Thaismiths Travel Abroad: Our Trip To Myanmar

Hsinbyume Pagoda

By Darrel

Loretta and I left Thailand on March 31st and flew to Myanmar (Burma) for a 5-day visit.

Although Myanmar is just to the north of Thailand, it nearly took all day to get from Phuket (located at the south end of Thailand) to Mandalay (located in the northern part of Myanmar). We left home at 7:30 am and, after two flights and a two-hour taxi ride, we arrived at our hotel at 7:00 pm.

The trip from the airport to our hotel reminded us of a number of underdeveloped areas we have visited during our previous journeys while living on CanKata. We noticed very few cars with an overabundance of motorcycles which seemed to be in quite rough condition. The main road was very rough but this may have been due to road construction to widen the road. The buildings and homes adjacent to the road were quite shabby. But again, we could see a number of sites which seemed to have been cleared and excavated for new buildings. Seeing these changes reconfirmed our timing for this trip. We wanted to see Myanmar before the changes occurred. Now that Myanmar has opened its boarders for tourism we know it will only be a matter of time before McDonalds plants their golden arches.

Because our visit was for only a few days, we booked 2 tours through Expedia.

April 1

We did a half-day tour to a nearby village of Mingun which we got to by boat. Getting on and off the boat was not real easy. To board, we had to walk down a very steep and slippery sandy/clay slope and then walk across a 14-foot plank (10-inch wide) and cross from one boat to the next until we reached our boat. After an hour cruise up river we landed at Mingun. One of the two boat crew threw a stake (small fence post) and a large wooden mallet to a man standing on the shore who proceeded to pound the stake in the sandy shore which they then tied the boat to. The same 14-foot plank was then spanned across the gap and a bamboo pole was held by one man at each end to serve as a handrail.

Taxi

We walked along the clay paths and roads a short distance to where we saw the massive Mingun Bell, the Hsinbyume Paya pagoda and one of the world's largest Buddhist shrines - Mingun Paya. They were all remarkable sights and well worth the adventure to get here. Little did we know that April 1st is Myanmar's New Year’s Day so we were not alone during our visits to the sites.

Mingun Paya

A colourful market

Laundry day

Entrance to Hsinbyume Pagoda

Local transportation

Striking the Mingun Bell (cast in 1808)

90 tons (55555 Burmese units)

He had a rough night.

A great way to end the day.

April 2

Our second tour was a full day tour starting at 8:30 am until we were dropped off at the hotel at 7:30 pm. The tour took us to three different locations; Amarapura, Ava, and Sagaing.

Weaving silk.

Our tour included a visit to Mahagandayon which is a famous Buddhist monastery home to more than 1000 monks. Then we went to the Nan Myint Tower, the Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery and the Bargayar Monastery.

Laundry day.

Ready to serve lunch to the monks.

Cooking rice.

The rice is ready.

Getting explanations and translations from our guide.

The procession of monks heading for lunch.

Still being used!

Waiting to do the cleanup after lunch.

Another colourful market.

We came across of procession heading to a monastery.

In Myanmar, children are often sent to spend time
in a monastery as part of their childhood.

We toured a silversmith's shop.

Making clay pots.

An impressive temple.

Plenty of spots to donate money to "make merit".

The tour included a car ride, boat ride, and a fairly long horse-drawn cart ride. We had a great lunch at a restaurant which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere but was very good with local fare.

A very lush countryside.

Our path to the boat.

This ride across bumpy roads was not at all comfortable.

The tour ended at the famous U Bein Bridge (a 200+ year-old pedestrian bridge made of teak) with a spectacular sunset.

It was not until today that I noticed our driver was operating the car on the right side whereas he was driving on the right side of the road. He explained that they used to drive on the left side of the road but somewhere along the way they changed the law but many, if not most, cars are still right-handed. I also noticed that most intersections are without lights and stop signs. Sometimes our driver would yield to someone coming from the right and at other times he would yield to one coming from the left. I asked what the law says. He replied he was not aware of the law, you just have to have an "understanding".

April 3

This was our free day to explore the city of Mandalay. We were going to just hoof around ourselves, or use the bicycles provided by the hotel. But after having spent two days here in the 40-degree heat, and the very dry (27% humidity) and extremely dusty conditions, we decided to hire a driver for the day. Also I should mention that walking, not to mention riding or driving, is very difficult here. For us to walk to a restaurant about four blocks away from our hotel was difficult because, if there were sidewalks, they were usually blocked with bikes, tradespeople working, tables and chairs, etc. So we had to walk along the edge of the road with the cars and bikes weaving around us. Similar to Indonesia, everybody often honks their horn to warn you that they are bigger than you are.

So today we hired a driver for a tenth of the price we paid for the previous day's guided tour. The driver and car were okay but when we got in the car we must have woken up a hundred sleeping mosquitos. After stopping and opening up the windows and doors and swatting many of them out of the car, the remaining mosquitoes were more manageable to deal with.

Time out.

We visited a gold leaf factory and found it extremely interesting. They start with a small block of pure gold and after hammering it with a heavy metal mallet for something like seven hours, they then apply the very thin leaf of gold onto a piece of bamboo paper. The same factory also made their own bamboo paper.

We visited another monastery and the royal palace which is now home to the military. After the best meal we had here (wild hog curry and bamboo salad) we then went to another monastery and then to Mandalay Hill to again see a spectacular sunset, which was especially spectacular due to the dust in the air.