The roads in Mandalay

Travelling in Mandalay is a slow business, however with all the activity 40 kph seemed quite fast on many occasions. You never know what the mix of vehicles and animals may be at any moment. (The road to the airport was the exception with motorway style roadway once out of town and virtually no traffic. The only drawback was the culverts every 200 metres had all subsided which required slowing to 20 kph. Just short of the airport the road changed to 2 way and we realised the motorway went onto an army barracks – so it was not built for travellers in any case!)

One of the last pagodas we visited was The Golden Palace Monastery. It was appropriately named.

Here visitors spent much of their hard earned money on gold leaf and then sticking this on the Buddha.

In the evening we visited the pagoda at the top of Mandalay Hill behind the hotel. The view was extraordinary. At the middle right can be seen part of the 50 metre wide and 1.5 kms square canal surrounding the Mandalay palace.

Mind you the local monks seemed to be more enjoying each other’s company and the ambiance of the pagoda than any view.

As it got dark we had to make our way down to the chaotic taxi “rank” which preceded a rather breath-taking descent as we bounced around the back of the truck while the driver tried to work out which was the brake pedal.

Safely at the bottom we enjoyed the calm of the spectacular pool area to the hotel which was overlooked by the pagoda. Somewhat decadent but the peace was appreciated.

The following day we had an additional stop (at the request of Martin) at the main railway station. Flying may be risky but I suspect it is less hazardous and more predictable than the train. It was packed with people fast asleep in the carriages waiting for something to happen (which wasn’t going to be any time soon as there was not a loco to be seen anywhere). Maintenance issues were readily resolved by just removing the offending part hence the escalators were without treads.

The extent of the use of manual labour was underpinned by the making of gold leaf. This is an extraordinary process with a small piece of gold hammered many times between sheets of a bamboo paper which in turn take 3 years to make. The hammers are pretty heavy. What a way to earn a living – just above breaking rocks. At least they had a constant flow of visitors. 

Some of the other manual work was far more creative. We visited one furniture maker that specialised in carving.

Outside I was struck by the artistry in modelling a large piece of driftwood.

The closer you looked the more details became apparent including dragons, snakes and deer. Months of work.

During one of our pagoda visits a painter was rapidly producing pictures using black paint, a couple of brushes and a razor blade. Most pictures were done in a couple of minutes. Very skilled and cheap, however our house is officially out of wall space.

Further down the road was a silver merchant. Here stories are being hammered onto a silver bowl which has been filled temporarily with pitch so the bowel does not get knocked out of shape. 

The bellows were quite crude (and who knows how old) with the operator pumping the bellows while working the silverware (here braising on the bottom of a pot).

Our final afternoon was spent travelling to the old capital city of Ava. We travelled by a noisy long tail boat.

Once across we had some lunch and then travelled by pony trap to a variety of pagodas. (Not for us the distinctly more modern motor vehicles seen here overtaking.)

Some of the pagodas in this region were very old. The later roof addition to this structure tried to redefine vertical but is slowly succumbing to the lean of its supporting tower (Burma can easily out compete Pisa).

The Royal Palace and fort was very elaborate albeit in need of some TLC. It also appeared to have suffered some damage from the recent earthquake.

The adjoining pagoda in the background was by comparison better maintained.

This was our last day in Burma and the next day we headed for our long flights back.  A wonderful trip which we would recommend to anyone – go for the Pandaw cruise rather than any other as there is more authenticity in the vessel to Burma’s past. We with Sue and Martin have committed to now undertaking a similar cruise on the Mekong in Vietnam. (The only issue is when!) The standout memories were the great friendliness of the people, “shoes off please” and those wonderful sunsets.

The road to Mandalay part 3

We had a second morning at Bagen and our mooring continued to be a busy place. In the background there was a paddle steamer which Martin got up early and toured. 

One aspect that differentiated Bagen from our other stops were the vendors. Helen just seemed to attract them and after two days we succumbed to three shirts for the pricely sum of $13.

The afternoon saw us at a small village called Ohn Ne Kyaung. This oxen was grinding peanut casings to get out the oil.

There was also a joiner making oxen cart wheels. Each wheel takes about a month. Here an axle is being readied for the spokes. A labour of love

 resulting in a work of art.

Elsewhere in the village the children were enthralled to receive some newspapers that had been brought by the crew from Yangon. The girl on the left looked particularly studious for someone so young.

Picking peanuts off the mounds of vegetation that is brought in by the oxencarts is a large but at least a very sociable task. 

Meanwhile the local market were using conventional scales. 

Our next visit was to a wonderful village called Yandabo. They make thousands of terracotta pottery using clay from the riverbank. The turning of pots and beating patterns on them was similar to elsewhere in the world. What was fascinating was firing them. Driftwood is collected from the river and dried out in stockpiles everywhere. The pots (which have been dried in the sun and turned regularly like a bottle of wine) are placed on a layer of timber. Straw and timber is then added together followed by another layer of pots. 

This takes quite a bit of effort (at least 12 days) and eventually the pots are fired for 3 or 4 days. The large furnace has to be monitored regularly throughout the day and night to ensure the 600 odd degrees is maintained.

This is done through holes at the base (which also help to maintain air flow) and viewing the colour of the fire. I had a look – it is definitely hot but as to the temperature..

The village was picturesque with wonderfully shaded streets. Hard to imagine that only a month previous this was all flooded. The pots are only made in the summer and all were being made to order with no spare capacity so it was pretty busy.

Elsewhere in the village they were also bringing in the peanut harvest by oxen cart. Picturesque in the afternoon light.

The village school had reportedly been assisted by our tour guide and we were treated to the school singing a range of songs. Some of the cruise teachers (including Helen) reciprocated with Incy Wincy Spider. I think the children were short changed. 

Our last evening aboard was a treat with the crew putting on a show. A couple dressed up (one as a woman) and the resultant dancing was hilarious.

All too soon we were at Mandalay and moored up in the middle of a very busy riverbank. Getting the mooring lines ashore was a challenge across the partly made bamboo rafts.

Once moored we immediately boarded a coach and spent the day sight-seeing. Our first stop was a silk weaving factory. Workers seemed happy enough but the light was quite a challenge for intricate hand work. The pattern the two girls working on this loom were following is on the pad of paper.

The brochure for the day included an optional sunset cocktails and canapés next to the famous U Bein bridge. Fortunately we visited the 200 year old 1.2 Kilometre teak bridge in the late morning and it was apparent that all the activity would quickly detract from a romantic evening with cocktails. Mind you duck l’orange was a big possibility.

Helen and I set off and walked across what was a fairly rickety bridge. Some of the 984 teak posts probably needed attention but on the whole it was a great testament to the resilience of this timber.

the lake was slowly recovering from the winter floods and the rich soil was immediately being worked as soon as the water level receded.

Temporary restaurants were also being built. Bamboo and palm leaves make a ready and quickly built roof. (Let’s not look too closely at OHS issues here.)

 Even the fishing looked good.

Later in the morning (yes it was an early start) we visited the Mahagandayon monastery where over 1000 monks reside. They have a breakfast at about 5:00 and then hit the road to gather food. The second (and last meal) of the day is at about 11:00 am and large pots are essential to cook rice for such large numbers.

  The dining room was well organised.

The monks queue and slowly make their way into the dining rooms. Some start eating in the main halls and then take the rest of the food back to their more private quarters.

The road to Mandalay part 2

I thought given the nature and location of this trip a map would be appropriate. (I did try and rotate this but the Google rotate key decided not to cooperate.)

The ship often up anchored at 6:00 so that we were at a fresh site to visit by 9:00. We moored at Gwe Chaung fort just downstream of Minhla. Here the oxen were being washed (in some cases reluctantly) prior to hitching up and taking water from the river to the village some 5 Km's away. 

The fort was a short climb and with a great view but was built in the hillside so it was all but invisible to any travelling upstream. Further up on the West bank was a second fort. These were built by the Italians and French as a defence to the British during the 1885 war. The idea was that the attackers would not notice the first fort, sail straight past and then get ambushed from behind. However the Brits found out about the first fort and had a second following fleet to take this out!

The fort was a substantial garrison and included a special tunnel to house the elephants.

In the afternoon we arrived at Magwa and explored the town by Trishaws. The peliton was quite large and like "Le Tour" generated much positive interest from bystanders with constant waves and the occasional high five. 

We travelled up to the Myathalon Pagoda and had a great view of the sunset. "Le Tour" effort was not exactly shared around...



The view of the pagoda from the river on the following day gives an idea of its size and magnificent location.

Close up the sun made some of the details glow.

The bells may all be rung by anyone (well really its hitting with a stick!) 

Our bike ride back was very exciting as my driver decided to race the others. In the half light with headlights beaming towards us overtaking and bouncing around (he had springs to his seat but my side car did not!) again underscored why insurance was compulsory. It got the adrenalin running but it was good to see the ship calmly waiting for us.

The day was rounded off nicely by yet another great dinner on board. This one had a significant difference as it was Helen's birthday (8 Nov) and the crew had arranged for a cake and their quite different version of Happy Birthday.

The following day saw us back on the West bank at a village called Salay at the base of the Tan Kyi Taung mountain. A cement barge was being offloaded in the background.

We travelled by "WW11" jeeps (a bit of imaginative sales talk given the range of Hyundai vehicles) up the mountain to a wonderful hill top Pagoda some 1000 foot above the river. The view went for miles with the winding river underpinning the leisurely pace of the. On the far bank can be seen the area of Bagan where we would spend two days. Here there were over 4000 Stupas, Pagodas and temples (it's a size thing) however many have been lost to earthquakes so numbers are down to some (2500). (There was an earthquake during our visit but we new nothing of this until later (see https://www.google.com.au/search?q=burma+earthquake+2012&hl=en&tbo=u&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4ADRA_enAU480AU480&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=GKixUOf8KO-YmQXNqoHgCA&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=641 for some pictures by others).

 The Stupa on the top was glorious in the late afternoon sun.

Back at Salay the local villagers treated us to an elephant dance which included table top dancing. The dancers were clearly very athletic, as watching in the evening heat was exhausting enough.

The following morning as we crossed back to the East bank we awoke to a completely unexpected site, 7 hot air balloons drifting over a myriad of Stupas and Pagodas. This was Bagen, the Burmese tourist equivalent of Mecca. It would have been quite a sight from the balloons, however they are heavily booked well in advance.

The next day and half was all about "shoes off please" as we visited a range of temples. This one was only viewed from afar and was not maintained. Called the Dhamma-yan it was built by a King who was killed in the Pagoda. As a result no one wants to go near it in case they suffer the same fate. By comparison others (many of which were much less spectacular) are restored as funds are available (it is the way to Nirvana).

The Shwe-zi-gon Pagoda is well maintained and has some wonderful side attractions in addition to the main Stupa.