This day was a drive from Bagan to Mandalay via Mt Popa.
First stop was at a sugar palm, or
todi processing place by the side of the road. Sugar palm one of those handy plants where the entire plant is useful. The sap, tapped daily from the top fronds is sweet juice in the morning, but sours a bit in the evening. It can be boiled down to make sugar, which they combine with tamarind juice or coconut to make candies. Fronds for thatching or weaving. Trunk for bowls and logs. Roots are edible. The sap readily ferments and they boil off the booze. Didn't try it though.
One distinctive thing you'll notice in Myanmar is that people of all sorts - from old and young ladies, to young blokes with an ear ring (lesser older men) is that they will have a white-yellow paste on their cheeks, and sometimes all over their faces (young girls). this is a natural cosmetic called thanaka, and is produced by grinding the bark of several types of trees. You see it being made all over the place and you can buy it commercially in small tubs. According to our guide, its good for just about every malady known to mankind
. Top left pic shows it being worn, and produced.
Just before lunch we came to the village of Mt Popa. The country around is mainly dry and flat but here the additional rain produces abundant fruits, and we shopped for lunch; $2 for a collection of fresh fruit. Bottom left is one of the cars and our driver; we stopped to admire the very large tamarind tree which is abundant in the area.
Last pic is Mt Popa in the distance. Its a volcano, which last erupted in about 455 BC. For the locals, its the home of the spirits, or
nats; they regard Mt Popa like the ancient Greeks considered Mt Olympus. The Japanese are also very keen on it, due to resemblance to Mt Fuji.
We drove onto the flank of Mt Popa to the Popa Mountain Resort, for the views. It looks like a really nice, cool place to stay, set amongst the jungle with lots of nice teak boardwalks and open air dining etc. Look to stay there if you are planning a trip. What we came to see was Taung Kalat, an adjacent volcanic plug, and who couldn't resist building a temple complex there? the RH pic is from the pool at the hotel; certainly not a bad place to be
We then drove across to the plug for the climb to the top (900+ steps !! :shock: no elevator option this time). but first we had to pay respect to the
nats. Again, the finer points of nats escaped us with our guide's tortured explanation (and again, apologies for irreverence here), but I think there are 37, and each is good for certain characteristics, including trades, alcoholism, business, and even, I think, bad guys. They are displayed in effigy at the base and I must say it was a surreal experience. Lots of flowers and other votive offerings, such as bowls of green bananas and lots of cash.
The guide got talking to this lady; she's 70 and had come 5 hours from the country to introduce her grandson, 7, to the nat for blacksmithing, his father's trade. The young bloke was rather reluctant to hand over the cash! The n
at on the right is clutching bottles of rum and whiskey.
Then there are this lot. Clothed in black, wielding swords. Don't seem very nice types. And the guy on the right - well, all vices need to be catered for, don't they?