While I'm not a fan of cigars or the smell of the smoke, it was interesting to watch the Myanmar women, sitting cross-legged on the floor of a rickety building, hand-rolling dark green smokes known as cheroots.
The cheroot is a cigar that has both ends clipped and is made with blend of tobacco and wood chips, wrapped in a flat leaf. Some of the best come from the Inle Lake region where leaf cultivation is a huge cash crop.
The tiny factories sell them at 1,000 kyat (US $1.20) for a packet of ten small ones, bundled in a rubber band and wrapped in newspaper. Rolled inside that leaf is an elaborate blend of dried banana and pineapple, star anise, brown sugar, tamarind, honey, and rice wine, among other ingredients. (And in case you’re wondering, that’s as mind-altering as they get.)
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