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.

AN AFTERNOON ON INLE LAKE

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

We began the day backtracking to Heho before heading on over to Inle Lake, our home for the final three days of our Burmese adventure.  On the way, we stopped to wander through a market that sets up someplace new on a rotating basis once every five days.  Since tomorrow is a major holiday, the market was particularly busy as folks stocked up for the occasion.

We made a second stop to visit briefly with a couple of Gurkha families whose ancestors from Nepal had originally served the British as crack soldiers during the era of the British Raj and who had stayed on it Burma thereafter as accepted and respected members of local communities.

Our third (very brief) stop provided the chance to photograph a beautifully preserved monastery built for a local king's favorite Buddhist monk in the late nineteenth century.

Reaching Inle Lake around noon also provided the perfect opportunity for a genuine Italian pizza lunch -- the young restaurant owner had learned his craft directly from an Italian woman and prided himself on the quality of the imported European ingredients he combined with local resources to serve up his very tasty Italian dishes.

The group then divided into three and piled into longboats for our first venture out into the vastness of Inle Lake.  The rest of the afternoon was spent roaming through lakeside monasteries, craft workshops and villages of houses built up over the lake on stilts.  Many also farm "floating gardens" set out in neat rows separated by narrow canals. Turns out these lakeside farms produce forty-five percent of all the tomatos consumed in Burma!

We had the opportunity as well to meet and talk with four Padaung women, better known outside Burma as "long necked women" for the brass rings worn around their necks.  Nominally these rings represent wealth, but also symbolically they recall the attributes of the Chinese dragon -- and may have been seen as a means of protection from sexual harassment (since the effect hardly enhanced the women's feminine charms).  Fortunately (from an American cultural perspective, at least) the custom seems to be dying out: only about twenty percent of young Padung girls elect to wear they rings with the other 80% prefering modern Korean cosmetics instead.

 Towards evening we slipped along a very narrow canal to reach the Pristine Lotus Spa Resort at the far north end of the lake.  It proved to be the most luxurious of all the hotels on our itinerary, an apt conclusion to our journey across Burma.  Best of all, we're here for three nights!

A DAY IN THE LIFE

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

Outside of Kalaw about forty minutes or so lies a Da Nu village surrounded by lush farm fields and low lying hills and mountains. We spent much of the day there visiting and learning a lot about everyday rural life in the hills away from outside influences.

While on our way, we stopped at a watering hole next to which women were busily washing clothes at an adjacent well while water buffalo wallowed in the river and small buses, motorcycles and trucks rumbled over the nearby bridge. While there we talked with an older woman tending the water buffalo, as open and friendly and unpretentious an “informant” as one could wish for – and typical of the folks we met all day long.

When we arrived in the village, we passed on to our hosts the various lunch ingredients we'd been sent out to buy in the Kalaw morning market (another task made delightful by the friendly reception we received from various market vendors when we approached with Burmese language shopping lists in hand).

Then we clamored aboard some “Chinese water buffalo” motorized vehicles to drive up the hill to the local monastery. Once there we helped clean up the main sanctuary being swept in preparation for the upcoming End-of-Buddhist-Lent celebration and then sat down to talk with two of the resident monks.

Next we made a delightful stop at the local village school where we were royally entertained and in turn entertained the students with iPad images, poems, stories, songs and the Burmese national anthem (which the kids belted out with great gusto).

We walked back to our host's home for lunch and an extended question-and-answer session during which we probed numerous characteristics of village life. Two insights Lee found particularly striking: when asked what they wished for in the future, all four hosts (father, mother, son and village secretary) answered :”to achieve Nirvana”; when asked what the most significant change they had experienced in their lifetimes was, all pointed to the recent change in the political climate. Wow!

Our visit ended with a vigorous session of drumming and dancing, attracting more and more attention from neighbors who all gathered around to watch and wave good-bye as we pulled away, headed back to Kalaw.
 

Quite a day! Quite a day!

On the return trip we alighted for a walk through another village, partially, we suspect, so that we would work up an appropriate appetite for yet another yummy Burmese dinner later in the evening at the Seven Sisters Restaurant in Kalaw.

OFF TO THE HILLS

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

The population of Burma is made up of 135 different government-recognized ethnic groups. To learn something about a few of these groups, we have left Mandalay behind and headed off to Heho. Actually we flew into Heho, then boarded a bus to ride off to Kalaw for two nights before moving on to Inle Lake.

The countryside hereabouts is bucolic and richly fruitful with farming villages producing all manner of fruits and vegetables shipped off elsewhere in the country. Enroute to Kalaw we dropped in on a group of Pa O women for a pleasant chat, then wandered through their village before re-boarding our bus, all part and parcel of Overseas Adventure Travel's approach to enhancing our cultural understanding of the country.

In Kalaw itself we hiked up to a hilltop monastery, both for the view and to listen to some chanting novices. In the early evening we doffed our shoes yet again to walk though a limestone cave lined with donated statues of the Buddha followed by a leisurely stroll through a local neighborhood dominated by late-nineteenth-century British-style hill station homes, some beautifully maintained; others, quite dilapidated.

 

The lobby of the Pine Hill Resort where we are staying is in one of the oldest colonial era wooden homes in Kalaw, so we get to experience first hand what drew British expatriates to these cooling hills.

Unfortunately, the resort hasn't yet installed Wi-Fi, so these comments won't be posted for another day or two. Nonetheless we're thoroughly enjoying life here in our own little bungalow, listening to the chants from a nearby monastery, enjoying the cooler weather and anticipating the activities of the days ahead.

MINGUN AND MORE

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

In the late eighteenth century King Bodawpaya decided to build the kingdom's (and the world's) largest pagoda upriver from his palace complex in Mandalay. His death in 1819, however, brought an end to the project, and an earthquake a couple of decades later left the extant structure so unstable as to prevent any consideration of continuing the undertaking. Nowadays travelers cruise up the Irrawaddy to view what some have deemed “the world's largest pile of bricks” and to visit the world's second largest bronze bell (which was to be installed in the completed pagoda) and a nearby blindingly white pagoda honoring the King's favorite queen. The boat ride itself was pleasant and much appreciated as well, a welcomed chance to sit back and relax in the midst of a busy sightseeing agenda.

Back in Mandalay, the tour continued on to Mahamuni Paya, a temple housing a Buddha covered in gold leaf several inches thick. This particular statue was looted from Angkor Wat in Cambodia by the Thai and subsequently lost to the Burmese as a result of later military conflict. The well-traveled image is among the three most sacred in Burma; numerous pilgrims make their way to worship it, to offer prayers of supplication or thanksgiving or to perform various rituals.

Even though Burma is in the final days of Buddhist Lent, some families appeared at Mahamuni Paya while we were there to dedicate their children to the faith, an elaborate celebration involving special dress for the kids, a procession to the temple to present offerings to the monks and a feast prior to the girls having ears pierced and the boys having heads shaved (before a week of instruction for the boys at the temple).

We also stopped to see some bronze casting and gold leaf pounding demonstrations before returning to our hotel. Clearly, we're out to see and experience as much as can be packed into a single day!

Unfortunately Heidi had been laid low by some mysterious microbe, so Lee had to make the day's journey alone while she slept away the hours back in our hotel. Recovery was swift and complete, however, so we're back together and on the road as a team once again..

DIRTY FEET ARE HAPPY FEET

Reverting to the earlier notion, let's just say “a picture is worth a thousand words” and let it go at that. Below a short sentence or two helps set the scene, but the details will have to wait until such time as we reach a locale with faster Wi-Fi access ...

Today we were run up Mandalay Hill early in the morning in the back of two pick-up trucks and were “wowed” by both the temple we saw there and the views of the surrounding countryside.
 

Then we stopped by to see Kuthodaw Paya, its seventy-two small shrines housing an alabaster stone chiseled copy of the complete Buddhist scriptures. Impressive, indeed!
 

Our morning continued with a visit to Schwenandaw Kyuang,which once served a Burmese king as a temporary residence while his palace was being constructed. The low-lying, carved dark wooden structure was quite stunning, clearly a Burmese national treasure!
 

We were unexpectedly invited to a celebratory luncheon while visiting Myawaddy, a Buddhist nunnery where we later enjoyed an extended question-and-answer session with three of the nuns and had our photograph taken with the (quite charismatic) abbess.

Later in the afternoon, we stopped by a street of alabaster stone carvers and an embroidery workshop on the way to watch the sun set from U Bein bridge, one of the world's longest wooden bridges famed for its sunrise and sunset views.
 

Yet another yummy Burmese dinner completed yet another wonderful, insight-filled day. During this particular day we took off our shoes at least four times and went barefoot whenever we entered any kind of sacred space, yet we enjoyed all our “barefoot experiences” immensely.

So, yes, dirty feet are happy ones, indeed!

ON THE ROAD TO MANDALAY …

… we stopped off to see some historically important spots in Ava. Now known as Inwa, Ava served as the Burmese capital for some four centuries beginning in the mid-fourteenth century.

Today little but ruins, neglected monasteries and small villages remain. Nor is visiting these historic remnants a particularly easy task: our bus drove us from the airport to a fairly primitive riverbank ferry crossing where we clamored aboard a small long-tail boat, crossing to the other side, there to be met by a fleet of small horse-drawn carriages which took us around to the various sites we visited over the course of the morning. 

Our first stop was at a local craftsman's home and workshop where the family produced the polished black lacquer begging bowls used by Buddhist monks to collect their daily food offerings. We also wandered around the surrounding village, seeing how woven mats were used in the construction of house walls and visiting the local nat spirit shrine protecting the local inhabitants from harm.

 
We then jostled our way on over to a wonderfully romantic old ruined Buddhist temple set in the midst of newly-planted rice fields and sheltered by towering palms and huge, old shade trees.

Another bone-shattering trot brought us to Bagaya Kyaung, a Buddhist monastery built entirely of teak by one of the nineteenth century Ava monarchs. Though the structure has suffered neglect over the years, it still retains a majestic serenity that somehow reflects the sobering underlying Buddhist notion that “life is naught but suffering and vanity”. As we wandered through the shadowed interior, we even ran across the current abbot instructing a small group of monks, studiously bent over their copy books while lying on their elbows at their master's feet.

Our carriages next bounced us over to an ancient watchtower which (since an earthquake damaged the foundation in 1975) has come to be known as “the leaning tower of Ava”. Lunch alfresco in a wonderfully shaded garden setting followed. Then it was back by ferry across the river to our air-conditioned and (relatively) smooth-riding bus and on to Mandalay.

Later in the afternoon we ventured into the city center to marvel at a reconstructed version of the Ava Palace complex. Though an impressive reconstruction, the buildings have been neglected since being built in the 1990s and represent an extravagant expenditure of funds to no apparent benefit even to the burgeoning tourist industry; a missed opportunity, indeed.

Before returning to our exquisite small luxury boutique Hotel by the Red Canal for cocktails and a delicious Indian dinner, we walked around central Mandalay as vendors were busily setting up for the daily outdoor evening market.

Not surprisingly, we were in bed, fast asleep, by nine o'clock with visions of golden-spired stupas dancing in our heads!

TODAY LEE CLIMBED 777 STEPS TO THE SUMMIT OF MT. POPA

We also visited a roadside farm, strolled through an organic medicinal herb garden, and took a leisurely sunset cruise on the Irrawaddy River before heading off to our home-hosted evening meal with an extended local Bagan family.

Talk about a day full of great experiences!

BREATHTAKING BAGAN, FROM DAWN TO DUSK

Within thirty minutes of our early morning Asian Wings flight arrival from Yangon, we were on our way to visit the first of the day's major itinerary highlights.  Bagan overwhelms the visitor with the richness of its attractions, all of which are religious temples, pagodas, stupas, monasteries or nunneries, mostly associated with Buddhism with an occasional Hindu influence worked in along the way.

Yet each of the spots we stopped to see over the course of the day appeared to offer something special:

Our first temple provided incredible scenic views from its raised platforms, showcasing distant pagodas and other structures beautifully lit by the early morning sun.

The second stop, a pagoda considered one of the nation's most important and housing one of the historical Buddha's teeth, provided a prototypical example of this vital religious structure.

Our third stop took us into a temple full of spectacular Buddhist images and wall art, the latter the subject of ongoing restoration ad research.

Later in the afternoon we visited another temple, one of Bagan's oldest, to  view an interior full of even more spectacular murals; ...

-- and, then, off we went on a horse carriage ride through much of the Bagan area, ending with gathering to watch the sun set ...

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

One of the pleasures of traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel (besides the home hosted meals and school visits) lies with the encouragement given the guides to explore the unforeseen along the way, the serendipitous possibilities that crop up but aren't included in the formal itinerary.  Our adventures today proved an excellent example of the results (as well as some of the pitfalls sure to occur along the way). 

The schedule called for an early morning "orientation walk" followed later in the day by an optional visit to a local museum, a walk througa the local Chinatown, a cocktail hour "drink with a view" and dinner somewhere in downtown Rangoon.  Johnny pressed us at breakfast, however, to be sure to bring along a dollar bill and our passports (without telling us why, exactly).  We figured something new lay on the horizon ...

Turned out, after a quick taxi ride to the railroad station, we were about to board the Circle Line train that girdles the city.  Individual tickets cost each of us one crisp, unblemished dollar bill in pristine condition -- if we had our passports with us; or, as we were to learn (spoiler alert) if at least one of us had a passport with which to assume responsibility for the entire fare purchase.  Things are achanging fast around here!

Following a thirty minute wait on the platform (where we attracted our fair share of attention),  spent exploring all the various activities centered there and interacting with our fellow passengers, we boarded the local and chugged out of the station for the other side of town.

We alighted some thirty minutes later and proceeded to walk through a lively Sunday market scattered for blocks along the roadside.  As we walked, a woman who claimed to be the government official in charge of the entire market, accosted our guide and demanded that we stop taking photographs -- shades of the ancien regime!  For the most part, at Johnny's suggestion, we simply ignored her.  Such has become the spirit of the times!

The adventure of the day followed: to return to our point of origin (and with Johnny's gleeful encouragement), we scrambled aboard a local bus which proceeded to take off like a shot, a hyperactive bus boy hanging out the door, whistling loudly (if melodically)  and shouting directions and instructions to the driver as we sped along, screeching to a temporary halt whenever the bus boy spyed a potential rider.

  
Then, suddenly, we ground to a halt due to an accident ahead and remained stuck in an horrendous traffic jam for some twenty minutes or so with the internal bus temperature raising higher and higher and higher with each passing minute.

We eventually escaped, then zipped along to a stop deep in the posh area of Rangoon.  Here we visited the house in which Ang Sang, Burma's liberator and Ang Sang Sun Kyi's father, lived with his wife and children just prior to his assassination in 1948.  The home is now a sparely furnished  memorial museum.

The surrounding wealthy neighborhood proved interesting as well.  A number of newly built and extravagant homes testified to the General's economic stranglehold on the country over the past several decades while just yards away a neglected and abandoned colonial era wooden masterpiece crumbled into oblivion.

All that activity and all that tropical heat, however, took its toll.  In response (and knowing we'll be returning to Rangoon on our own at the end of the tour), after returning our hotel by taxi for a lunchtime break, we opted to skip the afternoon activities and settled into a much appreciated Sunday afternoon of rest and relaxation.

Early tomorrow morning we're off to Bagan -- but not by jitney. 

Instead, we'll fly!