We were at the market early, just as it was waking up and coming to life. Reminded me much of the markets in Saudi Arabia – fabrics, tailors, notions, glitz, jewelry. Flip flops anyone?
Category Archives: Myanmar
Yangon again
We flew via Heho back to Yangon – these local pilots get lots of practice in landing and taking off. The average on the ground time is about 15 minutes! and no lost luggage (touch wood, so far!) We are flying props – AFR-72.
We were met at the bustling airport by our new guide, a lovely young 23-year old, Miso. The drive to and from the airport to Yangon is horrible – traffic-wise. We made a few stops: at a traditional tea-house for some green tea and the local tea (which is the same as indian chai) and some snacks of samosas and other goodies. Then a little walk around a lovely lake which, evidently, is very busy in the evening with families strolling, courting couples, etc.
Our next stop was the train station for a ride on the circular train (around Yangon). We stayed on for 20-minutes, but the entire trip takes over three hours.
To the hotel for check in – the Sule Shangri-La is a top-notch hotel (the best we stayed in) and we took advantage of the 5th floor pool for a dip during the hot afternoon.
Miso picked us up again at 4 to take us to the Shwe Dagon Pagoda (we missed it last time around because of the King of Norway) and I am glad – this was the frosting of all pagodas! It is said that the four buddhas also have four buddha relics (very unusual). It is in the process of being restored with new gold leaf (60 tons, no less), therefore, the stupa is covered with bamboo scaffolding which gives an interesting mesh look. In the globe atop the umbrella are numerous jewels and gems plus much more gold, but at the very top is a 74 carat cut diamond!
We each went to our special corner (there are eight – one for each day of the week, except for Wednesday which has two – one for the morning and one for the afternoon). Each is represented by an animal – your very own special animal. I am a Tuesday child, so mine is Lion; Dennis is Saturday which is Dragon. We washed our buddha, guardian, and pedestal with the holy water.
One of the funniest stories was of an old bell that had been donated by one of the former, beloved Kings. During the Anglo-Burmese war, the british stole it and wanted to hold it as war treasure. The thing was so heavy that they dropped it in the Ayerarwaddy in their attempt to get it on board a ship!! It stayed there for two years and the locals eventually retrieved it by floating it on to bamboo rafts!
They dropped us off at Feel Restaurant, a well-known local establishment frequented by Yangoners. Miso came in and helped us order and we enjoyed a delicious dinner, a bottle of Myanmar beer, and caught a taxi back to the hotel.
Biking Old Bagan
After our breakfast, served daily in the lovely gardens of the hotel, we were picked up by Min and Aung and taken to a bicycle rental store in Old Bagan. We set off down the sandy trails on our bike tour. First stop was Tuang Bi village where we wandered around, poking our heads into peoples’ door yards, observing them at work – a rice noodle “factory”, farmyards, the local pub, and the village school.
We saw young novices returning from their morning food/alms collection and then tucking into some delicious looking sweet corn.Young novices collecting alms meals and then enjoying some sweet corn:
Children in grades K-8 attend the school, each with one classroom. Two of the classroom buildings were recently donated by tour agencies – something we also saw in Peru. Min lives in Tuang Bi and attended this school; he told us that several years ago he volunteered in the construction of a new water well-house and new bathrooms.
Three women were cutting their sesame crop. Evidently this year’s crop only yielded a third to quarter of what is normally grown. This year’s monsoons didn’t provide as much rain as normal.
We visited Sulamani Temple with beautiful plaster carving and painting. Pahtothamya Temple was unique in that the lighting, from the north, illuminated the Buddha in such a way that the skin tone of the face and the rest of the body was different. Shwe Gu Gyi Temple, or locally known as Palace Temple, was used as an observation point.
Ananda Temple – the most beautiful in Bagan, and one of the largest, is undergoing a major restoration project (they are in the second of five years) funded by South Korea. The temple was built in the 11th century and was originally covered in murals. Over time, the locals used lime whitewash and covered it – multiple times! They are now in the process of stripping all the whitewash using ammonia, water and scrubbing brushes; it looks amazing and many of the carvings are in very good condition despite the acidic lime eating into the sandstone.
Our final Bagan sunset was viewed from The rooftop of one of the many temples
Myanmar impressions
I am so glad we ventured to Myanmar while it is still relatively undiscovered – except by the French! We didn’t encounter any other Americans, but French, Germans and Chinese.
We had different guides for each area we visited and all of them were extremely well versed in just about every aspect of life there. They could talk about the history of the region or country, the individual pagodas and temples we visited, and answer just about any question, regardless of subject, that we threw at them.
As in other SE Asian countries, the people are gentle and gracious. We were told that most crime is mostly of a domestic nature. Most people get around on motor bikes or bicycles, but there are more cars than I would have imagined – laws in the past few years have made buying cars more accessible. Most are right-hand drive, as they can buy used Japanese cars quite inexpensively.
They display great pride in their heritage and their historic temples and buildings. We were told they are the second most “giving” country in the world, despite the fact that so many have so little. They do not harass you or put pressure on you to buy, and I didn’t see one beggar.
The food was a little disappointing – not spicy at all! Except for those delicious tamarind candies from Bagan!
Bagan is an absolutely amazing place to visit and I’m glad we visited it last. The landscape with the thousands of stupas and temples is surreal.
The people appear to have an enormous respect for Aung San Suu Kyi, and call her “Our Lady”. There will be elections in 2015, and I get the sense that they would love her to win, but are dubious about the possibility. There were several mentions of “cronies” in regard to people who have achieved success or wealth, and I didn’t get a sense there was much respect for the government.
Bagan bathed in golden light
Our afternoon began with a visit to a lacquer workshop. The owner explained the processes using either bamboo or horsetail hair (which ends up being a flexible product). The base product is covered with cotton cloth, impregnated with a layer of lacquer, and sanded. Afterwards a total of 18 layers (nine on inside and nine on outside) are applied, and dried in a basement or dark area for a period of one-week between each layer. Patterns are etched on to the lacquer and dyed each color at a time.
We met up with our friendly horse and cart driver who took us on a 45-minute ride around and amongst the farmland and temples. The sun was dropping and the lighting was perfect to illuminate the brick stupas.
We were delivered to a “no name” temple where we were met by Min. After climbing extremely high steps (a good 2 ft high) we reached the top where a picnic was set out for us with typical Myanmar fare and we could view the surrounding temples and wait for the sun to set. Perfection!
Bagan the beautiful
Our guide, Min, took us to “no name” monastery – a relic that was once a monastery, but now offers a superb panoramic view of Old Bagan and the 4,000 temples, pagodas, libraries, and monasteries. Many of these structures are from 9c-12c (older than Angkor Wat), but, unfortunately, many were damaged in a 7.0 earthquake in 1975. The amount of restoration work that has been completed is quite amazing, and thankfully so, as these ancient monuments would soon disintegrate completely.
Adjacent to “no name” is a brick factory where each brick is made by hand to the tune of approximately 1,000 a day! With all the brick structures in Bagan and the restoration work that is ongoing, it would appear they have good job security!
We stopped for a quick “cuppa” at a local tea house tasting both the thick, sweet, dark tea and a green tea.
We then went to visit a bean paste factory where, once again, everything is on a small scale and done without machinery. The soybeans are cooked and strained off (and then sold to farmers for pig food – the women waiting), the water is cooked down over many hours to a thick, dark paste; this is then packaged as small pellets or pulverized and sold as powder. This factory is now owned by a woman, with whom we spoke, and her brother, having been handed down from their grandfather who started the production 80 years ago.
Onward to the local market – I have become quite the expert at all the local produce and food items! The markets never fail to entertain me.
The magnificence of Shwe-Zigon pagoda is indescribable. Also this pagoda was damaged in the earthquake and the entire upper dome needed to be replaced. One single monk raised all the money necessary by collecting donations from local people.
A few more stops at some temples and then for lunch at The Moon – Be Kind to Animals restaurant. Delicious guacamole (they have the most beautiful avocados which are currently ripe), tamarind-leaf curry and pineapple curry with coconut rice. Yum!
My new addiction – tamarind paste candy – discovered yesterday!
On the road from Mandalay
We took to the road from Mandalay to Bagan with an overnight stop in Monywa. Driving through the countryside and villages, one can see that life has remained pretty much the same for many decades with one major exception: cell phones – everyone has them from monks to watermelon sellers! Also, since 2010 it has become easier for people to purchase cars, therefore, there are more private vehicles on the road, but still the motorcycle rules, and in rural areas buffalo carts aren’t uncommon.
This is an agrarian society, and they are blessed with fertile soil, much of which is flooded during the rainy season. Everything seems to grow here: almonds, potatoes, melons, papaya, beans, rice – you name it!
As in many other countries, it fascinates me how sections of towns or villages are designated to produce one specific thing, ie. gold leaf hammering in one section on Mandalay (for the entire country); silk weaving; lacquer work; pottery, engine repair, and on it goes. I can’t quite get a grasp on how it is all distributed throughout the country, as everything seems very haphazard, but obviously it works in some fashion.
Monywa is a pleasing Burmese town situated on the eastern banks of the Chindwin River. Our hotel, of which I had low expectations, turned out to be lovely. We had a little chalet overlooking a serene lake and the grounds were immaculate.
On the way to Monywa we stopped at Thanboddhay Pagoda, an enormous Buddhist temple that is covered with more than 500,000 images of Buddha.
We also stopped at a site that is building several new buddhas, one of which is already completed, a standing buddha of 135 meters! We viewed these huge buddhas, situated on a hillside, from a tower. What impressed me the most, were the hundreds?? maybe thousands of buddhas with umbrellas surrounding the area.
In the heat of the afternoon we crossed the Chindwin River on a very dilapidated boat to visit Po Win Taung. I have to say, I could have easily passed up on this particular excursion! We were to drive to the caves by jeep!!! No thanks! a 45-minute drive, but luckily there was a car available. We drove to a couple of hills/mountains that contain what is considered to be the best gathering of mural paintings and Buddhist statues in Southeast Asia.
We left Monywa and drove country roads with a couple of stops in some small villages for photo ops! Ending up in the riverside market town of Pakkoku where we had lunch in a very Burmese restaurant and then boarded our boat for for a relaxed, two-hour journey downriver (Ayeyarwaddy) to Bagan.
On the way we stopped at the 12th c. Kyauk Gu U Min temple with stone carvings depicting religious figures and flowers. The temple itself is built into the side of cliff and behind the main hall of the temple is access to a cave. Legend has it that the cave was built during the 13th century for the locals to hide from the invading Mongols.
We arrived to the beautiful silhouetted skyline of Old Bagan.
More of Mandalay
The city comes alive early – there is a mosque nearby, so we hear the call of the Mullah, dogs barking, horns peeping and by the time I look out of the window, there are people crouching behind a variety of vegetables all along the street. At some point during the day they disappear and are replaced by street food sellers ready for the night market.
We started out the day with a visit to Kyauktawghi Pagoda, known as the pagoda of the Great Marble Image. The huge Buddha is carved from a single block of marble. It is said to have taken 13 days for 10,000 men to move it from the river into place (a short distance away). The interior is decorated with beautiful mirror mosaics.
Kuthodaw Pagoda, known as “The World’s Biggest Book” for its collection of 729 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist teachings.
How could you resist buying a bunch of (offering) lotus from this precious little thing? Also the beautiful young couple posing for their pre-wedding photos.
Next stop the Shwendandaw Monastery, the Golden Monastery, that once stood in the grounds of the Royal Palace of the 19th century. The structure carved from teak is impressive and the interior has 80 or so tall teak columns and beautifully carved ceilings covered in gold leaf.
Our final stop was a visit to the Royal Palace grounds, now used by the military. Replicas of the former palace buildings have been constructed and give insight into the history and a good idea of the life of royalty back in the 1800’s here in Myanmar.
Thanaka: Is the name of the wood that is used for the facial paste seen all the time. It is considered both a form of make-up and also for sun protection, as well as considered to be good for the skin. The paste is made by rubbing the bark of the thanaka log on a wet stone. Sometimes it is just smeared on the cheeks and neck, other times a design is created. I had mine done outside the pagoda by one of the lotus flower selling ladies – in the design of a lotus leaf.
Mandalay
by Rudyard Kipling
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin’ lazy at the sea,
There’s a Burma girl a-settin’, and I know she thinks o’ me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
“Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!”
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can’t you ‘ear their paddles chunkin’ from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
‘Er petticoat was yaller an’ ‘er little cap was green,
An’ ‘er name was Supi-yaw-lat — jes’ the same as Thebaw’s Queen,
An’ I seed her first a-smokin’ of a whackin’ white cheroot,
An’ a-wastin’ Christian kisses on an ‘eathen idol’s foot:
Bloomin’ idol made o’ mud —
Wot they call the Great Gawd Budd —
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed ‘er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
When the mist was on the rice-fields an’ the sun was droppin’ slow,
She’d git ‘er little banjo an’ she’d sing “Kulla-lo-lo!”
With ‘er arm upon my shoulder an’ ‘er cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an’ the hathis pilin’ teak.
Elephints a-pilin’ teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silense ‘ung that ‘eavy you was ‘arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
But that’s all shove be’ind me — long ago an’ fur away,
An’ there ain’t no ‘buses runnin’ from the Bank to Mandalay;
An’ I’m learnin’ ‘ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
“If you’ve ‘eard the East a-callin’, you won’t never ‘eed naught else.”
No! you won’t ‘eed nothin’ else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An’ the sunshine an’ the palm-trees an’ the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
I am sick o’ wastin’ leather on these gritty pavin’-stones,
An’ the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho’ I walks with fifty ‘ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An’ they talks a lot o’ lovin’, but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an’ grubby ‘and —
Law! wot do they understand?
I’ve a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments an’ a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin’, an’ it’s there that I would be —
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
O the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
Mandalay
We started the day with a visit to the Mahamuni Pagoda, a Buddhist Temple and pilgrimage site. The Mahamuni Buddha image(literal meaning: The Great Sage) is a massive gold figure that has grown in size due to the constant adding and layering of gold-leaf (by men only).
Off we go to explore the former capitals of Amarapura and Saiging, which are on the other side of the Irrawaddy River. Saiging is quite a sight with 600 pagodas and monasteries dotting the hillside, and because of this it is considered to be the spiritual hub of Myanmar and claims residence to around 3,000 monks. We visited several pagodas of importance – all of them quite beautiful in their own way. Everywhere we went was crowded with local people, as it was a religious holiday, and the activity added a nice liveliness to the places.
I had a personal and strangely poignant experience at one of the pagodas. Upon entering, I noticed a father and his young son who happened to be albino. I also noticed the stares of the local people. I was standing at the parapet overlooking the beautiful view of the Irrawaddy and the other pagodas when the man and his son came up to me. Our guide, Thet, was right there to translate. The man came to me, because he saw my blonde hair, and wanted to know whether the bright sunshine bothered my eyes, as his son couldn’t tolerate the bright sunshine. Whether they should go to the doctor about it? He said the son could read OK, that he was not blind, but had to close his eyes against the bright sunshine. These people came from a remote village (they actually have two children, BOTH of them albino) and they didn’t seem aware of the condition at all. I explained to them that the children should wear hats and sun protection in general and we said they should get UV sunglasses for them, that it was doubtful a doctor could do anything. I couldn’t get their situation out of my head – imagine – in a remote village, two dark haired and skinned parents and they give birth to a white haired and skinned baby. Even at that site, people were staring, in the village they must never have seen blond/white haired people. I think it’s why he came to me – I was probably the first blond person he’d seen and he thought that I would suffer with the same problems as the children. So sad!
We stopped at a local market to browse and learn about some of the herbs, vegetables, etc. and how they are used or prepared. I was particularly intrigued by a finger shield device that a woman was using to thinly slice bamboo shoots. She let me try it and even gave me a new one that she had!!
We visited “pottery village” and a family run pottery that make the clay pots used all over the country for water storage – Thet claims it keeps the water cool.
In Amarapura (which means “City of Immortality” we visited the Mahagandayon monastery, home to more than 1,000 young monks and known as a centre for monastic study and strict religious discipline.
Mid-afternoon (and it was a very hot one – probably close to 100!) we drove down to the legendary U Bein Bridge (this is one of the sites I was dying to see) – building in 1782, it spans 1.2 km across the shallow Taungthaman Lake and is said to be the longest teakwood bridge in the world. We joined the throngs (more than usual, evidently, but because of the holiday) to walk part way across the bridge. After relaxing with a coconut full of delicious coconut water under the shade of some large trees, we waited until close to sunset to embark on our little boat ride out on the lake to view the bridge at sunset. We were not disappointed!!
Inle Lake – life on the water
Inle Lake – micro-factories and farms
Family run micr0-factories abound on Inle Lake: As part of the tourist tribe, we were fortunate to visit some and see the people at work while having the techniques demonstrated and explained.
Umbrella making: The paper is made from pulp of mulberry bark and decorated with flower petals. The red or brown umbrellas are for monks.
Cigar (cheroot) making:
Weaving – saw an amazing demonstration of extracting thread from the stem of lotus plants which is later woven into fabric – usually as a design with silk, as it is extremely expensive. Unlike most weaving where different colored thread is woven to create the design, at this particular workshop, the thread is tie-died first and then woven into the design.
Boat builders – hand planing and building both long boats and canoes from teak.
Blacksmiths and silversmiths.
Tomato crate maker and distribution center:
Floating farms that grow tomatoes, beans, squash and more. The tomatoes are exported all over the country.
Inle Lake – life at and around the pagoda
We were on the short boat ride from our hotel to the five-day market (in a different village every day for five days), when passing the pagoda we saw a boat decorated as though for a wedding or such. Our guide said it would be for an initiation ceremony (Shinbyu) of a young novice; we promptly pulled over and went to see what was happening. As Twe Twe explained, this ceremony is a very important rite of passage both for the young boy and the family. For parents, it is deemed the most important duty that they owe to their son by letting him go forth and embrace the legacy of the Buddha at least for a short while, perhaps longer, if not for the rest of his life. Therefore, those that don’t have sons of their own, will often seek an orphan or a boy from a very poor family in order to receive this special regard by the Buddha. Many believe that allowing a son to spend some time in a monastery, even only a week (although they can become novices on more than one occasion), is the best religious gift the parents can give.
Evidently the first Shinbyu occurred two and a half millennia ago, when the Buddha’s own son asked for his inheritance, and he was stripped of his princely garments and given the robe of an ascetic, head shaved and sent to the monastery.
We could walk from the pagoda to the market, which was vibrant as most markets are and with a wonderful array of vegetables, spices and everything else imaginable.
Inle Lake, Myanmar
It is such a great feeling to be greeted at the airport (Bagan Air flew us from Yangon to Heho) by a smiling face, and this one belonged to Twe Twe, our guide during our visit to the Inle Lake area. Having spent the day with her, she is super and her english superb and totally understandable (this can sometimes be a problem, even if their vocabulary is good!)
Some facts and figures about Inle Lake: A beautiful highland lake, 900 meters above sea level, but at its deepest only about 4 meters. The lake is 22km long and 10km across, and inhabited by many different ethnic nationals of the area. The Intha people are the lake dwellers who are unique for their leg rowing. The lake is located in Shan State, the largest state in the country with about 30% of the population comprising 33 different tribes with 33 different languages and is considered part of the Golden Triangle.
On our ride from Heho, we visited the Shwe Yan Pyae Monestery which houses 700 or so Shan Buddha images. Beautiful intricate glass decoration and gold leaf were a part of its former glory. The school part of the monestery, built of teak now weathered, still houses young monks.
In Nyuangshwe we dropped off our bags at the jetty and hopped on bicycles to ride a couple of miles along country lanes to the Red Mountain Winery. A winery was about the last thing I imagined we’d visit in Myanmar! but thanks to a local Shan resident who, as Twe Twe put it “hit the jackpot” in gem mining, here we are! He imported vines from France about 8 years ago and is now producing some very nice wine. We had a delicious lunch and tasted wine in the hilltop setting overlooking vineyards and Inle Lake.
After cycling back to the jetty, we boarded our long boat for the exhilarating ride to our lake hotel. We saw many of the local Intha leg-rowing fishermen. What an extraordinary thing! but they all do it effortlessly. I know where one person would land if attempting it! We arrived at our hotel, the Shwe Yee Pwint, after about an hour. Wow! our own little chalet on stilts over the water. I have always been addicted to the thrill of the journey, and the series of long haul flights to get here were so part of it all! Now we can enjoy a few days of relaxation on this beautiful lake.
