Longing for My Home, Memories of Kyaukpadaung

Making Jaggery

Palm Juice Wine

When heard the name ‘Kyaukpadaung’, every Myanmar feels the tast of sweet from this land. When met a man from Kyaukpadaung, every girl calls her or him ‘ Sweet Lady or Sweet Boy.’

Kyaukpadaung is in upper Myanmar, Mandalay division and Myinchan district. It is famous for Jaggery product in Myanmar. Jaggery is sweet and delicious, naturally made from Palm tree juice. Juice from palm tree can also be drunk as a juice or wine. Juice is sweet and Wine is similar to the taste of rice wine.

            Jaggery is made from the sweet juice. Jaggery is very useful to local people. Many different kinds of cakes can be made with jaggery. And some local villagers made jaggery into natural alcohol. Some old Myanmar people drink it as a medicine believing that they would live long. Some foreigners like to drink it, and they buy it as a souvinir from Kyaukpadaung and take it to their land. Palm tree juice shops can be found at some local villages in Kyaukpadaung. Most foreigners buy it on the way from Bagan to Mt. Popa.

Collecting Juice pots

 Collecting the juice

   In olden days and till now in some local villages, people earn a living from palm tree. Earning a living from palm tree is deadly dangerous but the villagers have to do it because the country can’t provide them a better job.

Nowadays, many villagers leave the village and go abraod in order to earn a living for their families as they could not save enough money to support the families. The people don’t have a better job where there are plenty of natural resources that can be relied on earning money for their families. This is the most saddest point that hits my heart weeping.

My mother spinning cotton

When I was in my young ages, my father worked hard for our school fees. Our family has 7 children and five of us were school boys. Father alone could not support for all of us for our school fees. So mother helped father. She made a living on weaving with a free loom. We all could wear the nicest clothes that were made by our mother. Father had no worries to buy new clothes for us. Even though they were tired, they trained us to be strong and straight, patriotic and noble.

Now many people become interested in Kyaukpadaung. The palm trees and Kyaukpadaung can't be divided, they are one in two. Many photographers and artists from all around the world comes there and take a memorable photo with the background of palm trees under the crimson sunset. The view looks gorgeous.

                  We are grown now. We are educated now. We are far from home. We miss our home. 

And we know that t

he gorgeous view of the palm trees under the sunset is waiting ahead for us.