Letter from Burma 7

Heinda Mine

Tenasserim

Southern Burma

February 16 , 1935

Dear Mums,

We were in Tavoy again last weekend, and went to visit the site of the new aerodrome.
It is run by Imperial Airways. It was pretty dud. But if it means that we can save several days when we go home, it will be very much appreciated. We hope to use the service when we come home next Christmas.

They started building the airport in 1933 and had it workable with the first flight in being on New Year's Day this year. It is part of the Irrawaddy Service by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.

It will only be used as a landing place for refuelling when the load warrants it. You will
notice that the stamp I have used is a first day cover, so that will be a collector's item, especially as they were got out late.

Wednesday and Thursday I played tennis. On the weekend we will go back to the Tavoy area and go to the beach at Maungmagan about 17 miles southwest from Tavoy.

The black and white beach area is in two parts - sandy beach and the rocky coast part called Myaw-yit. The beach itself is about two miles long, quite narrow with cocoanut palm trees for shade and offers spectacular views over the Andaman Sea. Maungmagan is a seaside village with most of the villagers carrying out fishing for their living. The beach is thus alive when boats return after a night’s fishing in the sea and then carrying out preparations to go out to the open sea again in the evening. It is perfect for swimming
– no currents or underwater hazards. I will include a picture of it.

There are also a number of hot water springs around the outskirts of Tavoy - one quite close to Maungmagan. We stopped at a nasally challenging mineral spa which would be hovering around the 95° F mark. No doubt quite refreshing and good for the skin, but it
didn't appeal too greatly at the time.

You've no doubt heard of Birds' Nest Soup. The nests are collected from one of the
islands just off our coast. The nests are made from the protein rich saliva of swiftlets who build them on the steep walls of many rock caves, crevices and rocky promontories. Theyget enormous amounts of money for the birds' nests.

This area also produces rubber, dried fish and teakwood, cashew nuts and betel nuts
and exports them through local traders to China, India and Siam. Tavoy is also well known for its variety of tropical fruits such as mangoes, mangosteens, and durian. There is one fruit call "zin thi" which can only be found in Tavoy and surrounding areas, it is sweet with a touch of sour.

 Much love from
Gwenllian