Mingalabar! and welcome to Nyaungshwe.
“Are you a tourist or a traveler?” What’s the difference and does it even matter? In this context a tourist is one who is focused on seeing the major sights in a limited and well organised time schedule; who eats and sleeps at eateries or hotels that best remind them of home and basically let guidebooks dictate their experiences. A traveler on the other hand takes things as they come; is more interested in local people and foods than the major sights or the comforts of home and lets the local conditions, environment and actions influence their movements and experiences rather than a guidebook.
In reality we all have at least one foot in the tourist camp. We have to plan our wanderings at least to some extent and be conscious of our time due to restrictions such as visas, finances and other constraints There are usually speciic sights we want to see or places we want to go based on other people’s experiences.. Often though the most memorable moments of a trip come when in traveler mode; when going with the flow and taking things as they come. The experience and extent of both forms of travelling are heightened by being legally blind. My time in the township of Nyaungshwe on the edge of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar provides a good example of both types of traveling.
Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar
The Phaung Daw Oo Festival is an annual Buddhist festival that takes place on and around Inle Lake in September or October each year. Four Buddha images, which are usually kept with a fifth at the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, are paraded along the shores of Inle Lake to surrounding villages over 18 days. A replica royal barge is used to convey the images around the lake and is towed by long boats powered by leg rowers who are unique to Inle Lake. Great excitement and honor is held in each village when the procession and Buddha images arrives and stay overnight. The excitement is at a peak as the festival makes its way to the lake’s biggest town, Nyaungshwe where it stays for three nights.
Devotees place gold leaf on Buddha images at the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda. The middle, rounded figure is an original Buddha image now obscured by many layers of gold leaf. This original Buddha image is kept at the pagoda whilst the others travel as part of the festival; the newer images take their place.
So much gold leaf has been placed on the Buddha images over the years that their original shape is unrecognizable. The central, newer image travels with the older images in lieu of the one that stays at the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda.
The tourist in me had been anticipating this festival for months before. I was looking forward to witnessing the ancient festival and austere religious event. I had, as best as possible, organised in my mind where and when the procession would be and how best I could see it all. As the festival procession got under way though the tourist in me had to depart and make way for the traveler.
My lack of eyesight meant that I just couldn’t witness the festival in the usual manner; I could barely see the boats or their leg rowers as they made their way down the canal in to town. The outfits and ornaments of the rowers, their boats and the others involved in the procession were basically none existent to me. It would have been easy to get disappointed and depressed about going to the effort of attending the event but not being able to see it but instead I decided to channel my inner traveler and go with the flow.
Everybody wants a pic of the procession
Instead of concentrating on the visual elements that made up the procession I listened to the aural. Traditional Myanmar music reverberated across the water. Melodic yet abrasive, tuneful yet seemingly random in its rhythms and time signatures, Myanmar music takes a bit of working out. I still have a lot of working out to do; it often seems that each musician is playing a different song together at the same time but hearing the music being played in such a setting was a great experience.
Travellers constantly arriving and departing Nyaungshwe during the festival
The activities draw a large crowd as people from many surrounding villages and all over Myanmar converge on Nyaungshwe for the procession and festivities. My limited vision and lack of local language made it difficult to truly appreciate the crowd but it was very interesting nonetheless to take in the atmosphere. Pa-O, Inya and other ethnic groups were in attendance in traditional dress, most strikingly the Pa-O with their colourful, cloth headwear. The more typical conical farmer’s hat was also well represented in varying degrees of decoration. Monks in their red robes intermingled with teenagers in tight jeans and western tops featuring pirates (yay!) and hello kitty (not so yay!). Each boat of leg rowers in the procession represented a different village so it was interesting hearing the nearby Pa-O women point to various boats abd mention the village names; from their smiles and laughter I am guessing that some comments were made in pride about their village or villages of friends and family whilst other comments were good natured jokes and gossip about other villages. Iit was a lot of fun just being amongst the local crowd and enjoying the colourful atmosphere.
A festival of hats and colour
The tourist in me thought I would just witness a colourful yet austere Buddhist ceremony with perhaps a market or two to satiate the crowd, instead the traveler found a town that transformed itself into a carnival for four days or so. A small number (but large in size) of carnival rides had made their way to the edge of town as had a larger number of sideshow skill games, market stalls and food/beer stations. Exploring these stalls with the procession of people they attracted was much more enjoyable than the formal procession itself.
Colourful outfits that can attract the eye of even a legally blind person!
Market stalls offering the latest fashions; traditional and contemporary, lined the makeshift streets along with tattooists offering a more permanent fashion statement. Vendors selling sim cards and spruiking the latest in technology sat beside piles of wood ready to have its bark crushed and turned into the thanaka that many female and young male Myanmar people wear as protection from the sun and as a form of decoration and expression. It was ‘touristy’ in that it drew a crowd but the crowd were mostly locals and they were keen to have a good time.
Fellow travellers at the fewstival
Walking around the town and carnival in the heat requires sustenance and that was on offer everywhere. We came across an eatery beside the main bridge in Nyaungshe which didn’t look like much but provided heaven in the form of some shade and one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. Shan noodles seemed to be the main thing on the menu so that’s what we ordered and we were well and truly rewarded. The noodles and accompaniments had just the right crunch, just the right moistness and well, just the right everything. It was mouth watering and was only made better by the woman sitting next to us offering an unknown biscuit-ish item to dip in the noodles’ sauce. I’m not sure if this place is there all the time or was just set up for the festival but if you find something resembling this description there go for it!
Passersby enjoying the sight of an impromptu dance
Nyaungshwe has many other eateries and beer stations, all of which are worth exploring but sitting, eating and drinking at the makeshift stalsl amongst the carnival was perhaps the most entertaining. Watching the people walking past, waving, smiling and saying hello or mingalabar was enjoyable enough but was heigtend by the occasional impromptu dances that accompanied the music emanating from the beer stations. It was great to see many of the people who had previously been involved in the procession having fun once the formalities were over. The leg rowers were particularly keen to enjoy their time in town.
Inle Lake leg rowers quenching a hard earned thirst.
Many skill testing games were on offer with prizes of alcohol, cigarettes, soft drink and money. In some cases it involved throwing or rolling a hoop over an object or knocking it over with a ball. There was no obvious signs of slight of hand or cheating and no giant teddy-bear on display and small teddy’s occasionally given out; here it was a simple situation of if you knocked it over you won it.
My brother attracting a crowd and trying his luck.
My brother and I both tried our skills on a couple of games and whilst we were unsuccessful the locals at least enjoyed watching our attempts. We enjoyed watching theirs too. A highlight off our time was enjoying a drink while watching a monk at a skill game across the path. He was constantly throwing tennis balls at a shelf of bottles and cans earning himself a drink or two, For what seemed like nearly an hour he threw ball after ball. He seemed mostly oblivious to his surroundings and was totally concentrated on the task at hand. I’m not sure if such carnival meditations lead to enlightenment but the monk did end up with an impressive collection of ‘free’ beer so at Ute end of the day he was a winner!
Monk in deep concentration at a skill testing game; Phaung Daw Oo Festival, Nyaungshwe, Shan State, Myanmar.
Such experiences can’t be predicted or summed up in a guidebook and thankfully so. They are the experiences of the traveler. Similarly, the rollerskaing rink in Nyaungshwe doesn’t seem to be a popular destination amongst guidebooks or travel forums but it can be a great place for travelers to stumble across. Many teens and young adults were whizzing around the rink obviously enjoying the freedom that movement, loud music and not being at home creates but one group of men in their early twenties were having a fantastic time showing off their skill. Whilst they seemed to be able to skate well that wasn’t the skill the wanted to show off; no, it was the skill of crashing and falling down they seemed to enjoy the most. It appeared that the more spectacular the fall the more it entertained them – and us. An impression of Running Man before a fall seemed to be top of their list and never failed to make us laugh. We spoke for a minute to one of the skaters who was from a nearby village but currently studying away at university doing a business degree. He was back in town for the weekend and keen to make the most of his time with his friends – which meant getting back to skating and falling over.
Nyaungshwe roller-skating rink.
Our time at Inle Lake and Nyaungshwe was forcefully extended when the bus we had originally hoped to catch out of town was full. This could induce great frustration and problems for the tourist but for the travelers in us it was a blessing. We were more than happy to go with the flow and enjoy more of the festival atmosphere.
With extra time on our hands and a desire to explore the local surrounds we found ourselves peering into little bamboo shacks. We came across one where we thought we might get a meal but were instead greeted with a rice wine shack. The rice wine was incredibly cheap and surprisingly good tasting. The proprietor was right to be proud of it. We sat on woven mats enjoying the rice wine and cheroots while we surveyed the scene and the locals surveyed us. The longer we stayed (and the more we all drank) the friendlier our drinking partners got and while we couldn’t talk much due to the lack of shared language we were all more than happy enjoying each other’s company. We were sitting there while the afternoon’s deluge of rain came down and there was no where else I’d rather be.
The perfect place to spend time during a downpour.
As a legally blind person I have no choice but to be a traveler rather than a tourist. I have to go with the flow and take things as they come. Yes, I still need to plan, in fact I probably need to plan some things more than a sighted tourist but I have to be prepared for the plans to go out the window. I have to take my enjoyment and make my memories from the random rice wine shacks rather than see the details of an anticipated Buddhist procession. I need to be amongst the laughter and smiles rather than stupas. I need to take things as they come. I can’t rely on a guidebook written by a sighted person, I need to find my own traveling path. As I go I hope to continue finding this path with help from my brother and all those I meet on the road. As I go I hope to travel and experience life as it is rather than life as a guidebook says it is.
Boats and bridges; ready for travelling
