Advertisement
Published: January 7th 2013
Edit Blog Post
We arrived in Myanmar to cooler evening temperatures but hectic traffic to get into downtown Yangon (in fact it look longer than the flight from Bangkok!).
Yangon’s most famous structure is the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, which has a huge golden spire that dominates the skyline. It was truly the outstanding highlight of the city. We arrived very early in the day (we were officially told that we were the ‘first foreigners of the day’) and enjoyed seeing all the families praying alongside the many monks; some of the monks were very keen to have their photos taken with us. There were also several colourful ceremonies being held for the young boys about to become novice monks. Despite the numbers of people there was still a very serene atmosphere.
Next stop was Bagan, just 429 miles to the north. Our mode of transport for this leg of the trip was an overnight sleeper train, which as it only travelled at 25 miles per hour, made the journey time of 18½ hours very drawn out. It was also so uncomfortable; Andrew thought it was like continually being in a tumble dryer
as the berth bounced up and down, side to side and every other way imaginable. Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep, even after guzzling a bottle of wine as we bumped along.
However, it was worth it as Bagan itself was amazing: over 4,400 monuments, spires, pagodas & ruined temples all dotting the plains by the banks of the Irrawaddy River. We explored the area by bicycle along dusty tracks and by the end of the day we were covered in a thick coating of red dust. It was a long day, starting at 8am & finishing at 6pm, but by the time of our final climb up one of the ruins to watch the sunset we both agreed that the whole experience would be very hard to beat. Fantastic!!
However, it was a little surreal at one point in the day as we cycled past by a little shack with ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ blasting out. No matter what we do to get away from anything to do with Xmas, there’s always someone trying to remind us!
An early start the next day as we had to catch the 6am ferry to
Mandalay - but all very different from the discomfort of the overnight train. Although 12 hours long, this was an idyllic journey along the Irrawaddy River passing by small fishing villages and numerous golden-domed pagoda’s whilst watching daily life go by. To make it all more evocative Andrew was reading a biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, relaxing in a rattan chair on the sun deck at the back of the boat.
Our first stop in Mandalay was at a monastery, where we watched over 1,200 monks patiently queue up with their alms bowl for lunch. It was an impressive sight, but somewhat ruined by the excess of tourists snapping away with their cameras (of which we were guilty too!).
The most impressive sights in the area were at Sagaing, where the hills were dotted extensively with 500 stupas and even more monasteries and nunneries – together with over 6,000 monks and nuns. Our favourite place featured 45 seated Buddha images in a crescent-shaped colonnade – beautiful & serene. A perfect retreat from the blistering heat of the day.
At the ancient city of Inwa we were transported around by horse and cart as the area is
cut off by roads from rivers and canals. It was like stepping back in time as we watched rural life all around us. Mind you after a few hours of bouncing up and down in the back of a horse-cart we were ready again for the 21
st century.
Although only 150 miles away, it took us nearly 8 hours to arrive at our next stop: the former British hill-station of Kalaw. After the heat and dust of Mandalay the cooler weather was delightful. The following morning we enjoyed a 10 mile trek through the pine forests and orange groves to a small hill-top monastery. The views were fantastic, and at the end of the trek we visited a small village and the local school – a magical way to finish a terrific morning.
We arrived at Inle Lake on New Year’s Eve, which was rather interesting as this was the first time that the Myanmar people had been allowed to publicly celebrate the occasion. The streets were alive with the sounds of booming music, karaoke, drunken singing and firecrackers. It’s funny how we all take for granted such a simple thing, and it was great to see everyone
enjoying themselves and looking forward to the opportunities that a burgeoning Myanmar could provide them with.
Our mode of transport for Inle Lake was a traditional motorised long-boat, which took us to tribal villages, markets, floating pagodas and numerous artisan workshops. It was a great way to witness everyday life on the lake, especially in the early morning as it came alive with locals fishing and transporting their wares to market.
The final stop of the day was at a monastery, and though by now we were a bit ‘monasteried-out’ this one was a bit different as it was populated by dozens of cats and kittens – very cute! After a long, sun-drenched day out on the lake we decided to treat ourselves to cocktails at the fanciest place in town. How decadent!
On our free day we decided to hire bicycles and ride into the countryside in search of a vineyard. It was great cycling along the lakeside, but unfortunately we never did find the vineyard. Mind you the excursion wasn’t without incident. First of all, when we stopped at a bend in the road to take photos of a small temple, a motorcyclist carried on
headfirst straight into the lake. Fortunately the only things damaged were his pride and dignity. Secondly (at the same temple) whilst we played with some adorable puppies, out of the corner of our eyes we spotted about 40 dogs running frantically towards us. We decided not to hang around to see if they were friendly or not.
It was full circle as we returned to Yangon. We didn’t want to do much today, so after pottering about at the local market we decided to have afternoon tea and cocktails at ‘The Strand’ – a British colonial-era hotel. A very sophisticated and pleasant way to end our Myanmar adventure. Cheers!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.129s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0777s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kayleen Johnson
non-member comment
Envious.
Hey guys, Looks amazing-I now want to go there. Beautiful pics. x0x