Blogs from Irrawaddy River, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia - page 2

Day 10-Friday-January 22 This morning we are in Sagaing, the capital of the Sagaing region, famous for over 200 monasteries and its tranquil atmosphere. It is an important religious and monastic center. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous hills along the ridge running parallel to the river. On August 8, 1988, Sagaing was the site of demonstrations which were concluded by a massacre in which around 300 civilians were killed. The central pagoda, Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, is connected by a set of covered staircases that run up the 800 foot hill. The Shan chieftain, AthinkhayaSwayun, founded Sagaing in 1315, but the capital was relocated again 50 years later by Thadominbya. It was once again a capital city from 1760-1764. There are no vestiges of the former palace-city but the vicinity abounds with ornate ... read more

Day 9-Thursday Afternoon-January 21 This afternoon we had a bus tour of Mandalay. We then went to Shwenandaw Monastery, an architectural masterpiece filled with wood carvings. It's also known as the "Golden Palace Monastery". At one time this building was part of the palace complex and was used as an apartment by King Mindon and his chief queen, and it was in this building that he died. After Mindon's death, King Thibaw Min had the building dismantled and reassembled on its present site in 1880 as a monastery. It is said that Thibaw used the building for meditation, and the couch on which he sat can still be seen. This monastery is famous for its beautiful wood-carvings. This wooden monastery is carved all over with motifs and mythical creatures. It was once entirely covered in thick ... read more

There are several choices of boats heading up the Irrawaddy River from Bagan to Mandalay but they are all the same price (US$35). Interestingly enough, the boat coming the other way, from Mandalay to Bagan, costs US$40 because more tourists do it in that direction so they can charge more for it! One of the boats is the “slow boat” which takes two days but only does the trip two days a week, and then there are three “fast boats” which take one day. Two of them include breakfast and leave Bagan at 6am, one includes breakfast and lunch and leaves at 5.30am. I took the last one. Breakfast turned out to be a croissant, an egg and a banana: what am I, a field-mouse?! I sort of expected more with the cost of the ticket. ... read more

K- 4.30am saw us on the local ferry from Mandalay to Bagan. Fortunately we got there early enough to secure a couple of plastic chairs by the rail - some tourists had grabbed rather too much of the deck and were reluctant to give it up and the locals were basically spread over the rest. We turned out to have grabbed an excellent spot and the next 12 hours gave us a really good taste of life along the Irrawaddy. A few hours after sailing we watched the local women applying thanakha, the yellow cosmetic/ moisturiser / sunscreen made from a bark. The paste is ground on a portable mortar and flat stone and it was fascinating watching how much care was taken in applying it - a compact mirror being passed along with the stone. ... read more

Myanmar of Birma? Hoe je onze laatste bestemming van dit jaar ook noemt, het is een land apart. De isolatie waar de mensen al jaren in leven maakt van hen ook de meest traditionele natie in Zuid-Oost-Azië. Hier dragen de mannen nog een longi (een lange rok in de lende samengeknoopt) en schminken de vrouwen (en sommige mannen) hun wangen met sandelhout (een eeuwenoud gebruik: het heeft een hydraterende werking, beschermt tegen de zon en ruikt bijzonder goed). Door de drukke straten van Yangon en Mandalay zie je nog koeien en kippen lopen. Geen grote multi-nationals hier, maar eigen Starcola, Grand Royal whiskey en Myanmar bier. Echte cola-cola en andere luxeproducten worden illegaal het land binnengesmokkeld. Vanuit de hoofdstad Yangon reizen we meteen door naar het noorden van Myanmar, waar we het minder betreden pad naar ... read more