Ming-guy-la-ba or Hello

I am trying to remember two words in Burmese....to be able to answer everyone "Ming-guy-la-ba" and "hing-in", or no for all the street vendors who can sense when we are about to emerge from our cocoon. Being a Canadian I should also work on "saw-ri-naw"...or sorry...not so hard...it almost sounds like a Torontonian would say it!...or a Texan.

We stayed moored at the jetty in Bagan last night amidst all the other boats. The fishermen left shortly after 5:00 am...one by one with their loud jack hammer sounding engines. Then the ferries started arriving with villagers from across the way...the gold dredger next door got going shortly there after and the stone carriers...that is the women who emptied the dredges by carrying buckets of stones from the dredger to the truck got started. The usual cargo boats kept plying their way up and down the river all the while. No long lie in this morning anyhow, we were off at 8:30 to see the rest of the temples...no I jest, just a couple more...the best saved for the last.

We started off at the Bagan House Lacquerware Workshop....an eye opener for me. I had no idea what was involved in the making of bamboo lacquerware...basically fastening many many strips or veneers of bamboo together, applying many coats of lacquer, drying for days, rubbing, washing, smoothing, cutting intricate designs into the surface, then more lacquer, dyes, drying ....you get the picture. Quality bamboo lacquerware is a long labour intensive process requiring a great deal of skill. Impressive results.

This particular work shop, which happens to belong to the family of friends of Pandaw's owner also makes sun umbrellas...gorgeous with the sun shining through. They are also sometimes used over lights for shades. So you have lots of photos of lacquerware and umbrellas today!

We moved onto temples and visited the Htilominlo Temple. It is one of the greatest of Bagan's temples. It is a soaring triumphant building...called the white umbrella temple. Legend has that a youngest son of the king became king because auspiciously the white umbrella (which has signified royalty) fell in his direction when all the sons were arranged in a circle. Lovely story; lovely temple with two story high Buddhas with, of course, umbrellas. It is late Burmese style , main entrance to the rising sun...and has four gilded Buddhas facing the four directions. Glad it was the last one...absolutely stunning. It is, however, surrounded on all sides with stalls selling everything one might consider for a memory of Myanmar.

With regret we said good bye to Bagan and steamed north, under one of the Irrawaddy's huge bridges...such an enormous river the bridges seem to stretch for miles...and do literally.

We stopped for a while in a rural village of 1,000 and it is probably the highlight of the trip. The majority...like 75% are farmers...rice or peanuts or beans, depending upon the season. The rest are fishermen. The electricity is spasmodic as it is in 75% of the country...as in, maybe 3 hours a day. So if you do well in the peanut harvest you buy a solar panel which has a cord snaked across your yard.

From the boat we could see the women who had joined the village to sell blankets and hand woven items...and the kids. The children were absolutely a delight...we simply walked the village hand in hand with them. One of our fellow passengers has flouncy blond hair and was wearing a long pink dress...I think the kids thought she was a princess descended from somewhere...she simply walked with throngs everywhere.

My description of being in this tiny village will sound over the top. In all my travels I don't recall ever arriving...and we are a few..just about 25 tourists...and no other company stops here...in a place where the village just carried on their life and welcomed us. No tips; the company occasionally donates to the monastery...the sales ladies came from across the river, not local...we had to clear the lane way for the oxen team.

In Myanmar 70% of the population are still farmers...and they still farm with oxen and traditional methods. It was amazing to us how resourceful all these folks are. Despite generals, they seem to just get on with life as they always have. This was not a "model" village...we just ran the boat up on the bank and hopped off. The only thing we might do is contribute for the purchase of a couple of soccer balls for the kids.

I do have to admit our purser shook his head and said "No electricity, early dinners, a baby factory this village". He was right...there were kids everywhere...by the time we had walked through we had every kid in the place hanging on our hands. We did feel we had to buy one thing...they were selling cotton they grew across the river woven into traditional Burmese patterns...sort of...so Gill gets a throw/blanket in purples from this village full of adorable children!

How on earth we are going to get all this home is another thing. I didn't even tell you about the purchases at the lacquerware workshop...and we haven't got to Mandalay or Inle Lake...well I am sure Gary will figure that out. That's his job.

So I am able to cruise up the Irrawaddy and put the PM's decision on pipelines out of my mind....see you thought I was disconnected from reality...which is delightfully easy to do. But no...I know all about the choices Mr Trump is making in the USA and the decisions Mr Trudeau is making in Canada. I am choosing not to go crazy over them until December 10th when we get home.

Good Night
Love
Doreen