Ancient ways

The landscape changes during our journey, but outside of the major cities, life is simple. There is little mechanisation but much of the countryside we pass through is fertile, pigs peep through pens next to village houses and food is plentiful.

Between Mandalay and Monywa we cycle through busy villages with small businesses weaving and making cheroots.  Cheroots are a big deal in Burm  ut they are no better for your health than cigarettes, U Thant, the former UN general secretary and a long term cheroot smoker succumbed to lung cancer.

In another backyard they are making alms bowls – the simple lacquered bowls carried by the maroon clad monks to collect donations of food or money.  We are amazed to see the first stage of the process involves beating a metal disc taken from an old oil drum into the shape of a bowl.  It is then coated in clay, bamboo and finally lacquered.  

 

These villages are scattered among ancient pagodas, remnants of the ancient royal capitals of Ava and Amanapura – the latter reached by U Bein bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world, which is still more visited by locals than by tourists.

Beneath the bridge, farmers till the soil with bullock drawn ploughs. Bullocks are huge in Burma.  Not physically huge, but used for just about everything. Around Bagan they are used to crush sesame and ground nuts to make oil. Bagan is also known for its palm wine - a potent local hooch - and palm sugar snacks. They are absolutely delicious as is fresh cane sugar juice served over ice but thankfully neither is available in the UK, as we return to health scare stories on sugar’s hidden horrors.

 

Contentment comes in many forms. At one photo-stop, an elderly farmer driving his small herd of cattle asks where we are from.  From England, I say and, pointing at my cycling companions, from Australia and the USA.  He nods happily and points to himself, “From Myanmar” he says, and walked away content that his image will be seen around the world.  I’m left feeling that relatively rich western tourists are not necessarily more content.

Throughout the trip two “vital” things are missing – a decent internet connection and a bottle of Schhhh you know who’s tonic water!  Virtually every hotel we stay in promises free wifi – which is useless if the wifi doesn’t connect to the internet.  Which it rarely does. I soon realise it’s much easier to abandon any effort to contact the outside world and enjoy an old fashioned holiday.  By the time we get to Yangon – where broadband rules – I can’t be bothered to log on. 

Communication is improving for locals though. I see several people using satellite phones in their gardens and, while there are no roaming arrangements for overseas phones, our guides seem to have a mobile signal most of the time. 

The quest for a decent gin and tonic is another matter entirely and Robin is determined to find one, asking at every hotel!  We quickly discover there is a countrywide shortage of tonic, Coke and other imported soft drinks.  Someone not paying import duties?  Problems at customs?  Stuck in Thailand?  Who knows. But there’s no need to feel sorry for us, we managed to improvise through our cocktail hours.  Gin martini, gin fizz, gin sours are all delicious – and we did finally enjoy an improvised gin and tonic (duty free gin and airport lounge tonic) at Doha airport on our return flight.

But again it left me wondering, how difficult is it to get imported goods into the country?  How open are the borders here?