Cycling with a monk

July 20th, 2002 at 12:00am

9:30pm in the hotel, enjoying the aircon after another good day today. Robbie and I rented bicycles as planned and rode out to the ancient capital of Ammarapura, about 11 km south of Mandalay. We rented the bicycles for about 60 cents each and they were hardly even worth that - they were the most rickety old bicycles I’ve ever seen. But after after 10 minutes or so I got used to the wobble, bad steering, and old brakes and the rest of the time I was fine.

It took just under an hour to cycle from Mandalay to Ammarapura - on the way we passed several markets, a few monasteries, some temples, and even a strip of Buddha repair shops. Everyone was friendly, all smiles at us or saying hello. Robbie is 49 years old, from Ireland, and shaves his head bald. All of the Burmese people seem to think he’s a white monk because of his shaved head so he was getting many more stares than me today which was a nice change for me. We said if he were to buy the red robes and go barefoot he could easily travel through all of SE Asia for free.

We didn’t see any tourists on the ride out to Ammarapura. Once we got to the little town we went down to the lake to see the famous U Bein’s Bridge. At 1.2 km it is supposed to be the longest teak bridge in the world. It’s just a footbridge, for people and bicycles, so we walked the bicycles across.

On the other side there are more temples and Buddhas and stuppas but we were more interested in getting away from the touristy stuff so we decided to get lost and ride through some of the villages. It was such a nice time. We stopped for a snack of pineapple and papaya and watched all the locals drinking tea and eating lunch at the outdoor cafe. Then we kept going, following the perimeter of the lake, passing many villages along the way. Everyone was smiling and waving again. Robbie wanted to buy a longi (one of the plaid skirts that the men wear), so we looked into a few houses until we saw one with a loom and he was able to buy one right from the people who made it for only $1.65. It was a blue and black plaid. This was in a place far away from the tourist traps and I’m quite sure these people never had any foreigners in their home before. We negotiated the price by writing it on the table with chalk since there was no English spoken there. Very cool experience.

We cycled back to Mandalay and were back in the hotel around 3:30pm. Spent the afternoon resting in the aircon, reading and relaxing. Had Chinese for dinner, ice cream for dessert.

Tomorrow we hope to visit Mingun, another ancient capital, which is 11 km north of Mandalay by boat. Then Monday I’ll be heading south to Bagan.

Me and the monk (Robbie) getting ready to ride

Off the beaten track, views from the villages

Entry Filed under: Myanmar, Mandalay