Mogok

Legend brought this faith to the world of fable valley in the north where beautiful rubies and sapphires lay scattered. Treacherous swamps and poisonous snakes protected the uninhabited valley. One day a huge eagle spotted an enormous morsel of bloody-red meat, swooped down on his prey. Time and again being unable to make a dint eventually realized that this was not the meat that he thought but a precious stone. This probably was the first ruby of the world. Mogok-since than and now is the source of the world's most fabulous rubies and Sapphires. 

The first European visitor to Mogok in 1838 brief eyewitness account described mining technique that are still in use today. Situate 128 miles to the northeast of Mandalay with a gem-bearing area of 1916 sq miles. Residents are mostly Lisu, Shan and Grokha who make their living predominately by mining, cutting, polishing and marketing gemstones. There are now over 1000 mines, with an area of approximately 4,864 sq km, which are of two main types -tunnel and open-cut. Small-scale traditional mines, such as lay-bin-gyin (four-sided pits) are also worked in some places. Mogok also produces numerous gems of lesser quality such as - alexandrite, amethyst, appetite, aquamarine, black tourmaline, black John, Danburite, fluorite, garnet, green tourmaline, lapis lazuli, moonstone, peridot, quartz, rose quartz, spinal, topaz, white sapphire, zircon. Mogok then and now, is a city of gems, the heart of the gem-zone and the center of the gem trade. The town has a number of living examples of the 'rags to riches' success story. Some are immensely wealthy. These lucky ones are no doubt a source of inspiration and act as an incentive to the many thousands of miners who are hoping to strike it rich. The gem stone transaction and marketing usually take place everyday in a huge public park call Htar Pwe, where people inspect gems either with the naked eye or by means of pencil-light torch or lens. Prospective buyers and sellers sit around on the park benches or stand in small groups to conduct their business.