Thatbyinnyu Pagoda-Family Outing-View over Bagan-Local village boy
When my husband came home & told me he was going to Myanmar on a business review & team building long weekend. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to join him & do some exploring.
Myanmar has been a place I have been curious to visit ever since I was in my late teens. I meet a girl at my first job whose father was from Burma. We became close friends & she used to tell me stories of her fathers life and how he got out of Burma in the early 60’s, since then it’s been on my very long list of country’s to visit.
DAY 1
We flew to Yangon (Rangoon) the capital of Myanmar & arrived to a very new airport. Not what I was expecting! As it turned out the arrivals section has only been open a week. From there we were ferried to the hotel. On the ride to the hotel I was impresses with what I saw, lots of greenery and wide planned roads with hardly any traffic, a pleasant change from Bangkok. The cars on the roads where models from years gone by, due to the restrictions the government has imposed on imports of new vehicles they have to keep the old ones ticking over. All the people where wearing traditional dress. Both men & women wear the Lonjee (similar to a sarong) the difference is the way they tie the Lonjee, the men tie a knot at the front while the women fold it over to the side and tuck it in. The men wear plain shirts and ladies blouses, hardly any western wear to be seen. I also noticed as I was trying to take everything in from the bus window that a lot of people especially the women & children had a pale yellow powder on their faces applied in very many different ways and designs. I enquired about this, now you may already know what it is but if not it is a natural SPF and face pack in one. Made from tree bark that is ground down to a power then water is added and applied to the face very good for the skin the guide told me! On arrival to the hotel the guys took off for the office, leaving me to explore. It was already late afternoon & I didn’t have much idea where I was in the city. Across the road from the hotel was a large lake with a footpath & park benches all the way around. I took myself across the road & sat on a bench & watched the Myanmar world go by. People were heading home from work or out for their evening stroll around the lake. They were very interested in me sitting there some stared and must have strained their necks as they kept staring when they had walk passed, others nodded at me, some smiled and the young kids giggled I guess they don’t see too many westerners just sitting around on a park bench
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Local Transport-Novice Monk Parade-Lacquer Workshop-Chilling out big style!!-Shewezigon Pagoda, Bagan
DAY 2
Today we flew to the city of Bagan. Bagan is 683 KM from Yangon & once was the splendid capital of the first Myanmar Empire. Bagan is built on the banks of the Ayayarwady (Irrawaddy) river between the 11th & 13th centuries & in its day was a major Buddhist center & thriving city. The people erected over 10,000 pagodas, monasteries & shrines of which over 2000 still stand today the rest suffered or were destroyed due to human neglect, flooding or the massive earthquake of 1975. Bagan is a sight to be seen; in every direction you can see the stupas & all with in a 42km radius. No surprise it is one of the biggest and most un-spoilt archaeological sites in Asia today.
Arriving at the Aureum Palace Hotel we were greeted by a spectacular view of the hotel lobby. Open plan looking out over the infinity pool with pagodas all around & so quite you could hear a pin drop, just stunning. After taking in the view it was time to explore with the local guide Uzaw. Uzaw was a mind of information & had an answer for all our questions.
First we visited Shewezigon Pagoda. Shewezigon is the holiest and most impressive pagoda with its gilded bell shaped stupa that houses relics of Buddha. All around the complex there were monks & locals worshiping hardly any tourist to be seen in fact the whole day we didn’t see many foreigners.
On the way to the oldest Pagoda Ananda we pulled along side a village procession celebrating the novice monks going to the monastery. It was a colourful parade with everyone dressed in their Sunday best with music and dancing. The teenage boys who were going to the monastery had just had their hair shaving ceremony and carried alms bowls. The parents carried offerings, the young children were dressed as prince and princesses & rode on horse back, before the parade the princesses have their ears pieced. I think nearly all the villagers of Bagan must have been taking part as everywhere else we went was deserted. The people were very friendly and all wanted to say hello and have their picture taken.
We visited a couple of the other pagodas but the one I remember the most had amazing Buddha frescos. It suffered some damage in the earthquake but the locals are paying for restorations. Whilst we were there a group of people in their early twenties came in to worship. Uzaw told us that they were from a village about 3 hours north of Bagan. They were very intrigued by us the girls giggled with their hands over their mouths when they looked at us. One of them asked if they could touch us!! Seemed like a strange request, however, we shook their hands although a couple of them were too afraid. Uzaw explained that they had probably never seen westerners before and they were very curious about us.
Later we watched the sunset from the top of one pagoda. It was an eerie and mystical experience, the mist seemed to roll in as the sunset. So peaceful we could hear the birds singing and the monks chanting what a way to finish a great day.
Dawn balloon ride over Bagan-Prince in the Parade-Popa Mountain-View from Hotel-Sunset
Day 3
Today we drove to Popa Mountain a popular place with locals for its religious significance. A 11/2 hour drive from Bagan. The drive was very interesting as we drove through many small villages where country life was in full swing. The land was being worked, yards were being clean and the children were going to school and playing in the street along the way. The road ran through the dry river beds not quite sure what happens during the rainy season!! Lucky for us it was the dry season.
Uzaw failed to tell us before we got there that we had 847 steps to climb to the top & most of it is done bare foot. It was worth the climb though as the views from the top were amazing, we could see for mile. We ran the bell and you could hear it echo through the valley. After the climb down we headed for lunch at Popa Mountain Resort which is across the valley from Popa Mountain with fabulous bird’s eye views of the mountain and local area. On the way back to Bagan we stopped off at a Lacquer workshop which was very interesting. I didn’t have much knowledge on how lacquer ware was made. It’s a very slow pain staking process but wonderful to see craftsmanship close up. Of course purchases were made. Then it was back to the hotel to watch to the sun go down by the pool and to the airport to fly back to Yangon. I was sad to leave this beautiful, quite and unspoiled tranquil place. Not too many of these places left.
Day 4
5.30am start today. We wanted to visit the famous Shwedagon Pagoda before we had to catch morning flight back to Bangkok. Shwedagon is on a hill top in the heart of the city. The impressive golden stupa stands nearly 100 meters and the umbrella crown is encrusted with thousands of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. It was still dark when we arrived & the stupa was glowing from the bright lights shining on it. There were monks walking round and round the stupa dusting it and chanting as they worked. Early morning was a good time to visit as the monks were heading out for the morning with their alms bowls. We spent nearly 2 hours exploring the temple complex and watched the sun rise. It was great to see whole families come here to make their daily worship before starting their day. Unfortunately from there it was to the airport and back to the craziness of Bangkok. If we had have had more time it I would have liked to visit the markets in Yangon, but time ran out, all the more reason to come back another time. Myanmar for me was a wonderful place and still pretty much untouched by modern life but it won’t be long before things change. Mobile phones are just being introduced so it‘s already starting. Now is a time to visit before it changes too much
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Shwedagon Pagoda and Temple complex, Yangon.