MANDALAY

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Well leaving Bagan for Mandalay was the same scenario at the airport but a bit later well an hour but that does mean getting up at 5.30 instead of 4 am!!! It was a long drive into town and once again we crossed the Ayeyarwady River with a whole city of temples in the hills towards the west. I swear this is the land of temples. Our hotel was old but our room was pleasant enough and clean and the water hot. We went to survey our neighbourhood and did a big walk around a very big block. There were many primary schools and a mixture of huge houses and quite small ones that were in different states of disrepair. The contrast really amazes one. The gutters you could smell and of course you had to beware of sidewalks as it could be easy to fall into one if you lost your concentration especially at night. I was prepared for night at I bought a small torch in Bangkok and it fitted permanently into my daily bag so was with me all the time. We had lunch at a very nice Chinese restaurant and spied a bar across the street where we thought we would try out for our dinner. After our early start we gave ourselves a chance to have a siesta and catch up with our lives – that means organizing battery life in cameras, washing clothes and writing postcards. Time files when you are not at work!!! So we did try the bar for dinner and besides a normal menu you could choose the bbq and that meant going up to a counter and picking out what you wanted and it was cooked and brought to the table. Terry’s job is to order the very cold ABC stout and mine to order the food. Terry and I both love chicken livers so of course we got one of those and over the next few nights we ate there we had a range of things which included okra, baby eggs – boiled first of course and then bbq’d tofu, beef chicken and some vegetable that looked like a potato they said it was a local vegetable but did not taste like that to me. Oh and plate of cashew nuts which come hot with a bowl of salt.

Our friendly concierge arranged a taxi for us the next day which turned out to be the best thing to do. He took us back to that area we had seen coming in called Sagaing and a very famous bridge called the U Bein Bridge which is made from teak and is over a hundred years old. In the morning light with mist or fires you could see the fishermen in the river but could not make out the sky from the water so it seemed like they were floating so ethereal. All along the bridge are hawkers selling their wares and old lady beggars some just old others with leprosy. As we looked over we could see the boats filled with jumping fish and the fields lush and fertile as this would probably be the flood plain in the monsoon and under water.

We went back to our taxi to make sure we got to the Temple where you can see thousands of monks lining up for breakfast with their bowls, they only eat in mornings and from 12 o clock are only allowed to drink, we toured the kitchen where huge pots of rice are cooked along with other fish and meat which was quite a revelation to me as I thought monks would be vegetarian but they are not, we meandered around the houses where they live and got to see a bit of their lives which is not too bad, a lot of the young boys are orphans or come from very poor families and here they at least get food and an education, some boys just spend a short time there and then move on like our Taxi driver who said he spent 5 years as a monk.

We moved on into a the village and stopped at a weaving factory where we watched girls – not young children I am happy to say – weaving on big looms the most intricate of designs, their fingers were so nimble and there were so many strings I had no idea how they could work so fast, everything is back to front so they hold a mirror under the loom for you to see the correct side. Of course there is a shop where you could buy some of this handiwork but it the most beautiful ones were way out of my league!!!

Ever onwards and upwards we made our way to the top of the hill and of course the temples and there were so many again all with hundreds of Buddhas and set amongst walls of mirrors in patterns that boggled the eyes. Terry and I kept on thinking of children and how they must feel they are in Disneyland it is like a fairy tale. The views out over the river were awesome and it was very peaceful up there – luckily for us very few tourists. We had lunch at one of the cafes that cater for the pilgrims and then made our way back to the city and continued our tour to the wood carvers and tapestry makers then the bronze Buddha makers who have to make a cast first then cover in clay and heat over open fires – lastly the gold leaf makers who were incredible. I had bought gold leaf at some of the temples and put the gold on the Buddha not really thinking about how it was made. Oh my goodness it takes hours of pounding and these men do it manually it gets cut up and pounded then cut up and pounded then cut up and pounded till you end up with a tiny piece all put on paper squares by women who carefully have to powder their hands so that the leaf does not stick to them and cut them and mend them into the right size. I will never take gold leaf for granted ever again.

We made our way to Kuthodaw Paya to see the world’s largest book each page housed in its own stupa and there were 729 texts, this temple was at the bottom of the hill and the sunset viewing was at the temple at the top of Mandalay hill. We really did the lazy tour and we had run out of time anyway and caught the lift up not doing the usual million steps. Even though I dread the idea you do feel you earn your place at the top when you climb the steps. Horrors for us it was filled with tourists and you could hardly even find a place at the railings so we took our pictures and left before all the crush would come down.

And that is how we ended our day. Well not quite that’s right we went to have our ABC stout and BBQ for dinner!

Our last day was spent at the market. Now we have seen a lot of markets as we love them but this one in the centre of Mandalay was so huge it rivaled the many we had seen in Viet Nam and they aren’t too shabby either. Unfortunately we only scratched the surface but came away feeling it was clean and organized, Myanmar people are very organized that is for sure they have a place for everything and you can see order everywhere even though at times you feel like there is chaos. I tried some watermelon konfyt that was yummy – that is the white peel of the watermelon that is crystalised with sugar and reminded me so much of my mothers except they don’t put ginger in like she does – she could teach them a trick or two. Still it was very tasty and I loved it but too sweet to eat too much of and Terry does not like sweet things so I gave the rest away to an old nun. We had hardly seen any beggars in Myanmar or had never been bothered by them like you do elsewhere in Asia but in the market there were quite a few urchins hanging around. Not wanting to create an attitude of begging Terry bought them food instead and we hoped this was the better way of doing things. The morning passed in a flash and we hurried back to our hotel to meet Atule again as he was taking us into the country and to see a temple on a hill without the crowds.

The farm we stopped at was only about 6 kilometres out of the city but it felt like we had stepped back a hundred years in time. The farmer was feeding his bullocks, the grandmother was looking after the grandchildren and making new roofing from reeds getting ready for the monsoon I am sure when you want new roofs on, even then I am sure the water gets in. the grandparents house was one room with bed and kitchen all in one, a can nailed up on a pole contained their comb and toothbrushes. You could see it was not an easy life but the children were happy. They did attend school at the local temple, The monks give classes and sometimes hire extra teachers if they can afford to teach subjects they cant and its free and you don’t have to have a uniform. We popped in to the school further up the road and were greeted by a hoard of friendly smiling children all just wanting to say hello. I kept on thinking of the children in our project all so similar except there are no drugs here that we know of and their parents are all living with them but both lots poor and happy.

Toe Lay true to his word took us to a temple that was equally as lovely as the one we were at the night before - very different for it had a cave that you walked down into but the monks were happy to see us and there were no other tourists there at all. It was very peaceful and we relished in that. There was a big globe of the world and I could point out exactly where I was from. so that was the end of another lovely day and I am so happy I had this chance to come to Myanmar and I can honestly say I loved it a lot and hope that it does not get too many tourists in a hurry.

All the pics here are Terrys and they were on my computer and I wanted to get this out to you by tomorrow so my family will have it for Shabbat xxxx

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Photos

u bain teak bridge
me and my this trips umbrella

monks breakfast queue
hundreds of monks in line for their food

rice cooker
these pots and you cant see how deep they are here contain only rice

weavers
two girls working on one piece from each end

buddhas
i think this has to be one of the most popular pictures that comes out of Myanmar all these Buddhas in a row

mandalay embroiderers
making cushion covers

wood carver
look at the big piece of teak he is carving - it will take about 2 months to carve

gold pounders
these guys have a hard job and as Terry says you don't want to come to work with a headache!!

mandalay market fish paste
conical piles of fish paste

mandalay biggest book
each stupa contains a carved "page"

grandmother farmer
looking after the grandchildren - they are sitting on her bed

beautiful buddha
a lovely way to end the day

Comments

[Roy]

stunning!
Wow! some really amazing crafts, temples and people! Seems like a great holiday destination.... enjoy, enjoy ...

[Toni]

Shabbat Shalom
Hey sis ........ thinking of you ALL the time... Backpack busting at the seams with people...cooking hot - all good nothing to worry about..... have a jol - you are looking good in the pics - miss you! X