Great Coffee, A Long Bike Ride and A Face Full Of Stories - More From Myanmar

School children, Nan Hu village, Inle

Two years ago I had a memorable journey from Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin when I spent  two and a half hours on the back of a motorcycle in order to visit this former hill station. That's two and a half hours each way, so five hours in all. I enjoyed the great views from the motorcycle but not the saddle-soreness the next day. This time I arrived by car and spent two days exploring the city in more detail. After wandering around the market and surrounding streets I was craving coffee. The town centre has many old style cafes that serve good tea but I was in need of good strong coffee. Not sure where to go, I asked for advice in Parami, an excellent Indian sweet shop and was directed to Cafe May Myo. I was not disappointed. The cafe is small enough to be cosy but designed to give a feeling of space. It also has outside seating. There are books and magazines to browse and old pictures of the city line the walls. The coffee used here is grown locally and customers can buy packs to take home. Perhaps best of all is the service provided by the very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable young staff one of whom made my French Press at my table using the latest technology. Regular readers know that I have a sweet tooth. Cafe May Myo also has a good range of fresh cakes and pastries including a fabulous fresh banana bread, an excellent accompaniment to the best coffee in town (and possibly the best in Myanmar). It is the kind of place where you can linger, use the wi-fi, relax or chat with friends.

Cafe May Myo, best coffee in town!

One of the best things about Myanmar is the hospitality and friendliness of the people. Pakoku is a market town, a short drive from Bagan. After visiting the market I noticed a large monastery and looking through the gates I saw hundreds of young monks. Some of them were chatting to each other, others were earnestly studying. An official noticed me and invited me in, explaining that there were indeed lots of monks there - 1334 to be exact, all of whom were about to sit a written examination. Before the exam they would be given lunch, seated at separate small, numbered tables bearing the name of an individual monk. An hour after lunch they would return to these tables for the more serious business. To my surprise I was invited to walk around, photograph anything I wanted to and to return once things got underway. I cannot imagine anywhere else that would have allowed such access without prior arrangements. 

Monks waiting to take an examination, Pakoku

Inle Lake is one of Myanmar's most popular tourist attractions. Most visitors spend time on the lake, visiting the homes on stilts, the floating gardens and pagodas and photographing the famous fishermen. As this was my second time in Myanmar I chose to do something a little different and cycled a round trip of almost 20 kilometres along narrow tracks in order to reach a remote farmers' market. Cycling through breath taking scenery I stopped several times to watch the workers in the fields and to chat briefly with people on their way to and from the market, women weeding a garlic field and a family that grows and harvests sugar cane for use in making molasses in their small factory.

Weeding the garlic, Inle

Molasses factory, Inle

The market itself was large, busy and full of interesting people buying fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, household goods and of course the ubiquitous betel leaf. Many of the people are members of the Pa-O ethnic group, easily spotted by their black clothing and brightly coloured head coverings - usually orange or red. This wearing of dark clothes began in the reign of King Anawratha in about 1000 BCE when the Pa-O were enslaved and forced to give up their previously colourful clothing. Their tradition holds that they originate from a relationship between an alchemist and a female dragon.

As well as the many stalls, the market has a pub frequented mainly by agricultural workers, all of them men. I spent a little time sitting with a small group enjoying their day off. Significant amounts of rice wine were being consumed accompanied by a variety of meat based snacks, cheroots and of course, much chewing of the betel leaf. They were interested to know about life in London, my family, home and other everyday matters. I disappointed them a little when confessing that football is not one of my passions as they included keen supporters of Arsenal and Manchester United! It seems that wherever one travels, even in the least likely places, people are followers of English football. I am reminded of two small boys playing football in the courtyard of a Yangon temple, pretending to be the same two teams and calling out the scores in English. I restored my credibility in the pub by buying a few more bottles for my new friends before I left.

When leaving the market, I noticed an elderly man with an interesting face. He told me that he makes and sells herbal medicines that can be sued to relieve muscle pain, headaches and other ailments. As he spoke he used his hands to express himself, smiling and looking more thoughtful depending on my question. I wanted to give him something and so offered him some sweets I had purchased in the market. He accepted them but insisted I take a small sample of his medicine "in exchange".

Traditional medicine maker, Inle

Pa-O woman with cheroot, Inle

The man who looked after my bicycle, Nyaungshwe

Pa-O woman, fruit and vegetable vendor, Nyaungshwe market

Nyaungshwe is a busy town adjacent to Inle Lake. It is used as a base from which to explore the water and the surrounding area. However, it is an interesting place in its own right with several very good cafes and restaurants and a number of temples. I cycled into the centre of town at 6.30 one morning to look for the monks leaving one of the monasteries for the daily collection of rice and other donations. It was cold, grey and misty and yet still they walked barefoot in single file stopping only when people stepped forward to make an offering. Several of them were very young as were the nuns I had seen earlier who were so cold that they pulled their robes over their shaved heads in an attempt to warm up a little.  After photographing the monks, I stopped off at the central market where the usual range of goods are sold and where many of the traders are Pa-O. Not wanting to take the bicycle into the narrow lanes of the market I asked a young man if he would keep an eye on it for me. When I went back to collect it I he refused to accept anything from me in return. I eventually managed to persuade him to take a single orange to give to his small child, carried on his back and wrapped up against the cold in thick woollen clothing.

Monks collecting the rice, Nyaungshwe

Nuns on a cold morning in Nyaungshwe

This young man was yet another example of the generosity and openness of I encountered in Myanmar. Time and time again people offered to share food with me or gave me extra fruit after I'd paid for my purchases - steadfastly refusing to accept further payment. Many of them were also happy to talk about their lives, sharing both success stories and misfortunes. Several women who had spent their lives working in the fields or selling in the market had been able to send one or two of their children to university and rightly expressed a quiet pride in this. One woman in Kalaw told me that after graduating her daughter had secured a job in Japan and that she had been there to visit her. The life of another woman in Kalaw had been less happy. She had suffered for many years at the hands of her husband who was both an alcoholic and prone to violence but assured me that her life was better now as the husband had died a few years previously. She said that had been the happiest day of her life. This openness can sometimes come as a surprise but seems  refreshing compared to the very different approach to life in Europe.

A face full of stories

Vegetable vendor, Kalaw

Pa-O woman, Kalaw market. her daughter works in Japan.

Danau woman, vegetables vendor, Kalaw

This openness generally includes a willingness to be photographed. This applies to people of all ages who happily stood for pictures or smiled when realising I had taken a more candid picture. It is almost impossible to choose but perhaps my favourite character was an elderly man I met who holds the keys for a temple a few kilometres from Pakoku. My first sight of him was as he stood on the banks of the river Ayeyarwady, wearing a crisp white shirt, lungyi and a patterned head covering whilst smoking a cheroot. At 82 years of age he walks five kilometres to and from the temple every morning in order to open it for visitors. Despite his age he is very fit and it was difficult to keep up with him as he led me from the river to the temple. He has a wonderful, heavily lined face, full of stories and framing a wonderful smile. At the other end of the age range I photographed a young mother and her baby through the window of a train traveling from Kalaw to Shwenyaung. Standing on the platform I noticed the child's worried expression as he  looked out of the window, perhaps wondering where he was. His mother nodded assent to a picture and was delighted when I showed her the results before I jumped back on the train to continue my journey.

Have we missed our station?

Myanmar is a wonderful place for photography and for anyone interested in people. Showing even a little interest in someone here can bring the most surprising rewards with life stories shared, friendships formed and memories created. I cannot wait to make a third visit, to again wander the streets of Yangon, to tease and be teased by the vendors in the markets of Mandalay, Pakoku and Nyaungshwe, to make new friends and to capture it all on my camera. The photograph at the top of this post illustrates everything I love about Myanmar and its people - the colours, the smiles, the open window on the lives of the people and most of all, despite all of their problems and difficulties, the joy of being alive.

I can't finish without including a picture of an Inle fisherman. Sure, it has become a bit of a cliche and some of these men might now earn more from posing for the tourists than they do from fishing but it's still a terrific scene and I can't resist it. I'm off to make myself a cup of coffee, purchased in Cafe May Myo...

Photogenic fisherman, Inle Lake

You might also like Mandalay Mandalay and Return To Yangon.

You can see more pictures of Myanmar here.

Myanmar Journey Part Three - To Pyin Oo Lwin By Motorcycle

I had a free day in Mandalay and after receiving a message from friend who had been in Myanmar several years ago, I decided to visit Pyin Oo Lwin, a small town 80 kilometres away and a former Hill Station during the British colonial period. 

There are several ways of getting to Pyin Oo Lwin from Mandalay but feeling adventurous I decided to invest the equivalent of $50 in taking a motorcycle taxi there and back.  This involved perching on the back of a motor cycle for a four hours round trip, sharing the road with huge goods carrying lorries, smaller trucks packed with people going to work or to markets, cars, cars, cars and even the occasional bicycle or tuk-tuk. Despite this and the terrible stiffness I felt when dismounting, it was a great way to travel and allowed me to see much more than other forms of transport would, as we proceeded to our destination.

You monks collecting the rice, Mandalay.

I knew it would be a good day when whilst waiting for the bike and driver to arrive, a long line of young monks passed my hotel on their early morning round to collect the rice. My hotel was just a few metres away from the River Ayeyarwady and there was still a little morning mist as they passed by, barefoot and in their deep red garments, some smiling, others more serious. There are more than 500,000 Buddhist monks in Myanmar and all Buddhist men will spend at least some part of their lives in a monastery.

My driver arrived punctually at 7.15 and we began our journey north. In recent years, many of Mandalay's citizens have replaced their bicycles with motor scooters due to the availability of cheap imports from China.  We began our journey by threading through the thousands of motorcyclists on their way to school or to work. I am used to sitting (or more likely standing) in a packed underground train but this was something new for me. Many of the motorcyclists appear to be in their mid teens, few wear crash helmets and my driver complained that many do not know the rules of the road. Let's just say that there was plenty of evidence to support his assertions!

Flower market near Mandalay

An unusual flower stall!

There is a morning flower market just outside the city and we made a brief stop to admire the yellow, white and purple dahlias, chrysanthemums, tulips and other brightly coloured flowers. Almost all of the traders are women who come from the surrounding towns and villages, very early in the morning, staying until well after sundown. The stalls are arranged on the central reservation and at the sides of a frantically busy road system. This does not seem to worry the hundreds of enthusiastic customers but having once been hit by a car in Bangkok, I am ultra cautious in crossing roads. This must have shown because the driver took my arm and for the second time in Myanmar, someone helped me across the road. Physically.

On we went and the last stretch of the journey is an uphill climb with great views and alternatively sparklingly fresh air and choking dust thrown up from the heavy traffic or quarrying works going on at the side of the road. About half an hour away from Pyin Oo Lwin we stopped at a petrol station for a coffee, a comfort break and "to give the bike a rest". I was given a mug of hot water and a sachet of "2 in 1" coffee (instant coffee already containing sugar) which was passable but that could have been due to my throat being extra dry from the dust on the road.  Cigarettes were being sold singly whilst  rum and whisky were also available, all being sold by young women who bring cellophane wrapped snacks and  sandwiches to the table to tempt hungry travelers. Most contain pork so not for me.

Fruit sellers near Pyin Oo Lwin

Nearer to Pyin Oo Lwin we stopped again. I made a quick visit to a local temple to admire the view from its hilltop location and then had a quick look in the local market and shops where I had my first site of the fruit, vegetables, jams and preserves for which this part of Myanmar is well known. I bought bananas from a group of local women selling fruit and vegetables and wearing conical hats designed to keep off the sun. They asked me where I am from and my reply of "London" received a friendly response. They let me take their picture but not before one of the women removed her hat, re-arranged her hair and assumed a serious expression for the camera.

Pyin Oo Lwin itself is a positive delight. Previously called Maymyo, the British established a hill station here at the end of the nineteenth century, coming here to escape the summer heat of Yangon (then Rangoon) and Mandalay. Pyin Oo Lwin does not suffer from the extreme temperatures of the larger cities further south. The climate is so comfortable that strawberries, plums, damsons and avocados and their respective jams and pickles are produced here and then sold in the market or at the roadside. Local honey is easy to find too.

At this point in my trip, I had become addicted to Myanmar's markets - the colours, the atmosphere and the aromas. Pyin Oo Lwin has a huge market selling just about everything - fruit, vegetables, spices, bamboo goods, electrical appliances, medicines and sweaters. Lots of sweaters. The town is famous for its warm and colourful sweaters that are just right for its relatively cold winters.

Central Market, Pyin Oo Lwin

Shopping for bananas, Central Market, Pyin Oo Lwin

On the subject of food, by the time we arrived in Pyin Oo Lwin I was ready for something to eat. Choosing a small cafe I sat down and ordered a cold drink, tea and a simple omelette with chillies and tomatoes. After a few minutes I was approached by an elderly man who greeted me with "Good morning" and asked me "Where are you from" in perfect English and with an impressive old fashioned BBC accent. My reply of "London" produced an enthusiastic response - "London. A wonderful city. You are British then?". "Yes". I replied. "Well you will be wanting chips with your omelette then won't you?" he continued. "Er, yes, why not". He ordered some chips for me, smiled and wished me a good day before leaving. So I had chips too.

Hindu Temple, Pyin Oo Lwin

Interior detail, Hindu Temple, Pyin Oo Lwin

Enough with the food. The town's main street is lined with a variety of shops and cafes as well as a large Buddhist temple, an equally large mosque and various government institutions and offices. Turning off the main drag I found myself in a series of little streets where there are sill some wooden houses, a surprising number of guest houses and small hotels, small shops and businesses and a beautiful Hindu Temple. Located in a quiet back lane, the temple is covered inside and out in the brightest of reds, blues, greens, yellows and pinks whilst inside there are shrines to and sculptures of the various Hindu deities. There were few worshippers present at the time of my visit and I was able to sit quietly for a while before returning to the street.

Mosque, Pyin Oo Lwin

Colorful houses near the Central Market, Pyin Oo Lwin

As I said earlier, the British established a presence here during the colonial period. There are enduring signs of this across the town with various administrative buildings in the centre and several large houses on the outskirts. Perhaps the most famous of these is Candicraig, built in 1906 and originally owned by the Bombay Burmah Trading Company who used it as a chummery or bachelor quarters for their workers. Candicraig was constructed in brick and teak and is set in extensive gardens. Standing outside the house, it is not difficult to believe that you are in Surrey or one of the other home counties. Today it is an hotel. At the time of my visit it was closed for renovation. 

All Saints Church, consecrated in 1914 is another reminder of the colonial past but still has an active Anglican congregation. The church had strong connections to the British army and following the Second World War a garden of remembrance was established in the grounds.

Candicraig

All Saints Church

Lake and pagoda, National  Kandawagyi Gardens 

The built heritage of the city is partly a legacy of the British period, but perhaps the most significant symbol of those times are the stunning National Kandawagyi Gardens. Originally the idea of Alex Roger a forest research officer who worked with Lady Cuffe, a botanist connected with Kew Gardens, the site was established as botanical gardens in 1915. It covers 240 acres and is today owned by the state.

Joining the many locals strolling through the gardens, I could recognize the Kew connection with the beautiful manicured lawns, many different trees and plants and even a little tea shop. However, Kandawagyi has something Kew is unlikely to ever have. Whilst walking through a forested part of the gardens, I could hear movement above. At first I thought it was the sound of bark being shed. And indeed bark was falling intermittently from some of the trees but to my surprise when I looked more carefully, I could clearly see an adult monkey moving from tree to tree closely followed by a second smaller, but still adult looking monkey. I soon realised they were a couple when I spotted the baby that the female was gripping whilst expertly moving from branch to branch and on into the park. There are larger forests nearby and it is likely that they had strayed from there in search of food. How unexpected to see a family of monkeys walking on the roof of the aviary in search of dinner!

Kandawagyi also has an extensive orchid garden, a large collection of butterflies, a jungle walkway, a bamboo forest and a pagoda from which to view the surrounding area. On leaving the Gardens, my driver wanted to stock up on betel to keep him going on the way back to Mandalay. He bought them outside the park from a neat little stall operating under the name Betel Gentleman. There is also a very good cafe close to the Gardens on the way back into the town centre. It has a range of good coffees and teas and to my delight a rather fabulous selection of cakes and desserts. Woo hoo. I chose the creme caramel to go with my strong black coffee. I was not disappointed.

Orchid garden, Kandawagyi

Betel Gentleman - buy your betel here!

And then it was time to spend another two hours on the motor cycle to return to Mandalay. The journey was to include a final treat of seeing another Myanmar sunset with its glorious deep orange sky. I arrived back at the hotel tired, saddle sore but happy. Going straight to my room I found that the electronic key wasn't working, so I returned to reception for it to be re-activated. The young woman on the desk asked me what I'd done that day and wished me a good evening. I went back to my room to get washed and changed for dinner. Looking in the mirror I saw that my face was covered in thick dust, arranged very nicely around the outside of my glasses, giving me a kind of panda effect. The receptionist had not batted an eyelid.

You might also like Myanmar Journey Part One - Yangon or Myanmar Journey Part Two - The Road To Mandalay

You can see more pictures of Myanmar here.

Burmese Design And Architecture by John Falconer and others and published by Periplus is an excellent introduction to the art and architecture of Myanmar. You can buy it here.