Traditional Handicraft Villages in Myanmar

Some outstanding traditional villages in Myanmar are open for tourism, which lets tourists discover the beautiful handicraft arts, buy souvenirs, and know the basic how-to. The Burmese fine-art handicrafts are the magnets attracting people to this enigmatic country of the golden pagodas and temples. Also, these objects bring major income to the locals who do handicrafts for sales.

Myinkaba Village in Bagan is open for tours, offering the valuable opportunity to see how the skillful painter draws on a lacquerware, paint it, and sculpture the lovely patterns. In fact, lacquer painting is one of the most famous handicrafts of Myanmar that the whole world might cherish. Besides painting on the paper sheets and the traditional wooden layers, the lacquer art in Myanmar also works on the household objects like bowls, vases, tubes, plates, etc.

In the Myanmar tours, guests find it easy to buy the favorite lacquer paintings and lacquerwares which are unique, high-quality, and fantastic. Particularly in Myinkaba Village, these products become the must-have souvenirs. Before you pay, make sure you bargain for the best deals. Bargaining saves you from being overcharged or getting the low-quality items at the expensive prices. Advice is to bargain at 30 – 50 % discount on the selling prices. Be aware of the faux wares which cannot cost too much.

The lacquerware in Bagan is special. The lacquer is a naturally produced resin, taken from the Melanhorrea Usitata tree while the lacquerware is created by coating 7 – 16 layers of lacquer over the frame. The first layer of lacquer is pure and then followed by 3-4 layers including resin and bone ash to create rigidity and endurance to the ware. Once the ware is sturdy enough, the next 7-14 layers of pure lacquer resin are applied onto it, resulting in the shiny black surface. The next steps are about drying (7-10 days), smoothening, polishing, washing, and sculpturing the intricate designs.

Known as the revered land of Buddhism, it’s not a surprise that every destination in Myanmar has the premium Buddha statues to amaze guests. In particular, at Amara Waddy in Mandalay, visitors join the world of various sophisticated Buddha figures that come in different sizes and materials. Advice is not to buy the ancient items at the very expensive prices because the antiques are not permitted to bring out of the country. Rather, it’s better to consider the little and not-antique statues. The markets in Mandalay has numerous booths selling the Buddha figures that appeal to the eyes much. But, it’s advised to just contemplate. And if you really want to buy, try to ask whether the Burmese vendors can provide the certification proving that the item is not antique.

Inle Lake is home to some traditional villages that preserve traditions of making the paper umbrellas. Not only does the trip to this well-known Lake please travelers with the picturesque and romantic riverscape or the interesting leg-rowing style, but it is also special with the myriad of the colorful paper umbrellas. The workshops on the spots allow you to witness how the artisans frame the umbrella with their skillful hands.

Then, the product should be decorated by drawing the aesthetic designs on it. The designs can be animals, flowers, countryside landscapes, local activities, Buddha figures, etc. Also, people can ask the artisans to customize the paper umbrellas according to their preference. Taking pictures with the lovely Burmese paper umbrella is the enjoyable experience that all guests appreciate. An average price for an umbrella in the villages in Inle Lake is 10.000 kyats.

Travel to the Myanmar traditional villages, learn their traditions, and get the favorite fine-art handicrafts!