Mandalay (Myanmar/Burma): Marble Street

Mandalay (Myanmar/Burma) is known, among other things, for it's marble statue craft. It's "Marble Street" is lined with shops were artisans cut marble blocks and shape them into Buddha statues of all sizes and postures. A walk along the street is a fascinating display of hundreds of statues in various stages of of processing, from blocks of marble with rough cuts to final, polished, statues. It's amazing to see the artisans at work, but at the same time is heart wrenching to see them producing clouds of fine marble dust without any protection.