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So labor intensive...was glad to witness it. A strong cultural and religious task. Aside from that, wouldn't suggest making any purchases...just the small sample with brochure was enough for me.
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Date of experience: February 2020
Helpful
Fancy that! All that goldleaf on all the Buddhas and Pagodas is still being beaten into submission by hand in little workshops like this one all over Burma. The workers must be SO fit. The gold is worked with hand welded mallets and chamois leather on raised blocks. Apparently, it takes 5 hours to work a piece of gold into leaf thinness, suitable for application. The men have to take regular breaks (not surprised!) and they all have ingenious little timers made from coconut shells and water to tell them when to stop. Then you can go and see the cutting packing rooms where the women are working, packaging the leaf into various quantitiies and cutting to various sizes. A bit like Rapunsel really. The showroom is full of pieces of ornament and jewellery using the leaf but the most interesting purchase is the packets of gold leaf, which aren't very expensive, really, and make marvellous and novel gifts for people back home. Perfect - so light and take up no room in your bag. This is also culinary grade leaf, so it even has practical application in your kitchen. Win!…
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Date of experience: December 2019
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I was keen to see one of the gold leaf workshops during my visit to Myanmar. It was FREE, informative and worth the 15 or so minutes we spent there. We bought some of the small gold leaf packs as presents for friends and family back home. My friend traveling with me actually added a piece of gold leaf at one of the temples during our stay. I wish I had done the same. The work seemed to be very physical. I could not imagine doing that for 30mins. They do it for a living. Much has been written about the prices at the store. You will always find some places with better prices. Think of the cheap souvenirs you can buy at home for your own country... I bought some items as I wanted to support the business. The quality of the products seemed better than cheaper lookalikes we had seen in markets. I would like to think the products they sold were made with the gold leaf produced at the workshop.…
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Date of experience: August 2019
1 Helpful vote
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+1
For many years I use to wonder how they make silver or gold foils. Well it's a nice little workshop where the artisans show you the entire process of making gold leafs. There is a small shop which sells gold leafed products (which might be little overpriced) as a souvenir I bought a pack of 10 gold leafs for 12000MMK (equivalent to 8$. I can give one leaf as souvenir to my friends back in Dubai.…
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Date of experience: August 2019
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They took advantage of me. I went there, and after showing me the processI bought a small cup made of bamboo with gold leave designs in 45 USD. To my surprise, I saw the exact same ones at my hotel boutique shop for 30 USD. Then, I traveled to Old Bagan and went to the workshop where they make the bamboo cups and decorate them with gold leave designs (gold bought from King Galon, and the price for similar ones were 20 pr 25 USD. Do not buy anything there.…
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Date of experience: April 2019
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