April 12th - 14th Bilu Kyun and Dawei

During my stay in Mawlamyine, I went on an organised group trip to Bilu Kyun, an island just off the coast and a place reached by a short boat crossing. There are various craft industries on the island, and the tour was led by the sprightly manager of a hotel situated near to the jetty.

On the island, we visited a co-operative textile outfit using traditional methods and wooden looms to produce and sell lunzhis that were patterned in the distinctive Karen style using vivid colours.

At one point, our guide was responding to some questions regarding Myanmar's recent past and became visibly upset in reflecting upon ethnic conflict and the role of the military. He felt that ordinary Burmese had lost considerable respect for the military due to their violent conduct, something that troubled him deeply, particularly as he had himself served in the military many years before. It was a reminder of the ongoing discontent within wider Burmese society characterised by the continual ethnic conflicts that exist within the country.

We later visited another workshop where wooden items were made by hand using simple implements, and they were extremely well produced. There was a huge range of items, including pens, pots, smoking pipes, lacquered boxes, mortar and pestle, bracelets and other items. 

Later we visited a small outfit producing vast quantities of rubber bands. The process of creating giant sheathes of rubber on long poles, dipping them in paint, allowing them to dry, removing them and then putting them through a giant mincing machine was quite fascinating. I'd never thought how something as mundane as rubber bands were made before; and watching all the parts come together in that confined space was intriguing.

Dipping rubber sheaths in paint

Drying painted sheaths

Cutting machine to create rubber bands

Removing broken rubber bands

Later in the day we were shown another small co-operative unit producing hard-weather foot-wiping rugs from coconut skins. I'd never realised that these rugs that we are so familiar with could be so intricately hand-woven, and the women creating them were highly-skilled. 

Soaking coconut fibres

Weaving coconut fibres into rugs

Weaving coconut fibres into rugs

During the afternoon we stopped at a place in the middle of nowhere that had a swimming pool, which was refreshing, and later had a tasty lunch in a pleasant restaurant.

Later on we were taken to a small outfit producing slateboards for schools. There was a two-stage process: cutting and removing the sharp edging from pieces of slate so that it was roughly 7 inches by 6 inches; and then cutting and shaping wooden frames to contain the pieces of slate. 

We travelled around the island in a battered jeep that seated two people at the front of the vehicle, myself and a Danish woman, with the remaining six of the group in the group in the rear. The front area of the vehicle was completely sealed, unlike the rear of the vehicle, which bore the brunt of a thorough drenching from a group of kids well prepared for our visit.   

Cutting and bevelling slate 

Creating wooden frames for slate

Pensive craftsman

Children bearing heavy duty waterpistols

It had been a pretty full-on day, and on reflection it was a mistake to have bought a minibus ticket the previous evening to Dawei, in the south of the country and capital of the southern Tanintharyi region, for 5.30pm that evening. It would have been much better to have had a good night's rest with the small group of fellow day-trippers over a beer or two, some of whom had spent a bit of time travelling in northern Thailand, which I was hoping to visit in a few weeks time. I think I could have benefited quite a bit from their knowledge and experience. 

Moreover I hadn't grasped the momentous nature of the water festival, a national event that takes place over a few days, and encompasses a holiday period, with many people travelling across the country to visit family and friends. The occasional person had mentioned that it would be wise to settle on a particular place and to remain there for the duration of the festival, as the pressure on local accommodation would be pretty intense, but I hadn't taken that as seriously as I might have done. 

Hence I hadn't arranged my accommodation for Dawei in advance, so an unpleasant journey in a cramped minibus was made worse by the dawning realisation that finding somewhere to stay was going to be pretty tough. Especially as the minibus was to arrive at around 2am! On reflection I was probably overly focused on the passing of time, the limitations of my 28 day visa, and the desire to cram in as much as possible given these limitations.   

To cut a long story short, the benevolent minibus driver and a kindly Burmese woman accompanied me on a fruitless search for places to stay in the early hours of the morning, until a couple of hotel workers in a reasonably upmarket place took pity on me and offered me a couch in the foyer, which is where they generally slept. So I grabbed about three hours of fitful sleep, moving from the original couch which had a number of mosquitoes in attendance (but not before they had taken fairly heavy toll on my legs!) to an adjacent couch that was not covered with mosquito-friendly material.  

The following morning I found a pretty run-down place run by an eccentric woman who offered me the floor of the entrance foyer as a place to sleep, not an over-enticing prospect, but by chance over breakfast I met a fellow German traveller, Wolfgang, who shared my fondness for Nitin Sawhney's music, and offered to share his air conditioned twin room, the only one in the whole place with air conditioning. So quite a serendipitous turn of events that I was extremely grateful for!  

The next couple of days were spent mooching around Dawei, a pretty little town adjacent to some wonderful mountain scenery. The water festival was in full swing, with groups of youths standing on the pavements, sometimes using hosepipes, waiting to give a thorough drenching to virtually everyone that passed, and others driving around in open-top vehicles returning the compliment. It really was an unbelievable sight, and done in very good spirit. Given the extreme heat, it was actually quite welcome, and clothing soon dried.

Water festival

Water festival

Dawei is famous for its coastline which contains some of the region's finest unspoilt beaches, although perhaps not to the standard of the idyllic Myeik Archipelago, which is largely not open to tourists. So Wolfgang and I opted to take a boat-trip that included visiting some of the famed beaches, and more enticingly, the opportunity to do some snorkelling. Despite the water festival and the influx of Burmese tourists from around the country, the main well-known tour operator was not offering day tours, and so we were advised to use a more recent and less reliable operator, which was probably a mistake, as the live coral was not as plentiful as we'd hoped, the food was pretty dreadful and we spent too long on the boat. To make matters worse, the auto driver taking us back into the centre of Dawei drove very quickly, and at one point struggled to reverse the vehicle or manoeuvre it properly. It then became apparent that he was drunk! Thankfully a taxi appeared out of nowhere. 

It was interesting to note that none of the Burmese day-trippers (Wolfgang and I were the only foreigners on board) could swim and required the use of swimming aids, which suggested swimming isn't really part of Myanmar's social / sporting culture. Nonetheless the views were wonderful, it felt good to escape the town and the tour leader, who Wolfgang christened "James Brown" (for obvious reasons) provided considerable comedic value. Who would have imagined that the Godfather of Soul would end up in a place like this?

Gorgeous waters

Pristine beaches

Pristine beach

James Brown

Lovely views