Pauk Par Village, Inne Lake

It was a surprise to give a pair of glasses to a Paudaung woman with 23 neck rings, because the Padaung come from Kayah State, but there were four women working at Inle Lake and one of them needed glasses.

We were on our way to give away more glasses at a particularly poor Intha village and, as the boatman who took us to the Phaung Daw Oo festival is Intha, he was the right person to take us. Inle Lake is approximately 12 miles long by 7 miles wide and our journey would take about an hour to reach Pauk Par village. On the canal leading to the lake we passed huge signs on the banks. First proclaimed Inle Lake as an Asean Heritage Park, the next made us aware of the Inle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary. It is heartening to see the people are taking care of the natural environment. Then came the board announcing the Birds Preservation Area. As if on cue, ducks and herons flew overhead, a moorhen sailed past and a darter positioned itself on a tall post watching for an unsuspecting fish to swim by. 

We puttered down a water hyacinth filled channel in Inle Lake and suddenly emerged into the vast open water. Either side the mountains rose, their tops hidden in the clouds. Villagers’ boats piled high with produce motored down towards the market in Nyaung Shwe. The Intha don’t farm their produce on land, their gardens float on the lake. The men build up long islands of weed and peg them to the bottom of the lake with stout bamboo poles. It is on these platforms that the women grow huge quantities of vegetables: tomatoes, cauliflower, long beans, spring onions and eggplants. The women tend their gardens sitting in canoes, which might be more comfortable than bending over, I thought.

We arrive at Pauk Par, a large Intha village of 200 houses. The houses all stand on high bamboo poles over the water and have woven bamboo walls. Some have thatched roofs but others have corrugated metal ones, which is probably more waterproof in the rainy season.

We stop at the first house, not a poor one judging by the television, electricity and snacks. It was obviously a well-known meeting place, because before long people heard the news that we were giving away glasses and started to arrive. Daw Naq aged 45 was the first. She had a cataract removed from one eye a few months ago after which the doctor gave her sunglasses because, as he said, new glasses would be too expensive and she could not afford them. Daw Naq is a tomato farmer and chose anigyi close up glasses so she could see how her tomatoes were progressing. Daw Kin Soe aged 47 arrived. Two years ago when she was cooking, hot oil splashed in her eye, which is still thoroughly bloodshot. She was sold eye drops but they have not helped her sight. It turned out that our anigyi reading glasses were just right for her and she liked the soft blue and white case kindly made by Cynthia Chadwick.

We could hear loud live music playing outside the house and saw the village’s longboat rowed by 60 men arrive. They had just come back from moving the Hintha boat from one village to the next on its schedule. It will arrive in Pauk Par tomorrow and craftsmen were busy putting the finishing touches to a landing stage made to receive it.

One old man was quite enthusiastic about the glasses and tried on ten pairs. Saya Htay remains unperturbed however many glasses people ask to try on. After trying his tenth he decided he didn’t really need glasses after all! An admirable trait of the people here is that they don’t take glasses because they are a free gift, only if they really improve their sight.

Daw Kin Ma Aye is 50 – though doesn’t look a day over 40. She had malaria a few years ago and a mistake was made with her medicine. Her vision is so poor she cannot tell if she is looking at a man or a woman. She was a teacher, but cannot teach any more so had to retire. Her husband did once have glasses but he is a fisherman and he lost them in the lake. Unfortunately none of our glasses helped him so he went away empty handed. U Lin Myint aged 47 reads Sanskrit verses at the monastery every full moon day. This has become more and more difficult for him. Fortunately, anigyi glasses helped him to read with the text a normal distance from his face.

There is talk of our taking a small canoe to make hand deliveries: the boat in which we arrived is too big to fit into the tiny waterways. 

Meanwhile other people arrive. Daw Kin Myint chooses awegyi glasses as she wants to see who is arriving at her house. The Chairman of the village, U Kaw Win aged 50 hopes we have some anigyi glasses for him. A very, very thin old woman, Daw Hla Kyi is aged 70. She had a cataract operation three years ago but her sight is still hazy. She took awegyi to see far away. Ma Yin Nati is only 15 and a student but she is having trouble reading her school books. She tries only two pairs before she finds ones that help her. U Kan Gyi is 94. He tells us he can still hear and walk but he’d like to be able to read again.

The tiny canoe arrives. I am helped down the steep and irregular bamboo steps. I think I must look like a little old lady and then I realize I am a little old lady!  Ma Tu Zar Lin paddles us to U Tun Linn’s house. He is 78 but still working bamboo. He is slicing ever thinner and sharper strips. Curiously he doesn’t want close-up glasses but wants to be able to see over the water.

We canoe quietly to the next house. I am shoeless sitting on a mat and dying to move to a more comfortable position. However, rocking the boat is not a good idea and anyway I must keep my legs out of view. Even wearing an ankle-length longyi this is not easy.

U Ba Aye aged 74 is a carpenter. He had an accident when working a few years ago and has a bad limp. Our glasses can’t help his infirmity but will improve his day-to-day life. U Tun Hla who is 65 took some awegyi .

We paddle quietly to another house where thankfully I don’t have to climb the stairs: we remain in the boat. The couple don’t have a boat so could not come to us. It is hard to imagine anyone living here can manage without a boat as the whole village is built over water and there is no way to leave your house other than by boat. This is the house of U Ba Pin aged 70 and his wife Daw Yin Wi who is 64. One took anigyi and the other awegyi so they can probably share them.

After our busy morning at Pauk Par where we gave away 17 pairs of glasses from Lesley Whittle and her friends it was time to head back to Nyaung Shwe. We stopped for coffee at a café called Htoo and though it was not lunchtime and we didn’t need to eat, we were very impressed with the menu that included all the vegetables locally grown. Next time we are here, we said.

Our thoughtful boatman called in at a village where four Padaung women worked. Apparently they have to remain here for three years and are then replaced by another four women. They came from Loikaw the capital of Kayah state and must have found it a lonely existence without their family and friends. Two of the women tried the glasses. The one who was weaving, found she could do just as well without glasses as with them! The other woman took awegyi so that she could see down the lake.

We could not leave the Phaung Daw Oo festival without visiting the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda to check whether the fifth Buddha image really was held there alone each year. It was, so for yet another year the Phaung Daw Oo festival is proceeding smoothly and there will be no hurricane thanks to the Buddha image.