Seat of Our Pants

Following our tradition of buying dumb things on this trip, I have a new souvenir I’m obsessing about. Martin is doing his best to restrain me. Yesterday’s tour of Bagan lead us to a family-operated lacquer ware factory where we were given a tour by the fourth generation owner. I’ve admittedly never given much thought to lacquer ware – actually I’ve thought it was a bit cheesy – but I’ve changed my tune.

The item (vase, bowl, cup, etc) starts as interlocking bamboo shards. These are pieced together and covered by a lacquer made up of resin and cotton then left to dry for two weeks. Fourteen layers later, the piece is ready to be decorated.

Using infinite patience and an Exacto knife, patterns are carved into the hardened lacquer. Paint is then rubbed into the carved pattern – resulting in some seriously beautiful, sometimes mind-blowingly intricate items.

I want one – bad. The problems with this are two-fold. We don’t have the money (the piece I want is US $350) and we don’t have the space to carry it. Being a dirt-poor backpacker does nothing for my future home decor. Nothing, I say!

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