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Myanmar 7 – Kyaiktiyo and Chaungtha

Long and difficult to pronounce names for two (more) unforgettable places.

Immediately after we returned to Yangon from Heho, we drove to Bago and than Kyaiktiyo.  Because our plane was more than an hour late, this has become a race against time, actually, a race against the sun.

From Bago, the road starts to go up and in the foothills below Kyaiktiyo (OK – let’s just call it “The Rock” for the rest of this post!) the road becomes too steep for our bus, so we have to take a truck.  This is a regular “dump” truck, with several benches installed in the back bed.  Here is the one we used to go up half way.

At the start, there was a group of school children waiting to go up, going home after school.  As soon as we boarded the truck, they all filed out and looked at us.

Some seemed to be amused,

 

others seemed upset, or even mad

After a bit of negotiations, they were allowed to come with us, and all sat in the back – happy again.  we understood later that ‘foreign tourists’ have priority and since the kids do not pay for the ride, they have to wait for an open seat.  We clearly had enough for all of them.

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Myanmar 6 – Still Inle Lake

Our third day on Inle Lake was not as fruitful in photos, not that it was less interesting, but there were fewer novelties.

We set off again on our motorized canoes from the hotel and headed towards the local ‘floating’ market. The lonely planet guide is down on this, as they are on all floating markets in all Asian countries I have discovered.  They always say that the tourist boats and souvenir sellers outnumber the authentic merchants and customers.

As we approach, we can tell we are on the right track and not the first to arrive as this lady is already making her way how with today’s purchases.

The place is actually teaming with boats, and we are the first tourists there, it seems.  We are assaulted by souvenir boats, they are three deep on both sides of us…

Once again, the people themselves are the biggest attraction for me.  Sellers and purchasers alike are of all ages and all races

As it rains, the Pago ladies are protecting their traditional headgear with modern implements – Modern Utility over Old Fashion…

We are lucky to see the place without other tourist for a while…. and it is quite busy.  I am not sure anymore why Lonely Planet was so down on this – maybe they slept late and came after every one else, when the locals had already escaped the invasion of foreigners…

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Myanmar 5 – Inle Lake

From Bagan, we flew back to Mandalay and than on to Heho.  Our ultimate goal were the shores of lake Inle but on the way we stopped at a small paper umbrella shop.  It was a very small place where they make essentially everything themselves, including the paper that will eventually cover the wooden frame.  It starts out as a paste that gets beaten into submission – notice the double handed action for higher efficiency…

Later the pulp is dissolved in water and spread over a frame to make a thin layer – in this case, the paper is decorated with real flower petals

After drying, and a lot of assembly, this will become one umbrella …

We drove on to Inle and the Hupin Hotel which was going to be our headquarters for three days.  Each room was a bungalow that sat on stilts right on the lake.

We had four of these in a row, and Joan, just like me, quickly learned the benefits of going onto the balcony just to look at the view and what was going on around us.  There was always something.

Another tourist group left to explore the lake – we knew it would be our turn tomorrow.

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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.

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Myanmar 3 – Mandalay and then Bagan

We did sooooooo much in Mandalay and saw sooooo many memorable things that I forgot one visit in the previous post.

Near Amanapura, another old Burmese Capital, there is a shallow lake crossed by a rickety teak bridge – U Bein (the bridge was named after the mayor of Amanapura) Bridge was built over 200 years old and is still the longest Teak span in the world – and it is spectacular.

The views around the lake from the bridge were not bad either.  This fishermen in his narrow boat seemed to attract water fowl.

I was fascinated by this dead tree and the fisherman standing nearby

Row boats were used to shuttle us back.  As we crossed the bridge, they were slowly getting into position to get our business.

From the water, the bridge looks even more spectacular and light – one wanders how it stayed up there so long

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Myanmar 2 – Mandalay

After Yangon, we flew to Mandalay, the last capital of the Burmese Kingdom before the British invasion.

The royal palace complex is a huge square (2 km by 2 km) surrounded by a very wide moat.

 

As soon as you cross the moat and enter through one of the many gates (however only one that can be used by foreigners), the hustle and bustle of the city disappears, but not the people.  The military occupies most of the space with living quarters and training areas.

The palace complex is surrounded by its own fortifications with interesting ancient watch towers.

 

The palace itself was completely destroyed at the end of WWII and rebuilt out of concrete instead of wood.  However it still possible to imagine what life was like in the time before the British took over.

 

Mandalay itself is a much smaller town than Yangon and felt even more like a return back in time.

I found this old post card

 

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Myanmar 1 – Yangon

If you are interested, there is practical information about this trip at the end of the post.

I feel like I just spent 17 days on another planet (not my words but they fit!)

My trip to Myanmar began and ended in Yangon.  My first and last impressions of this wonderful city were very different, proof that one’s perception can change in as few as 17 days.  As I was driven from the airport to the hotel in a 20 year-old taxi, I wondered at how “traditional” everything looked.  I was amazed by the number of people who still wore traditional clothes; many men and women wore longys (wrap-around full length skirts) and button down shirts.  The vehicles on the roads all seem to have had a previous existence in another country and another century; small shops are the general rule and I saw one small supermarket and no shopping center.

Further exploration, confirming what I had read, showed that there are no ATMs, that my GSM phone who worked everywhere else in the world does not work here, that none of me three e-mail accounts seem to be accepted and I have no idea how to exchange money.

As we were driving back into Yangon at the end of the trip, I was surprised to see so many men and women in ‘western’ clothing; I saw the largest supermarket I had seen in the whole country, and a shopping center I had not even noticed the first time through.  I was surprised to see so many relatively new cars and buses.

The first two days were rainy and therefore we started pur visit of Yangon in a downpour at the Shwedagon Pagoda.  There is a “special entrance” for foreign visitors with an elevator to get us to the right floor.  Even with the rain, the place is a hive of activity.  Our leader is quick to point out that we need to be extra careful not to slide on the slippery floor (wet from the rain and we are not wearing any shoes).

I took this picture just before falling flat on my side.  I was able to protect my camera, but not my hip which a few days later became blacker than ink.

The best view of the Stupa itself I took at the end of the trip, when the light was better as it was a very sunny day.

However, there are many activities that go on in the complex.  There are Buddha statues for each of the eight days of the week (Yes, Wednesday is actually split into two days…)  If you were born on a Tuesday, or if your planet is currently in the Tuesday portion of the sky, you pray to the Tuesday Buddha Continue reading “Myanmar 1 – Yangon”

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