Glass Factory

Before we arrived in Myanmar we had heard about an amazing glass factory in Yangon where you could buy beautiful glasses in blues and greens. We were keen to find it, but were quickly informed that the place had been shut since Cyclone Nargis.

However the other week some of our friends were taken to the glass factory by their landlord. Turns out that although it is a ruin, and the kilns and glass making machinery are all broken, they are still open and selling off bits of stock they have lying around. So last weekend, after Ant had worked his way through a hot dog at the American Club’s Christmas Bazaar, we went to visit the glass factory.

The factory is in an urban, built up area… it is not in the middle of nowhere… it is very much in town… not that you would guess that from the photos. Once you come off the road and go through the gates you are in the jungle… and in jungles you often get mosquitos. This jungle was no exception and we really were SAVAGED. Never been bitten so much in my life. Anyway, assuming we don’t develop dengue, it was worth it. The place is magic.

Down the path to the glass factory… and no that isn’t rubbish… it is glass… piles and piles and piles of glass.

First stop was the shop… and what should be in the shop but a Vauxhall car made in Luton, England. Don’t think it is used. Ever. The car was of course surrounded by piles of dusty pieces of glass… everything was.

 

Before we were taken on a tour by the wonderful old owner (whose father owned the car) we were shown a treasured copy of an “Air Mandalay” in flight magazine from 2004. I guess those were the factory’s glory days. The front page shows the glass kiln/ furnace in action, and inside was a photo story of the team making the glass. Touching, because it is all gone. Random, because opening the front cover of the magazine I discovered the name of a friend who edited it. I knew he worked for a Myanmar airline magazine, but it was random to actually see one of the magazines 8 years later!

After seeing how it was in the past, it was off into the jungle to see things now. It all looks like rubbish, but it really is piles and piles of glass… there is even glass under the pink flowering creeper in the right hand photo. Crazy to think they had so much stock kicking around. A lot of the glass isn’t finished. Just needs a final polish or the rough edges finished off etc.

  

It seems that although Nargis destroyed the factory, the rising cost of fuel meant that even before then things were difficult.

  

The owner was delightful. Laughing away with a peg on his collar as he picked through glass to show us a “James Bond” glass… or a wine cooler designed by a visitor from France… or to show us a glass fish… or explain how the kilns used to work… or to laugh at how much the mosquitos enjoyed eating us…

We found some fun glasses to buy. This was quite a slow process as once we found a glass we liked a couple of staff would go out into the jungle to try and find others that matched. We ended up with a selection of green glasses. Higgledipiggledy in design and finish. But we love them and their story.

I also love the receipt… with the design of each glass drawn out on the paper next to its price.

 

My friend and I had the same reaction to visiting the factory. We both wanted to go in there (after killing the mossies) and sort out all the glass. Put things into sets, clean it up, finish off the bits that can easily be finished. I am sure they could make a fortune… but I suspect that isn’t what the owners want… and it would spoil the magic somewhat.