N 119. A day trip to Lamphun and Lampang

 N 119. A day trip to Lamphun and Lampang

I have been wanting to visit Lamphun and Lampang while we are in Cheingmai. There are some places around Cheingmai which we can visit as a day trip. Lamphun and Lampang is one of them as Lamphun is 19 km and Lampang is 101 km from Cheingmai.

 My attempt to visit Lamphun and Lampang became a reality in a day in October. I made arrangements to go with USTM and daughter Nge with Nge driving. We also took Sai Lat who is a family friend with us.We collected him at Wat Pa Pao and set off directly for the highway heading towards Lamphun.

 I had looked for Lamphun in the net and found many places of interesting to visit but because Lampang is the main place to visit for today and as we still have a long way to go I told SL that we will visit only one place here, the most famous temple, Wat Phrathat Haripunchai.

 Sai Lat who is a history enthusiast and has a good memory told us that Lamphun was founded by Queen Chama Thevi as the capital of Haripunchai Kingdom, the last and most northerly Mon Kingdom.The Wat Phrathat Haripunchai was founded pin 897 and a Buddha’s relic(hair ) is said to be enshrined in the Chedi.

 We found the temple as magnificent as all temples in Thailand. The Buddha statue in the main hall is glittering with gold and every piece of the hall is gilded beautifully .The golden chedi is 46 meters tall now and there is an ancient style brick arch with fine designs with a pair of sculptured lions at the entrance. There also is a square shape chedi and a Khmer style Buddha statue.We didn’t stay long but left this centre of worship to continue our journey to Lampang.

 N  118  An additional  milestone in my life journey

When I published Bamboo Hospital about 4 years ago I thought it would be my last book to be translated and published.I had reached an advanced age, and so I thought I would not be able to do more due to health issues , which would occur to me at one time or another.But this thought is with me only when  a book I’m interested in is not in my sight.

In October last year I visited  Bangkok with my family. As a lover of book I usually visited Kanokuniya book store  at Siam Paragon  shopping mall. But  as I didn’t have a particular book in mind I just looked around to find something I might want to purchase.But it was hard to choose one from a sea of books.In the end I pulled out one which is about Tibet and another from the shelf  and paid for them.

I started reading the Tibet book with the title “From a mountain in Tibet….. A monk’s journey “ and came to like it.I read it on my way to Cheingmai  and finished it before we went home to Taunggyi. 

The book is about the life of a lama ( Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche) from when he is a little boy growing up in a small village until he became a Rinpoche. (high monk ). So we read about the life of Tibetan people, how they live,what they eat,what is their livelihood, their religion, their strange funeral customs etc….

The author whose name is Jamdruk at the age of 13/14, went to Dolma Lakang monastery to assist his brother who is the head monk, a Tulku ( a reincarnation monk , who is much revered ). He started learning Tibetan only then.But after some years in 1959 Communist China invaded Tibet.Because of their aggressiveness and harsh treatment towards the people and religious persons people dare not stay in their homeland anymore.Even the head of State Dalai Lama fled to the Indian border with a small company.

Jamdruk, his brother Akong, Akong’s friend Trungpa  with a company of monks and lay people  and some animals also left the monastery for the Indian border.Their group gradually grow to about 300. With much difficulties and hardships they trudged towards the Indian border without much knowledge of directions. When winter came the journey became an ordeal for them. People died on the way because of the cold weather and not enough food. Animals had to be left on the way because there was not enough animal feed.Even people who are not well and cannot walk had to be left behind. 

At last when they reached the Bramaputra river, on which other side is India and their free land , they came in contact with the Chinese army which ruthlessly gunned them down.Among their group of 300 only Jamdruk, Akong, Trungpa and  ten people reached the other side and India.

The company had to stay in a refugee camp which was not convenient for sometime  and then he drifted from one Tibetan community to another for about 6 years after which he joined his brother Akong and Trungpa in the UK ,where they had established  a Tibetan  Mahayana Centre and distributing their religious faith.

Jamdruk was not a monk and he didn’t make himself useful to the centre.Instead he just loaf around , idling, drinking and crashing cars which Akong bought for him. But when the Karmapa (the head of their sect ) came to UK he went with him to the US.  There he helped built a Tibet Buddhist Centre and then went back to his old habits.

When he reached the age of about 40 , then that he realize his wrong doings and suddenly wanted to become a monk.He got ordained by the Karmapa who happened to be in the US then and went directly into retreat ,which lasted 5 years.During his life as a monk, he took his duty seriously and did his best for the meditation centers acting as instructor or managing them until when he reached 70 of age that he received the title Rinpoche. 

Between the life story of the monk one will read about Tibetan’s Buddhism. About who they worship, (apart from Bodhisatta they worship Guanyin and many different deities )how they practice, their beliefs and their rites and rituals, the intensity of their meditation practice and some supernatural and mysterious happenings which Tibet is famous for.

I had translated and published nine books so far. Although my works may not be that great I take pride in them, and take each book as a milestone in my life’s journey.So with the production of this book I will have ten milestone in my life journey . And I also thank U Lwin Oo of Tet Lu Kyaw sarpay to produce this book for me.

 

N 117    How we come and live in Cheingmai

I have never imagined to come and live in Cheingmai which is an alienated land. Taunggyi is my hometown and Myanmar is my home country. There is no other place where I can move to if I cannot stay in my hometown. But Thailand offer an option for foreigners to come and stay temporary in their country this year, that we came to grab this opportunity.

When I say I cannot stay in my hometown please don’t take me wrong. We, our whole family have done anything wrong, so as to flee the country, but only the unstableness of the country made us take action. Even if we are right in everyway we cannot say when we will be ignited by stray sparks to fall on us and causing troubles and anxieties.

So hoping to live peacefully even for a short  time we considered to come and stay temporary in Thailand. We chose Cheingmai, where there are many Shan people living there and communicating in Shan language is convenient for everyday activities.

Cheingmai is in the northern part of Thailand and  it’s second capital . It is not a bustling metropolis like Bangkok, but a sprawling vast city surrounded by low mountains on all sides. But this summer the smog is so intense, that the mountains cannot be seen, the air polluted, and temperature rise that cause the city to become an unhealthy place to live in. The city is a little crowded only in the centre ,but beyond that houses are sparse and there are still many vacant plots of land. Because of these  untended plots of land and houses the city is not as pretty as to live up to it’s name.

About its history ….

Cheingmai is an old town built in 1296 as the new capital of Lanna  which means a million rice fields. Lanna Kingdom at that time included Cheingtung, Cheinghung,(Sipsaungpanna ) Luang Prabang (Laos) and had  its own ruler. Sometimes it had to fight with Ayutthia ( Southern Thailand ) and sometimes with the Burmese. That is why the city had to build a  moat and walls to keep the enemy away,  which remnants  of them can still be seen..Zinnme (it was called then ) became a vassel state of Toungoo ( Burmese )from 1556 to 1791 . It was integrated into the Kingdom of Siam in 1899.

The population of the city is over one million as of 2022, so it is not much crowded . Most people living here are Thais and our Tai people. Some say that there are more Tai  people than Thais. Most Tai people are from the Shan State who had fled their homeland because of unrest and come to work for their livelihood. Most have to do manual works like farmworks or construction. But if people from Myanmar get here safely and get a job the wages will be better than they can earn in our country. But unfortunately some are caught by Thai police while crossing into Thai territory and have to face the bad consequences.

As Cheingmai is an old town there are  many historical sites and places of worship like wats, temples and pagodas. Those who like temple visits can visit famous ancient temples like Doi Suthep pagoda, Chedi Leung,Wat Cheingman,etc…Beside these religious places Cheingmai has to offer many places for leisure and knowledge. People can visit museums, parks, walking trails, tribal villages, elephant camps, the famous night bazaar etc…Cheingmai is also liked by Western people that many visited it as tourists and also living here as expats.

Cheingmai is also a cultural city. It is famous for its traditional culture like silk weaving and embroidering, handicrafts made with local material like bamboo, wood, cane and clay. Jewelry made of silver and gold are also famous products of Cheingmai. Because Cheingmai produce splendid and creative arts and crafts it was declared by Unesco  the Creative City for crafts and folk arts in 2017.

These facts are what I have acquired from different sources but not of my personal experience. I had been here only a few times  and stayed not long enough to see and experience all these interesting places, but I hope I will be able to visit and see more in the future as I will be living a little longer this time.

How we live in Cheingmai….

Many people from Myanmar have come and lived in Thailand and Cheingmai now because of the political situations in Myanmar.If someone ask these people including me , if we like living here ,our answer will be “No “ It is not that easy to do so. The transport is better now that we can fly by air which takes only about an hour . But we must have a passport , which is not easy to acquire one now. And a visa  which allow someone to come and stay here which is not our own country.The Thai Embassy give only 14 days for tourists and 3 months the most if we apply for special visas.

But not long before the Thai government offer long term visas for those who want to come and stay. Old people over 50 can apply for retirement visa, but have to stay accordingly to rule like having a fat Thai Bank account, must not work etc; Come to think about it , it is only for the benefit  of this country. We come, we spend, and participate in the economy. We also suffer financially because the exchange rate is not in favour of our currency. And restrictions for non citizens like us are everywhere, like cannot buy land or a house, cannot set up business freely etc.So there is nothing good for expats like us except the condition of electricity, and internet which is excellent. But overall money makes everything here or elsewhere.

I don’t know for how long I will be staying in Cheingmai. I came to stay here because many in our family are coming to stay here. Our grandson Sai Ollie has started to attend school and his mum , my youngest daughter will surely has to stay here at least until the school term is over. Other family members will be going back and forth to our hometown for certain periods. I the oldest in the family cannot go and come as I wish. Travelling needs a lot of energy. So I expect to stay for somewhat long period before I go back and live with whoever are  at this new home.

But our true wish is that all of us can go back joyously and soon to our homeland…..

all photos ....credit to the original photographer

 

 

  N 116  Cheing Mai – Cheing Rai one day trip

I had been to Cheing Mai from Maesai( Thai – Myanmar border crossing ) by car passing through Cheing Rai, so this trip I took this time is not really a new one . But it also cannot be exactly the same, like the saying; U cannot cross a river twice as the water you are going to cross is not the water  you had crossed before. And the most significant difference here was  that the 2 trips were  not of the same directions but vice versa.

This time we were visiting Cheing Mai , staying for one week. We are a family of 6 and some haven’t been to Cheing Rai. So we hired a 10 seater and started off early as the trip would take the whole day.

 Before long our driver stopped at a place which we later learned it to be a resting place where we can get some foods and coffee. The place is amazing as it is on the bank of a small stream with falls and a bridge. Rocks are plentiful and they are used to decorate the banks and lawns and gardens which are perfect places to take photos.

But no  food was available except coffee and a few cakes made us disappointed. The shopkeepers said that it was still early that foods were not ready yet.There  are some other places in Cheing Mai like this where we cannot get food at early hours. Even at about 8 or 8:30 we cannot buy breakfast.  I thought why so industrious people like the Thais don’t open their food shops early, and my mind also wandered  back to our hometown where we can get breakfast even at about 6. What  do you want to eat? Noodle, or tofu, Sticky rice and crispy fritters: and teashops that sell all kinds of foods are all open early. So after some coffees and photos we departed from this scenic spot.

The road is perfect and smooth as all roads in Thailand though there are curves  and ups and downs in some places. We could see trees and wooded areas and plantations along the road. I have heard that Thailand takes care of its forests and preserve them well, so people cannot cut down trees as they wish.

Presently we came to a place called Mae Swai. I haven’t visited this place before. But as it is a place of worship the driver stopped the car for us to visit. As usual there is a golden shrine at its centre and many colorful ornate statues around it. On the left hand side  there is a man made garden complete with a small stream which is made to look like a hot spring  with a waterfall and flanked by trees and shrubs which is perfect to take photos. And then around the compound there are statues of Buddha and celestial beings, creatures and replicas of statues from around Asia.

Another place we visited was  Singha Park. This is a place I haven’t visited before. As soon as we went in we saw a big golden Singha ( lion ) situated prominently on a vast green lawn. We drove right to the viewing platform taking in nice views of tea plantations and pretty sceneries. I learned from Google that the park features flower gardens, lakes ,meadows, orchids and vegetable crops etc and that it is a place to relax  and enjoy fresh air. But to enjoy what the enormous park provide for us, even a whole day will not be enough . So we got onto the platform,enjoy the beautiful scenery , took some photos and left the park to visit another place.

The next place we visited was the Guan Yin Statue.  There is a trolley service to take people to the base of the statue  which is very beneficial for people who cannot walk up. And then an elevator built in the statue took us to the top where there are exquisite sculptures ( plaster I think ) and we can also take a good view of Cheing Rai and its surroundings.

And then the car took us to the Blue Temple. This place is also new to me. Like any other shrines and temples the handiwork of crafts are amazing. The hues and colors which adorned the whole structure are blue , so that this temple gets the name Blue Temple. We saw some tourists who are trying to take group photos in front of the great blue Buddha. Although the compound is not so big and not much to see it is also worth visiting.

It was getting past lunch time then. So we went to look for a place to lunch and settled at a Chinese restaurant which is on the bank of a river. The Nam Mae Kok which starts at the Myanmar border and flows into the great Mekong River.

Our next visit was the Ban Dam, the Black House.I had been there but some of us haven’t, and so we visited it. The  place consists of 40 structures of different sizes which are all painted black. In these structures there are a variety of works of art, paintings. sculptures, furnitures etc;Many are made using buffalo horns , crocodile skins, and animal bones, which some people may find them preposterous and annoying. But there are people also appreciate these works, that made this creator  renowned by Thai people and even overseas.

The last place we visited was the White temple. It was designed and built by the Thai artist ,Chalarmchai Kositpipat and dedicated to the Buddha’s teachings. It’s design is unique which is mixing classic traditional Thai art and contemporary art. The adornment of white plaster with small glass inserts  looks shiny and white that it gets its name the White temple from it.

We left the temple at its closing time and headed for Cheing Mai. On our way back my thoughts were still lingering on the places we visited. I admire all those people like Chalarmchai  Kositpipat ( White Temple ) Thawan Duchanee ( Baan Dam )and all people who had started building all these wonderful places including places of worship.Indeed they are people who had left a legacy for the world to come and see, enjoy and appreciate.

 

N 115…. Home Sweet Home

Yesterday I read in FB about how Burmese people are flocking to buy condos and apartments in Bangkok. It said Burmese people are making Bangkok their capital.

 With the political situation in Myanmar it is not strange to become like that. At present the economy is on the brink of collapsing. Inflation is high, prices of food and commodities have become what we haven’t heard of, the value of Myanmar kyat has plummeted that even if one is not doing any business his money would become devalued. If we have 10000 kyats in hand some time ago, this  money would worth only 3000 kyats now.

So the grassroot people who don’t earn much and are already poor are facing great difficulty for their sustenance. Hearing news about farming cannot be done in Upper Myanmar because people are on the run, and also about fields and farmlands in the Ayarwaddy Division being destroyed by pests and insects make us worry for food in the coming year. Famine is inevitable for many people.

Beside poverty and difficulties for many people our country is lacking the rule of law and order. Many people are desperate for money and so they are committing many crimes, from petty theft to robbing with weapons. The most common crimes are handphone and motorcycle  robbing or theft.

So it is not unusual that people want to flee Myanmar. Thailand is only an hour away by air,and the costs of living are affordable that Myanmar people are wanting to go and live there. But I assume that it will only be temporily . Everybody will come back when the situation improve and become normal.

But if someone ask me if I want to go and live in Thailand or some other countries I would say no. I cannot imagine living in any foreign country, where the place to live in, the surroundings, the language, the culture, the people and everything are unfamiliar and not what I am used to.

I had gone on holidays to Singapore and Melbourne for 3 times at each place when my daughters were there . We  usually visited in December staying about 1 month each time, We had wonderful experience there because the places are developed, everything nice and clean, and transportation good.

Even then we can stay not more than 1 month. After about a month of visiting places, shopping, outings we had had enough and would become homesick. So we never stayed more than one month and would head home.

So I want to say that home is the best place for me. The home I say now is my home in Taunggyi. I had written about how we live in my blog N 108”The Way we Live” It is about my household and my neighbours. Now I am writing about my house which is not a modern, grand and new one, but is livable and I like living in it.

My house was built around 1995. So it is about 25/30 years old. I moved to Yangon after I retired in 1997straight from the house in BEHS compound. I came to live in this house only when we returned from Yangon to live permanently in Taunggyi round about 2012  .

I live with my husband, my 2 daughters , one married with a son and one unmarried. So there are 6 in our family and some who do household chores for us.Each of us has our our own bedroom with TVs and bathroom attached and there are still some spare rooms left.

My 3 bookcases with books which I collected after I returned from Yangon sit in our upstair sitting room and the books which we brought back from Yangon not long ago are kept in a room transformed from the verandah.

Although I and my daughters like gardening we don’t have space to grow plants. So we grow flower plants in pots and keep them wherever we can,at a small space beside the driveway, at the foot of the brick fence or at the side of the portico where 1 car usually park. But my plants are not much healthy because there are many pests and insects which are always destroying them. Even then we cannot stay without planting, buying, and collecting more. Anyway this hobby is making use some of my spare time. And it is a pleasure to watch pretty flowers bloom from them.

I am old and frail now and cannot do much strenuous work ( which I do not need to do ) But as a habit I do much of my personal chore and also help tidying and organizing things and materials in the house. I use some of my time for religious work, do some reading and watching TV programmes  as much as my eyes permit,  use the sewing machine when need arise but only a little. Sometimes I go into the kitchen to do some cooking and visit neighbouring houses in our compound for some chit chat.

My life as a woman with hobbies and things to do is better than not having none. Doing varieties of things helps me to be more active and gain agility and my home permits me to do what I want to do It is a blessing that I can live like now and I am contented with my life.  If I am staying at another place which is not as convenient as  my home I will not be able to do so. Naturally I don’t want to move to any other place which is not my home. So in my opinion my “Home Sweet Home “ is the best place for me.

 

 

 

N 114     How I became a coffee (powder ) producer

As I had worked as a government appointed personnel all my life I have not been in the production and merchandising businesses . I retired in 1997 and stayed without doing anything , but living on what my husband provided for the family.

It was in 2015  when I suddenly realized that I wanted to produce coffee powder. after meeting my daughter’s friend who came to deliver coffee at our house in Yangon. He and his partner also produce locally made coffee roasting machines. The price of their coffee roasting machine and other expenditures was within what I can afford, and I don’t have to worry for the place and building as there surely would be one in MNT compound , which belongs to my husband.. So I decided to give it a try , to produce coffee powder with its own brand.

After ordering a roaster which will take some months I had to think about the brand name. I received some suggestions from my daughter and granddaughters , but they were not of my liking. Then the word delight which I have seen used in some Western foods came to my mind and I decided to use it along with Highland which I already liked. Highland Delight….Of course  because coffee is really the beverage  that makes people delighted, happy, content  and it is produced only in highlands   especially the highlands of Shan State..

After that looking for a designer for my coffee bag , to order the bags and to buy accessories like weighing machines and plastic bags took me to the city centre many times. As for the coffee beans to be used I ordered  one ton from Pyin Oo Lwin through some communications.

While I was busy with these processes I went to visit  Gawranji Island with some household members and friends staying only one night there.  After I returned I got Bell’s Palsy( My blog no;N  92 )and had to get treatment for a month or two. Not completely healed I returned to Taunggyi and got  more treatment.

But the disease did not affect me much. I can go around doing things and get ready to start roasting.I had bought one ton of coffee beans from Pyin Oo Lwin and later went to Ywa Ngan to buy more beans.

On one April day KKM and KAMS who produced the roaster arrived from Yangon to show us how to operate the roaster.  Because that day was an auspicious day we designated it as the opening day , but without any ceremony.

I hired only one young man as the roaster and two part timers to do packaging. The young man was not a trained roaster but he started roasting as was taught by KKM who made the roaster. Later I sent him to a short coffee roasting training. Experience also taught him to be more efficient, and now he is doing well in the work.

I produce two kinds of coffee. Highland Delight is produced using coffee beans made by wet method. By this method the red, ripe coffee beans are soaked in water and left to be fermented for some time. After that they are taken out and dried after discarding the outer coverings .By dry method coffee beans are simply dried in the sun. After they are dried they are put into a  huller  machine and crushed to separate the beans and the outer covering.

 Though they are produced by different methods both are pure Arabica coffee from Ywa Ngan district. But as the buying price of the wet method coffee is more expensive  , coffees made using this method have to be more costly than the ones using dry method.

 I have been a coffee producer for six years now and so I have experienced many mistakes and ups and downs. It is not an easy thing to start a business which is new to us. Sometimes the coffee beans would be over roasted that they cannot be used, but have to throw away. There were times when I bought more than enough (not knowing how much coffee beans will be needed)that with time the beans lost their properties and become spoiled.

Bussiness was better before the covid period, when there were hotels and teashops who would use my coffee. During covid crisis sales had gone down but it is picking up again recently, though not on a grand scale. Anyway it doesn’t affect me much as I don’t live on its income. But  the business can be said that it’s not a failure , but  a steadily growing one.

I am getting old and cannot take care of the business efficiently  now.  So I decided to hand over the business to my youngest daughter, who is young,  energetic, and inspirational. I hope the business will grow more and markets expand under her guidance,  so that  Highland Delight coffee and My Coffee reached every place and persons to fulfil their cravings for a cup of coffee every mornings , days and evenings…..

 

14^th April 2022