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Published: February 20th 2007
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An elderly monk learns how to use a digital camera. Near Mandalay Mandalay At midnight on 7th January 1996 comedians Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw were arrested and locked away for telling this joke: "You used to call a thief a thief, now you call them a government worker"
The Moustache Brothers are fast becoming one of the most popular 'sights' in Mandalay. You have to expect that when you're family includes two ex political prisoners, has had it's cause taken up by Amnesty International & has been featured on the BBC a few times. Lu Maw, the brother that avoided jail time & that speaks most English, is an incredible character, who's life seems to revolve almost entirely around humour, idioms & perhaps a little more than ever these days, US dollars.
The Moustache Brother's home city of Mandalay was briefly capital of Burma until the British switched it south to Rangoon in the 1940's. It's surrounded by a number of other former capitals & today it's a pleasant & leafy town that's home to a palace, temples, divine ice cream, a big hill, & a big prison. That said, the palace was rebuilt with forced labour & is largely avoided by tourists & the prison although home
to many, is not open to foreigners.
Mandalay's Mahamuni Pagoda, with it's famous ancient Buddha image is one of the three great Buddhist pilgrimage sights in Burma & sees & constant flow of devout worshippers. Like Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, it's an atmospheric hive of activity. As worshippers come & go, fortune tellers put adults minds at ease while ice cream sellers keep the children happy.
Nearby is Paleik's 'snake' temple. Although a fairly ordinary pagoda, in 1974 three deadly boa constrictors arrived & made their home on one of the many Buddha statues. Today only two remain, one curled up around Buddha's head, the other nestled in his lap. Every morning their keeper lures them away from Buddha for a wash, a feed & some photos. Some local worshippers donate a little money & have a prayer with the snakes, others pay more to pour an egg mixture down it's forcibly opened throat. Clean, fed & photographed, the snakes make their way home to Buddha where they rest until it all begins again tomorrow.
Death by snake is worryingly common in Burma, one of the most common causes of death. Hopefully these ones don't turn on
their keepers.
Not far from these mysterious snakes lies U Bein Bridge, apparently one of the most photographed sights in the country. The 1.2km bridge spans a shallow lake & is built from a staggering 1000 individual teak wood posts. Built in 1849 it's famous for the large volume of monks & locals that cross back & forth at the start & end of the day.
The Moustache Brothers, comprised of brothers Par Par Lay and Lu Maw & cousin Lu Zaw (two of them with moustaches) provide a brief distraction from temples, Buddhas & snakes. Until January 1996 the Moustache Brothers 'Ah Nyeint' troupe performed up & down the country at pwes (festivals), with their own brand of what they call 'traditional Burmese vaudeville - a mixture of song, dance and slapstick humour'
On 4th January 1996, Independence Day, two of the troupe performed in Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Sun Kyi's compound in Yangon to a crowd of 2000 locals. Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw made jokes against the military government while Lu Maw stayed in their house in Mandalay.
When I first visited the Moustache Brothers in 1999 Lu Zaw & Par
Cool Monk
in his room, Mandalay Par Lay were still political prisoners. Back then while his family applied their make-up and put on costumes, Lu Maw took us upstairs to his bedroom which was marginally bigger than the double bed in it, & rapidly locked the door behind us. He fumbled around behind some skirting and pulled out some papers. He showed us a clippings from a British newspaper, an Amnesty International leaflet & he gave us a photograph of his jailed brother. The articles covered their story, as did the Amnesty leaflet. He then pleaded with us to take the photo, take our own photo of the cutting and to write down his dictated story & pass it on, to put it on the internet, and to spread the story to all the people we could.
Later, in his family's small front room, he performed a show with his wife & a few relatives for a handful of young backpackers. Back then he was fighting the only way he knew how for the freedom of his brother & cousin.
Today they are are finally free & their shows draw tour groups. The show hasn't changed a lot, but it's still a fasciating glimpse
The Bible
Spend any time with Lu Maw & you soon realise that he almost never stops telling jokes. Here he takes a moment to ponder over his Bible - a book of American Idioms into their life & craft. Lu Maw fires off an endless stream of idiom based jokes that are lost on most people who don't speak English as a first language. Meanwhile his family performs traditional dances & his wife demonstrates a few set pieces in great detail. Many of the jokes haven't changed in seven years & he delights in showing a clip from Hugh Grant movie 'About A Boy' that mentions Par Par Lay over & over again (he knows it's exactly 33 mins in).
Lu Maw isn't the only person obsessed with idioms - no one's had the heart to tell English teachers in Burma that the English language has changed a little since the days of British rule. Most students throw idioms into conversation & from time to time they'll ask if you know any good ones. The first time I was asked I wasn't even sure what an idiom was.
The whole Moustache Brothers spectacle may have changed in it's purpose, today they aren't fighting for their family's freedom, just more tourist dollars, but it's not often that you get the chance to meet a national Burmese celebrity, a family who are friends with
Snake Temple
Two snakes at home with Buddha Aung San Suu Kyi (she visited them the last time she was briefly free from house arrest in 2002), a family who's cause was taken up by Amnesty International, & who have featured from time to time on the BBC, and it's not often that you meet ex political prisoners.
They are still fighting in their own way for a change in government & for the countless political prisoner still in jail around the country.
Although most people left the moment the show was over, it's worth hanging around to talk to the family & hear more about their life. Although free from jail they are still confined to performing to tourists in their front room - they are barred from performing publicly or to locals which is what they yearn for. Returing the next day we shared tea, heard a few more jokes & talked politics. Lu Maw isn't the political guru many expect, but he's good to talk to all the same. We talked about his heroes (Bob Hope, Charlie Chaplin, James Bond) & how to change the regime (wipe out the new capital Pyinmana where only generals live & no civilians).
And as the
'should you / shouldn't you travel to Burma' debate rages on, Lu Maw summed it up - they need tourists, we are their Trojan Horse. Without tourists his brother & cousin would still be doing hard labour in jail.
Thinking of heading to Burma? Not sure about the tourist boycott? Feel free to contact me for more info about the country or whether you should go or not many more photos as always below... Wellington - Sydney - Bangkok - Khao Lak - Chaweng (Koh Samui) - Lamai (Koh Samui) - Bangkok - Macau - Guangzhou - Yangshuo - Guangzhou - Zhengzhou - Guangzhou -Shanghai - Huang Shan - Shao Lin - Beijing - Xi'an - Chengdu - Leshan - Kanding - Tagong - Litang - Xiang Cheng - Zhongdian - Lijiang - Kunming - Hekou/Lao Cai - Hanoi - Cat Ba Island - Ninh Binh - Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi - Sapa - La Chau - Son La - Mai Chau -Hanoi - China Beach - Hoi An - China Beach - Quy Nhon - Kon Tum - Saigon - Phnom Penh - Pursat - Battambang - Siem Reap - Anlong Veng - Siem Reap - Kompong Cham - Kratie - Ban lung (Ratanakiri) - Kratie - Phnom Penh - Kampot - Sihanoukville - Bangkok - Kanchanaburi - Bangkok - Rangoon -Bagan - Monywa -Mandalay
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Patricia Somewhere
Patricia MC
Great ...
Hi Tim. Great photos and info! They nicely complement the generous and informative messages you sent about Burma. Thanks for sharing. Tchau. Patricia