MYANMAR PART 5

INLE LAKE AND ENVIRONS

Today we drive with Paulo to Taunggyi – the Capital of Shan State - an hour and a half north of Inle Lake. Our ultimate destination is Kakku but we need to pick up our own Pa-Oh guide from Taunggyi first. Her name is Dan Dan and she is dressed in traditional hill tribe clothes – beautiful. We drive for another 2 hours along many narrow, unmade roads – the soil is bright red here and extremely dry so all the roadside shrubbery is coated with a layer of rusty silt. The soil is also very fertile, fields of garlic and sunflowers abound and a gaggle of Burmese women, bent over weeding between the growing garlic look up from their toils to smile and wave. We hop out of the car, as we see an amazing photo opportunity, and down the bank into the field. The scene is wonderful, the colours bright and their faces a picture of concentration as they weed along the rows. They are all happy to see us and have no problems with us taking photos of them in their woven bamboo hats and colourful headscarves.

Finally we reach Kakku and its many stupa. It is mandatory to relinquish your shoes as you enter the site which can be a little uncomfortable walking around in the hot sunshine.

 The main stupa, which is approximately 40 metres high, was undergoing major renovations when we were there but given this was supposedly founded by Buddhist missionaries of an Indian emperor in the 3rd century BC, it is in remarkable condition. It housed several Buddha images, telling the story of Buddha. We simply had to touch a small part of Kakku Pagoda given its incredible age. Surrounding this main stupa are over 2000 more stupas whose origins date back many centuries. They are not only outstanding examples of traditional art and architecture but also a testament to the religious devotion of one of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities the Pa-Oh. For many centuries, the Pa-Oh have lived in peace, cultivating their land and building Pagoda and Monasteries with their energy and limited wealth.

These 2478 stupas are packed closely together in neat rows and cover an area of approximately 1 square kilometre - each is an individual masterpiece. This stupa forest, in general, is in a fairly good state of preservation but originally each stupa would have been topped with a gilded, multi-tiered umbrella-like feature - sadly many of these are tilted or fallen. External coloured rendering of mortar and stucco has crumbled away on others exposing the brick core underneath. Trees have started to establish themselves within a few of the structures too threatening to split them apart. Earthquakes, high humidity and father time, I guess, have all played their part.

Among the many tall ‘Shan-style’ stupas are a number of small square “monastery-style” stupas that are unique to this region.

External decoration on many of the stupas is quite simple, the builders focusing on pure grace and form for effect. Others feature elaborate decoration with traditional motifs weaving intricate patterns of arabesques and flowers.

Even more fascinating are the many figures – angels, musicians, mythical beasts and dancers - carved in stone and originally highly coloured which adorn many a corner of a stupa or pay silent homage beside the niches in the base of the stupa, many of which still contain their original, antique Buddha image.

Kakku is being extensively restored using donations from Pilgrims but it is very slow indeed.

This place was magical. Bells, gongs, a golden pig, stupas – it was like being in a fantasy garden. Every which way you turned was something new and spectacular to see. We spent hours here with Dan Dan learning the history and what Kakku means to the Pa-Oh people. The remoteness of the site and the reluctance of the local people to allow visitors to walk through unguided has helped to preserve its sculptures and artistic treasures to some degree.

Leaving the site we had a fantastic lunch in the near-by restaurant and then our little Pa-Oh guide, Dan Dan wanted to take us to her village and her home. We were humbled and honoured to be offered this experience. She had such good English she was a pleasure to converse with.

As we arrived at Dan Dan’s family home – soy bean patties and baskets of chillies were drying in the sunshine. Her house was very simple – just one chair for her elderly father to lounge in as he watched TV – everyone else sat and slept on the floor. Her father came in from the fields to say hello to us, he had not an ounce of fat on his body, his skin pulled taut over his bones. Hard work is all they really know and we felt he deserved that chair in the evening – bless him. Her mother had walked many kilometres to one of their other fields to harvest “something” and walk the cows back for the evening.

The house was two storey and made from bamboo as was the flooring and the ladder to the upstairs rooms. The kitchen had a stone fire-pot in the middle of the floor and that is where everything was cooked. There was no fridge, so everything was obviously fresh when cooked, and there were no local shops either. This was a village in the middle of no-where where self-sufficiency is the norm. The toilet and bathroom were outside. Downstairs there was a storeroom packed with maize for the market and a few meagre food supplies for the family. Half of the storeroom had been sectioned off for Dan Dan and her husband to sleep.

Dan Dan was so excited to be showing us her family home that her father had built, offering us avocado to eat which were home grown and delicious. Once again this brought back to us just how little we really need in life – her life was simple, stress-free and uncomplicated and Dan Dan was always, always smiling!!!!

From here we started our journey back to Inle Lake, stopping off to watch a local, round robin football match on the way. This was a huge gathering where all the villages in the Shan State kick off against each other. Skewered chicken heads and beef skin were on offer but we politely declined.

Saying goodbye to Dan Dan back in Taunggyi with big hugs all round and a nice tip in her pocket we headed to Red Mountain Estate Vineyard & Winery to watch the sunset over a glass of local Sauvignon Blanc. This was a French inspired vineyard and the Sauvignon Blanc was also French inspired – it was very nice but not delicious as is a NZ inspired vintage. The winery was lovely and we had good seats to watch the sunset. Sitting with Paulo, a plate of Calamari and some chips our last day in Inle Lake was coming to an end.

Tomorrow we were flying from He Ho to spend one night in Yangon before flying to the Phillipines for Christmas and New Year.

Saying Farewell to Paulo was hard. He handed us some Christmas presents which we saved till Christmas Day to open. He was an amazing young man and an amazing guide. He was intuitive, knowledgeable, helpful, generous, humble and, above all, so very happy with the most amazing smile. You were awesome Paulo so thank you very, very much.

We spent one night back in Yangon scoring a free upgrade to a room with a window. The evening was uneventful and the following day we flew to the Phillipines to spend a month on Cebu with family.

I hope you have enjoyed our journey through Myanmar. It is the best country we have travelled through – it has stolen our hearts. Life there is exactly how life should be spent – in happiness, peace and harmony with few possessions. Money ruins most things and the Myanmar Buddhist people who we came in contact with have not yet been corrupted by it. Life is simple, the dress is simple, the food is simple and delicious and the people gorgeous!!!!!!!!.

Stay safe Myanmar – we will be back. xxxxx