Laquerware and luxury

After a night of luxury and delicious, in my case western, food at Popa Mountain, we swoop back down the hill and head back to Bagan on a nice tarmac road.  Our stops take in a local teahouse – tea and snacks are popular in Burma – and one of Bagan’s famous lacquerware workshops, reputedly amongst the finest in the world.  

It’s another skilled process using a combination of horsehair and bamboo before the lacquer surface is applied in many layers, polished, engraved and painted.  One of the painters takes my camera and applies a gold elephant – sadly it rubs off before it has time to dry!  The quality of the work here is evident and I am keen to return to UK with an example and eventually buy three dark engraved bowls in Yangon which look very smart back home.

 Back at our hotel, Riverview, we have a surprise in store.  We have a bit of a wait for our room to be ready, but we don’t mind at all when we get the key – we have been upgraded to our very own Villa, with two bedrooms, a sitting room and even a galleried sleeping platform with another 5 beds!  Fortunately no-one else arrives to occupy them, so we enjoy another two days of luxurious space.