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WhereAreJanetandRick Myanmar |
On the Road To (and from) Mandalay
Buying Black Market Diesel
Fuel at government fuel stations in Myanmar is MUCH cheaper than that on the black market. Car owners in Myanmar can buy a maximum of 2 gallons a day at these stations, and only if they produce the fuel log that has been issued for their vehicle. That means that any additional requirements must be purchased on the black market, where it's very expensive. We wonder who supplies the black market??
Htauk-kyant War Cemetery
Htauk-kyant War Cemetery is about 32 km from Yangon on the road to Bago. It is a memorial cemetery of Allied soldiers who died in the Burma Campaign during World War II. The cemetery's beautifully kept compound has 27,000 tombstones of fallen Commonwealth and Allied soldiers.
Forced Labour
We've heard that the government conscripts young people into various community projects. Some of these include road and other public works construction. The following photographs were taken along the route that we travelled.
During our visit to Myanmar, daytime highs ranged from 34 - 45 Celcius!
Rice Farming
Transportation
Now you know where all these nice bone carvings come from.
The local buses were always overcrowded but there was always room for more! A common viewing was a bus slowing down slightly and a group of people & all their carry-ons running & jumping on.
Another interesting phenomenon of the bus loading was the helpfulness and camaraderie of everyone involved.
This bus was probably not loaded properly. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any injuries. Note the rice bags on the right (did they really all come from that little bus?) and people in the centre (under the tree). The driver went to get some oxen to right his bus.
These are also women. This picture was taken around 5 in the afternoon. They're probably heading home to cook dinner.
Going to the Market
Rick kept insisting that he wanted to go to the cattle market to buy a cow. Unfortunately he couldn't find one small enough to cart home! (or maybe fortunately)
Along the way we often stopped for local treats like red bananas, homemade potatoe crisps and yummy strawbwerries!
Wholesale
Chilli peppers. Rick tried to jump into them, but they caught him in mid air.
Mount Popa
Some 50 km southeast of Bagan, Mount Popa, 1,500 metres high, is an extinct volcano. It is the legendary home of the 'nats' or spirits. The Mount Popa area has also been designated as a National Park.
Wash Day - Nothing Clean
This young lad was getting water from the well to bathe himself.
Making Palm Sugar
En route to Bagan, we stopped to buy some palm sugar. In this photo, our host climbs a tree to collect the 'sap.'
Here, he collects the sap from all of the containers. Once collected, it is processed similar to maple syrup in North America. What is differnt, though, is that if you let it sit for a couple of hours, it ferments to produce, hic, a rather tasty palm beverage.
Machinery Assisted Farming
A couple of hours south and east of Mandalay, we observed this beautiful terra-cotta soil (colors in photo washed out by blazing sun). Cultivation was actually done by machine!
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