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Published: September 18th 2013
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Some Monks on Mandalay Hill On August 11 we flew to Mandalay Myanmar. We met this German girl named Lynn. Then we went to the hotel. After that we went to a temple made of wood. It had wood carvings of art. Then we went to the Jade Market. I got a good luck Chinese Buddha necklace made out of jade. After that we went to a temple with a huge gold Buddha. We bought a piece of gold to give to the Buddha, but I could not give it to the Buddha because no girls were allowed to put the gold on it. It made me mad! We saw dressed and we got two. One was blue and one was red. I am going to wear it for my school picture. Then we went to a palace. It showed who the king and queen were (statues). Then we went to the place with the biggest book in the world. It was in Burmese language though. Finally we went to a temple on the hill. I saw monks and they took so many pictures of me. One said that they were my brother. Then we went to a show and slept. On Aug 12 we Me and my new friends
Aye Yeik Mon Girls' Orphanage first walked across the longest wooden bridge in the world. Then we took a boat back. It was beautiful. Then we saw monks line up to eat. We saw some monks with white robes. That means beginner. After that we took a horse to five different temples. The last temple on the hill there were these funny pictures. It had a frog eating a snake (whaat??) Finally we went to a orphanage/school to teach English and play with them. I did not want to leave. Then we went back to the hotel." -
Sofia's Journal Aug 11-12 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Daddy's Comments: A morning flight from Bagan to Mandalay. We met a German family with a 6 year old girl named Lyn at the airport in Bagan. You and Lyn became instant friends. You decided to sit next to her instead of me. We left them at the airport in Mandalay as they were on a tour of Burma with a guide, but since they were going to spend 2 nights in Mandalay and then 2 at Inle Park followed by Rangon just like us, I knew our paths would cross. We checked
in to the Ayarwaddy River Hotel. It was nice but they were doing a lot of renovating, but could not complain for less than $50/night.
You and I had planned to not only donate a lot of our clothes (sometimes after wearing) but also brought a lot of rulers and erasers that Sofia signed and commented on prior to us leaving the USA. I had tried to look for a metric only ruler. Good thing I did not find as Burma is one of only 3 countries that does not use the metric system. Who knew? So when I asked at the front desk if they knew of a school that we could go to to teach a little English and donate items, they said we would not be able to go to the government (military) ruled public schools but might be able to go to a private school. I at first thought she would be referring to something like an English school that was for westerners and well off Burmese, but when she told me there was a private girl's orphanage I told her that was perfect and got the address.
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Before doing that we had lots to check out. We hired a driver and we went to Shew In Bin Kyaung which was a very nice wooden (teak) monastery. Then it was to Mahamuni Paya. You became very upset when you found out that women were not allowed to place the gold leaf on the Buddha. However, being upset did not last long as we found a shop within the monastery grounds where you could get an authentic Burmese outfit. Since you wer 2, I have been getting outfits for you to wear during school pictures and we found a great place. You loved getting dressed and than the woman put Thanaka on your face to complete it.
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So many locals would take pictures of you with their phones. You loved the attention and often posed with their kids. We then stopped by the girl's orphanage called Aue Ueik Mon. The orphanage was run by Buddhist nuns. It was awesome and you hit it off with some of the girls right away. When we arrived some where doing Shotokan karate, something you just had started learning about 1 month ago. The nuns welcomed
us to come back the next day and you were so excited.
Nearby was Mandalay Palace where we cruised around and walked up a tour with a great view. The final stop was Mandalay Hill. We did not hike up it, but our driver for the day took us to the top. It was beautiful, but as you had a fascination with monks, your highlight was when 6 monks came over and talked with you. YOu had a blast talking about music and soccer and other things. The monks took lots of pictures of you. You were so happy and it was one of the highlights of our trip. After about 1 hour of just hanging out with them, it was time to go and return to the hotel. We then went out to a great dinner at the Green Elephant, which was similar to the one we went to in Bagan. We went to the Mintha theater for a dance and music show, but you were so tired from our big day that you fell asleep 1/2 way through.
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The next day we started at U Bein's Bridge. It is the
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Monks on Mandalay Hill longest wooden bridge in the world and we walked across it and then took a boat back. It was beautiful and tranquil. Next stop was a monastery where we watched 100s of monks line up for their meal. We then went to Inwa. This involved taking a boat across the river and then a horse and carriage. There were about 4-5 stops including wooden monastery, a leaning tower, and other interesting places. This was followed by a trip to Sagaing Hill. At Soon U Ponhya Shin Paya we had a great time looking at the interesting paintings including a frog eating a snake and a wolf urinating in a drinking bowl.
As we arrived back to the city too early to visit the orphanage, we stopped for ice cream and then visited a Karate school. You were so happy to find out it was the same style of Karate that youare studying - Shotokan. It was closed, but it was a great place for you to practice your Kata.
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Finally it was time to go to the orphanage. You had so much fun. We first gave out some clothes and then the
rulers and erasers. They were very appreciative. You then had them tell them their names and how old they were. Then you quizzed them on some English words such as body parts, colors, and clothes. Then we went to the classroom and played all sort of games and even sang and danced to the Hookie Pokie. We stayed there for about 2 hours. I so much enjoyed watching you interact with all the girls. You did not want to leave but after individual hugs and goodbyes it was time to leave. And with that it was time to say goodbye to Mandalay.......
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