Beautiful Bagan

Bagan is home to over 2,200 temples that are 1,000 years old! Over the years they have had to endure major earthquakes, bombings during WWII, and looting. We arrived late in the afternoon and went straight to the hotel to check in and get some rest for the next day. We went out to the hotel bar to enjoy the sunset along the river under the massive acacia trees.

Just a 5 minute walk from the hotel was a huge temple and I could not resist getting a close up view our first evening.

The next morning was packed with visits to several old temples and pagodas which we then climbed up in order to get a better view of the area.

Before ending our morning session we stopped by the local market to see what was on offer. We would often see monks carrying around their offering bowls but in the market they had their hands full with most stall owners giving them offerings. 

The women in Myanmar use thanaka - a "cosmetic" on their faces which comes from the bark of a tree. We went to a stall in the local market where they sell the logs. The girl was nice enough to give us a demonstration on how it was made and applied. We were told it provides good protection from sunburn, helps remove and prevent acne and gives you smooth skin.

Boys use it, but it is predominately for girls. Our guide in Mandalay explained that when the kids are young they apply it for them, but when they get older they want to do it themselves. Each girl has her own way how she likes to apply it, there are even stencils to make intricate designs.

The bark like most cosmetics comes in grades and the high quality can get pretty expensive.

Another local specialty is the beetle nut which is wrapped in a leaf with tobacco, and lime juice and chewed. It is often used by drivers who work long hours and need to stay alert. When you chew it your spit turns blood red and it stains your teeth. There were times I would look on the street and think there was a bad  motorbike accident here but quickly realized, no it was just people spitting their beetle nut. Yuck!!

Most of the murals inside the temple were gone but some still show color all of these years later which is pretty impressive.

Our first evening we took a horse carriage ride around. We stopped on a hill to get a better view where we ran into some children selling their home made post cards.

Just before sunset we got to the largest temple that you can climb to the top of for a view, needless to say we were not the first ones there. 

The exteriors of the temples are impressive now, but when they were built they must have been spectacular! Most of the exterior carvings have fallen off showing just the brick below.

Our last night we had a private boat ride on the river to watch the sunset. Like before, as soon as we arrived at the dock we were surrounded by kids asking our names. This one girl was very persistent. Even after we climbed on the boat she climbed onto the neighboring boat to remind me to "have a hard think".

On the river we got to spend some quality time with our guide learning about the way things were and how things were much better now with the country opening up.

Next stop Yangon!

Inle Lake - In a Day

From Mandalay, we flew to Inle Lake. From the airport we drove straight to our private long tail boat.

The lake is locally known for the villagers that live on the water including their local fisherman who stand on one leg on the back of the boat while using the oar with their other leg.. did I mention they were also fishing!?

There are single fisherman that work with bamboo drop traps as well as larger teams who drop nets then beat the water with their oars to scare the fish into the nets.

Our boat took us to the hotel before lunch to check in and drop off our bags. I saw a small sign in the distance and wondered if that is where we were going, but noticed there was some thick vegetation growing all over the path so it must not be it. Guess the driver didn't mind as he just sped up. This is one of the more interesting hotel entrances we have ever experienced in all of our travels. 

Upon check in we found out we were the only guests in the entire hotel - that was definitely a first!

For lunch we went to a restaurant on the water which was nice - the view of the lake was fabulous!

Next door to the restaurant was a cigarette workshop where women handmade local cigar looking cigarettes. The women get paid per bundle of 50 so they really pump these things out fast.

Leaving the restraunt a local kid helped us into the boat and pushed it off for us, we gave him a small tip and his face lit up. Only in South East Asia can such a small tip make someones day, so we did it often.

The next stop was a lotus weaving factory. Having no idea what the guide was talking about we were intrigued. After heading up some small canals off the main lake we arrived, just in time as a cock fight was just starting. I guess someone is having chicken tonight.

At the factory we sat down for a demonstration on how they extract the lotus fibers and weave them into the finished product. Later in the trip you will see me wearing my lotus scarf, which was great to keep the sun off my neck.

This is a family run operation and everyone is involved.

After a bit of shopping we were off to visit some gold leaf Buddha statues... by boat of course!

In Buddhism they apply thin gold leaves to buddha statues and this ritual is very popular in Myanmar. So much so that at one point these gold statues were really Buddha statues, but after years of gold leaf offerings the shape has changed to this.

After this we called it a day and headed back to the hotel.

After breakfast we checked out and were back on the boat, this time taking a canal to some ancient pagodas, but the ride inland was equally as interesting. We passed many locals going down stream to do some shopping in the market.

After a 45 minute boat ride we arrived at our destination, a quaint little village along the canal.

These temples and and stupas were in very bad condition from years of looters and earthquakes. Our guide explained that each of these buildings were constructed by a family and "treasure" was placed inside them so looters have done a great deal of damage "treasure hunting."

At the top of the hill there are more modern stupas. 

Then it was back down hill, back to our boat and finally back to the airport. We could not have imagined we would have seen so much in just a little more than 24 hours!

Dark clouds started to appear and we hauled butt back to the pier. Just as we got off the boat it started to rain, I mean pour. We got very very lucky with the weather! Next stop - Bagan!

Mandalay

Ever since the sanctions were lifted off Myanmar, we had been very interested in visiting the country - particularly before it had become commercialized with Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. This lack of international investment made it very difficult to travel there as only until recently did ATMs start popping up and credit cards became more widely accepted, even at hotels. With these complexities, we decided to use a tour company to help us with the logistics of navigating our trip through several cities, the first of which was Mandalay. 

Our adventure began in the north of the country in Mandalay. Teak comes from this part of the country so many things were made from this hard wood and this monastery was no different. 

The wood allows for some beautiful carvings but unfortunately many of the temples have burned down over the years.

Our first day in Mandalay we learned real quick how to dress in a Buddhist religious site. Shoes off, pants below the knees and no sleeveless tops. This made for some very dirty feet by the end of the day. Men and women also wear a longyi.

At the main pagoda in Mandalay, we were lucky to witness a "novice ceremony" -  where a family sends their kid off to to live with the monks for a period of time. Since it is such an elaborate ordeal with rented clothing, traditional umbrella holders and even photographer and video recorder, many families will do it once for multiple children at the same time or split the cost with another family. After the party, off to shave some heads!

We visited U Bein the worlds longest wooden bridge -  at least what was left of it. It was a shell of its former self with missing guard rails, missing boards, and rotted wood, but it is 150 years old. Needless to say you had to watch every step you took.

Once reaching the half way point, we climbed down and took a boat back to get a closer look at the bridge and the farmers living around the lake. After rainy season, the farmers will leave their villages and farm the fertile once submerged land but leave once the rains come as the water will cover the entire area.

Our guide in Mandalay 

We took another boat ride to Ava which is an island in the middle of the river to see some more sites. At the bank of the river, we picked up a horse cart to take us around the island. Before we could jump in the cart, we were accosted by several kids trying to sell us souvenirs. I made the mistake of telling them my name - then it was used repeatedly! "Philip, Philip you have a hard think, Philip" after I told them I was not interested.



As the cart drove off, one girl jumped on her bike and followed us for quite awhile. Admiring her persistence, we bought a little something.

There were more old teak temples.

 There were also huge stone temples.

We finished the day at a pagoda on Sagaing Hill which offered really nice views of the surrounding areas. While taking pictures, we were stopped by a family who wanted to take some pictures with us. This was the first of many times this happened during our trip as many people had never seen a foreigner in person. This was especially true in some of the more remote regions of the country that we traveled to during our 10 days in Myanmar.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a temple for nuns. This was the first place where we saw so many nuns but with most families sending their children to the monastery at some point growing up, it was not a surprise. The guide said she didn't do it when she was growing up because she didn't want to shave her head. Even though she has since changed her mind and offered to shave her head with her two daughters, they don't want to go since they would have to shave their heads also.

At the airport and off to our next stop, I noticed our boarding passes didn't have our names on them!? I guess it goes with the carnival token thing they attached to the checked bag as a baggage tag.