Myanmar 2011

It's been 3 years since my trip to Myanmar in 2011! My sudden jolt of motivation to blog stems from cleaning out my room and discovering my Myanmar notes, buried in a quiet corner.

Went to Myanmar with Lena and Zach, to visit their friends Todd, Alessa and David. David & co. are making low-cost treadle pumps for irrigation -- starting from a project in the D-school extreme affordability class, then funded by IDEO, and now making a real difference to farmers in Myanmar. 

As we got the grand tour of the factory, Todd shared the challenges of manufacturing in Myanmar. 

Supplies: most materials are recycled again and again, with variable quality. "Do you want the recycled plastic, or the recycled recycled plastic??"

Suppliers: some don't have basic tools, like calipers. "Oh... that was why his parts never fit well..."

Staff: their finance manager was helping himself to the till in various ways, and this is accepted practice. "Well.... if the family needs it..."

Multiple insects available for your dining pleasure

But they were generally happy with what they've managed to accomplish, with multiple product iterations already in the market, and a visible impact on the lives of their customers.

I'm really envious. These guys are living the dream. True, the internet speed there will make most teenagers sob in despair, but hey, tea leaf salad everyday! and er... delicious fried insects. 

Went to the Schwedagong Pagoda. It's hard to miss. Big golden pagoda, lighted by night even if the rest of Yangon has electricity rationing. But when one has the oldest and most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, with relics from not just one but FOUR Buddhas (8 strands of hair from Gautama!), it's probably worth a little extra expense. The pagoda has a crown with 5000+ diamonds, 2000+ rubies, topped by a 76 carat diamond. Visitors can look at the 76 carat diamond on the top through a telescope provided for that purpose.

It's definitely impressive, particularly because of the number of Buddhas one can pray to simultaneously. With that many benevolent ears in attendance, surely one will grant your request...

We also took a short trip to Bagan. From Wikipedia:

From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.

Bagan is awesome. More fun than Angkor Wat, because you can explore many different temples without being accompanied by everyone and their grandmother. Each one has interesting murals, or carvings, or resident bat colonies... If the temple is locked, just look around for the attendant who will cheerfully unlock it, and even direct you up to the roof for the best view.

Will let the pictures speak for themselves. Only two other things to mention about the trip:

1) Go for the puppet show. We went to one at Bagan. Incredible! Acrobatic handling of puppets, with great skill. Some very funny skits, including a lecherous puppet with expressive eyebrows =)

2) Get a massage. Lena and I went for one at Seri Heath and Beauty in Yangon. 1hr of being kneaded and pressed and pulled costs 10,000 khat. Can't remember the exchange rate in 2011, but it was something ridiculous, like $15 sgd.

I need to go again! The trip was too short, and I haven't had enough tea leaf salad.....