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Mogok, Myanmar, is gem-producing area
that few other gem-producing areas
can match in its notoriety, its beauty, and the exotic feeling
you get from it.
Dr. Tao, when I watched the sunrise in the morning
cast its golden light on the pagodas,
and sometimes I see the mist coming up from the small lake,
when I see the thanaka, the white paste that's
made from ground bark used to decorate women's faces,
and when I smell the local cuisine in the street markets,
then I really know I'm in an exotic land.
French writer and traveler Joseph Kessel
visited all the mines in Mogok in 1950s
and wrote this famous novel named
The Valley of Rubies, which made the place famous--
and the stones famous, as well.
And besides rubies, there are also other important gemstones
produced in this area, such as sapphires and spinels.
This area utilizes several types of gemstone mining,
including underground mines that reach
depths of over 300 meters.
These underground mines follow natural crevices
down into the ground that the miners descend into for mining
ruby and spinel.
But Tao, one of the most captivating sights for me
in Mogok is that of the kanase women.
These women have traditionally been
able to mine the tailings of mining operations
for ruby and spinel.
It is such an amazing sight to see them in their colourful
traditional clothes and their traditional hats,
scraping up the pieces of marble and breaking them apart
by hammer, looking for ruby and spinel.
And sometimes it looks like they're
working on a snow-covered area, but when you look closer,
you realize it's really a sea of marble.
And no matter whether you are from the West or Asian,
like me, Mogok is still a very exotic and romantic place
to visit.
Few gem-producing areas have the romance, history, and beauty
of Mogok, Myanmar.
For centuries, precious gems like rubies, sapphires,
and spinels have been mined and traded at this area.
Perhaps the most famous view of the town is that of the pagoda
and its reflection in the lake.
Whenever in a mining area, one should sample the local flavor.
And there is none better than food
from the night market in Myanmar.
Mogok has several types of mining, including
traditional pit mining.
The wooden braces and leaves fortify the pit walls
while the miners dig for gem-bearing gravel.
An empty bucket is lowered by rope with a hand-powered wench,
so the miner can take it off the rope
and replace it with a bucket full of gravel
to be hauled up to the top of the pit.
This mechanized mining operation is using a hydraulic shovel
to move large marble boulders so the gravels underneath can
be mined.
Rock crushers are used to crush up
marble and look for ruby or spinel crystals inside.
This kanase woman is scooping up small marble pieces
and taking them to an area where other kanase women will
break them up by hammer.
Traditionally, the kanase women have
been allowed to work the tailings of mining operations,
looking for rubies, spinel, and sapphire,
and it is one of the most romantic sights you will ever
see in mining, to see these women
in their traditional clothing, working
through almost a sea of marble.
This large gem-mining operation is incorporating a long sluice
to trap the gems.
These Nepalese-descent
Gurkha women dressed in red and hot pink
are dealing in spinel, ruby, and pink sapphire
at an afternoon market.
At this morning market, you can see kanase women
dealing in gemstones, wearing their traditional hats
but also wearing motorcycle helmets, which
are quite popular since they ride motorcycles to transport
gems between markets.
The traditional hats of the women
made for quite a scenic sight while the gem-trading
was going on.
They must understand about the effect of surrounding color
on gems, as they most always wear pink and red
when dealing with pink spinel, pink sapphire, and ruby.
Sorting through brass trays of gemstones at the market,
the tradition of the kanase women, is as strong today
as ever.
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