Day 9 of the cruise. Soon after dawn, before sunrise, we passed the first signs of the mineral wealth of the country. That is, of course, leaving aside the masses of gold adorning the temples! Oil wells on the Eastern bank.
The scenery was starting to get more interesting. Hills and things.
… A bit of relaxed cruising…
… before we eventually arrived at Bagan via some fairly shallow sections. In the morning we drove through Old Bagan to New Bagan by coach. There we met the only elephant in town – he was the highlight of a dance display.
And how long does it take to make export-grade laquerware? Well – apparently a long time! First the basic shape has to be moulded with fine bamboo. Then it gets covered with gloupy laquer. Then dried in underground storage areas for a week before being sanded smooth and re-laquered. This process is repeated at least 12 times. Inside and out. Then a complicated multi-stage process gives three different colours to engraved patterns. Overall, it takes months to complete each piece.
And some pieces were gold-leafed…
Our afternoon expedition was to the Anada Temple with it’s large buddhas.
For sunset we were taken to a viewing tower attached to a very posh hotel. It was a weird place. The lifts were exciting too. Especially for Charles, Jeff and Caroline (plus five others). It launched with a shudder and after half a floor it shuddered again and came to a standstill half way between recognised stations! After half an hour the doors were levered open and a chair was dropped in from floor 1. The passengers were then used the chair to stand on while they were hauled out through the narrow opening. We were on floor 1 at the time, but sadly, didn’t know what was happening – so didn’t get a photo! Actually, it was a seriously risky business – the lift only needed to start moving again while someone was halfway out. Doesn’t bear thinking about!
The view from the top, when we all got there was panoramic. We did have a spot of bother with Chinese elbows – but APT elbows are equally persuasive!
We had been followed all day by it new found “friends”. Young local girls trying to persuade to buy things we didn’t need which had probably been made in China or Taiwan from seriously sub-standard materials by child labour. I mean genuine silk scarves for the equivalent of £2.50! They met us as we came off the boat and were at each of our subsequent destinations. “Remember me?”, “You want lovely silk?”, “Remember me?”, “Maybe later!”, “How much you want to pay?”, “Maybe tomorrow!”.
Nothing if not persistent! The sadder thing was the 5 and 6 year olds trying to sell postcards and their own drawings for $1… They should have been at school. Or was it the weekend???
My phone in hospital – actually it’s being shuttled around Bagan by a couple of the ship’s crew – but no cure could be found!
We arrived at a very smart hotel in Bagan. It had two bouncers on the door. We were a really mixed party. Australians, Irish, Canadians, Dutch, Brits, Anericans, New Zealanders and our Myanmar guides. But they turned us away. “You can’t come in without a Thai!”