Myanmar 4 – More Bagan

The second day in Bagan and we visit a few more stupas.  The weather has been improving every day and now it is a very sunny morning.

As I mentioned earlier, please do not ask me to name these pagodas as I lost track of where we were when…

Joan is fast on her feet, and does not like to be in the picture, but I still managed to get a shot of her before she could escape…

On the way to Mount Popa, we stopped at a small wooden shack (that’s exactly what it was …) on the side of the road where they made palm sugar and palm alcohol.  After collecting the fruit, they needed to crush it to extract the juice.  That’s the job for an ox, with a human to add some weight.

The juice is fermented and then distilled in very crude, but simple and effective stills, on a charcoal fire (in a wooden shack! not sure what OSHA would have to say about this).  The water in the upper bowl is used for cooling …

As always, we were attracting attention.  However, we were not used to how shy these children seem to be – they stayed on their side of the road, looking at us looking at them.

We than drove to Mount Popa – a holy place where many come for pilgrimage.  The road started to climb, and the bus driver shut off the air conditioning – not unusual in this continent and as the temperature started to become more reasonable, we did  not mind.

The first views of the monastery on top were quite nice.

but also told us how difficult it would be to get to the top.  We were told that there are 777 steps to get all the way up

On the way up we encountered a lot of people, several asking for “donations for cleaning” as they were cleaning the steps.  You have to remember that most of the climb has to be done with bare feet, and there are animals around …

I interrupted these monkeys in the middle of play or grooming – I am not sure.  Only the youngest one was shy and ran away, the other two just stayed there watching me for a while, before resuming their activity.

The climb was not as hard as I thought, and at the top we were rewarded with a cool breeze – which felt really nice – and spectacular views of the surrounding country side

The top of a stupa is always coiffed with an umbrella – the more complex the umbrella, the higher the status of the temple.  This is the first time I got to see them up-close

At the top of the mountain, there are numerous chapels with what we came to refer to as “psychedelic disco” Buddhas – instead of an halo, they now sport a set of flashing multi-coloured lights, I guess to make ‘more modern’.

We had seen some before, but these were more decorated than most, and after the very plain and sober Buddhas we had seen in the stupas in Bagan, it was quite a contrast.

Back at the bottom of the hill, I noticed that the stairs were guarded not by lions but by elephants in full battle dress

and the symbol of the place appears to be a boat that looks like a dove carrying two stupas

We headed back towards Bagan, but had one more stop on the way.  We stopped in a small farming community to see how people actually lived.  It did not seem to surprise them that a bus load (only 9 of us but we had a sizable bus) of tourists would descend on their tranquil life …

The local transport is not what we are used to – life here probably has not changed much in hundreds of years.

Animals live downstairs, and the people up above – even here, animal heat is necessary in ‘winter’ and it keeps undesirables away too.

We met a girl with blue eyes ….

Photo Opportunities everywhere – I did not know where to turn my camera…

and it’s not all

We cannot say that they have an easy life, but the people we met do not seem unhappy and appear to have what they need to live.  They are also unaffected by world or even national affairs.

As always, we attract a crowd, but a very friendly one in this case

but life goes one and water needs to be fetched from the river … two times 15 liters of water so this young person was not slowing down for us… but still managed a shy smile.

Back in Bagan for another sunset.  I walked around town for the perfect spot and did not find it … until I headed back to the hotel and found ‘THE SPOT’ right outside the fence.

There were the usual temples and stupas

The first crescent of moon was just visible in the upper left – the white dot is not a defect…

and people are never far away

I think an perfect closing for two spectacular days in Bagan

Tomorrow, we fly to Mandalay and than to Heho for three days on the shores of Inle Lake.

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