Having stopped in Bangkok for one night, I was somewhat anxious about having obtained an approval for a Visa On Arrival from the Ministry via an on-line agent, because so many errors were made along the way. However, the VOA system worked very well with 5 smiling people to meet me in the VOA office, they inserted the visa in my passport very quickly and I then proceeded to a special Immigration desk, only me, and with no delay like others in the main lines. There two people met me on arrival, although I had been expecting one. The tour guide was meant to meet me at the hotel and he explained why he was there - where we were going in the afternoon was on the way,from the airport location 50km south of Mandalay. It is still regarded as the cultural capital of Myanmar.
First impressions were of a dusty/hazy countryside with mostly sealed surfaced roads, although some maintenance might pay here and there. The temperature was upper 30s but the humidity was quite low, so it was hot but not stifling. There are pagodas in every direction, some gold, of which many are gilded, and some white. The city is laid out in a grid with road numbers, which makes navigation easy. A general impression is one of a time warp, but of people who have not been affected as individuals by the years of military regime. Traffic flows seemed to move easily and without aggression at intersections, rather unlike some other Asian countries, although the number of vehicles is not so high. The economy is getting going again as sanctions have mostly been lifted since elections in 2011, but full recovery may be some way off. The military still has a major part in government through its dominance in Congress, so there is still more to be done for democracy. My guide surprised me with an answer to a question about democratic progress when he said that the people need the military discipline and order as they are not yet able to stop littering if left on their own! The religion is predominantly Buddhist, although it is a bit of a hybrid with Hindu being a significant component, as a result of development over the centuries.
Traffic drives on the right, but almost all cars are right hand drive! The decision was made in '64 to change to the right, but sanctions and import taxes preclude new cars almost entirely and most cars are second hand from Japan (same as UK and RHD). The exception is a handful of locally made (Willys style) Jeeps, which are mostly, but not all, LHD. It makes overtaking and anticipation more difficult. Dual carriageway really means two two way roads most of the time, as traffic seems to be allowed to use either side in either direction. But politeness and willingness to give way, coupled with subtle warning use of the horn, makes it all work. Perhaps, like in other places, foreigners wouldn't understand the 'rules' and would mess things up.
The people are very friendly and seem not to mind being photographed, even in their homes.
Straight from the airport, it was to Amarapura, an old capital meaning City of Immortality, where I had a walk halfway across the U Pein bridge, 1.2k of teak 167 years old! Some repair work was taking place on the bridge, requiring 'walking the plank' in some places around the workmen.
U Pein Bridge
I toured, I think, the Mahagandayon Monastery (briefings were coming fast), a place of study and religious discipline, before heading for a bronze statue factory. It was interesting to see the process to make a mould in clay first, then a second clay layer, next to melt out the wax between them and then pour in the bronze or brass. Power tools are used for the final finish.
Then it was to a silk weaving workshop, all manual looms with very fine thread and intricate colours than two girls working for months to make several metres of material and a silk craft and wood carving workshop, where the tiny pieces of decoration were being sewn into pictures or other decorations.
At a gold leaf hammering workshop, I was shown the process for hammering the gold finally to several microns thick leaf that can be used for gilt. It is very labour intensive, with the last phase lasting 5 hours of manual hammering, and that hammer isn't light! The gold is layered between sheets of bamboo paper, which alone take over 3 years to make, bound together by leather straps. This leather bound block is then hammered, the gold clipped smaller, rebound, and hammered again and gain. It could be done quickly and easily by machine, but it would put a lot of people out of work.
There was no pressure to buy anything at any of these factories, which I put down partly to the gentle nature of the people and, perhaps, a lack of marketing/sales experience.
Lastly, it was to another monastery where music was playing at 'buddha bedtime', 4pm, and which is gilded with 2 tons of gold leaf, which was impressive, especially as it has to be replaced every few years. By this time I was suffering information overload and was ready to check into my hotel in the city centre.
The Hotel by the Red Canal is rather boutique with a couple of dozen rooms, is very friendly, and has free cocktails from 6 to 7pm beside its small pool. The 'by the Red Canal' bit is perhaps a tad overstated as that is little more than a concrete drainage channel on the other side of the road. But, hey, let's take it as described as it very much served the purpose.
Hotel by the Red Canal
Day Two saw an early start to get to the Kuthodaw Monastery, home of the World's largest book. I had expected 729 stone pages, not that number of stone slabs, each housed in its own pagoda. It's enormous! And, it contains the entire Buddhist scriptures. They were apparently memorised by a man back in '92, impressive, but he wasn't around to check that out!
A 2-sided page of the scriptures, 4" thick stone
Housing for each page
I walked around a wooden Royal Palace from the late 18th century that had very impressive wood carvings, before we took to the Ayeyarwaddy (Irrawaddy to me in the past) River and head for Mingun.
Mingun is a small village or township that sports very few brick structures, except a huge pagoda that was being built until it was halted in its tracks by an earthquake in 1820, just 40 years after it was started, and at only 50m of its planned 150m height. Huge cracks remain and it looks seriously unsafe.
The river is very silted up and has several large sand banks that had to be avoided, but the number of people fishing and washing in it indicated little to no pollution. The the village was especially interesting as we stopped at and entered several bamboo or wooden houses where various crafts were being pursued - fermenting rice as a component of a popular drink, making souvenirs, or just doing the washing or the family watching a Chinese DVD together. If someboday has acquired a music system or radio, then they play it at maximum volume, so that fellow villagers can share in their prosperity - there's something different! There remains a close tie with China from the era of sanctions by the West. The dazzingly white Hsinyume Pagoda, a tribute to a lost wife, was impressive and must take some regular repainting to look as it is. Otherwise, Mingun is a modest place economically and, although popular on the tourist trail evidenced by the number of boats on the river and small groups with guides, its people have kept their culture and do not harass at all.
Lightly loaded
Heavily loaded, gunwales almost under water!
Mingun Police Station - risky to photograph I was later told!
The enormous unfinished pagoda
Earthquake damage
Wash day
Making souvenirs below the home on stilts
Bowls to serve the rice 'wine'
The 'wine' ferments
Mingun Bell - it IS big!
Taxi!
Lunch was taken in a Myanmar/Chinese restaurant, where I was deposited on my own. Perusing the menu, I decided to go Chinese and ordered Vegetable Spring Rolls and Beef & Black Bean Sauce, as a bit of a safe bet I thought. Anticipating 2 or 3, I was given 15 Spring Rolls, then a beef dish that had an odd aroma at first. Valiantly I tried, but could only eat 10 of the rolls and about three quarters of the beef dish and rice, lesson learned to exercise caution. Maybe I should have known because the hotel restaurant quantities the night before were huge.
In the late afternoon, it was up to Mandalay Hill, overlooking the city and the river, to another rather glitzy pagoda but a fine view, albeit rather hazy. It is one of the places to watch the sunset, but the haze compromised that some.
Sunset on Mandalay Hill
Day Three started with a drive over one of the two Ayeraywaddy bridges to Sagaing Hill from where an uncountable number of pagodas can be seen, some small and some enormous. Along the way, we passed the kilometre square ex-Royal Palace with moat, then watched the men and boys earn whatever fuel they could salvage for cleaning out fuel tanks with a sponge and bucket.
No Health & Safety Executive in attendance here!
First, we stopped at the Shwe-kyet-kay Stupas viewpoint, which offers a panorama view of the river and the surrounding area of pagodas. Before leaving that area, we stopped at another Monastery just as the monks were called to lunch. It was a very quiet and orderly affair as they first queued, then took off their sandals and entered the dining with their bowls, tin cup and napkin. After a short time they exited to clean their bowl and tin before returning to their dormitories and continue their studies.
Family from Shan state
Then we moved on to another enormous stupa and a pagoda that I had spotted earlier from the hilltop, which took a good 15 mins to walk around the outside. Afterwards, we stopped at a silver workshop, but it was lunchtime and only one person was hammering away at a piece. It did have some very delicate work on display. Temptation rose, but was suppressed!
Thanakha tree - ground and used for make-up
Then, it was over a minor river to stop for lunch at a small restaurant in Ava (also known as Inwa) which has had four turns at being the capital in the last 650 years. It is now a bit of a rural backwater and the old buildings have been damaged by earthquake and general deterioration. However, a teak monastery, a watchtower that leans too much to be open, and a brick built monastery (help from Indian craftsmen made it a first) survive and each was visited after being shaken and bounced along rough tracks in a pony and cart! It was also made for smaller people than me, so my guide and the driver were up front and I occupied the back, nearly completely! There was also a moated and walled ex-palace area of about a square kilometre, but inside was mainly a banana plantation.
The tour bus!
Collapsing due to earthquake
Rudyard Kipling wrote "This is Burma. It is quite unlike any place you know about" and I think I agree after this very brief visit. It's a place to encounter men wearing the skirt-like longyi, most women cover themselves in yellow thanakha (the ground trunk or bark of a tree of the same name), partly as make-up, protection against UV, or a skin nourishment, and betel-chewing is quite rife in the young and old, male and female. Neither are these characteristics unique to Myanmar, nor is its traffic, but, when combined with their hybrid Buddhist religion, a cultural mix and influences from their neighbours and some of their history, it does seem like Myanmar is unlike any place else today!
