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We were picked up by our local tour guide, Joe Top, who turned out to be the most knowledgeable, entertaining guide we had the entire trip. As we travelled with him the next two days we learned a lot about his background, his life and his country. He was a gem to be with. Joe came from a poor rural family and joined the army where he spent ten years and retired as a colonel. He fought against the rebels during the Pol Pot era (where 12-35% of the Cambodian population were killed); he learned to drive tanks, remove landmines (over 6 million still in the country) and fly a helicopter.  After leaving the army he drove tuk tuk cabs for awhile and ultimately became a tour guide, a career in which he has excelled in my opinion. It was fascinating hearing some of his stories and concerns about Cambodia and its future.

Before I forget. We asked Joe about getting some Cambodian money and he said to not bother, as all the ATMs in the country will dispense US dollars, not Cambodian riel!  Now that is a first.  Although there is a Cambodian currency people and stores mostly deal in dollars. It sure made our lives easier.

Our schedule for the morning included visiting one of the less famous temples in the area- Angkor Thom, which contains the Bayon Temple and the Elephant terrace – before visiting the more famous Angkor Wat temple complex in the afternoon. By the way, Angkor means “city”. The Angkor complexes date back to the 9th century when King Jayavarman II united the various warring kingdoms in the area and started what became known as the Khmer dynasty. The first order of business, however, was going to a central complex to buy passes that allow us to visit the various sites. A big surprise awaited us . There were huge crowds lined up at 9 AM buying the required tickets. You had to buy a 1,3,or 7 days admission ticket.  Although we were in Cambodia only 2 days we had to purchase a 3 day pass ($62, included in our tour package). Your picture is taken and made part of the ticket;  the tickets were closely reviewed whenever you got near a temple.  Apparently people used to resell their tickets when they were finished; thus the requirement for the pictures. In 1993 only 7,650 people visited Angkor Wat; last year over 2 million people came! It took 20-30 minutes to work our way through the process and receive the required passes. Then it was off to the sightseeing.

Angkor Thom was built in the late 12th century, after Angkor Wat, by King Jayavarman VII.  It is one of the largest Khmer cities built, covering over  9 sq. km. and supported an area population of 85,000-150,000 people.  It remained the capitol until the 17th century.

The Bayon Temple is at the city’s heart. It looks disordered from afar, but as you draw closer the seemingly characterless rubble metamorphoses into a collection of 37 towers (of the original 54)  encompassing a total of 216 striking, smiling, enormous faces. The faces are reputedly in the likeness of King Suryavarman II, who commissioned the temple. Many will tell you he was a vain emperor but he was also the man who declared independence from the kingdom of Java during the 9th century – thereby founding the Khmer Empire as we know it.

The Bayon Temple was the last temple built at Angkor, built between the 12-13th century. The walls are entirely covered with carvings of stories about Hindu scripture and mythology, and everyday life and events in the Khmer empire. It was hard to find a surface that was not carved

Another highlight of Angkor Thom is the Terrace of Elephants, which stretches 350 m in length; the walls covered with a stone depiction of a famous battle in Khmer history. It was also the viewing platform where King Jayavarman VII (often referred to as the most powerful Khmer king) is said to have watched his victorious armies return from battle on the large field in front of the platform.

We had what turned out to be a delightful lunch at a restaurant called Madame Butterfly. What made it unique was although it was a typical fare for the region it definitely had a French influence to it. We all noticed a subtle difference compared to other similar meals.

The afternoon was spent visiting the world famous Angkor Wat, considered to be one of the top wonders of the modern world (even though it dates back to the 12th century).  It laid abandoned from the 15-16th century, being rediscovered by a French naturalist in 1860. My first glance was not what I expected. Picture I have seen seem to infer it is in the midst of dense jungle. In reality it is not engulfed by jungle foliage at all; it sits on an open plain. Yes, there are trees near it but I certainly would not call it a jungle environment.

Angkor Wat is considered to be the largest religious monument in the world. Its outer walls measure 1,000 meter by 800 meters with walls that were 4.5 meters high. There is a 620 meter wide moat protecting the complex. It covers 402 acres and was built in the early 12th century by King Suryavarman II. It was initially built as a Hindu temple honoring Vishnu, but gradually migrated to being a Buddhist temple. by the end of the 12th century. Seeing the carvings there certainly reminded us of what we had seen in India at Hindu temples.   Visually the complex is stunning, especially once you enter the outer walls of the complex.

 

We spent a good 1.5-2.0 hours wandering through the temple complex with Joe Top pointing out the salient things for us to see. We were there late in the day so we got to see the setting sun create great shadows on the complex. Angkor Wat is all that people say it is. It is truly one of the spectacular locations in the world. You look at this 1,000 year old complex of buildings and temples and marvel at how the people living during that time were able to build it. It rivals the Great Wall, the Pyramids of Giza and Machu Picchu. It was certainly worth the effort to come here and I am thankful I got to experience it.

It was quite a day…..and one I will truly remember.

 

Another leisurely departure (9AM) but with all our luggage as we will head to the airport for our flight(s) to Siem Reap, Cambodia right after our morning tours.

We stopped at a local weaving factory to watch ladies weaving beautiful, ornate silk material that will end up as men’s high end longyi skirts (called htamein for women) for special occasions (weddings, dress up events). Although an everyday longyi costs less than $10 these ladies were making longyi’s (that take a month to make) that will sell for $1,000.

The next stop this morning was to visit the largest monastery in Myanmar, where over 1,000 monks live and study. The guide wanted us to see the monks gathering for their main meal of the day, served at 10:30 AM. They are not supposed to eat food after 12 noon.
We toured the huge open kitchen area where the meal is prepared, then proceeded to the area where they congregate with their food bowls and wait for the calling bell, at which time they silently collect a large bowl of rice and march into the dining hall where the rest of the meal (pork today, a soup and vegetables) awaits them. The sad aspect of this ritual was the presence of hundreds of people (us included) jockeying for position to record their procession into the dining hall. Today we even saw a brief shoving match between two visitors wanting a better view. Somehow this seems wrong at such a solemn event. We did have an opportunity to briefly visit and talk to a monk about the teachings of Buddha. The monks were selling books written by monks about Buddhism and we bought a couple to try to get a better understanding of the Buddhism philosophy (which they claim is not a religion as we commonly think of it).

It was then off to the airport for check-in for our flights to Siem Reap. Lunch was not on our agenda so we had ordered box lunches at the hotel, but we found we probably could have skipped that as Bangkok Airlines invited us into their lounge where we were able to have free snacks and even order light luncheon fare.

We then flew to Bangkok before catching our connecting flight to Siem Reap. All went well getting to Bangkok, a very large airport and a major hub for air transport in this area, and we gained back the 1/2 hour time zone change we made when going into Myanmar. Our layover in Bangkok was about 1.5 hours and the Internet is free and fast. Time went quickly. The flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia was only 50 minutes.

Rudyard Kipling made Mandalay famous with his poem called “Mandalay”, published in 1892. During the third Anglo-Burmese war of 1885, 9,000 British and Indian soldiers had been transported by a fleet of paddle steamers (“the old flotilla” of the poem) and other boats 700 km from Rangoon to Mandalay.  For the poem lovers you can find the full poem at:  http://www.arctracer.com/poems/Mandalay.html.

On the Road to Mandalay was also a song published in 1907 and sung by many people over the years, including Frankie Laine, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.

My initial impressions of Mandalay:  a city of motorcycles, but manageable traffic compared to Yangon. At least the traffic moves steadily here although you are constantly dodging the motorbikes and cycles.

 

Our tour today included a visit to the Mahamuni Pagoda, which features a statue of Buddhas that is covered with over 15 cm of gold leaf, some 5 tons, according to our guide. At today’s price for gold that statue is worth some $194 million dollars. This is one of the most venerated images in Myanmar.

We also stopped at a gold leaf business where the extremely thin sheets of gold leaf are produced by men using simple tools to beat the gold into gold leaf, that worshippers place on statues of Buddha as an offering. A quick stop at a wood carving and embroidery business also occurred. Everything is done by hand. Somehow we managed to do a little souvenir shopping along the way.

 

Lunch was a bit different as we went to a Chinese restaurant that specializes in duck rather than the traditional Burmese fare. We looked forward to the change although dessert was still fruit!  We began to miss our good old fashioned sweets.

 

After lunch we visited several of the cities most interesting temples and palaces. The most unique one was the Shwenandaw Kyaung monastery, also known as the Golden Palace Monastery. This Buddhist monastery was originally part of the Royal Palace in Amarapura and moved to Mandalay in 1878.  It is made entirely of intricately carved teak with walls carved with tales of previous Buddhas. It is very different from anything we had seen so far.

Another fascinating site we visited was the Kuthodaw Pagoda. I must relate that when we hear we are going to another Buddha shrine we think it will be yet another statue of Buddha and if you have seen one, you have seen them all. However, we continued to be amazed how different each of these sites were.  The Kuthodaw Pagoda is unique in that it is the site of the world’s largest book. The main golden stupa is 188 feet high, but what makes the site so unique is that the stupa is surrounded by 729 “kyauksa gu” or stone-inscription caves, each containing a marble slab inscribed on both sides with a page of text from the of entire scriptures of Theravadan Buddhism.

Next was a visit to the Kyauktawgyi Pagoda. The chief feature of the Kyauktawgyi Paya is the huge (37 feet tall) seated Buddha figure sculpted from a single block of pale green marble from the Sagyin quarry twelve miles north of Mandalay. It was said that about 10 thousand men took about 2 weeks to transport the stone block from the Ayeyarwaddy River to the site where it is today.

By this time it was nearing sunset and we were transported by van to the top (230 meters above sea level) of Mandalay Hill. The true devotee would climb the 1,729 steps (barefooted) to the top!  The view from the pagoda at the top is a 360 degree view of the valley below. Scattered on the hillside below the summit are other temple complexes with their stupas and pagodas. It was somewhat cloudy when we were at the top and rather than wait the extra 30 minutes for the true sunset we opted to call it a day and retreat to our hotel, located at the base of the hill. We were ready to call it a day.

We had a leisurely morning as our flight to Mandalay is at 2:40 PM. We needed to retrace our steps to the airport in Heho which involves a 20 minute boat ride to the north end of the lake, than a 50 minute car ride to the Heho airport.

It was another beautiful but cool morning but it did not seem as cold as yesterday morning. Still we all had jackets on. Perhaps our bodies are adjusting.  After breakfast Gerry and I chose to explore the grounds of the hotel a bit. Although it is built over the water they do have a bridge to reach the shore, so people who choose to drive to the resort have a way of accessing it. We passed a field planted with dragon fruit and bananas. In the distance was a field of sugarcane. Along the access road we passed some new buildings which were dormitories and a dining room for the workers at the hotel.

Zaw picked us up in a long boat at 11:30 and we leisurely worked our way back to land, passing some fisherman fishing from their long boats and many other boats carrying tourists, locals and produce. This is truly the Venice of Myanmar.

By the time we reached shore it was warm enough to pack away the jackets. I had asked Zaw if there was a stall to buy Myanmar soccer jerseys and he had the driver stop at the local market for us to see and experience another typical market. It was smaller than the one we visited yesterday but just as crowded with local shoppers buying mostly food. We spent a wonderful 15 minutes wandering through the area seeing, listening and smelling, and taking many pictures, some of which will find their way into my blog.

The Heho airport is tiny and we have an hour wait for our flight. Looking for a snack we found they offered good old Oreos, Pringles and even Kit Kat and Snickers. We missed lunch today but we will not starve!

Reflections of Inle Lake: a magical, unique corner of the world! Life has revolved around the water for centuries and the population has adapted to it and thrived. Riding in the “long boats” was a joy. Seeing the villages built over the water and the man-made floating gardens used to grow crops was jaw dropping. Wow! The visit to the temple complex at Indein was, in many respects, more unique than what we saw in Bagan. I am surprised it is not as renown as Bagan. And to think that I had considered dropping the visit from our itinerary. Thankfully I had not and we are the richer for having visited this wonderful place.

Our flight to Mandalay would take all of 20 minutes. When I asked our guide how long to drive there he said 7-8 hours! Obviously the roadways in Myanmar need some serious updating. Our plane arrived at the Heho airport (on the single runway here); we hopped on and in 10 minutes we were in the air- no messing around.

Our local guide, named Myo (Mew) met us and we were on our way to see the famous U Bein bridge in the town of Amarapura to participate in a daily ritual-watching the sun set. Myanmar natives have a tradition of lining up to watch the sunset each evening. The 1.1km (0.7 mile) teak bridge walkway is supported by over 1,000 pilings and crosses Taungmyo Lake. It is the longest such bridge in the world (a Guinness record). Under normal conditions it is entirely over water but because this is the dry season much of it crosses over exposed lake bed which is used for growing crops during the dry season. In fact the soil is so fertile that they can grow two crops each growing season. We ventured out in a small, questionable quality rowboat to the middle of the lake which is now an island during the dry season. We got out and walked around a bit, even climbing stairs to walk on the bridge itself for a short while. There are NO guard rails so it is a bit “adventuresome” and we carefully made sure we stayed in the middle of the wooden boardwalk which is probably 30 feet above water/land. We returned to our boat and rowed out a bit to watch the sunset( ~6PM) from the water. There were probably 50 other such boats doing the same thing as it is a popular activity for tourists and even locals. Many more people were simply walking across the bridge. It turned out to be a pretty experience seeing the sun set behind this big old wooden bridge. It was even more fun watching the boaters all race back to the single dock to unload their passengers!

 

It was now dark and we drove about 45 minutes to check into our hotel in Mandalay proper. We were hungry (and thirsty) by this time so we stopped in the lounge for a celebratory Manhattan. The price at this “big city” was $ 7.80 compared to $4 we paid at Inle Lake, but still a bargain when compared to US prices. Besides they were pretty decent and they served local peanuts, popcorn and potato chips. We ordered some tapas and a sandwich while contemplating which hotel restaurant to have dinner, but decided we had eaten enough tapas to satisfy our hunger.

Thus ended the day as we have a full day of sightseeing tomorrow, but starting at a leisurely 9 AM which pleased everyone.

We woke up in a very cold room as there is no heat in the Myanmar Treasure Resort rooms. I had planned on using the outdoor shower but it was simply too cold to consider this morning. I wonder how the locals deal with the cold temperature in the morning.  Zaw later told me they dress warmly and use charcoal burners in the villages to deal with any early morning chill. Some of the newer homes do have electric heaters to ward off the morning chill. We bundled up and had breakfast. It did warm up quickly once the sun came up.

 

Zaw and our long boat returned to pick us up at 9:30. Today he wanted to take us to a local market that occurs every five days in the Khaung Dein Village, located on the western side of the lake, on land, not over the water.

The market was a 5 minute walk from the boat landing and it was hopping with buyers and sellers of anything you might need or want  (or not need in the case of we tourists)! We wandered through the aisles marveling at the food and goods for sale. As expected this market attracts tourists so there was plenty of opportunity to find “more treasures” to take home. The joke has now begun that we will have to start to discard clothing and shoes to meet our baggage weight limit. We spent a good 30 minutes simply walking through the market with Zaw explaining what we were seeing, and answering our questions.  And I took a ton of pictures of people and things, trying to capture the feel of the environment.

After leaving the market Zaw walked us through the village side streets where we visited local shops processing food goods like pumpkin and sunflower seeds, tofu, bean cakes, rice noodles, pork rinds and other snack food that the locals enjoy. The methods used to process the foods are simple: use the sun to dry the food; burn corn cobs to generate cooking temperatures; use simple tools and cooking implements. All the shops are family owned and operated businesses. Small children wander around as the women worked. We were told the men would be out in the fields or driving the long boats.

Back on the long boat we were taken to another lake village where silversmiths plied their trade. Again everything is done by hand with rather primitive techniques, yet beautiful products are produced and the prices are reasonable, compared to what we have seen in other parts of the world.

While at the silversmith Gerry heard rock and roll music coming from nearby. We asked Zaw if we could explore and nearby we found what turned out to be a wedding. Zaw explained that Burmese weddings are large as the whole village gets invited. At his wedding there were 1,000 guests! We got to see beautifully dressed people arriving, drinking tea while a R&R Burmese band entertained the guests in an outdoor canopied tent. The bride and groom were in a separate reception and we were asked if we wanted to go to see them. We gracefully declined so as to not be disruptive. It was a fun encounter!

Zaw discussed the “long neck” people from the mountain villages and asked if we wanted to meet some. Of course, we said so he took us to a local home where we met  a lady and her daughter who come from that region. It was a National Geographic moment, as we all remember seeing pictures of people with extended necks in the National Geographic magazine when we were growing up. We were told that the first coil of metal was added to a girl at the age of 8, then another at 14 and the final size at age of 20. Supposedly the fixture does not affect their ability to breath or eat but if removed the women would have difficulty holding up their heads :as the neck muscles would have atrophied over time.  I was surprised at how heavy the coil of metal was.

Our boat travel then shifted to one of the big rivers (Indein) that feed the lake. It was a total different feel with tree-lined banks and farm fields. There was still a lot of other long boats plying the river with us. We reached the small village of Indein where we came to visit of the famous temple site (the Shwe Indein Pagoda) in this area. What makes it unique is that the “jungle” stupas are much smaller and more slender than those in Bagan. In this temple complex are there are over 1,000 such structures. No one knows when they were built but speculation is they could date back to BC times.  Most have not been restored but still retain a beauty about them.

We paused for lunch in a local restaurant in Nuaungshwe called Golden Kite,  where the menu featured Burmese (natch) food or Italian.  Guess what we all had? I later found it is considered one of the best restaurants in the area. The owner learned to make oven fired pizzas in Naples, Italy and the tasting platter we had was excellent.  Lunch also included his signature chocolate cashew crepe which was to die for!  It was a fun and tasty stop.

 

After lunch Gerry and I walked up to another cluster of stupas in the area while the ladies sat on the steps by the river, watching to world walk by.  The field of structures reminded me of a cemetery as the temple structures are closely spaced. My pictures do not do justice to the immensity of the temple complex.

We returned about 20 minutes later with pictures and some cool locally made bottle openers made of wood, nuts and bolts. We found our wives happily resting on steps by the dock and we headed back to the boat for the trip back to the hotel for some rest and a shower before happy hour.

It was time for happy hour at the resort to have some more $4 drinks, some new Burmese snacks and watched the sunset, which was not as spectacular as yesterday.

We leave tomorrow for Mandalay. I believe we all will miss this idyllic part of our journey. It was a fascinating place to experience and I am certainly happy I did not follow my first instinct to not include it in our itinerary. To do so would have been a big mistake.

We left the beauty of Bagan and headed for our next destination- Inle Lake. Before getting there I had no idea of what to expect. In fact when planning the trip I questioned whether we should even include Inle Lake in our Myanmar itinerary. Reviews said it was worth seeing so here we go.

It was a short 30 minute flight from Bagan to the closest airport, Heho. When I asked why we are not simply driving there the answer was it was at least an eight hour drive. Obviously the road infrastructure here is not that great.

Surprisingly even on this short of a flight they served us a pastry and a beverage. US Airlines would have simply said the flight was too short to offer beverage service. Not only that the flight was on time!

We were met, as promised, by our new tour guide, Zaw. The first surprise of the visit was we would be driving about 1 hour to the lake shore where we would transfer to a boat to make the 20 minute trip to our hotel.

The landscape has changed. We are in an area of hills and more trees, situated about 2,900 feet above sea level. The view from the plane showed many farm fields, reminding me of a patch quilt.  The road, although a main thoroughfare through the region, was two lanes and driving was not fast.

However the time went quickly and we soon arrived at the “boat terminal” which presented surprise #2.  Our “boat” was a long (~ 30 feet), narrow wooden boat powered by a one cylinder engine with a straight shaft to the propeller. They are called “long boats” and are the main (only?) mode of transport on the water. There are individual wooden chairs for the passengers but we did note there were life vests, blankets and even umbrellas for us. Our luggage was loaded onboard and within minutes we were on our way, via this waterway to the lake proper. We then had a beautiful, sunny, ~20 minute ride, cruising along at about 20 mph on this fairly large(45 sq. mile) shallow (5-12 feet deep) lake.

Surprise #3 was reaching our lakeshore hotel (Myanmar Treasure Resort). It is built over the water with individual cottages for guests located along a wooden boardwalk suspended above the water. Although there is a road to the hotel virtually all the guests arrive by water. We pulled into the dock where hotel personnel helped us out of the boat and unloaded our luggage.  Needless to say our wives really thought they were going to like this place. For the record I felt the same. At first glance, this was a really, really lovely place!

 

We went to our rooms where we were pleasantly surprised by the decor, the canopied beds, a covered veranda overlooking the water AND an outdoor shower! Now we all were sure we would like this place.

We reconvended with our guide to start our exploration of the lake. Surprise #4 soon emerged. Generations of Intha (the local ethnic group) people have lived on this lake and adapted to the ecosystem that it offers. We motored past “floating gardens” where they grow vegetables of all types. The gardens were developed by capturing floating patches of hyacinths, anchoring them with bamboo poles, and gradually building them up with mud from the lakebed, ultimately creating the land they now farmed on-ingenious! This was probably the precursor to hydroponics as we know it today. The various beds are separated by waterways so the farmers can easily get to their fields.

Leaving the farming area we next toured their villages-surprise #5. Their homes are built on stilts over the water-fascinating, to say the least.  To go anywhere you either go by boat or swim. There’s is no walking over to see a neighbor in this village. The homes are laid out in a street fashion but separated by water, rather than concrete.  Electricity is available to them but not all have indoor plumbing. Potable water must be retrieved from centralized water stations located in the village. We could not imagine their lives.

Lunch was at a local waterfront, floating (obviously) restaurant where we again were served traditional Burmese food. Afterwards we stopped (docked) at the local village Buddhist temple to see a rather unique set of small Buddha statues that have been and are continuously being covered with gold leaf by worshipers. What make them unique is that the statues have so much gold on them that they have lost any resemblance to Buddha and now look like round gold colored balls!

We also made two stops in the village to see some local craft people at work. the first stop was at a weaving business where women were making thread from fibers in the stem of the lotus plant (I did not know you could do that), then weaving cloth using a combination of lotus and silk threads. The second stop was at a boat builder to watch them hand-making long boats from teak wood.

It was then back to the hotel so that we could enjoy the evening sunset from the outdoor cocktail lounge that overlooked the lake. It turned out to be a spectacular show of mother nature, enhanced by a hotel employee portraying a local fisherman on the water and posing for pictures for guests. I have included my “Kodak” moment picture from that evening.  Of course the evening was enhanced by the $4 cocktails and free freshly made burmese snacks they were serving on the lakefront deck.

Being isolated and having had another big lunch we simply decided to grab a light dinner at the hotel. There was a featured BBQ buffet tonight and we were not hungry enough for that, but they did offer an ala carte menu that actually looked quite good. Gerry was hungry for a steak and a surf & turf option featuring Australian tenderloin priced at $20 (is that a misprint?)  that looked appealing. I settled for a tenderloin steak sandwich with fries ($12). The steaks were large and even more important, there were really tender. We both agreed they were some of the best we have had in a restaurant. Coupled with a nice bottle of Australian wine (also inexpensive), it made for a great ending of a fabulous day at Inle Lake. Then it was off to bed as we had another busy day tomorrow, exploring more of Inle Lake.

 

A 4:30 AM wake-up call as Gerry, Sue and I wanted to do the hot air balloon over the Bagan. Yvonne had tried ballooning once and found the fear of heights (she has no fear in flying in airplanes) was too much for her so she passed on the opportunity. Her excuse was someone had to be in charge of transferring the bodies back to the USA if something went wrong!

At 5:30 we were transported to the nearby launch site, the local golf course. The whole program was well orchestrated. When we arrived we were told which table to go to for coffee, tea and pastries. Each table was named after your pilot for the day. Our pilot was Donna, the first time I have seen a female balloon pilot. She is from Perth, Australia and works winters here and goes back to Perth during the local rainy season. Her husband is also a balloon pilot in Bangkok. There were 11 in our group. After having the coffee it was light enough to proceed to the area where our balloon and basket lay on the ground ready to be inflated. We got to watch the trained team of about 12 people use a fan to partially inflate the balloon that allows Donna to fire up the gas burners and complete the job. It is fascinating to watch. We were given assigned locations in the basket and we all climbed in with the assistance of the team. The balloon was fully inflated by this time and tethered to a tractor to prevent it from taking off. Moments later we were given clearance (from the local airport) and we were released to gently float into the sky, ably captained by Donna.

By this time the sun was fully up and we could see off into the distance as we floated to the area where many of the temples were located. Unfortunately there was a haze in the area this morning so my pictures were not the best.  The camera cannot adequately record the scene below anyway. Ballooning, especially in an area like Bagan is a marvelous experience. There were a total of 18 balloons in the air this morning, from three separate companies so the mixture of different colored balloons made for a colorful palette. The gentle winds took us up and over dozens of temples as we spent the next hour flying over the plains of Bagan.

Our flight path brought us near our hotel so Yvonne got to see and hear the balloons. Unfortunately she had no knowledge of which one we were in. We landed safely nearby by and were treated to champagne (a ballooning tradition) and receiving our flight certificate before being returned to our hotel at 8:30, just in time to meet Yvonne and have breakfast together.

At 9:30 we were off with Lama for yet more exploring of the area. Today we were taken to Mount Popa, located about 30 miles from Bagan to see a Buddha shrine dedicated to “nats”, which seem to be similar to saints in the Catholic Church. Buddhists often pray to one of these nats when they need a favor!  Mt. Popa is also the site of Buddhist shrines located atop a butte, reachable by climbing 774 steps. Luckily that was not on our travel agenda. We did have lunch at a nearby mountain resort that overlooked the Mt. Popa complex.

Before we got to Mt. Popa we stopped to see how the sap from sugar palms is harvested and converted into sugar, candies, beer and “moonshine”. We tried several versions of the candy but passed when offered the beer and moonshine.

At the same location we got to see how oxen are used to extract peanut oil from peanuts, resulting in both the oil and a peanut paste. By the way, the peanuts here are awesome, probably because they are so fresh. They are smaller in size than ours and are grown in Bagan fields. Rather than being cooked in oil they are roasted in hot sand, of all things. And no, I never ran into any mixed sand while eating them so the separation process is outstanding.

 

That evening we were taken on a sunset boat ride on the Irrawaddy River, the major waterway that traverses Myanmar. The river is quite low now in dry season and we walked across quite a bit of sand to get to the water.  We were amazed when told how far the river rises during the monsoon season; the land we were walking on would be under 20-30 feet of water during the rainy season! There were many other small boats out on the river as we all waited for the sun to set behind the distant hills across the river.  A humorous episode was Sue and Yvonne were approached by young girls trying to sell them bracelets even before we boarded the boat. The young girls bantered and tried to convince them to buy.  Sue and Yvonne put them off, hoping that they would be gone by the time we returned, but no such luck. They met us as we docked and pestered our wives in a humorous way that we ended up with a dozen lacquered bracelets and a lot of laughs about how good these sales people are at such a young age.

We had a 7:15 AM flight to Bagan, requiring us to leave the hotel by 5:30. Gloria Jean coffee (and pumpkin bread) at the airport made the     effort palatable. The flight itself was 1.25 hours and operated as expected. The Bagan airport is very small and it was not difficult to find our new tour guide for this phase of the trip, Lama.

Lama was born and raised here in Bagan. He explained that  Burmese people do not use surnames and that their first name is determined by the day of the week they are born.  He is in his early 50’s and has been a tour guide for many years. We soon learned he is a wealth of knowledge and we joked that by the end of the day we had gained enough knowledge about the differerent Buddhas that we could quality for a M.S. degree in Bagan and Buddhist history. Lama spent the day taking us to different pagodas and temples and educating us to the different types of Buddha statues that were displayed in these different locations. Oh, I forgot to mention this was done barefooted, as people are asked to remove shoes (and socks) when entering Buddhist structures of any type. Lucky for me the surfaces were relatively smooth and my tender feet handled it admirably. The tour guides provided us with wet wipes whenever we left the temples, a nice touch.

Lama focused on taking us to small out-of-the-way temples where he could show us how the statues of Buddha evolved over the centuries and show us paintings on temple walls that were over 1,000 years old. Many were temples commonly visited by tourists.

Surprisingly most of the paintings dating back to the 11th century are still quite visible. As in other religions the paintings were used to educate the people who could not read or write. The temples themselves were in various states of disrepair. Earthquakes have taken their toll on some of the  structures but we saw how the ingenious designers of the shrines used design techniques that allowed the structures to mostly survive for over 1,000 years. Many of the temples have been or are being restored using a combination of  government and private monies. Families often donate funds for the restoration and they are honored by having their names engraved at the temple site.

There was also a small monastery in the area and Lama walked us through it and explained what it was all about and explained how the monks lived and studied.

On the way to lunch we visited  a small local Burmese village where we got to see how local people lived. It is indeed a visit to the past. They did have electricity but the bathroom was out back. Cooking was done over a wood fire. Oxen were used to plow the fields, grind the grain and provide transportation when needed. These people are mainly farmers who grow peanuts, sesame, millet (cattle food), and beans. They get their sugar from the sugar palm tree. We saw how they process and preserve what they grow. It is indeed a simpler way of life for the people living in this area.

Lunch was again at a local restaurant that featured traditional Burmese food. We learned that their lunch always includes soup, several meat or seafood entrees, two salads, a vegetable and rice. Dessert was always fresh fruit. Although it was getting repetitious we ordered dishes we liked from previous meals.

The afternoon was spent viewing other different types of shrines with only a short down time at the hotel before leaving for the sunset viewing of the temples, a tradition here in Bagan. It is a “wow” moment and I am sure my meager photos do not do the spectacle justice. It has to be experienced to fully appreciate its grandeur.

After the sun set Lama said he wanted us to see one last pagoda  (which was now quiet at this time of the day) before we returned to our hotel. We went to the 11th century Shwezigon pagoda in Old Bagan.  It is not as grand as the one in Yangon but it is still spectacular in the quietness of night. We pretty much had the site to ourselves except for a few worshippers who were meditating at the end of the day.

It was a very long and tiring day but one filled with the wonders of the Bagan. We explored only 8 of the 2,000 temples around Bagan. It would take a lifetime to see the rest and I do not have the time! But I now understand why this is such a magical place and I am certainly glad I made the effort to come here.

Another busy day of sightseeing here in Yangon. It began with good news that Sue’s luggage arrived late last night and she is a happy camper once again!  We all had another fabulous breakfast at the hotel before being picked up at 8:15 In order to reach the local train station where we were scheduled to take a popular tourist attraction called the “circle train”.

Near the train station we parked the car and walked through the neighborhood bordering the station where we saw everyday living. Breakfast out is very popular in Myanmar and small, family owned outdoor restaurants were everywhere. Breakfast is simple-a bowl of rice or curry, not ham and eggs. It was a fascinating insight into daily living here.

 

The circle train is actually a local, inexpensive train that people use to come into the city to their jobs and other needs. The train runs hourly and completes a 25km circular route that stops at 39 different stations picking up and dropping off people. It’s route takes you past different areas of the city and countryside and offers insight into the lives of the Burmese. A  complete route takes 3 hours, but we could get off earlier if we desired and our driver would meet us. Nyi Nyi accompanied us and provide dialog along the way, describing what we were seeing. Although it is a safe trip we were glad we had a local to guide us because of language issues. We did see the poorer side of the country and insight into how people lived in the rural areas. The experience was enhanced by locals selling food on board, vendors bringing  huge bags of produce that they hope to sell in the city. It was truly a study of everyday life in Myanmar.  We did get off the train after hour two of the three hour ride as the sights started to be repetitive.

Lunch was served at the House of Memories restaurant which is located in an old home that once housed the office of General Aung San during WWII. His office equipment is still on display there. Lunch included an interesting approach to a pumpkin soup which contained shaved pumpkin in a broth. Other dishes included tempura vegetables, an eggplant salad, sautéed vegetables, pork in a bean paste and curry chicken. Dessert was mochi (sweetened rice ball with a sugared nut inside) and fresh coconut. The meal was well received by all.

With appetites satisfied our next stop was at the local market place, which turned out to almost be overwhelming in size. There are hundreds of shops selling virtually everything one might need or want. We spent about 40 minutes wandering around looking for something we needed to have. I am always looking for a travel memory to add to my collection, be it a piece of inexpensive art or some local craft that will remind me of my visit to the area. Initially  nothing clicked  but near the end of our visit a young man stopped me to show me some watercolors of local scenes that he said he and his brother produced. Everyone claims they are the artist. Sometimes they are but it is more likely not true. I do not particularly care, I simply want the memory.  A small watercolor of some monks caught my eye and even Yvonne agreed she liked it, as it reminded us both of the sights of Myanmar. As a funny aside, as we reconnected with Gerry amd Sue (we had gone separate ways while exploring the market) We both were excited to see what the other had bought. Ironically both Gerry and I both purchased similar prints from the same artist! Great minds think alike?

The last stop of the afternoon was to see one of the largest reclining Buddhas in the country. It is 216 feet long and is an important shrine for the local people.

We returned to our hotel for a few hours before being taken to a local restaurant featuring a buffet and a cultural show of Burmese entertainment. The venue is on a floating barge patterned after the royal barge of past kings. Needless to say it was elaborate. The food was varied with an emphasis on Burmese and Indian dishes. The entertainers were mostly dancers, but there were several skits featuring a famous cultural entertainment- puppets. One particularly skit involved two persons. The first was a puppeteer, controlling a stringed puppet. The second involved a real girl who imitated being a puppet. It was quite unique and realistic. We were back at the hotel by 9 PM and eager to get to sleep as we were slated for a 4:30 AM wake-up call for our flight to Bagan, the second stop on our trip.

Before I quit I do have to relate a humorous (?) story about Myanmar cars and driving. I noted that virtually all the cars being driven were right hand drive( UK style), yet they drive on the right hand side of the road (US style). I asked our local guide why was it this way. He said that originally drivers did drive on the left hand side of the road, but recently politicians changed the rules, requiring  drivers to drive on the right side. Next will come a law that forces future cars to have the steering wheel on the left. What a mess sorting all that out!

First a geography/history lesson: Myanmar ( pronounced me-en-mar) is formally called the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Until 1989 it was known by it former name, Burma. Both names have linkage to the majority (68%) ethnic group living there, Bamar, and both names are still commonly used when referring to the country. During the British occupation (1824-1948) Burma thrived, but WWII devastated the country and its economy. It gained its independence from England in 1948.  Myanmar has a population of about 54 million people and the predominant religion is Buddhism. It’s main product is rice although it produces 90% of the world’s ruby gems.

Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar’s largest city and its most important commercial center.

Yangon is an amalgamation of British, Burmese, Chinese and Indian influences, and is known for its colonial architecture and remains an almost unique example of a 19th-century British colonial capital. Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in Southeast Asia and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact but in much disrepair. The colonial-era commercial core is centered around the Sule Pagoda, which is reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda – Myanmar’s most sacred Buddhist pagoda.  End of lesson for today.

We went to breakfast around 7 AM, hoping to see my brother, Gerry, and wife, Sue, who had been scheduled to arrive late last night. They were not there, but by the time we were ready to leave they walked in and joined us. They did arrive in Yangon around midnight only to find that Sue’s luggage did not arrive with them!  Bad start to their trip, but she is an experienced traveler and will make do until it’s scheduled arrival tonight.

We met our tour guide, Nyi Nyi, at 10 AM to begin our tour of Yangon. Our first surprise of the day was the vehicle we would be riding in.  It was a “tricked out” van with posh seating, fancy sound system and mood lighting. It was quite a vehicle.

Our first tour stop in the city was a visit to a local convent and monastery to see how both females and males live as novice monks and nuns. Monasteries and convents are basically religious based schools and are havens for children from small villages to receive a free education. Children range in age from about 5 to 16. Girls live and study separately from the boys. Although the schools are religious based most of the children leave once they receive their primary and secondary education. They appear to be similar to our religious schools, but the main difference is that the children live at the school full time.

Boys at the monasteries go out daily to “receive (not beg)” gifts of food from the local population. (Note: the girls do not go out looking for food; they rely on benefactors to provide them with food).  It is considered important in the Buddhist religion that people assist the novice monks by providing them with food. People often “sponsor” these students as they receive their education at the monasteries. The young monks return in time for their main meal which occurs at 11:30 AM. The only other meal they have is breakfast very early in the morning. We were able to observe the students gathering for their meal, praying before they began and then eating in relative silence. Again, only a small percentage of the students remain as monks once their studies are completed.  We learned that there are literally hundreds of such monasteries and convent schools in the city.

After our visit there we went to the former home of Major General Aung San, considered the Father of Indepence of Burma, and a martyr as he was assassinated 6 months before the country formally gained its independence from Britain. His former home is now a museum, containing information and artifacts about his life.

Lunch was at the Padonmar restaurant that served typical Burmese food. It is somewhat famous as there were pictures of celebrities on the wall including one of John McCain who dined their in 2011 and 2012. No one offered to add our picture to the collection!

At 1:30 we had a tour of the former British parliamentary building complex which is currently under major restoration and will eventually become a national museum. It is also the site of where Aung San was assassinated and we toured the area where it all happened.

The last activity of what became a very busy day was to go to the most famous and most important Buddhist temple, the Shwedagon Pagoda at Sunset to see the reflection of the sun’s rays off the 3 tons of gold leaf on the 99 meter tall stupa, which supposedly contains relics from four former Buddhas. What appears to be a single stupa from the distance is,in fact, a major complex of various sized pagodas dedicated to Buddha. It was a “WOW” moment for sure. We spent an hour there ( barefooted as that is the custom at Buddhist temples) obeserving people praying and offering gifts of flowers, incense and candles to Buddha. There were hundreds of people at the site. A monk was continuously reciting Buddhist scripture over a loudspeaker while we were there. We were told this will occcur 24 hours a day for one week.  Tonight there was also a ceremony where 13,000 candles were being lit to honor Buddha. It was quite a sight.

We arrived back at the hotel about 7 PM and everyone said they were too tired to even consider dinner and we called it a night.

Several initial observations about Myanmar and Yangon.  People seem genuinely friendly and warm. We have been impressed with the staff at the hotel and their willingness to help.

Traffic is a nightmare in Yangon, even worse than Seattle! We were surprised at how clogged the roads were most times of the day.  However, there was no horn blowing or evidence of road rage and politeness in allowing people to change lanes or make turns was the norm.

No one seems to wear “real” shoes. Everyone is in flip flops or walking barefoot.  I even saw construction workers walking around barefoot on the job! Many men (young and old) wear their  country’s equivalent of a sarong, called a “longyi”. Women wear a female version of the clothing which is different in design and material.

Tomorrow is another’s day of sightseeing here in Yangon, then we head to Bagan, the main reason we are here in Myanmar.