Pindaya is about 470 km north of Yangon. The name itself is interesting. From Wikipedia,
According to local legend, the term Pindaya is a corruption of the word Pinguya, which translates to Taken the Spider in Burmese. The name arose from the legend that there was once a large spider which resided in the caves and it had captured a local princess. The princess was rescued when the giant spider was slain by a prince using a bow and arrow. When the spider was killed, the prince was said to have exclaimed that he had taken the spider, that is to kill it.
Though we had come here to see the assemblage of thousands of Buddha images in the Shwe U Min cave, not for their number, but for their variety of construction ---alabaster, teak, marble, brick, lacquer, and even cement, for me the delight was in being in rural Myanmar.
After leaving the airport in Heho we turned down a side road and were so taken by both the landscape and Burmese going about their everyday work, we stopped, and began walking down the road. It was rewarding
There weren't many choices for lunch, but we found the Green Tea restaurant with a lake view and as it turned out also very good food.
After lunch we dropped our stuff at our hotel. It was only a 1.2 km hike up to the caves, but it was quite a steep walk in the hot sun. We drove up, but a few in our group walked back down after visiting the caves.
We ended the day with relaxed conversation in the hotel bar.
Before we left the hotel the next morning Chiis showed us a mature loofah cucumber. When young, they can be eaten. When mature they become the fibrous "sponge" that is used for bathing.
While walking a road just outside the hotel, I came upon a spirit house nailed to a tree.
On leaving Pindaya we stopped at a small family-run paper making shop. The paper was hand made, one sheet at a time, from mashed mulberry leaves. Sometimes flower petals were pressed into the wet mash. When the mash had dried the flowers would be an integral part of the paper.
After leaving the airport in Heho we turned down a side road and were so taken by both the landscape and Burmese going about their everyday work, we stopped, and began walking down the road. It was rewarding
There weren't many choices for lunch, but we found the Green Tea restaurant with a lake view and as it turned out also very good food.
After lunch we dropped our stuff at our hotel. It was only a 1.2 km hike up to the caves, but it was quite a steep walk in the hot sun. We drove up, but a few in our group walked back down after visiting the caves.
We ended the day with relaxed conversation in the hotel bar.
Before we left the hotel the next morning Chiis showed us a mature loofah cucumber. When young, they can be eaten. When mature they become the fibrous "sponge" that is used for bathing.
While walking a road just outside the hotel, I came upon a spirit house nailed to a tree.
On leaving Pindaya we stopped at a small family-run paper making shop. The paper was hand made, one sheet at a time, from mashed mulberry leaves. Sometimes flower petals were pressed into the wet mash. When the mash had dried the flowers would be an integral part of the paper.
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