Steintore
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Steintore
Tue, 11.02.2014: Mandalay −> Bagan, sunny, 34°C
Our alarm went off at 5-25am this morning, finished our packing and got into a taxi to get to the ferry boat. It was still dark as we went on board and there were at least 20 others already on board and had taken the best seats!
We were quite happy to get the padded formula one racing seats under cover. We would be going down the Irrawaddy River all the way from Mandalay to Bagan, a journey that would take 10 hours and 40 minutes. It would have been at least an hour shorter but we broke down twice within the first hour - the dynamo had to be fixed whilst we drifted!! We were wondering whether we would make it!
We had been given a packed breakfast from the hotel and were given another one on the boat - there are only so many boiled eggs and bananas we can eat but at least we wouldn't go hungry. Unfortunately there were only sachets of three-in-one tea or coffee on the boat. This is quite normal in Myanmar - the tea and coffee are already mixed with powered milk and sugar in a sachet. So I went hunting for our own stash of tea bags and sugar as we drink it black. We even gave one of our tea bags to a French woman who wasn't too keen on the sachets.
Our lunch was prepared on the boat and we had chicken noodle (Kirsten) and chicken rice (me). The boat trip was very relaxing as one of the photos proves! I even got out the computer to write some of the website. We had some difficulty with a sand bank later and finally arrived in Bagan at 5-20pm.
Then it was on to the next adventure - a steep climb up a sand dune once off the boat and then a horse and cart ride to our hotel. It was very novel going through the Old Bagan but then we hit the pot holes on the tarmac road and later travelled along sand tracks that were extremely dusty due to the number of mopeds and motorcycles overtaking us!
Our horse's name was Nanda and she must have been quite old because she kept tripping so it got quite rocky in the back! The ride was over an hour - which we hadn't expected and we watched the sun going down along the way. There were a huge number of tourists at one of the pagodas we passed which must be a favourite spot for sunset.
Boat trip from Mandalay to Bagan.
It was just getting dark as we arrived at the Lawkanat Hotel in New Bagan where we had a large room that was obviously new, with a TV, clean bathroom, fridge, free 2 litres of water and pristine sheets. Wow - we love Myanmar!
By the time we had had showers, done some washing, and written on the computer, it was time for bed at 11pm.
Wed, 12.02.2014: Bagan, sunny, 34°C
In a 230 year building frenzy up until 1287 when the Mongols invaded, Bagan's Kings commissioned over 4,000 Buddhist temples. It is a temple-studded plain and Marco Polo, who may or may not have visited on his travels, described Bagan as "one of the finest sights in the world".
Despite centuries of neglect, looting, erosion, regular earthquakes (a massive one in 1975), not to mention questionable restoration techniques that compromised the archaeology and left some temples bearing little relation to the original, it is still an impressive sight with anywhere between 2000 and 3300 temples to see, depending on which guide you are listening to!
We would be here for two days and the main temple day would be tomorrow, when I would be armed with my temple kit - beach shoes I can slip in and out of plus wet wipes to clean my feet after each barefoot visit. (It's important to have the right footwear for visiting temples even if you can only go inside barefoot!! This is probably my British logic coming to the fore!)
Today, we started off with a visit to a palm sugar distillery where palm sugar is distilled into alcohol and also made into palm sugar toffee which is believed to account for the high occurrence of diabetes in Myanmar. The same village grow peanuts which are ground into oil by bullocks walking round in circles to operate the grinder.
We also got our faces painted the way all the Burmese women are - using ground bark from the Thanakha tree mixed with water and then finger painted on the skin to keep it soft. They use it three times a day, every day. It obviously works because they have very few wrinkles! Unfortunately, just one application wasn't going to get rid of mine!
Our guide for the two days was Chu Chu, also pronounced Sho Sho or Shoo Shoo - we didn't really work out the correct pronunciation. She was very difficult to understand but then how can we complain when her English is far better than our Burmese which, up to now, consisted of only two words - hello and thank you!
The miss understandings were quite comical. The first one was when she kept saying 'Dirty Palms' - she was referring to the trees not grubby hands! So, eventually, we asked her to spell 'dirty' which became 'Doddy' so we thought it was a type of palm tree that we had never heard of. It turned out to be 'Toddy Palms' and quite possibly the reason we say 'Hot Toddy' because of the alcohol from the distilled palm sugar.
Another example was when we asked about a carved bird in a wooden door and wanted to know what type of bird it was. Her answer was "Tiku" so we thought it was a Tiku bird until Cynthia worked out that she was saying "Teak wood" not Tiku and had thought we were asking what kind of wood the door was! None of us will forget the Tiku bird!
Meanwhile back at the distillery village, we were given some tasters including the peanut cake - what's left of the peanuts after being crushed for their oil and used as bullock feed (!!) - and tea leaves mixed with various things. The one mixed with chilli was too hot even for Cynthia, whose delayed reaction was really funny!
We took photos of a local woman carrying two baskets on a stick across the back of her shoulders. One basket contained firewood, the other, her two year old son! Her 5 year old had to walk! Their names were the days of the week they were born on. So my Burmese name is "Sa Sa Sassenya" (Tuesday) and Kirsten's (Sunday) is "Ahh Ooh " with emphasis on the "Ooh"!!! (We've just doubled our word collection!)
Toddy Palm juice.
Next up was Mount Popa, a volcanic plug that came up in 442 BC. And a big 'up' it was too! 777 steps to get to the top and see the pagoda built in 1950. We were only allowed to keep our shoes on for the first part which was like walking through a bazaar - stalls selling all kinds of trinkets and everyone asking for donations or money for cleaning because they had a brush in their hands which they waved in the general direction of the steps without doing any cleaning!
Our guide only managed the first few steps but Kelvin, who thought we were with the guide, met us on the way down and gave us drinking water, bags containing bananas, a tangerine and a wagon wheel type biscuit, plus wet wipes for our feet. He really is looking after us!
After Mount Popa we went to Min Nanta village to see the 13th Century 'four entrance' pagoda with a gold painted Buddha at each side and original gold paintings on the walls and ceilings, and then into the village where people live in bamboo huts.
Some people from the Shan district (Inle Lake and north), have hired part of the village to sell their silverware to the tourists. There was also coral shell jewellery, weaving, cigar making (big fat cigars wrapped in corn leaves), and photo frames and other items made out of bamboo.
We also saw Grandma spindling cotton whilst at the same time pulling a string that rocked grandson who was sleeping in his rocking cot!
Mount Popa & Village.
After a 1.5 hour break back at the hotel we went to see a lacquer factory where we learned all about the process of making lacquer products which is quite long and involved.
Lacquer comes from the sap of lacquer trees from the Shan district of Myanmar. They make bamboo and teak lacquered products. One plate takes 3 months to make because after each application of lacquer, it needs to dry for a week. Even a plate will be lacquered at least 10 times - pure lacquer, then 2 layers of a lacquer and sawdust mix, 3 layers of lacquer and animal bone ash mix, and finally pure lacquer.
Then it needs to be etched, painted and may also have gold leaf inserted into the design. We went into the shop and even a small toothpick holder cost $20! All was not lost though because Kirsten got a free bamboo bracelet and had her camera bag painted. Now that was really cool!
Lacquer factory.
An hour long boat trip along the Irrawaddy River to see a red sunset completed our day.
Sunset Tour.
Thu, 13.02.2014: Bagan, sunny, 34°C
Pagoda Day!
1. Shwe San Daw Pagoda - means 'Golden holy hair' from the 13th century. Huge steps to climb up - obviously not made for little legs! Great view over the area and lots of hot air balloons ($600). In what looked like a ruin next door, we were surprised to find a huge lying Buddha that was so big we couldn't get proper photos!
2. Ma Nu Ha - 4 giant Buddhas. We saw another procession of children becoming monks and nuns.
3. Nan Paya
4. That Byin Nyu temple
5. Shwe Gu Gyi - sitting Buddhas.
6. The name sounded like 'Kartofflee' temple - 15th Century teak door (famous for the Tiku bird, see yesterday's report). The bird in question is a mythical bird.
7. Ananda Monastery built in the 11th Century and with 17th century paintings.
8. Ananda Temple - 4 Buddhas, 2 of which were damaged during the 1975 earthquake and restored.
9. Back to the hotel for lunch and a few hours break.
10. Dhamma Yan Gyi Pahto - the brickwork was done by monks who had their fingers chopped off if even a needle could fit between the bricks!
11. Su La Ma Ni Pahto - 12th and 19th century paintings.
12. Dhamma Yazaka Zedi - huge crowds there for the sunset. The sun disappeared behind a cloud of dust kicked up by stampeding cows!
Bagan Pagodas.
Only another few thousand temples to go!!!! Just kidding! Straight after sunset, we drove to a restaurant for a meal and a puppet show. Kirsten had the Chinese chicken and I enjoyed the Burmese chicken with potatoes. We were also served lentil soup, tomato salad and fried mixed vegetables.
The show draws the crowds in and there were over a hundred diners. Somehow Kelvin had managed to get us a table right in front of the stage. Maybe it had been left because of the screeching oboe type instrument that offended my musical ears at the beginning of the show!
The live band were playing traditional music to accompany a puppet show, a group of 6 female dancers who performed 6 different dances, a male dancer, an elephant dancing to Techno music (!!!), a sabre dance and some acrobatic tigers.
I really enjoyed the show but two large groups of diners got up and left half way through. Maybe they were on a tight schedule. A pity, because they missed the best parts.
There was an introduction in English before each performance telling us what it was. Kirsten thought the final performance was announced as the national anthem but Kelvin corrected her and said it was the umbrella dance. True enough, the ladies came on stage with parasols!
Puppet Show.
Another good day which ended with us trying to locate an annoying mosquito in our room and having to switch on the air con in the middle of the night.
