Mt Popa

Off to the temple at Mt Popa via taxi.  But on the way, a stop at a roadside palm sugar "factory".  (Really a family-run place in a thatched building that shows the process to tourists, in addition to selling the sugar commercially on a small scale.)

Not only do they make palm sugar, they also grind sesame and peanuts into oil using ox-powered mills like this one.  (More peanuts - Sarah was understandably thrilled...) The child operator didn't spare the whip!

Tiny bamboo ladders are lashed to the sugar palms.  Some branches are lopped off and little jars are hung below the cut to collect the sap.  Each day someone climbs the tree, empties the jars and re-opens the cut so the sap keeps flowing.

The sap is put in kettles and boiled over fires fed by the removed palm branches.  A combination of boiling through evaporation and sun drying produces...

...palm sugar nuggets.  Also known as jaggery.  This was fairly light-coloured jaggery - darker, more caramelized versions are also available.  In addition to being a common ingredient in Burmese and Thai cooking, the Burmans traditionally eat a lump after dinner as a digestif.  It tastes a bit woody.  Pleasant.

They also make toddy (spontaneously fermented palm sugar) and palm wine (distilled toddy), but I'll cover that later in the Hoplog blog.

Next stop, the temple at Mt Popa (actually atop a volcanic plug on the shoulder of Mt Popa).  Reminded me of "St. Cyril's" monastery in For Your Eyes Only.

Not only is the location impressive, but the place is swarming with monkeys!  Very cute.  They do poop on the stairs, which are continuously cleaned by people looking for tips.  But they're so well fed by tourists who buy bundles of peanuts for that purpose that they are pretty calm and don't try to steal much from you.  (Yes, Sarah had to dodge both peanuts AND monkey poop on our climb to the top.)

Balance is not a problem for monkeys.

There aren't that many western tourists at Mt Popa, but the place is swarming with domestic tourists - by far the single most "touristy" place we visited in Burma.

Covered stairs make the climb much more pleasant.

The peak of Mt Popa and the village below.

Some of the tourist buildings at the bottom.

And back down, trying not to trip on one's longyi.  (Note: because of longyis and long skirts, all bicycle frames in Burma lack a top bar, which makes pedaling impossible unless you wear pants or shorts.)

A bundle of bananas along with a couple of standard Burmese metal lunch kits.  Everyone brings their lunch to work in these stacked bowls, usually swinging off the handlebars of their scooters and bikes.  You disassemble the kit and eat from multiple bowls - one containing rice, the others containing curries or other accompaniments.  You can mix and match with your friends, eating family style.

Family-style lunchtime with the metal lunchkits.

At the bottom of the hill is a little shrine to the 37 most famous nat (animistic spirits) that are worshiped alongside Buddha by many people, especially those with strong tribal connections.

Then it was back to Bagan and a final sunset dinner alongside the Irrawaddy.  It's a magical place.  The government is building new, modern palaces in the area (I don't know why) and even a modern spiral tower taller than all of the temples surrounding it.  One can only hope that they put the brakes on such misguided projects before the whole area is Disneyified and loses its charms.