Mingun

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Up early again! I do not do early what is going on??!

River trip today to Mingun, the lovely Peter surprised us as our taxi driver again today but just down to the jetty on the banks of the Irrawady this time. We bought our tickets from the wooden hut and spent the time waiting to board a boat just watching what was going on. There was boats moored up all along the bank and people carrying loads on their heads leaping on and off them. Motorbikes with trailers were delivering supplies and getting stuck in the sandy mud. Women were cooking up meals and men were hanging around.

The tour groups and people privately hiring boats got priority and set off quickly, while the rest of us foreigners hung about waiting until the posh lot had been sorted before being allowed to start boarding. We all had to scramble down the slippy bank and walk the narrow planks between boats though! A hand rail was provided by 2 people holding a bamboo pole between the bank and the deck, great improvisation.

Bamboo deck chairs were provided and you had no choice but to lie back in them and just watch the world go by. The journey took about 45 minutes passing the odd little village, pagoda spires and other tiny boats, the river is so wide there was no way to photograph much using my phone.

Eventually the giant part built Pa Hto Taw stupa appeared and the boat pulled into the bank. Once more the bamboo pole appeared and we all climbed off to be met by the ox and cart taxis, brilliant. We didn't take one however as it wasn't too far to walk to all the sights. After 15 minutes we got to the furthest point, the Hsin Byume Pagoda, built by a king to commemorate his love for his wife who died in childbirth. It was breathtakingly beautiful, all whie and built on 7 levels and walking barefoot up to the top took my breath away again ha ha, cue the inhaler..

Next stop the Mingun Bell - the largest working bell in the world and it was huge! Howard got inside it!! I then got followed down the road, having made the mistake of looking at a pair of hippy pants on a stall, by a lady wanting to sell me 'pantaloonies'. She gave up eventually and we went to see the Pa Hto Taw Gyi Stupa, this is only partly built as the King building it (using slave labour) died before it was finished, he had wanted it to be the biggest in the land. It now has gigantic cracks running down it from earthquakes and you can no longer climb on top of it, but you can walk barefoot up to the entrance and see the tiny altar and Buddha.

This village has certainly got it sussed and there are souvenir stalls and 'cafés ' a plenty, no sign of a loo though 😞 It was so hot that we had to stop for a drink on our way back to the boat and the lovely lady let me use her toilet which was in a small blue shed and kept padlocked!

Back on board again and it wasn't long before I was asleep.

A great 1/2 day trip well worth doing.

In Mandalay again we decided to push on and visit the Palace and the large teak monastery Shwenandaw Kyaung. We taxied to the monastery and it was a stunner, the intricate carving and detailed wood work was amazing, loved it. Only men allowed onto the Buddha inner platform again and I couldn't care less! We came out and followed the road to another new pagoda but couldn't face taking our shoes off again so just walked round the outside and ended up coming out of a gateway past a lorry loading bricks and into the middle of no where. Howard knew the way though! So we marched on past lots of houses and eventually got to the Palace moat road.

Then we regretted not getting a taxi there, as the palace compound is vast and we walked what felt like forever until we reached the entrance bridge. The Palace was destroyed and the army control the compound now but there is supposed yo be a model of it in the centre so we went in. We had to be registered and surrender our passports before being given a number to wear round our necks. Big signs told you to stay only on the road and no to take photos. Well I'm not kidding the road just stretched on and on, the sun was beating down, we could have hired bicycles, but we have a bad track record with them, so we got so far and gave up. We read it was not very impressive so we consoled ourselves with that thought, retrieved the passport and paid the rip off price for a taxi back to the hotel.

Tea was another dicing with the traffic in the dark affair and as we gave to get up at 6 tomorrow morning to travel east to Pyin Oo Lwin I'm off to bed!

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Photos

Mingun
Taxi

Mingun Bell
There's always one!