10 days in Burma (Myanmar) - men in sarongs (longyi)

[TomVexille]

This all looks amazing. Safe to say I'm jealous :mrgreen:

 

[RooFlyer]

Terrific TR. Getting us motivated to get a hurry on and cross it off our list.

I would recommend it sooner rather than later. Myanmar is changing rapidly, and tourism is booming since 2010. Still mostly Europeans from the west, plus Japanese and a lot of Chinese; I think if the American Govt lifts sanctions, or at least comes to free up relations (hopefully meaning a better government here), places like Bagan for instance will turn into another Siem Reap. Still visitable, but major loss of innocence.

Prices for best hotels abt US$250 - US$300/night (including taxes and 'service' - and they are pretty good places!) but meals in those hotels quite cheap - say US$25 for 2 good courses (including tax and 'service'. Drinks however are priced per western (US$6 beer, US$8 G&T ... )

Service a little rough round the edges, but no problems, really. I've had much worse in London!

 

[k_sheep]

My goodness, I was there 18 months ago (as well as back in 06 or so briefly) and I can't believe how much it's changed in that time! ATMs? Wifi? Good grief.

Mr k_sheep loves his longyis though and has even worn them to work a couple of times - brave or silly I don't know! He's a very white man.

 

[RooFlyer]

My goodness, I was there 18 months ago (as well as back in 06 or so briefly) and I can't believe how much it's changed in that time! ATMs? Wifi? Good grief.

Mr k_sheep loves his longyis though and has even worn them to work a couple of times - brave or silly I don't know! He's a very white man.

Yes, ATMs everywhere and even Wi-Fi at some of the temples (usually too weak to tap Aussie servers, though).

At Mandalay Hill, my knee length shorts were deemed too racy, and they required me to wear one of their loaning longyis.

Admin has asked that, in the interests of good taste and so as not to frighten and children who might be reading, that publication of this event be restricted to the below. ( )

 

[RooFlyer]

This day was a drive from Bagan to Mandalay via Mt Popa.

First stop was at a sugar palm, or todi processing place by the side of the road. Sugar palm one of those handy plants where the entire plant is useful. The sap, tapped daily from the top fronds is sweet juice in the morning, but sours a bit in the evening. It can be boiled down to make sugar, which they combine with tamarind juice or coconut to make candies. Fronds for thatching or weaving. Trunk for bowls and logs. Roots are edible. The sap readily ferments and they boil off the booze. Didn't try it though.




One distinctive thing you'll notice in Myanmar is that people of all sorts - from old and young ladies, to young blokes with an ear ring (lesser older men) is that they will have a white-yellow paste on their cheeks, and sometimes all over their faces (young girls). this is a natural cosmetic called thanaka, and is produced by grinding the bark of several types of trees. You see it being made all over the place and you can buy it commercially in small tubs. According to our guide, its good for just about every malady known to mankind . Top left pic shows it being worn, and produced.

Just before lunch we came to the village of Mt Popa. The country around is mainly dry and flat but here the additional rain produces abundant fruits, and we shopped for lunch; $2 for a collection of fresh fruit. Bottom left is one of the cars and our driver; we stopped to admire the very large tamarind tree which is abundant in the area.

Last pic is Mt Popa in the distance. Its a volcano, which last erupted in about 455 BC. For the locals, its the home of the spirits, or nats; they regard Mt Popa like the ancient Greeks considered Mt Olympus. The Japanese are also very keen on it, due to resemblance to Mt Fuji.





We drove onto the flank of Mt Popa to the Popa Mountain Resort, for the views. It looks like a really nice, cool place to stay, set amongst the jungle with lots of nice teak boardwalks and open air dining etc. Look to stay there if you are planning a trip. What we came to see was Taung Kalat, an adjacent volcanic plug, and who couldn't resist building a temple complex there? the RH pic is from the pool at the hotel; certainly not a bad place to be




We then drove across to the plug for the climb to the top (900+ steps !! :shock: no elevator option this time). but first we had to pay respect to the nats. Again, the finer points of nats escaped us with our guide's tortured explanation (and again, apologies for irreverence here), but I think there are 37, and each is good for certain characteristics, including trades, alcoholism, business, and even, I think, bad guys. They are displayed in effigy at the base and I must say it was a surreal experience. Lots of flowers and other votive offerings, such as bowls of green bananas and lots of cash.

The guide got talking to this lady; she's 70 and had come 5 hours from the country to introduce her grandson, 7, to the nat for blacksmithing, his father's trade. The young bloke was rather reluctant to hand over the cash! The nat on the right is clutching bottles of rum and whiskey.




Then there are this lot. Clothed in black, wielding swords. Don't seem very nice types. And the guy on the right - well, all vices need to be catered for, don't they?

 

[RooFlyer]

The climb uo to the temples is steep - over 900 steps, including a few flights like this. Macaque monkeys all about, scavenging for anything they can get. now monkey poo another obstacle to be skirted in ones bare feet (although there are step cleaners all the way up, volunteers looking for donations ..) At the top the temples are nothing to write home about, but the views are K.



The Shwenandaw ("Golden Palace") Monastery is in Mandalay, close to the moated palace complex. It was originally in the main complex, but was moved by King Thibaw Min in 1880 as it was his father's apartment and reputedly spooked him. Its the only original remnant of the main palace complex, after the latter was burnt in WW2. Lots of magnificent wooden carvings (some with western influence - winged angels, for instance, as the king used some European artisans. Remnants of the original gold covering abound. this is where the Lion Throne, in the museum in Yangon, came from.





In the late afternoon we drove up Mandalay Hill (most folks walk it), with final stretch by escalator. Some nice views out over the town and to the river.



On the left, preparing for sunset. The terrace gets quite crowded. Nice sunset, but not as nice as Bagan.

 

[drron]

Someone must have told you I like sunset shots!:shock:

 

[RooFlyer]

Mandalay. Now there's a name that contours romantic thoughts ... and I haven't even studied Kipling! Like Casablanca, downtown Mandalay isn't romantic in the least - traffic and motor-cycle congested, smoggy and unappealing.

But all around the city and especially in the outer areas are real treasures that makes a few days here worthwhile.

On our first day, we had some welcome relief from the temples and pagodas. Central Mandalay today was the most recent royal capital, established by King Mindon in 1857 and called locally Yadanabon - City of Gems. It was at the foot of Mandalay Hill which legend has it was climbed by Buddha himself. The King decreed that various trades would occupy various parts of the city and to a certain extent this survives today.

First we visited one of the 4 family controlled gold leaf workshops. As someone who has mined the stuff for many years, its good to see how the buyers use it.Myanmar and Buddhists in general consume a LOT. I mean a LOT (they donate 1/4 of all their earnings). Mostly as gold leaf, donated to help cover the many, many shrines about the country.

Gold is bought by the workshop in 1 oz (31,1g) ingots - about the size of the last joint of your thumb.Its heated, and rolled to a somewhat thin shape.Then, various pieces are sandwiched between special shiny bamboo paper sheets, bound together than pounded by a couple of guys. Sledge hammer, pounding against the book of gold and paper between his feet, to get it very thin.

Then its cut into 6 pieces and repeat :shock:. The pieces are flattened evenmore, until they are 3 microns thick (3 millionths of a metre; 3 thousands of a mm). Then they are sent to a closed in room (to stop breezes from blowing the stuff away) and cut and re-affixed into 1" square pieces, which are then bound together in other books, ready for sale. Talk about labour intensive.




Then to the carvers district. A street or more of cutting, grinding and polishing marble, quarried from just out of town. So many raw Buddhas! The basic shape is sawn out at the quarry. Then its brought to any one of the many dozen workshops where they shape it by grinders or chisels, and hand polished, which is what the 2 girls are doing. The face is left untouched, for later skilled artisans. Some good buying in small carved elephants, Buddhas and the like from several stalls along the way. Haggle hard.





Just south of Mandalay, on your way to the conjoined Amarpurna district is the U-Bein bridge. Its about 1.3km of teak across Taungthaman Lake and the wood was resumed from the former royal palace at Inwa, a bit to the south (It curves as far as the lens can see in the top LH pic). The lake is popular with tourists in hired boats, and local fishermen. It was a smoggy morning.




As I said, traffic in Mandalay is busy, especially downtown but the traffic lights seem to work and people mostly obey the lights and rules in general. Then you have the likes of these gals. Would you dis-obey them?




Then, back to temples. And this it seems is one of the 'big ones'. Mahamuni Paya / pagoda. Two tonnes of gold in a very revered seated Buddha. Complicated story, it was supposedly one of only 5 images of Buddha cast in (one of) his lifetimes (ieabt 2,500 years ago); Buddha breathed upon it, so many believe it is the living representation of Buddha today - hence its a major pilgrimage site. It was originally in Rakhine state, in far western modern day Myanmar but was plundered by victorios local king in the late 1700s, and carried back to what is now Mandalay. Its washed every morning at 4am and ladies may not touch - but gents can touch and caress it. nearby are a number of Khymer (Cambodian) bronzes, from Angkor Wat in the 1400s, taken by the Siamese and like the Buddha, ended up here. people touch those parts of the statues where they want healing.

Ladies can make do with a television image (although they can pray and view directly in front of the Buddha, just not get too close). And of course there is plenty of shopping opportunities in the arcades leading to the temple.

 

[burmans]

Mandalay. Now there's a name that contours romantic thoughts ... and I haven't even studied Kipling! Like Casablanca, downtown Mandalay isn't romantic in the least - traffic and motor-cycle congested, smoggy and unappealing.

But all around the city and especially in the outer areas are real treasures that makes a few days here worthwhile.

On our first day, we had some welcome relief from the temples and pagodas. Central Mandalay today was the most recent royal capital, established by King Mindon in 1857 and called locally Yadanabon - City of Gems. It was at the foot of Mandalay Hill which legend has it was climbed by Buddha himself. The King decreed that various trades would occupy various parts of the city and to a certain extent this survives today.

First we visited one of the 4 family controlled gold leaf workshops. As someone who has mined the stuff for many years, its good to see how the buyers use it.Myanmar and Buddhists in general consume a LOT. I mean a LOT (they donate 1/4 of all their earnings). Mostly as gold leaf, donated to help cover the many, many shrines about the country.

Gold is bought by the workshop in 1 oz (31,1g) ingots - about the size of the last joint of your thumb.Its heated, and rolled to a somewhat thin shape.Then, various pieces are sandwiched between special shiny bamboo paper sheets, bound together than pounded by a couple of guys. Sledge hammer, pounding against the book of gold and paper between his feet, to get it very thin.

Then its cut into 6 pieces and repeat :shock:. The pieces are flattened evenmore, until they are 3 microns thick (3 millionths of a metre; 3 thousands of a mm). Then they are sent to a closed in room (to stop breezes from blowing the stuff away) and cut and re-affixed into 1" square pieces, which are then bound together in other books, ready for sale. Talk about labour intensive.

View attachment 38970


Then to the carvers district. A street or more of cutting, grinding and polishing marble, quarried from just out of town. So many raw Buddhas! The basic shape is sawn out at the quarry. Then its brought to any one of the many dozen workshops where they shape it by grinders or chisels, and hand polished, which is what the 2 girls are doing. The face is left untouched, for later skilled artisans. Some good buying in small carved elephants, Buddhas and the like from several stalls along the way. Haggle hard.

View attachment 38971



Just south of Mandalay, on your way to the conjoined Amarpurna district is the U-Bein bridge. Its about 1.3km of teak across Taungthaman Lake and the wood was resumed from the former royal palace at Inwa, a bit to the south (It curves as far as the lens can see in the top LH pic). The lake is popular with tourists in hired boats, and local fishermen. It was a smoggy morning.

View attachment 38972


As I said, traffic in Mandalay is busy, especially downtown but the traffic lights seem to work and people mostly obey the lights and rules in general. Then you have the likes of these gals. Would you dis-obey them?

View attachment 38973


Then, back to temples. And this it seems is one of the 'big ones'. Mahamuni Paya / pagoda. Two tonnes of gold in a very revered seated Buddha. Complicated story, it was supposedly one of only 5 images of Buddha cast in (one of) his lifetimes (ieabt 2,500 years ago); Buddha breathed upon it, so many believe it is the living representation of Buddha today - hence its a major pilgrimage site. It was originally in Rakhine state, in far western modern day Myanmar but was plundered by victorios local king in the late 1700s, and carried back to what is now Mandalay. Its washed every morning at 4am and ladies may not touch - but gents can touch and caress it. nearby are a number of Khymer (Cambodian) bronzes, from Angkor Wat in the 1400s, taken by the Siamese and like the Buddha, ended up here. people touch those parts of the statues where they want healing.

Ladies can make do with a television image (although they can pray and view directly in front of the Buddha, just not get too close). And of course there is plenty of shopping opportunities in the arcades leading to the temple.

View attachment 38974

Surprised you did not go to U Bein bridge at sunset, more sunset photos and gets very busy. Are you doing the old cities, Ava, Sagaing. there is also a monastery near U Bein I found great, seeing the monks line up for their meals.

 

[amaroo]

View attachment 38973

Your photos reminded me of this story http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/world/asia/myanmar-yangon-traffic-cop-khin-myint-maung.html?_r=0

 

[RooFlyer]

Surprised you did not go to U Bein bridge at sunset, more sunset photos and gets very busy. Are you doing the old cities, Ava, Sagaing. there is also a monastery near U Bein I found great, seeing the monks line up for their meals.

So many sunset opportunities, so few sunsets . Yes to the others.

 

[RooFlyer]

Next stop was a monastery - name escapes me - which apparently is very prestigious and the destination for all serious contenders. Every day, as is usual, the trainees and others line up a bit after 10:30am to collect their alms - food dispensed by the donors-of-the-day in this case. Dozens of gawkers (like me) gather to photograph it. At first its cute - the senior monk corralling the boys (although they don't need much corralling) and controlling the ruder visitors who crowd onto the road in front of the trainees and get a bit 'in their faces'. very strange to hear the senior monk, in very good English direct stray visitors with a loud commanding voice!

Many visitors show little respect - loud and all over the place and suddenly I'm uncomfortable. Although I'm at the back of the crowd, you can see that many of the monks are distinctly unhappy, especially the older ones (not shown). This happens to them every day! No doubt the elders tell the trainees that 'patience is a virtue', or something like that.




Then to 'the worlds largest book'. In the 1860s King Mingon had all of the Buddhist sacred texts inscribed onto 729 double sided marble slabs. I think there are 16,000 pages of the original. Each slab is housed in a little shrine and the whole covers 13 acres. Its quite spectacular to see, but difficult to photograph.




Last item for the day was a 'cruise' on the river to visit Mingon, another temple and other sites. Turned into a fascinating experience for the geologist in me. Its about a 90 min journey against the flow, which is quite strong. For some reason I thought this would be a booze cruise; but no. Just your (very) basic boat and an urn of tea, plus water . Boarding is via crossing the boats closer to shore, dodging the rubbish and cough along the river bank. Not a great experience.




This was our smiley crew . Actually, they were pretty good. Fishing/farming villages on the banks of the river. There are numerous sand bars exposed this time of year and they are farmed. The Ayeyarwaddy is generally broad and looks calm, but is strongly flowing with lots of eddies and currents. The Ayeyarwaddy dolphins had already passed through, unfortunately.




Passed these kids playing soccer on an isolated sand bar. Having a great time!

 

[RooFlyer]

Your photos reminded me of this story http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/world/asia/myanmar-yangon-traffic-cop-khin-myint-maung.html?_r=0

They need a bunch like him! I didn't find the traffic in Yangon as bad as described - but then I'm not in it every day! Interestingly, motor cycles are banned in Yangon for safety reasons. Personally I think that helps traffic flow - you don't get 'lane creep' or 'intersection creep; which effectively reduces the usable lanes by one each way and speed can increase as you aren't constantly anticipating a motorcycle darting out in front of you.

 

[RooFlyer]

As we approached Mingun (I was mis-spelling it previously), a sandstone tor came into view - obviously with the sides carved straight, but unfortunately its not a perfect cube.

We dis-embarked and passed on the taxi ride, preferring the short walk through a village to get to the unfinished pagoda.



Holy heck! Not carved sandstone tor at all, but the world's biggest pile of bricks. This was the base for what would have been the world's biggest pagoda, planned to be 150m tall. it was begun in 1790 by King Bodawpaya but work stopped when an astrologer said that the King would die when it was completed. Work did start again, but stopped when the king died in 1819.

But what makes it more spectacular for me are the cracks which ramify every side and the fact that the cracks show movement not so much up and down but towards and away from you. These were caused by large earthquakes, the first in 1839 and the most recent in November 2012. I did some quick research. Most people might be aware of the fact that the Indo-Australian Plate is moving north, and has crashed into Asia, causing the Himalayas. Well, the sides of the plates slip past one another via a transcurrent fault - huge jobs, which can move quite startlingly. The San Andreas fault is one. Well, there's a transcurrent fault between the Indo-Australian Plate and one of the Asian plates and it goes right under Mingun! (And Mandalay, for that matter :shock: ). because the pagoda base is a solid pile of bricks, it behaves in a brittle fashion, unlike the ground in most cases which can behave plastically. The nature of the cracking makes it look like the brick base has acted as a prism for the movement; cracking on all 4 sides.

Don't say you don't get an education out of AFF :mrgreen:




See the in-and-out movement in the wall on the left. Along the base, crocodile shaped ducts take water from one terrace to the next. The terraces are not cracked - they are only a layer of bricks deep and could absorb the movement.




One corner has collapsed, allowing access to the top. But the walkway was closed after the 2012 earthquake. But I don't think their heart is in it. Nice views from the top.




The pic on the left is in a shrine dedicated to a monk who, at 16, recited perfectly and without hesitation, the entire 16,000 pages of the sacred Buddhist texts. About 12 others have managed the feat of writing 8,000 pages and reciting 8,000 more.

Nearby is the Mingun bell, also commissioned by King Bodawpaya. It weighs 90 tons and was the largest still-ringing bell in the world, but apparently there is now one in China, bigger. The little guys enjoyed ringing it!

 

[RooFlyer]

On our second full day in Mandalay we visited the Royal Palace first up.

It was built between 1857 and 1859 when King Mindon moved his capital to Mandalay; following the second british-Burmese war, he had to do it on the cheap so mostly had the former palace at Amarapura (just south of Mandalay). It has a 2km square moat around it, about 60m wide and 5+m deep. A gate on each side; pretty impressive structure.

View over moat towards Mandalay Hill and one of the reconstructed watch towers:




After British finally conquered all of Burma, they exiled the king in 1885 and turned the palace into a garrison. It was occupied by the Japanese in WW2 and the British then bombed it, and burnt most of the complex to the ground (the Golden Monastery, covered before survived because it had been moved out of the grounds. Today much of the complex is occupied by the Myanmar military; you can visit the reconstructed Palace easily, but on best behaviour.

Some relicts of earlier days, including a Japanese ?Zero?




The government reconstructed much of the Palace complex in the 1990s. its pretty impressive, if a little sterile. The gold edged places are the King's quarters, throne room etc; the plain ones are for his 4 queens and umpteen junior queens.




We drove south through Amanapura towards another former royal place at Inwa (sometimes still called Ava). Stopped at the Golden Chicken temple (one of Buddha's incarnations was a chicken) and admired the view of the temple rich Sagaing over the river and the new (2010) bridge.




But first to cross a small river to Inwa. Infrastructure fairly typical of the area, as was the ferry. the engine apparently didn't have neutral; to stop propulsion, he levered the prop out of the water.

 

[burmans]

I know whats next, stay posted for the Ox Cart.

 

[robd]

Oh great. You ruined it

 

[RooFlyer]

I know whats next, stay posted for the Ox Cart.

Wrong . Stay tuned. Interesting handle, burmans ... Country connection?

 

[burmans]

Wrong . Stay tuned. Interesting handle, burmans ... Country connection?

No, family name. Funnily enough no,one in Myanmar mentioned it!

 

[RooFlyer]

I know whats next, stay posted for the Ox Cart.

Wrong . Stay tuned. Interesting handle, burmans ... Country connection?

It was a horse and cart Threshing rice in the fields