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Published: July 19th 2010
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Today was the first day that really brought me to the quiet place within myself that allows reflection, peace and solitude. Today was the first day I lived the Burma I dreamed/read about and hoped to experience.
We were fortunate enough to have a cool, cloudy day and an early start to check out a few stops outside of Mandalay. We rented a truck/taxi/golf-cart-type vehicle (with driver) for the day ($15 USD) and drove to three surrounding villages: Inwa, Sagaing, and Amarapura. The drive in itself was way cool. We drove in the bed of the vehicle and soaked in the people and the countryside. Every stop we were hit up by villagers selling wares. It was fun interacting with the locals.
INWA was the highlight of my trip thus far. It is known as the ancient village and can only be reached by canoe ferry. It is actually an island surrounded by the Myintnge and Ayeyarwady rivers and was once the capital of the Burmese kingdom. Once across, the only way around the ancient kingdom was by horse and buggy. It was a cool and bumpy way to sightsee. We saw thatch-roofed farm living amidst beautiful prairies, village
stops, and foliage. We stopped a few times along the way to visit ruins from Burma's past. The first of which was a wooden monastery similar to the Shwenandaw Kyaung (#6). It was very rustic and aged, but still being used as a classroom. The best stop however, was an ancient watchtower known as the leaning tower of Inwa. We climbed to the top and were stunned by the views—it blew Mandalay Hill out of the water! Everything was so plush and green. Ancient stupas and Burmese ruins peaked up from the shrubbery. It was truly awesome. We stayed up there for awhile listening to the sounds of Buddhist chants. All would have been flawless except for three village girls who followed us up and persistently tried to sell us Burmese crap. They were cute though, and beamed with delight when I gave each of them a ball-point pen.
The last stop was another ancient monastery which was still fully standing but starting to green with algae and moss. It was quite nice. SAGAING was second and consisted mostly of a climb up a steep hill (similar to Mandalay Hill). We passed a few stupas along the way that
housed Buddha bones. The reward at the top of the hill was supposed to be the temple, but we thought it was straight up gaudy. The sweeping views however, were once again stunning. I will never tire of views like that.
We enjoyed a egg-topped fried rice lunch in the temple for only 1000 kyats.
AMARAPURA was the third and final village stop. The draw of this town on Taungthaman lake is the gorgeous surroundings and the Ubein Bridge, built entirely of teak in 1850. We walked the 1.2 kilometer length of the bridge, but opted to return by way of a canoe taxi. There is no way to articulate the serenity of this day, but it was exactly what I wanted and needed --
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