BACK FROM BURMA

Long distance air travel is for the birds. 

In acknowledgement thereof, for our final blog post in this series, here is a collage of Burmese ANGRY BIRDS -- an indication as well, perhaps, of Myanmar's increasing integration into the international consumer economy ...

ORIENTAL SPLENDOR INDEED

Heidi and Lee have always thought of Wat Phra Keo (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) in Bangkok as epitomizing the definition of "Oriental Splendor" in all its gaudy excesses, gold leaf and jewels, mirror mosaics, and fanciful statuary.  This morning we revisited this iconic spot and found our original assessment amply justified.

Moreover the rest of the world appears to have come to the same conclusion: the Temple of the Emerald Buddha clearly has become THE place to visit in Bangkok.  The crowds of foreign visitors we encountered today, in fact, almost overwhelmed the place.  Certainly the temple complex no longer retains the notion of religious serenity originally envisioned but rather emits a noisy cacophony of babble as explanations are delivered in multiple languages to large hordes of tourists crowded around their guides and Thai hosts.

Nonetheless one can still manage to escape the crowds and simply sit or stand in awe of the exquisite sense of design and detail that permeates the entire complex.  We appreciated, too, the evidence of ongoing restoration and maintenance everywhere we ventured -- those admission changes are obviously being put to good use: the place looks stupendous, better than ever.  Truly, there's still nothing like it anywhere else in the entire world!

We wandered about the place for nearly three hours, taking in the Grand Palace, too, as well as the newly opened Queen Sirikit Museum of Thai Textiles (its air-conditioned interior an especially welcomed relief from the high eighties found in the world outside).

Otherwise we continued simply to marvel at the lively modernity of this dynamic city evident everywhere around us, especially as visible from the riverside veranda of our highrise hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya and in the immense new Siam Paragon shopping mall with its huge food court and 500 brand name speciality shops from around the world!

Early tomorrow morning, we're homeward bound, satiated at least for now but sure to be bitten again, sooner rather than later, by that persistent travel bug that happily has always haunted our life together.

MID-DAY REPORT: RANGOON

We DID venture out earlier this morning, walking two city blocks to visit the Sule Pagoda .  We arrived just as a parade of twenty-eight statues of the Buddha passed by (representing the historical Buddha and his twenty-seven prior existences!), a procession taking place only once annually.  Obviously, the trek was worth it, and this viewing of our last pagoda compound proved a great conclusion to our sightseeing adventures here in Rangoon.

However, the effort proved a bit overwhelming due to the sun and heat.  The temperature had already reached the low nineties by 9:00 AM and was headed into the low 100s!

We, therefore, bailed on our intention of visiting the (un-air-conditioned) National Museum.  We'll just have to await the re-installation of the Asian Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2013 to view examples of Burmese fine art ...

Instead we retreated to the lobby at the Traders Hotel and arranged a late check-out from our hotel room.  We've been lounging around since, reading; watching BBC, CNN and Aljizera; editing images (including those of modern Rangoon below); and resting up for our evening flight to Bangkok.

Not a particularly exciting day, to be sure; but, then, "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun."

SCHWEDAGON REDUX

Our initial visit to Rangoon's most famous and sacred site, the Schwedagon Pagoda, took place our first day in Burma at dusk. It lasted past sunset.  During that time we were able to see the complex both lit by the setting sun and illuminated by spotlights - awesome!

This morning we returned for a more leisurely look around and ended up spending three hours exploring all the Schwedagon has to offer.  Even then we missed seeing some of its most well known marvels.  Still and all, this time was even more amazing.

Burma is in the midst of a ten day school holiday marking the conclusion of Buddhist "Lent".  Families seem to take advantage of the vacation period to visit temples and pagodas, monasteries and other sacred places throughout the country.  Schwedagon today was no exception: the crowds were fulsome and festive and provided loads of "people watching" opportunities which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Folks came to worship and pray, to be sure, but also to enjoy a picnic lunch or make a donation to one of the ongoing restoration projects or just to sit and meditate or take in the changing scene while relaxing (or flirting) with family and friends.

Lee took hundreds of pictures.  Here is a collage of some of his favorites, culled from the results:

And here are individual shots of his two favorite images from the entire visit, one ecstatically sacred; the second, exuberantly playful.  Together they epitomize the spirit of the Schwedagon as both temple and playground.

 

After our morning at Schwedagon we wandered around Scott's Market, Rangoon's central covered shopping complex, a massive collection of stalls selling everything one could possibly need or desire.  Despite the heat, we managed to stock up on enough goodies to considerably eliminate numerous items from our holiday shopping lists!

We retreated to our (overly cool) air-conditioned hotel lobby for lunch, then ventured out later in the afternoon for High Tea at the Strand Hotel, the city's most historic hostelry, dating back to the time of the Raj when Burma was administered as part of British India.  Our last stop of the day took us to an art gallery in the hotel featuring some up-and-coming Burmese artists.  Both Heidi and Lee found favorite pieces among those on display, and we were allowed to capture an image of each.  Can you guess who liked which?

 

All in all, a very pleasurable and relaxing day -- and we didn't need a tour leader to make it all come together!  Another leisurely morning lies ahead before we head off to Bangkok, our final destination, early tomorrow evening.

IMAGE UPDATE COMPLETED!

Our final tour day took us by bus from our Inle Lake resort back to the airport at Heho, then by Asian Wings to Rangoon and bus again around the city and to lunch (at Monsoon, a VERY popular tourist meal spot) before dropping just the two of us off at the Traders Hotel, our "home" for the next two evenings.  The rest of the group spent some time at Scott's Market shopping for last minute souvenirs before flying off to Bangkok.  We're on our own from here on out ...

Best of all the hotel has a good Wi-Fi connection, so Lee has been finally able to upload all those missing images promised in earlier posts (dating back to MINGUN AND MORE from October 29, 2012).

The added pictures make a huge difference, so go back and take a look ...

PAGODAS GALORE

IMAGES ADDED THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 UPON ARRIVAL BACK IN RANGOON

Today's major accomplishment was to add a minimum of 1054 new pagodas to our list of religious sites visited here in Burma, bringing the grand total to close to four thousand!

We took off from our hotel by longboat as usual but headed inland along a swift-moving, muddy, narrow river channel that eventually brought us to the village of Ithein at the foot of the surrounding mountains. Successfully threading our way past all the souvenir vendors, we stopped briefly at Nyaung Ohak, a collection of atmospheric pagoda ruins just off the well-trod central walkway.

The walkway turned into a covered passage leading upward towards Shwe Inn Thein temple and its surrounding forest of over a thousand Buddhist pagodas. About halfway up the hill, we left the vendor-lined covered corridor to wander on our own over the pagoda-strewn hillside.

Everywhere one looked a mass of pagoda spires crowded one's field of vision, some white, others gold, newly refurbished or crumbling from neglect,. It proved a photographer's dream scape, a truly awesome experience.

At the summit we removed our shoes yet again and walked through the main temple building, filled with prayerful Burmese pilgrims or others enjoying the ten day “End-of-Lent” holiday vacation period.

After sweeping back downstream at a record clip, carried by the rapidly moving current, we had lunch, then embarked on visits to a cheroot manufacturing workshop and a silversmith's showroom. We managed to avoid a thunder shower marching in from the west and make it back to the hotel by late afternoon.

For our Farewell Banquet this evening, we all dressed in longyi, held a special candle ceremony at the pagoda across from the hotel and were entertained by folk dance and martial arts demonstrations, most connected to local Shan state traditions, a pleasant ending to an especially enjoyable tour.

A FULL MOON FESTIVAL DAY

IMAGES ADDED THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012 UPON ARRIVAL BACK IN RANGOON

An early morning departure brought us out onto the lake before daylight today.  The low lying fog and the mountains to the east meant, however, we were able to enjoy a succession of "dawns" as the sun broke through the fog or peeked over the mountains again and again as we sped down the lake.

Our goal was to secure a good vantage point from which to observe the Phaung Daw Oo Festival procession, an annual journey that parades four sacred Buddhist images from temple to temple around the lake over a period of one lunar month.  Since today also is recognized as a special holiday, the conclusion of Buddhist "Lent" marked by the full moon overhead, this particular segment of the serial procession promised to be even more festive than is usually the case.

We ended up descending on a two story wooden house on stilts at a spot on the canal that commanded a particularly good view up and down the procession route.  All Johnny had to do was ask, and we were immediately invited to disembark and essentially take over the best vantage posts from which to observe the thirty or so long boats rowed by residents of different villages located around the lake as they symbolically pulled the larger barges containing the sacred images along to the next temple on the procession route.

That stop turned out to be essentially right around the corner, so we were able to push our way through the crowds to visit the images once they alighted at their most recent stopover temple.  Later in the afternoon we also visited the images' home temple where a fifth image awaited the return of its four companions.

In between we visited a silk weaver, a metal smith, and a lotus thread worker before stopping for lunch.  All day the boat traffic on the lake was particularly busy with families and visitors alike out to enjoy the day to the fullest.  In the spirit of the holiday, this evening resort employees lit candles at each level of the tiered pagoda across the street, a lovely sight, indeed, and yet another special memory to tuck away in our scrapbook of travel adventures.