Woodworking in Burma (Myanmar)

[Kees Heiden]

I have put some pictures on my blog about all the woodworking related stuff I've seen in Burma during our holliday.

Enjoy.

[Jim Matthews]

Have some Mohinga for me.

Jou zuigen

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'd be interested to know the purpose of those chests in the monasteries, if anyone knows?

[Graham Haydon]

Wonderful! As you mention in the blog post this is a rare chance to see something unique before it changes. I'm assuming the pit saw was a hangover from the British era?

[Winton Applegate]

I bet the router guy stopped using the router when you drove up and started hand mortising for the photos. Hoping you would buy some hand made stuff. Probably figured tourists don't know what a router is anyway.


The wood is decaying, despite it being teak, and I think a restoration is being proposed.

Yah looks like every body is behind the proposed bridge restoration except that one guy.
I bet he was mumbling : "Not with a MY tax money you don't ! Bloody liberals ! I don't need no Public Transportation ! I can get across this little puddle just fine all on my own ! Why don't they act "NORMAL" like Weeee are . . . er . . . I mean . . . like I am . . . and just walk across ?" "Taxes are too high as it is without adding more !" "Big government ! THAT'S what's wrong with this country !"

"Blub, blub, gurgle, choke, blub blub . . ."

Sorry couldn't help it.

[Randy Reitz]

I'd be interested to know the purpose of those chests in the monasteries, if anyone knows?

I believe they were used to hold old manuscripts and chanting scripts. My experience is in Northern Thailand just across the border. The reverence in which ancient scripts were held carries over to modern books and contributes to the modern Asian penchant for education. Most of the older Buddhist literature would have been in the Burmese script adapted from Sanskrit, as was the Thai written language.

Thanks, Kees, for sharing these photos. Burma has been stuck in time for several decades and is about to undergo a lot of change to catch up to the rest of Southeast Asia. Glad you got to see this while it's still there.

[Kees Heiden]

Thanks randy for the information.

When we were in Bagan (the area full of 11th - 13th century temples and pagodas, awesome place too), there was some kind of festivity in town. The monks were reading some religous book, through blearing loudspeakers, day and night for several days. Luckily I am a healthy sleeper, so it didn't disturb me. It is very important for them.

Winton, you could be right about the guy using the router. But he wasn't selling anything, he was just making some new chairs and tables for the restaurant we were visiting. And he looked very surprised when I took pictures from his work.

[Keith Outten]

Gentlemen,

You cannot link to Blogs other than ours. Blogs are considered the same as Forums and our TOS prohibits links to either.
.

[Jim Matthews]

Woodworking, schmoodworking.

Burma has some of the best native cuisine in the World.
Why are we prattling about sawdust and sticks?

More about the food, man.... spill, already!

http://migrationology.com/2011/05/burmese-cuisine-food-bite-of-burma/

[Kees Heiden]

Well, honestly, I am not so sure about the food. I like Vietnamese and Thai food much more. It wasn't bad of course, and they present it in a very nice manner. You order a couple of curries and get a few small bowls of meat in a very oily sauce. But then the rest of the table is filled with all kinds of vegetable curries, dipsauces, some raw vegetables, soup and a lot of rice of course. It's very cheap and tastes nicely. You do start to huncker after a few potatoes and real bread after a while though.

Keith, sorry I didn't know about that rule.

[Jamie Buxton]

..
Keith, sorry I didn't know about that rule.

Fortunately, your name is pretty distinctive. I found your blog with only a couple of clicks. The next time you want to post a link to your blog, you can suggest that readers use that method.

Or you can get SMC to post your blog address. Go to the Settings page, and find Edit. There you can enter your home page. Thereafter, when SMC readers click on your name on a post, they can get to your blog address. I know, it seems a bit arcane, but it does work.