The Pagodas of Bagan

Events of Saturday 16th February, 2013

Although I've visited Bagan a number of times, the impact of thousands of pagodas spread across the Plain of Bagan is undiminished.

So the short version of the 'events of today' is definitely "Jan looked at a load of old temples". I'll expand the post a little when I can.

The Pagodas of Old Bagan.
The Pagodas of Bagan.
More Temples of Bagan.

Nga-Minn-May and Chauk-Kan Schools

Events of Friday, 15th February 2013

Nga-Minn-May School

Distributing stationery in February 2013 at Na-Minn-May.

I had visited Nga-Minn-May once before in September 2012. That visit is described here.

The roads we took were initially not bad but once we turned off the Mount Popa Road to take the long, sandy lane to the village of Nga-Minn-May, progress became more difficult. The weather had been extremely dry and the road had a lot of loose sand. The most common vehicle is the bullock cart and their narrow, widely-spaced wheels produce deep ruts in the surface. Motor bicycles can normally negotiate these ruts but it is problematic for 4-wheel cars like our Toyota.

Nga-Minn-May is a substantial village with around 370 houses and a population of around 1800. We arrived safely and parked in the shade of a large tree, as on the previous occasion. We could hear the excited chatter of children from the schoolrooms as the sacks of exercise books and boxes of pencils, rulers and erasers were unloaded.

Doctor Hla Tun took me into each classroom in turn in the large classroom block re-furbished by the village people with support from the RTM Social Contribution.

In 2012 a donation from RTM Social Contribution helped pay for a large brick and cement water tank next to the refurbished school building. The tank was covered by a corrugated steel roof supported on wooden framing to reduce contamination and evaporation losses. High-capacity aluminium guttering fitted along the verandah collected rain water and a substantial plastic pipe delivered the collected water to the tank. I presumed there were, as in other places, a series of outlets controlled by cocks but that area had been covered by a protective box, secured in place by a padlock. One of the village men experimented with keys for a time so that I could look at the arrangement but, after a few unsuccessful attempts, we moved on to spare him embarrassment.

There remained one school building in use which, although having a reasonable wooden frame, had only woven wall panels. Doctor Hla Tun had agreed to fund the work to replace the woven wall panels with more durable brick and cement, just as had been done on the other, larger building. Because the villagers agreed to do most of the work themselves, the cost of this refurbishment is mainly the cost of materials.

By the time the tour had finished, the stationery had been unpacked and sorted into sets - normally two exercise books and two pencils per pupil, from youngest to oldest. All the children now lined up and Jan and the Doctor presented the stationery, enthusiastically supported by my Guide and Driver.

A table and chairs had been set up under the large tree near where our car was parked and we were invited to eat before we left. The Burmese take hospitality very seriously.

Pictures of the visit are here.

A typical house in Nga-Minn-May village.

I'd expressed interest in seeing one of the typical village houses and we visited a small compound where one family were happy for me to look around at their house, their cowshed and the different methods used for roofing. The Toddy Palms grow in this area and the village was surrounded by fields dotted with these trees. The lower branches of these trees are cut-off and used to form the substantial palisade fences around each compound. More pictures.

As we drove away from the village, we passed one of the teachers walking towards the main road and we gave her a lift to the junction. This girl lives in Nyaung Oo so that she can look after her elderly parents. To reach the school each school day, it takes 45 minutes to one hour on a bus from Nyaung Loo followed by a walk of around 45 minutes along the sandy track we'd used to get to the school. Then, after school, she reverses the process to get home. You cannot fail to admire the quiet determination of these people.

Chauk-Kan School

We travelled along the main road for a short while and then turned onto a sandy track which was even longer, even more rutted and with more loose sand than the track we'd used to reach Nga-Minn-May. This was the way to Chauk-Kan. I'm afraid that, at one point, we got bogged-down in the sand but the Doctor, Guide and a villager who appeared quickly had us moving again.

We found all the pupils in the assembly hall, waiting for the start of the schoolo concert.

Road to Mandalay Social Contribution had previously built a new school room here. There's a report on this building and on the official opening here. My own first visit was in September 2011. In February 2013, we had refreshments on the Staff Room, followed by a splendid concert and then, finally, we made the presentation of stationery to all the pupils. Pictures taken on our visit are here.

Revised 20th February 2013