Postcards from Mingun, Myanmar 

We started our day in Mingun, Myanmar watching the river come to life from aboard our ship: 

And awaiting us on the riverbank, the local ladies waiting to sell us jade jewellery and longyi fabric:  

In Mingun we visited Mingun Paya (the Unfinished Temple), and even climbed to the top to enjoy the view.   

This sweet girl is wearing Thanakar, a bark paste used as sunscreen:

And my favourite site in Mingun — Mya Thein Dan (aka. Sin Byu Shin) — a stunning all-white Buddhist temple:      

And obviously you want to  know about the food.   I almost caved and bought these roadside-fried corn fritters:   

But settled instead for gorgeous avocado salad:  

And my new favourite — fried lotus root salad:

I think Eddie Huang best explains how I feel about my new discovery of fried lotus root salad:  

Xiang wei is the character a good dish has when it’s robust, flavorful, and balanced but still maintains a certain light quality. That flavor comes, lingers on your tongue, stays long enough to make you crave it, but just when you think you have it figured out, it’s gone. Timing is everything. Soup dumplings, sitcoms, one-night stands— good ones leave you wanting more.

— Meet the Parents by Eddie Huang (from Fresh Off the Boat, in Best Food Writing 2013).