Yangon and the Golden Rock

Next up, we headed south to Yangon. It is the largest city in the country and the commercial capital. The city is a mix between old and new, but more the former with a telegraph office still in active operation. The main site to see in Yangon is the Shwedagon Pagoda. 

Being one of two of the holiest Buddhist sites in Myanmar, it gets a lot of pilgrims and being the full moon holiday, it was very busy when we visited.

The next morning we got up early and started our 4 hour drive through the country side toward the Golden Rock base camp. When we arrived at the base camp, it was PACKED with pilgrims that were going to see the rock and spend the night. All the trucks were full, but the driver moved some passengers around and our guide paid for another seat so we would be slightly more comfortable. It was miserable as is so I can't imagine what it would have been like without the extra "space." The 45 minute ride to the summit wasn't boring, that's for sure - lots of twists and turns. Others we had met had described the truck ride up to the summit as a roller coaster and it sure did live up to expectations.


We safely made it to the top, but at times I had my doubts... After checking in to our hotel we headed to the Golden Rock. The place was packed full of pilgrims! Some were sleeping  others were eating. Our guide explained that they would camp out over night in the open air. This is a pilgrimage that all Burmese Buddhist try to undertake at least one time in their lives - needless to say some have been traveling for a long time to get there.

Since many of the pilgrims were from very small villages they have never seen a white person in the flesh and wanted to take pictures with us, we got stopped a few times but Melissa was especially popular.

After the sunset we headed back to the hotel but the people kept on coming!

Our hotel room provided views of a stunning sunrise from above the clouds!

We got an early start to catch a truck but the trucks were already full and the lines were especially long. Luckily our guide found a tour guide friend who rented the entire truck for his Thai tour group and he let us hop on.

The way down hill was a bit easier as we had more space and knew what to expect, but I was still relieved when we finally made it back down the hill. 

Our guide with our new Thai friends.

On the way back to Yangon we stopped a large reclining Buddha. After the long drive back to Yangon, we were ready to head back to Hong Kong. The next morning we caught a 8am flight and arrived in Hong Kong at 7:45pm. The following morning we were on a 10:20 am flight to NYC, finally some time to sleep!

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!