Burma –
February, 2014
Forty years ago I visited Burma and have
been wanting to go back ever since. It
seemed safe enough so I booked a trip with G Adventures, got my Burma visa for
$20, used my United plus mileage for the flight and off I went!!!
Shuttle to LAX and my Air China
flight left on time at 12:40 A.M. arriving in Beijing
about 6 A.M. and finally into Yangon about
2:30 P.M. After very cold weather in Beijing it was quite a shock to be so warm in Burma!!! Checked into MK Hotel (www.MKhotel.yangon.com) , changed
some money and set out for the Bogyoke Aung San market. I wandered around this 70 year old sprawling
market housing more than 2000 handicraft, gem, etc. shops for about a half hour
and then turned down Sule Paya Road to visit Sule Pagoda located in the heart
of downtown. According to legend it was
built more than 2,500 years ago before the Shwedagon Pagoda during the time of
Buddha and is believed to enshrine a strand of hair of the Buddha. It has been rebuilt and repaired many
times.
I stopped by the lovely Maha Bandoola
Garden to take a break
and watch the lovely “dancing fountains”.
There are peaceful green lawns and the independence monument, an
obelisk, built in commemoration of Burmese independence from the British in
1948. Afterwards I stopped by the famous
old colonial Strand Hotel opened in 1901 and in its early years hosted Rudyard
Kipling and George Orwell among others.
A lot of people stop by to have a drink in the bar but I just wandered
around and then started my “long” search for Linkage where I wanted to have
dinner that night as Trip Advisor highly recommend it!!! I had looked on their website to find their
location and there were many comments about it being very hard to find which it
truly was. Fortunately for me, I met a
wonderful Burmese lady who was determined to help me find it which we did!!
It was upstairs so the
sign was not particularly visible from the street but it was well worth the
trouble! There were only about 6 tables
and one table was full of French people just getting ready to leave. I asked them what I should order and sat down
at my little table overlooking the street.
As they were leaving they passed me a few of their platters with
remaining pieces of uneaten dishes which I so enjoyed along with what I had
ordered!!! I had some spicy shrimp,
spinach like the morning glory in viet nam, eggplant salad and ginger
fish compliments of the French – truly a feast!!! Cost:
$6.50!!! I was so exhausted after
dinner that I took a taxi back to the hotel, used the free internet to let my
family know I had arrived safely, took a very hot shower and collapsed into
bed!!!
After a very nice
breakfast of toast and eggs and many tiny little oranges all stacked up in a
pyramid, I walked to the Botataung Pagoda on Strand Street built 2500 years ago
during the time the Shwedagon temple was built.
Unlike most stupas this one is hollow inside and you can walk through
it. Afterwards I took a taxi to the National Museum which was terrific. There was an enormous throne returned to Myanmar after
independence, musical instruments, puppets, etc. A short walk away was Free Myanmar where I
chose three little dishes for lunch, i.e. stir fry noodles with peppers, fish
in a red sauce and a strange salad!!!
For dessert there was a wonderful array of gelato and pastries. From there I walked to the Shwedagon Pagoda
but as we would be visiting it the next day with our group I decided to head to
the Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda instead to see the enormous beautifully painted and
bejeweled sitting Buddha which was very impressive. I crossed the street to the Chaukhtatgyi
Pagoda to visit the very large reclining Buddha which is not the original but
still quite stunning. There is a crown of
diamonds on his head and his feet are not aligned which means he is alive. He is also facing East which means he is
alive – sometimes it’s hard to tell. It
was dark and rather late by the time I finished my little self tour so I took a
taxi to the Governor’s Residence which I had read had excellent food and was an
elegant place to dine. It is an
impressive wooden building with tables outside near the pond and in the
garden. I sat near the pond and ordered
one dish as it was veryyyy expensive, i.e. my one dish was $25!!! However, my one dish was delicious, i.e. sea
bass with turmeric rice on a bed of watercress stir fry with cashews and strips
of fresh cucumber in yogurt sauce. I
savored every $$ bite!!!
Before breakfast I walked
to the morning market filled with people selling fruits, vegetables, fish,
etc. A woman was even using a mussel
shell to filet a fish!!! Took a taxi to
the Panorama Hotel where my G Adventure tour would begin later that evening and
checked in. With my lonely planet guide in
hand I took their walking tour of downtown which covered all the historic
buildings, customs house, synagogue, hindu temple, etc. Had lunch at Aung Thukha restaurant which was
really fun. Quite a local hangout with
little dishes of delicious food to try.
I had morning glory, fish curry and a plate of lettuce, cucumber, greens
and crunchy nuts on the side.
I tried to walk around Inle
lake but it seemed impossible. You could
only walk for 20 minutes and then had to turn back so I finally gave it up and
returned to the hotel. Our meeting
started at 6 p.m. with 14 of us in the group.
Our guide was a little Burmese lady with a lot of enthusiasm! Afterwards we walked to Monsoon Restaurant
and I had nasi goring which was delicious.
Early breakfast and then
off to the Shwedagon Pagoda also known as the golden pagoda. It stands 325 feet tall and is the most
sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese as enshrined within are relics of the
past four buddhas. The gold seen on the
stupa is made of genuine gold plates, covering the brick structure and attached
by traditional rivets.
After a few hours there we
left for Mount Kyaiktiya and the golden rock which is
another major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists. We stopped for a curry lunch along the way
and arrived about 3 p.m. First we took a
truck halfway up the mountain and then walked a very steep path to our hotel
which had a great view. After checking
in and removing our shoes we walked up to the balancing boulder stupa which
legend says it maintains its balance due to a precisely placed Buddha hair in
the stupa. In the evening one of the
travelers and I walked back up to the golden rock to see it at night and had
some coconut crepes along the way for dinner…
After breakfast and a
quick lunch near the airport we caught a 3:00 p.m. flight to Mandalay, arriving about 5:00 p.m. After checking into the hotel, a few of us
walked to Ko’s Kitchen for some spicy Thai food which was a nice change. Breakfast in the morning was great – whole
wheat toast and scrambled eggs and lots of pineapple, papaya and
watermelon!!! Took a ferry to Mingun and
rode on an ox cart to the Mingun bell, a gigantic bronze bell weighing 90
tons. On to the Hsinbyume Pagoda built
in 1816, painted white and modeled on the physical description of the Buddhist
mythological mountain, Mount
Meru. The seven concentric terraces represent the
seven mountain ranges going up to Mount
Meru, according to
Buddhist mythology. Took a ferry back
and drove to Sagaing to visit a nunnery and then stopped for lunch at a lovely
restaurant. The fried fish with lemon sauce and some vegetables with toasted
cashews were both delicious.
The day ended while
watching the sunset from the U Bein bridge, which spans the Taungthaman lake
and is believed to be the world’s longest and oldest teakwood bridge – about
1300 yards across. The bridge was built
from wood reclaimed from the former royal palace in Inwa. Dinner was a lovely platter of fresh
fruit!!! The pineapple is especially good
here.
In the morning I took a
lovely walk around the palace “moot” and to an open air market. After breakfast we visited the world’s
largest book which stands upright, set in stone, on the grounds of the Kuthodaw
Pagoda. There are 730 text inscribed
marble slabs, each housed in a casket like structure arranged around the
central golden pagoda. On to the
Mahamuni Buddhist temple, a major pilgrimage site. Ancient tradition refers to only five
likenesses of the Buddha, made during his lifetime; two were in India, two in
paradise and the fifth is the Mahamuni Buddha.
As a result of the application of gold leaves over the years, the
coating of gold (thickness 5.9 inches) has given a shapeless contour to the
image.
We also visited the Shwe
in Bin teak monastery which has beautiful carvings and is rather Thai in
appearance. The monks only study here
but live nearby. We stopped by the gold
pounders’ workshop where gold is hammered for hours between sheets of bamboo
paper until very thin (gold leaf).
Delicious buffet lunch at a local restaurant – lots of unusual but
excellent dishes.
I decided to stay in town
and follow a lonely planet walking tour starting at the crocodile bridge, to
the Khin Makantaik monastery and nearby Chanthaya Pagoda. I crossed a canal and walked along a lovely
wooden bridge to the flower market – really pleasant. That evening we had a quick tea leaf salad
before attending the marionette show where the musicians played the instruments
I had seen in the museum in Yangon!! It was great fun, especially for me as I
really love puppets!!
Up early to board the boat
sailing down the Ayarwaddy
River to Bagan. It is the country’s largest river and most
important waterway. Breakfast on the
board. It was a lovely trip seeing the
little villages, pagodas, etc. along the way took the whole day!!! Dinner at a nearby restaurant in Bagan…
In the morning I took a leisurely
walk through the villages, watching them prepare breakfast, setting up their
fruit and vegetable stalls, etc. Stopped
by the big market selling all sorts of produce and alive with people in
colorful cottons. On to the caves of
Kyanzittha Umin housing the oldest murals in Myanmar showing the invasion of
Kubla Khan, etc. Visited MANY temples,
i.e. Gubyaukgyi with its hundreds of frescoes, Htinlominlo, with its four
buddhas facing each direction, the Nanpaya hindu temple and the manuha Buddhist
temple considered to be one of the oldest in Bagan. It contains three images of seated buddhas
and an image of Buddha entering nirvana. Lunch was a delicious papaya salad
with roasted peanuts.
Stopped to see how the
lacquerware was made and they painted little elephants on our cameras!! In the afternoon I took a walk to Lawkananda
pagoda and the river. Later, we visited Thatbyinyu,
Bagan’s highest temple and Dhammayazika, the massive 12th century
temple with it’s bad karma and the Ananda Pahto with its four wooden standing
buddhas. It was hard to keep them all
separate… Dinner at a Chinese-Burmese
restaurant – pumpkin curry was quite nice.
Got up early to see the
sunrise on top of one of the temples and then we rented bikes and rode through
the countryside stopping at local villages where they made cotton and silver
jewelry. I kept my bike and took a break
to have a delicious papaya salad at the Green Elephant for lunch and then
headed back out to revisit some of the temples we had seen yesterday but this
time at my leisure – really pleasant.
Dinner at A Thai restaurant was pad thai, one of my favorites.
Early breakfast and a very
long drive to Mount
Pope and up 777 steps to
the top and a beautiful view. A Buddhist
statue and a lot of other junk was also there but the climb was nice as was the
view. Stopped at a village where they
made toddy and a type of maple sugar and then for lunch at a local restaurant where
I chose a few dishes that were nice, i.e. pumpkin curry and a cabbage
salad. We arrived in Kalau, a cute
little town surrounded by mountains.
Visited the local market and wandered around town a bit before dinner at
the Everest Nepali food
Center. Had a nice potato and vegetable curry and
some lentils, rice and chapati – rather bland but nice for a change.
Delicious crepes for
breakfast and then took tuk tuks to the starting point of our 4 – 5 hour trek
through villages, up and down hills, etc.
Saw women weaving cotton and going about their daily lives. Stopped in a small village for lunch and
watched the “chef” prepare our noodles and vegetables on a little wok in the
back – it took him awhile as there were 14 of us eating!!! Tuk tuk’s back to town. Walked back to the open market and it was
really lively. Dinner of fish in banana
leaves at a nice local restaurant.
After breakfast we drove
to Pindaya to visit the Shwe Oo Min natural cave pagoda set high on a limestone
ridge. It is a worship place for the
Burmese people and contains more than 8700 buddhas in a variety of shapes,
sizes and materials, i.e. alabaster, teak, lacquer, marble, etc. One tall teak
wood carving is filled with tiny carved buddhas. Nice lunch on our way to Inya lake. After checking into our hotel I took a walk
around the corner to the cultural museum.
The exhibits weren’t particularly interesting but it was set in an old
house which was quite unique. Went out
for pizza in the evening which wasn’t all that bad!!!
In the morning we walked
to the jetty and boarded three motor boats.
First stop the 5 day market filled with people selling food, handicrafts,
vegetables, etc. etc. Further along up a covered stairwell flanked by more
stalls there is the nyaung ohak with its weather beaten stupas, some leaning at
crazy angles. On farther is the Shwe Inn
Thein Pagoda with its many stupas surrounding it, some have been reconstructed
and others have been left to disintegrate…Next stop, the silver factory and the
weavings, where they get the thread from the lotus plant!!! Lunch at a beautiful monastery which also
houses some 80 Burmese cats who have their own little sanctuary!!! The cigar factory was our last stop and then
a nice one hour boat ride back to our hotel – a really nice outing. Later in the afternoon I walked along the
Inya lake and as I headed back to town there was a local festival going on with
little boys riding on very decorated elephants, some playing ancient
instruments, etc. Dinner nearby was
uneventful…
We flew back to Yangon in the morning and I walked to Monsoon for
lunch. Had some delicious summer rolls
and then took the ferry across the lake.
A rickshaw driver took me around some of the old bamboo villages so I
could see some local life and then I took the ferry back. As it was getting late I took a taxi to
Schwedagon Pagoda to see the sunset and it was lovely…
In the morning I walked
around town before having an early lunch at Monsoon – the delicious summer
rolls again and then flew to
Seoul, South Korea where I had a whole day layover. After finding a little coffee shop in the
airport for breakfast, I signed up for a 5 hour transit tour which included
stops at some temples and a palace complex and ended with a typical Korean
lunch, i.e. vegetable bowl which consisted of noodles, vegetables, mushrooms
and an egg to be mixed together with broth and some chile sauce – quite
nice!!! We had a little time left over
to walk around a shopping street and get familiar with local people and shops
before returning to the airport.
Certainly a great way to spend an afternoon!!! After some free internet usage and a
baskin-robbins ice cream, I boarded the plane to Kota Kinabalu and my next
adventure in Borneo!!!!
