Posts filed under 'Mandalay'
Last day in Mandalay. Tomorrow I leave for Bagan at 6am, taking the 9-hour ‘express’ boat down the Ayeyarwady River.
Today Robbie and I visited another one of the four ancient capitals of Mandalay, Mingun. We had to take a boat to get there, 11 km upriver from Mandalay. The boat left at 9am so we headed down to the ferry jetty this morning by trishaw, you know like a side car for a bicycle. It was a first for me. Cost about 20 cents one-way, not bad I guess.
The boat ride was nice, it took over one hour to get there. A few tourists on our boat ? Robbie, me, a family from Belgium, a French couple, one Swedish man, and a British girl. We had 3 hours to walk around Mingun before the boat left to go back to Mandalay.
There are a few stuppas, Buddhas, and a big bell to see at Mingun, but the most impressive building is Mingin Paya which is a massive building made of bricks. They started building it in 1790 for the king at that time but when the king died in 1819 and it still wasn?t finished I think everyone said the hell with this and left it. Then the whole thing cracked and crumbled in an earthquake in 1838. Anyway it?s a beautiful building. There are stairs to go to the top to check out the view but we had to go barefoot because it is still considered a temple.
So we did Mingun, came back to Mandalay, and then walked around one of the markets this afternoon. I wanted to buy some snacks for the long boat ride tomorrow. I probably paid too much for the 12 cent pineapple I bought.
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which in case you were wondering, cost 75 cents for a bottle of water, vegetable salad, green beans and garlic, and plain rice, and then we went back to the hotel.
This evening I went to see the famous Moustache Brothers show, a local show of dancing, traditional music, and comedy put on by Lu Maw and his family. The reason why they are so famous is because in 1996 two of the brothers were arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison for making a joke about the government in one of their shows. It was a pretty good show but I went more to support the fight for democracy by giving them the $1.25 admission fee.
It’s been a great 3 days in Mandalay. Looking forward to Bagan tomorrow!
This is a real sailboat
Mingun Paya, aka the worlds largest pile of bricks
This girl wanted money for giving a tour but she was so cute I just took her photo instead
July 21st, 2002
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
July 20th, 2002
I am loving the country of Myanmar more and more every day. Robbie and I had such a great day today! Woke up early this morning after probably the best night?s sleep I?ve had in weeks, had breakfast on the roof of the hotel with a view of Mandalay, and then set out to see the town. There are actually many sights to see in Mandalay but the government charges fees for each of them and it can easily add up to over $30 if you want to see them all (that?s a lot of money for a budget traveler by the way). The main reason not to fork out the money is because it all goes to the (evil) government and we want to give them as little as possible. So we decided to go to only one and chose Mandalay Hill with a $3 admission.
It?s a far walk from our hotel to the hill, but we had all day to do it and we decided it would be a nice way to see the city. We walked along the Mandalay Fort wall which is huge, about 2 km on each side. It was a nice walk along the moat on the outside. No tourists anywhere and just a random Burmese person on a bike every now and again. We got about 3 km or so around and found a nice place for a coffee and cake break at the Swan Hotel. Robbie and I spent about an hour or so just chatting away. When we finished we decided to look at a room just for the hell of it to see how the other half lives. Nice room ? air con, tv, fridge, pool, gym, and tennis court. A double room including breakfast cost $45. Not bad if you split between two people but we are in an air con room (with breakfast) for $6 and it?s pretty hard to beat that.
Anyway when we were in the lobby we realized they had a business center so we asked about email. There is NO internet in Myanmar but at this hotel you can send an email for $1.50/KB. No receiving, only sending. I decided it would be worth it to tell the folks I?m ok so Robbie and I split the cost of one email which I sent to my Dad. I asked him in the email to call Robbie?s family in Northern Ireland and tell them he?s ok too. We were very excited to be able to make a connection to home.
~Side note: The government of Myanmar reads (and edits) all of the emails before they are sent out of the country. Almost one month later and my Dad still has not received that email.~
From the hotel we continued to walk around the fort towards Mandalay Hill. As we walked we noticed another lone foreigner up ahead and in another few minutes we caught up to him so we began chatting and walking together. Mike is from Australia and is currently working in Hanoi, Vietnam. Really nice guy. We walked along for a bit and then stopped to have a drink because the heat was slowing all of us down. There we sat for awhile looking in the guidebooks and reading up on some of the sights.
On we walked towards the Hill (I told you it was a far walk!). On the way we heard some live music (drums playing with some singing), so we went over to see what it was about. Apparently some kind of spirit ceremony with a girl dancing and people watching. We didn?t know exactly what it was about and we were the only tourists there so there was no one to ask but it was still very interesting to watch.
So anyway, we FINALLY got to Mandalay Hill at about 3pm. We paid the admission fee and then the 3 of us started the climb up the steps to the top of the 230m high hill, passing all of the various Buddha statues on the way.
The view from the top was nice ? with the Ayeyarwady River on one side and the mountains on the other. By the time we took all the photos and took in the view it was about 5pm and we were trying to decide whether to hang out another 1.5 hours for sunset or just go. Then one of the monks walking around approached us and started to speak English with us and before we knew it we had spent the next 3 hours talking with the monks and some other local guys, way past sunset! The people here are so eager to learn English and they want so much to talk with tourists just to be able to practice their English. It?s so genuine their intentions. This is truly a country that has not been spoiled by tourism YET. We really had the best time just talking and laughing with the monks. It was definitely the highlight of my day, and even one of the highlights of my time in Myanmar. We had such laughs taking group photos and the whole bit.
We were the last people to leave Mandalay Hill in the end. We said goodbye to our new friends, about 10 in all, and took a taxi to a vegetarian restaurant near the hotel. Great food! Chapatti, eggplant dip, egg rolls, veggie curry, fresh fruit ? it was all so good!! What a perfect end to a great day.
Tomorrow Mike is off to Bagan so we said goodbye to him after dinner. Robbie and I may try to rent bicycles and cycle to one of the 4 ancient capitals just outside of Mandalay.
Taking a break at the coffee shop
Our new friends from Mandalay Hill - in the back are Mike, Robbie, and me
Sunset from Mandalay Hill
July 19th, 2002
On the road to Mandalay. Literally. The bus is broken down at the moment, and as I write there are 3 men under the front of the bus trying to fix something while everyone on the bus is sitting, and waiting. Already the bus was 3 HOURS late leaving Kalaw this morning because of a flat tire I think but that was actually not bad because I sat in the guesthouse with Hadas and Mirit talking and hanging out passing the time. The bus finally came at 10:30am and now we?re only 2 hours into a 6-hour journey with a breakdown. Whoever said travelling was fun? Well I think I will be lucky if I get to Mandalay today.
Hadas, Mirit, and I finished our trekking yesterday after another really good day. We had great weather again which we couldn?t believe because a few times some dark clouds came through but they just passed and we had blue skies again.
We walked through the mountains stopping at several more villages on our way back to Kalaw. So pretty the scenery ? green fields all around, teak houses, monks walking about, children smiling, everyone friendly. Really an amazing place. Apparently there are over 350 villages in the mountains in this region so one could easily spend some time walking through here and taking it all in. Still we walked further than we expected yesterday and even though we left early to begin walking at 8:30am, we didn?t get back to Kalaw until after 6:30pm.
Everyone was feeling a bit tired by the end. Just as we were approaching Kalaw, a rainbow appeared in the sky. A perfect end to the trek.
Ok, we thought we had the bus fixed for the second time since we broke down but it appears that we are still stranded . At first they thought it was water so they filled the engine. Nothing. Then I think they thought it was the clutch so they were working on that. Still nothing. It?s not looking good.
Anyway, we got back to Kalaw and went back to the guesthouse hoping to take nice hot showers, but the transformer blew up last night and there was no electricity so we had to settle for the cold. Welcome to Myanmar, all part of the cultural experience.
Many hours later?.
Well you just never know what to expect in a day of travelling. I never thought I would have had the good fortune I had today. The bus was dead, actually I think it died about 20 years ago, but we were stuck on the road to Mandalay ? myself, the other Burmese passengers, and one guy from Ireland, Robbie. After an hour of tinkering with the engine, they finally told everyone to get their things and wait for another bus. Just then a car was coming up the road and I thought what the hell so I put out my thumb (actually the way to hitch-hike here is to put the arm out with palm facing down but you get the picture). It was just as a joke really, I didn?t think anyone in their right mind would stop for a bus load of stranded passengers.
I was wrong. They stopped.
The woman got out of the car, approached me, and said where are you going? I said Mandalay. Well, she said, we have room for 2, as she gestured to Robbie. I said oh, that?s great! And that was it.
Robbie and I threw our bags in the trunk and left the bus and road full of passengers behind. The rest of the 4.5-hour trip was a breeze ? riding in a nice car, ahhh, luxury.
The people who picked us up work for an NGO in Mandalay doing outreach on HIV/AIDS in Myanmar. They spoke perfect English. It was so nice of them to pick us up!
When we arrived in Mandalay they took us to their office and we met the Director and ate some fresh mango. They told us all about their program which helps distribute free condoms to high risk areas in the country. It was very interesting just to see the inside of such a program in Myanmar. After that they took us into town and dropped us off at a guesthouse.
It?s now 10pm and I?m lying in bed in an aircon room which I?m sharing with Robbie and I?m sure that if the NGO people hadn?t picked us up we?d still be trying to get to Mandalay at this very moment. It feels GREAT to be here!
The last stop for this bus
Attempt number two to revive the bus (no signs of life before or after)
July 18th, 2002
