be lucky.

We wanted to get in closer to the action, so passing the Farmers’ bar – surprisingly quiet – we headed on into the melee.

Although there was no auction as such, the action was centred on a particular deal that was going on, facilitated by a kind of mediator.  Some of these farmers had brought cattle to sell and others were looking to buy.  Some were just here to see what’s what, including the chap Sanda spoke to to find out what was going on.

All the farmers were wearing the traditional longyi and had the colourful bags strung across their chests.  From time to time one would delve into the bag and bring out a wad of banknotes.

I immediately coveted one of those bags

We decided to follow the progress of one transaction.  Here’s the cow in question – or rather, here’s the bullock, for these are not dairy cattle but working beasts, bred to wear a yoke and work as part of a team, pulling a cart or a plough.  This one is seven years old, we were told, he has a good history and is a fine, strong animal. 

His owner, the man on the right of the picture wearing a navy blue top wanted $1075 for him.  The man in the straw hat had decided he liked the look of this cow and made an offer of $1050. 

The mediator, the chap in the white shirt, chatted to both gentlemen, but the owner stood firm.  He was not going to take a penny less than the $1075 he was asking for.  At this point, Sanda spoke to one of the other farmers, who agreed that this cow was indeed worth the price – he was only here to look today, but had a cow he was thinking of selling next week, perhaps and he thought that these prices were fair.

The prospective buyer offered $1065.

But the seller was going to take not a penny less than 1075 and took the rope and began to lead the cow away.  His strategy worked though, for a few minutes later, the deal was done.  Hands were shaken and money changed hands.  The successful buyer led his new purchase away and we heaved a sigh of relief.  The farmer who had been chatting to Sanda laughed and thought the chap who’d sold the cow had done well.

As we left the market to return to the car, we saw the cow’s new owner walking across the field holding the collar with bells which had been around the cow’s neck and returning it to the farmer who’d just sold it to him. 

It was a rather nice way to end our visit to Heho.

The last post in Mandalay

Rest time over, out we went again into the late afternoon sunshine to see one of the principal sights of Mandalay - the huge wooden structure called the Shwenandaw Kyaung – the Golden Palace Monastery.

Beautifully built from intricately carved teak, it had been the residence of King Mindon and originally as the name suggests, it would have been completed gilded with the gold leaf we’d seen earlier.

Now, very little remains of the gold but the intricate carving still shows all the small details in spite of the age.

There were quite a few visitors from Thailand here, including this monk wearing saffron robes rather than the deep red of the Burmese brothers.

There must have been quite a large group of them and I was surprised to find them capturing images of the Buddha on their iphones rather than praying.

Well, it is a spectacular sight and inside, most of the gold is still in place.

Even so…

Just a few small hints remain of what must have been an awe inspiring structure in its day.

Then, rather than join in the mass phototaking session which seemed to be going on all over, we crossed the road to view what Sanda had promised was the world’s largest book.

Not forgetting our shoes of course.

The gates of  the Buddhist University were just across the road and next door to that was the Kuthodaw Pagoda.

It’s a World Heritage site and so we suspected we were in for a treat.

No kidding.  In the grounds of the pagoda were 730 small stupas, each painted white and each containing a page from the Fifteen books of the Tripitaka. 

In the afternoon sun, the rows and rows of these small white structures looked gorgeous.

So photogenic, and yet it was hard to get the whole picture.

We were glad to come across a model which showed the arrangement of the grounds around the pagoda

We were pleased, too, to manage to find one without anyone else around so we could have a look at one of the pages.  So detailed, so intricately carved, too.

We walked around the base of the pagoda itself, admiring the small Buddhas here and there, mostly gilded for reasons we now understood!

We admired the old Starflower tree, supported by decorative props here and there.

But most of all, we admired the pagoda itself, shining in the fading light.

I quite liked the fading paint on this gateway, too.

and we all loved the sound of this gong; a flat sheet of shaped metal which made the most glorious clang, then when spun around on the piece of string, continued to reverberate for several minutes.

Time to go then,

not forgetting our shoes!

Past the enormous lions made from Mandalay marble which stand guard at the entrance to the Kyauktawgyi Paya which has a 12m high marble Buddha inside.

His claim to fame?  His eyes were painted by none other than King Mindon himself.

Having seen this one last spectacle, dusk was falling outside and it was time to return to our comfy hotel to shower and change before meeting some friends from Ananda for dinner.  Throughout the day, we’ve bumped into a few of them and it’s been strange to see a familiar face so far from home.

There’s one last surprise in store – our hotel is temporarily home to over a hundred of the Solar Pulse Team, together with the two pilots.  They landed in Mandalay a couple of days ago and are awaiting improvements in the weather over China, spending their time giving lectures to schools and college students about environmental issues.  As a result, there’s quite a buzz about the place and we too find out a little more about the project and feel rather inspired to follow their progress further

Time to pack up again, then, because we have what we hope will be the last of our early starts in the morning: an 8am flight to Heho.  See you there in the next post.