126BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR
AROUND BAGAN
artist Veronica Gritsenko in 1999, this
small studio produces lacquerware in the
traditional style, but with exquisite unique
and unusual designs.
Tun Handicrafts/Moe Moe’s LACQUERWARE
(Main Rd; h8am-9pm) A large showroom
with mix of traditional and modern lac-
querware (exposed-bamboo tea cups for
$4 and rice bowls from $7).
Bagan House LACQUERWARE
(9 Jasmin Rd; http://www.baganhouse.com; h8am-7pm)
Worth seeking out on the backstreets, this
stylish showroom has a mix of cheap and
higher-priced lacquerware, as well as the
usual artisans at work. Unlike other places,
it does accept credit cards if you spend
over $100, with the usual 5% surcharge.8 Information
Exotissimo (%60383; h9am-6pm Mon-Fri,
9am-noon Sat) High-end agent, which can
arrange Mt Popa tours ($65 including guide and
car) or rent sturdy mountain bikes ($10 per day).
Internet Available at several places along the
main street.
Myanmar Travels & Tours (MTT; %65040;
h8.30am-4.30pm) The government-run tour-
ist office can help organise excursions to visit
Chin State (see p 287 ).8 Getting There & Around
See Nyaung U for most transport connections.
Tiger Head Express Co (Bagan-Chauk Rd)
sends daily pick-up trucks to Kalaw and Taunggyi
(K12,000, front seat K15,000), departing at 5am.
There are airline offi ces on Main Rd. U Zaw
Weik (%65017; [email protected];
Main Rd) helps with air tickets or can get you a
taxi to Mt Popa (K42,000), Mt Popa and Salay
(K42,000), around Bagan (K30,000) or to Kalaw
or Mandalay ($115).
Bicycle rental starts at K5000 per day; you
can get a mountain bike at Exotissimo. See p 115
for more on getting around the Bagan site.AROUND BAGAN
Mt Popa
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Like a Burmese Mt Olympus, Mt Popa is the
spiritual HQ to Myanmar’s infamous ‘37 nat’
and thus a premier venue for nat worship;
for more on these pre-Buddhist spirits, see
p 338.Mt Popa proper is the 4980ft extinct vol-
cano covered in lush forests protected within
the Popa Mountain Park and home to the
exclusive Popa Mountain Resort; on the
mountain’s lower fl ank is Popa Taung Kalat, a
towerlike 2418ft volcanic plug crowned with a
gilded Buddhist temple accessed by 777 steps.
The volcano last erupted some 250,000 years
ago (some locals suggest 40 million years
ago). One local told us: ‘Popa is like the sun or
moon; no one can guess how old it is.’
From the temple there are mammoth views
back towards the Myingyan Plain and beyond.
It’s gorgeous, but only a few visitors come on
a half-day trip from Bagan, and of those who
do, many shrug their shoulders because they
don’t have a guide to enliven the experience
with stories and explanations – going on a day
trip to Mt Popa without some sort of guide is
like watching a foreign-language fi lm without
subtitles.
One revered guide to Mt Popa is U Taung
Hwin (per day $20), a gentle old soul with
good English and plenty of experience lead-
ing travellers around the culturally rich area.
Ask for him by name at the Shwe Taung Tarn
Restaurant, on Nyaung U’s main road.
Myanmar superstition says you shouldn’t
wear red or black on the mountain, nor should
you curse, say bad things about other people
or bring along any meat (especially pork). Any
of these actions could off end the resident nat,
who might then retaliate with a spate of ill
fortune. And no-one likes a mad nat. 1 Sights
Mother Spirit of Popa Nat Shrine NAT SHRINE
Before climbing Popa Taung Kalat, drop by
the tiger-guarded shrine in the village at the
foot of the mountain ( just across from the
steps guarded by elephant statues – there
are loads of critters around here). Inside
you’ll fi nd a display extending left and right
from an inner hallway door of mannequin-
like fi gures representing some of the 37 of-
fi cial nat, plus some Hindu deities and a few
necromancers (the fi gures with goatees at
the right end of the shrine).
In the shrine there are also other nat not
counted among the offi cial ‘37’, including
three principal fi gures: the Flower-Eating
Ogress (aka Mae Wunna, or ‘Queen Mother
of Popa’) and her two sons (to her left and
right) Min Gyi and Min Lay (see p 127 ).
A few other interesting nat here caught
our attention. The plump Pyu goddess Shin
Nemi (Little Lady) is a guardian for chil-