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.

The Village Buddha

So, we turned a corner in the shopping arcade and Sanda noticed a bunch of people by one of the stalls selling elaborate Buddhas.  She is a first class guide, watching for interesting situations and then asking the questions that we’d love to ask if only we could.  In no time at all, she’d discovered that these were people from a nearby village who had collected some money to buy a new Buddha for their community temple and were trying to get the best deal they could from the saleslady.  She was suffering from backache, she said!

They were haggling the price and deciding which one would be the best deal, being influenced by the offer of a free glass case being included if they chose wisely.  I was amused that, as they discussed, haggled, weighed up their options, the elderly gentleman came over and decided to film the whole thing on his iphone.  Perhaps he was reporting for the parish magazine?

Our opinion was sought,  What did we think to the small Buddha they’d chosen?  Well, what can you say?!  We gave it a thumbs up, said that we thought they had made a wise choice and had done a great deal – at which point the Grandmother of the group told the rest that they had our backing!!  

The lady with the bad back got her colleague to begin wrapping their purchase, maybe before they could change their mind!

We bade them farewell, thanked them for allowing us a small insight into their world and wished them well with their new purchase.  Oh my goodness, the people here are utterly charming!

Our next stop was temple-related too.  Here in Mandalay another speciality crafts is the manufacture of gold leaf for gilding.  We’d seen the men at the temple earlier, applying layer upon layer of the stuff to the Buddha and seen packets of gold leaf on sale at each of the temples for that purpose, too.

But we didn’t quite realise how much hard labour was involved in the traditional process.  That was soon to change.

It begins with a very thin strip of gold which is cut into small pieces and placed in between layers of rice paper by the men in the workshop.  Actually, come to think of it, this was no ordinary rice paper but some which had been treated/fermented or something over a period of time until it became translucent.  The workers places many sheets of it inside packages made of doeskin leather and then…

They beat it with the heaviest hammer you can imagine.  Three of these men were working alongside one another creating a kind of ostinato which was definitely all part of the deal.  when one missed a beat, he’d wait until he could join in the rhythm again and the energy and power the three of them created was really rather remarkable.  I shot a short video of the process, as much for the sound as for the vision, but there’s no chance of uploading it here.  I’ll see what I can do later.

They were working to a timer made from half a coconut shell floating in a bowl of water.  It slowly filled with water and when it sunk it was time to stop.

This piece of beaten out gold was then cut into more pieces and the process of placing in between the special rice paper was repeated, then the hammering…until that initial piece of gold lead had been made into 720 pieces.

Which is where the ladies came in – working in a closed off workshop, these women packed the gold leaf into small packages for sale.

Incredible, really.

There remained one last visit on our agenda before  we checked into our hotel,  The Kings Palace was actually just across the road from our hotel but with a couple more things to see later, we said we’d prefer to keep going and tick this one off the list right now.

There’s a broad fortification around it and a rather hazy view of Mandalay Hill from the entrance.

It had been built by the last but one King of Burma in 1857, each side is two miles long and we entered through the East gate.  Now an army camp, it had been destroyed by the Japanese bombing in WW2 and now consisted mostly of empty replica buildings.

There was a small museum, containing amongst other things, the King’s Nether Garments but no photos were allowed and you’ll just have to imagine what they looked like.

Though all the buildings were attractive, even the replicas, there was one  which stood out from the rest

The Glass Palace was lovely, but like all the other structures, completely empty.

It’s in this building where the golden throne we’d seen in the Yangon Museum would have stood and in spite of the empty shell of a building, it was easy to imagine how grand it all would have been.

For us, though, the heat was building and we were feeling weary.  Maybe Sanda sensed this when she suggested we go and check into our hotel and meet her again later in the afternoon when the heat would be less intense and it would be more comfortable to walk barefoot again.

What an excellent idea!

Tempting though it was, we both resisted the temptation to have a snooze!

A family ceremony

We walked out into the large open space surrounding the temple and my eyes fell immediately on the bright colours over the other side.  Well, you knew they would, didn’t you?

Oh, said Sanda, it’s a novitiation ceremony and those children are about to become monks and nuns.  Their family are there to celebrate.  Let’s watch.

Well, we watched as the aunties, uncles and grandparents stood very solemnly, dressed in their finery and bearing gifts for the temple.  The photographer was shooting video, taking still pictures and generally ensuring that no angle was forgotten.

Meanwhile, the centre of all the attention was playing by the large bell.  Dressed in silks and satins, the little chap looked nervous and his even smaller sister hid from view.

“Isn’t he rather small to become a monk?” I asked.

Apparently not.  Small boys frequently become monks during the summer holidays, when they don’t have to go to school.

(my apologies for the cynical thought that this could be a source of free child care here)

But surely, such small children will cry for their Mummies?  Well, it seems as though Daddy often goes along into the monastery at the same time…and Mummy may well bring food from home each day too.

Even so. (and yes, I know some send their small child off to boarding school at a similar age!)

At this point, their sister – the nun-to-be appeared, dressed and made up to the nines, looking far more sophisticated than her nine or ten years.  She was looking very serious and was keen to have us take her photo on such an auspicious occasion. 

Just how much did these children understand about what was about to happen?

How could their parents bear to let them go?

The answer to the last one is possibly that parents can gain karma by allowing their children into the monastery/nunnery…

Either way, these three were getting a little tired of waiting about in the heat, especially in all that silk and satin.

As they posed for the family photograph with parents and grandparents, we took our leave.  Personally, I couldn’t bear to think of those sweet children having their heads shaved, having to wear robes and be denied all comfort (no bed…sleep on the floor) for however long they were expected to.  The customs and beliefs must run very deep indeed.

We looked around the temple, where teenage monks were gathering.

We observed the men applying gold leaf to the buddha in the temple,

and we noted the signs down below.  All kinds of mixed up messages were swirling around in my head when we heard a commotion outside and it was time.

The little family were processing through the temple, in preparation for the ceremony.

We stood and watched, getting a shy wave from the little girl and returning our good wishes to her in the form of a wave and the broadest smiles we could manage.

We went off to look at the old murals in the oldest part of the temple.

Peered down long corridors where palm readers and astrologists would tell fortunes for anyone who wanted to know what lie ahead for them.  (No thank you)

We left the way we’d come in, through the shopping arcade.  My mind was on those children but thankfully, there was another little event taking place to prevent my worrying further.  I’ll carry it over to the next post, shall I?

Hello Mandalay

With our suitcases disappearing up the riverbank on someone’s head, we thought we’d better follow.  Sanda was waiting with our driver, ready to begin the trip to Mandalay.

People here seem to cram into any available moving space, be it in the back of a pick up truck or, as here, in a lorry and trailer.

The small trucks are piled high with goods, sometimes so precariously, it’s unsurprising that from time to time they fall off.

I don’t know if the nuns had been travelling on board or if they had merely stopped to assist.

Neither do I know if they ever call “full” or if there is such a thing as a three bell load*

As we approached Mandalay, we drove into heavier, more usual city traffic but the view out the window stayed equally interesting.

We found ourselves coming in through the stone carving district, where marble buddhas and other religious statuary were being created.

We found it interesting that similar trades were gathered together in the same street, a bit like Hanoi, really!

We were heading for the temple, but you can understand why this is the first photo I took there, can’t you?

Colour, pattern, texture?

I do believe one of those small bags might just have found its way to England, you know!

Well, it’d have been a shame to have left it there, wouldn’t it?

They are so beautifully made and almost every woman here carries one.

But we weren’t really here to buy a bag.  Neither were we here to buy a stone carving or some wooden object.  But we can look, can’t we?

It’s interesting just to see what’s going on, to stand and stare, if you like.  this young woman was supposedly gilding a statue of Buddha but she was having a rather interesting conversation on her phone at the same time.  Multitasking!

A little further along was a bowl of miniature figures, for keeping in the pocket and feeling comfortable that he is always near.

And a little further on still was the jade stall, with all kinds of different shades from here in Mandalay, which is known for its jade.

So much to see, then, and that’s before we’ve even reached the temple, where something special was happening and which we simply had to watch.  Meet me in the next post and I’ll tell you all about it!

* oh yes, in the days of bus conductors (of which my Mum was one!) they would ring the bell three times to signal to the driver that the bus was full and that no further passengers should be picked up until some had got off.  That’s all.