Mandalay - Handicrafts

Gold Leaf - one of Mandalay's many handicrafts	King Galon Gold Leaf Workshop	Gold leaf is made by pounding small sheets of gold between two blocks with a heavy hammer	Each speck of gold is pounded for 30 minutes
...it seems like they would have come up with a machine for this by now...	A natural leaf plated with gold leaf	Buddha footprint of gold leaf	A ribbon of micro-thin gold leaf waves at the slightest disturbance in the air
"Gold leaf is less than 0.00008 millimetres thick - which is only about 300 atoms thick"	I'm surprised this fashion trend hasn't taken off in the Gulf	Dennis gilded in 22K gold leaf	Soe Moe Myanmar Traditional Handicraft
Soe Moe Myanmar Traditional Handicraft, Mandalay	Burmese woodcarving at Soe Moe shop in Mandalay	Dust-covered Buddhas at Soe Moe Myanmar Traditional Handicrafts	Yard of Soe Moe Myanmar Traditional Handicrafts
Embroidery workshop at Soe Moe Myanmar Traditional Handicrafts, Mandalay	Myanmar embroidery	Soe Moe Myanmar Traditional Handicrafts	Buddha at Soe Moe
...the salesman discreetly handed his cheroot to Buddha	Large handicraft shop - Soe Moe, Mandalay	Monks sculptures of various sizes	Bronze sculpture at Soe Moe
While nice, the bronze sculptures were easily an order of magnitude more expensive than wood	Tribal art of Myanmar	Hand-made Burmese puppets	...those attracted my attention...Burmese sphinxes
Burmese twin-bodied sphinx	$100...a bitch to carry home...but I'll worry about that later...	Soe Moe shipped it to the hotel in Yangon to await our departure	Shopping in Mandalay
Woodcarvings at Soe Moe	Traditional houses remain in pockets in Mandalay	Stone carvers district of southern Mandalay	Stone carvers district, Mandalay
Stone carvers district, Mandalay	High quality life-sized stone Buddhas	If you're in the market for an excellent stone Buddha at a very reasonable price, check out Mandalay	Mandalay Buddhas in various states of completion
Stone carvers district, Mandalay	Stone carvers district, Mandalay	Young stone carver at work	Young Mandalay stone carver covered in dust
...I wonder when they stopped using hammer and chisel...	Stone carvers district, Mandalay	Putting the finishing touches on a stone elephant, Mandalay	Stone carvers district, Mandalay
Some Buddhas awaiting their faces - probably the junior carvers do the body	Mandalay stone carver at work	Stone carvers district, Mandalay	Amazing bargains to be had...but a killer on the luggage
Stone carvers district, Mandalay	...annoyed guide is dragging me away...	Stone carvers district, Mandalay	Very young woodcarver at work in the arcade leading to Mahamuni Paya
...I believe the guide mentioned something about these boys being from India originally...	Mahamuni Paya woodcarvers	Not all Mandalay handicrafts are so serious - coconut monkeys at Mandalay Hill	Myanmar - Shop 'til you Drop!
A sample of what I brought back from Myanmar	Nat puppet from the Mustache Brothers in Mandalay	Dennis the puppeteer	Wooden Chinthe
Burmese puppets at the Mandalay Hill Resort