Mandalay and novice monks…

Ant and I spent a crazy day visiting many sights in and around Mandalay – Myanmar’s second largest city – 1hr20 north of Yangon by plane. Early May and it is definitely summer in Myanmar. To say we were hot was an understatement.

In the centre of the city is the Mandalay Palace and fort, which has a huge moat running round all 4 sides. Each side is about a mile long, and according to one of our guide books the government enslaved the people of Mandalay to dig out all the muck and silt a few years ago. I think much of the original palace was destroyed in WWII, but the walls were impressive.

At Sandamuni Paya we saw what is reportedly the world’s largest book – 1774 carved marble slabs each housed in a little white stuppa – very very impressive.

   

At Mahamuni Paya Ant was able to go up to an area in front of the Buddha image reserved exclusively for men, where they can place gold leaf on the image. Over the years so much gold has been applied that the Buddha has become distorted, with the gold 6 inches thick in some places. Us women folk got to watch the men do their gold leaf application on the handily installed TV screens.

  

My favourite part of the day was chancing across several ceremonies for novice monks. Almost all Buddhist Myanmar men will have been a monk at one point or another in their lives, even if just for a week or so. Being a temporary monk is very common – some men even take leave from my work just to go and do this. The first time a boy/ man becomes a monk is a very important occasion and a big celebration for the family. At Mahamuni Paya the children who were to become monks for the first time were dressed in pink and orange, sheltered from the sun by traditional golden umbrellas, held by not very traditional looking men. I was assured that all the children in pink were boys… somewhat hard to get our heads around what with our British pink-for-a-girl gender colour stereotypes.

   

Further down the road we came across an amazing procession of novice monks. In Yangon you see these processions quite often at this time of year… but the difference is that everyone rides in the back of a flat bed truck with golden umbrellas pointing forwards like tusks towards the oncoming traffic. Seeing a procession of pom-pom clad horses and bulls was much more exciting!

   

Amarpura, Ava and Sagaing…

Continuing on our tour of Mandalay and the surrounds…

We (and pretty much every other tourist in town) visited Maha Ganayon Kyaung Monastery in Amarapura, to watch the bare footed, crimson robed monks lining up to be fed. Normally monks head out on the streets to collect alms (food) in their bowls, but this monastery is somehow special and people come in to cook each day for the thousands of monks that live there. I wondered what the monks think having the tourist paparazzi poking long lenses and phone cameras in their faces day after day… I suspect it gets more than a little tiresome.

    

Then it was a short river crossing and a pony and cart ride around another ancient capital of Myanmar – Inwa/ Ava. The peaceful tree lined avenues were beautiful. The hoards of tourist tat selling children, in numbers totally disproportionate to the number of tourists, were less lovely. I think we managed to escape only having bought a handful of postcards and one “jade” bracelet.

When we were resting at one temple a group of Myanmar university students on a study tour came across us and reminded us how lovely the Myanmar people are. I am certain that no group of 20 something British men could ever be as polite and friendly as they were. We returned their loveliness by agreeing to feature in many photos with them!

  

Next stop was Sagaing, and the very unusually shaped golden Kaunghmudaw Paya.

  

People selling Thanaka bark sat in the shade around the edge of the pagoda. Thanaka is the bark that is made into a white paste and then applied on the faces of children and adults.

Next up was Umin Thounzeh with its many Buddhas, and great views out over Sagaing.

Final stop. Sunset on U Bein Bridge – the worlds longest teak bridge - back in Amarapura.

 

Vineyards…

Up at Inle we tried to visit both vineyards again. We went to Red Mountain by bike - a very wet affair due to getting water thrown at us every 10 meters (it was still Thingyan). Unfortunately it was closed for Thingyan so we couldn’t get past the gate, but Ayathaya Vineyard was open, so we enjoyed the beautiful views and wine tasting there.

 

Inle Lake

After getting wet in Yangon for a day or so we headed off to Inle lake for the rest of the Water Festival holiday.

An example of why internal flights in Myanmar aren’t necessarily the safest in the world… for some reason a Golden Myanmar plane appears to have ploughed into the back of a Myanmar Airways International plane… on the runway.

The lake was beautiful, and it was much cooler than Yangon up in the Shan hills.

We spent a day out on the lake in long boats, with noisy engines, equipped with umbrellas to protect against sun… and rain…

 

Past floating gardens, where the people that live on the lake grow tomatoes, aubergines, gourds etc. on long floating beds staked to the lake bed – it’s a very shallow lake.

 

Up a side river to the incredible temples at Indein.

Leave your flip flops at the entrance.

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We visited another temple on a hill and were invited inside for cups of green tea, plates of Myanmar pickled tea leaf salad with crunchy fried beans and popadoms. Us ladies got to hang out with some cheroot toking, towel clad women, whilst the men sat separately next to a monk.

 

After that we all started to look like the locals…

 

Pit latrine lesson #1: Wearing a romper suit is not advised.

mmm coconuts…

These Kayan ladies were at a handicraft shop… I think to help drum up business. Not quite sure how I feel about that, but it was amazing to see the way they wear their beautiful neck rings.

 

Shan market. Green veggie paradise.

    

Grandchildren of a fishmonger, enjoying a Myanmar fish market…