Bought a cup of local chili flakes this morning at the floating market. It should have been called the float-in market as it was on dry ground but was only accessible by boat. It was 200 kyats or about 22 cents. The lady took my bill, waved it in a taunting manner at the lady across the path and said, (no translation needed) "Look, look, look, I got 200 kyats from this idiot tourist." I had "unlucky money" thoughts on my mind as I moved on.
This market had mostly tourist wares near the dock with local stuff (more interesting) further up near the pagoda. Had a great deep fried banana. Bananas here are slightly tangy and creamy and last for days without going off.
There were some other interesting items but my loot bag is 1/2 full and I'm not quite at the 1/2 way point. The rest of the day was spent in long tail boats poking around the floating villages along Inle Lake. They have a low key, tropical Venice feel with all the boats and canals. Workshops visited included weaving, blacksmith's, "cigars" and a silver smith.
The weavers were very interesting as they are harvesting lotus and water hyacinth which is an invasive species and using the stem fibers in weaving. The snap a 3 inch piece off of a 4 foot +/- stem and pull out a central fiber. The remaining stem is used for pig feed. The fibre gets rolled around and tossed in a bowl - looks like soba noddles. Then then spin, dye and weave. Very, very soft fabric is produced at very, very high prices. The shop had hand written posters all over the shop in every language except English that prices were fixed. Made for some confusion at the checkout.
Cigars or cheroots are rolled by young women in their 20's who look like they are 12. These are milder than western tobacco and use a variety of leaves, corn, tobacco and sometime star anise. Lucy the one smoker on our trip says they are much milder.
The blacksmith workshop was accessed by boat but was sitting on a piece of solid ground so the chimney could have a footing. They made a variety of knives, hammer heads, axe blades all with ingenious bamboo sheathes and handles. Peggy got some knives and I got a little nervous and then got a little knife myself.
The silversmith was a surprise. What an array of wares from jewelry to pipes to antiques. This modest little hut on the lake had some gorgeous antique tea services, masks, weapons etc. all certified for export and running into the thousands. Cash only so not many sales to those who didn't have a heads up to bring an extra 5K. It's only a matter of time before credit cards make an appearance here and then, look out. I went to cool off on the dock while the others were still browsing and saw that the competition had moved in in the form of jewelry laded canoes...all at low prices...how much you pay lady?
This market had mostly tourist wares near the dock with local stuff (more interesting) further up near the pagoda. Had a great deep fried banana. Bananas here are slightly tangy and creamy and last for days without going off.
There were some other interesting items but my loot bag is 1/2 full and I'm not quite at the 1/2 way point. The rest of the day was spent in long tail boats poking around the floating villages along Inle Lake. They have a low key, tropical Venice feel with all the boats and canals. Workshops visited included weaving, blacksmith's, "cigars" and a silver smith.
The weavers were very interesting as they are harvesting lotus and water hyacinth which is an invasive species and using the stem fibers in weaving. The snap a 3 inch piece off of a 4 foot +/- stem and pull out a central fiber. The remaining stem is used for pig feed. The fibre gets rolled around and tossed in a bowl - looks like soba noddles. Then then spin, dye and weave. Very, very soft fabric is produced at very, very high prices. The shop had hand written posters all over the shop in every language except English that prices were fixed. Made for some confusion at the checkout.
Cigars or cheroots are rolled by young women in their 20's who look like they are 12. These are milder than western tobacco and use a variety of leaves, corn, tobacco and sometime star anise. Lucy the one smoker on our trip says they are much milder.
The blacksmith workshop was accessed by boat but was sitting on a piece of solid ground so the chimney could have a footing. They made a variety of knives, hammer heads, axe blades all with ingenious bamboo sheathes and handles. Peggy got some knives and I got a little nervous and then got a little knife myself.
The silversmith was a surprise. What an array of wares from jewelry to pipes to antiques. This modest little hut on the lake had some gorgeous antique tea services, masks, weapons etc. all certified for export and running into the thousands. Cash only so not many sales to those who didn't have a heads up to bring an extra 5K. It's only a matter of time before credit cards make an appearance here and then, look out. I went to cool off on the dock while the others were still browsing and saw that the competition had moved in in the form of jewelry laded canoes...all at low prices...how much you pay lady?
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