The cool of the mountains at Heho

Flying away from the flat plains of Mandalay, the hills finally merged into mountains and as we stepped out of the tiny Air Mandalay plane there were sighs of relief all round as we breathed in the cool mountain air.

Straight on to a very interesting bus designed for the Japanese, so three separate rows of seats with two aisles so narrow that none of our Australian backsides would fit. We became expert at the sideways crab shuffle over the next couple of days!
 

Heho is at 1200 metres above sea level and is a tea, coffee and opium growing area: it's part of the dreaded Golden Triangle consisting of Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar famous for opium. There have been lots of attempts and government programs to persuade local farmers to grow other produce, but with varying success.
 

First stop the local market, which occurs every 5 days and had the usual enormous array of every type of food, much of which we couldn't identify, and an array of rope, second-hand clothes, and everything-a-person-needs stalls.

The local cheroots made from a range of local herbs wrapped in leaves: very cheap and very popular 

Pickled ginger I think!

 Some of the snack foods looked delicious – slabs of caramel coloured crunchy corn with sesame seeds coconut and nuts for example, and cans of hot roasted peanuts – but my common sense took over and I resisted the temptation of buying any, in order to stay healthy. I did buy some tiny peanuts in little packets which cost about 20 cents, as they looked safer.

I would have loved to try some of the delicacies on offer all the same!

Some of the customers were dressed in the traditional black embroidered long tops and black pants, with bright red scarves wrapped around their heads.

Kim pounding the mulberry bark to make paper

Back on the bus and off to a local cottage industry that makes paper and stunning paper and resin/tar umbrellas, which are actually waterproof even in a monsoon! I was very taken with some multi-tiered huge red ones (see below), perfect for our decking, but just wasn't sure how I would squeeze one into my baggage, so gave up on that idea.
 

We watched the process of paper making using mulberry bark, pounded, mixed with water and then, using a large screen, drained to create a sheet of paper. The girl showed us how to place petals and leaves onto the paper for decoration.

They produced beautiful papers and journals: not sure how Customs in Australia will appreciate the flowers and leaves. Everywhere we shop there is much discussion abut our strict Customs laws, (and they do protect us I know!), but when you find a treasure that you can't live without it's very hard to give it up if you don't think it will get through Customs!

 

Then it was on to another monastery with a small simple white pagoda full of tiny niches, each one filled with a tiny Buddha and the name of the sponsor. Each Buddha was about 6 inches tall and most were covered in a red or golden piece of cloth as there is a special festival soon, which none of us can remember. There were hundreds of them and some beautiful lead-light glass-work decorating the walls too.

Needing sustenance we arrived in Nyaung Swe, a busy town, and had a delicious meal at the Green Chilli restaurant. Our table shared green papaya salad, minced chicken salad which we had eaten endlessly in Cambodia, pork glass noodle salad and some spring rolls. All very fresh and fabulous.

Finally we drove past a golden mirrored pagoda, over a bridge crossing a large canal and arrived at our hotel on the river bank: the Viewpoint Eco Lodge.

This is a new lodge which consists of cottages 'floating' over the water and joined by wooden walkways. It seems to be set up by the same French guy who runs Le Planteur, the superb restaurant we went to in Yangon. The rooms were very beautiful, with natural products in the bathroom made from bark, thanaka etc. (some of which didn't work quite so well! The bark had to be soaked and then rubbed into your hair but getting the bark bits out wasn't so easy apparently!). The mini bar was a huge ceramic pot filled with ice and drinks and there was no air conditioning.

Huge mosquito nets hanging over the bed alerted us to the necessity of breaking out the DEET Bushman's repellent which was used in vast quantities over the next days. Fortunately the mosquitoes here don't seem to be interested in my blood, but some of the others suffered.

The views from each balcony were lovely: watching the river traffic, gazing over the waterlilies and the ducks floating by, or watching the world go by as all forms of transport traversed the country road.

On the main building there were huge walls of vertical gardens filled with orchids: very spectacular.

A visit to the Buddha Museum was next , but really the interesting thing was that the Museum is in one of the old houses previously owned by the maharajah/prince/town leader.

A trip up the mountain brought fabulous views and wine tasting at the Red Mountain winery. It's a joint venture between the French and the local Pao tribe. The wines were judged to be 'experimental', but there was much discussion abut the fact that it had only been operating for 6 years and. like all good wineries, was on it's way to producing excellent wine.

Some weird dragonfruit trees had also been planted as they intend to produce dragonfruit cordial : the plants brought to mind 'The Day of the Triffids' for those old enough to remember that book.

Tired after another long day we were glad to get back to the Viewpoint Lodge and freshen up before a truly superb dinner. It was served on long wooden trays the shape of the boats on the river outside. Instead of the usual watermelon for dessert we ate banana pudding which was a cross between jelly, pudding and custard: I'm sure it was based on the traditional desserts we had seen earlier in the day in the market and was a local delicacy. I liked it but enthusiasm varied. The pumpkin version the next day was met with even more uncertainty: but again I liked it, but then I always like dessert!

We had a quick Grand Marnier on ice, as Jenny had purchased a HUGE bottle duty free, and went off to sleep under the enormous white mosquito nets listening to the sounds of the river.


The view from the Viewpoint dining room

 

Your mosquito-bite free correspondent,
 

Dianne