Day 3-5 Yangon to Bagan
Our flight from Yangon to Bagan was easy. Domestic flights
in Myanmar are very relaxed—just show up, put your bags through a very old
x-ray machine, give them your name (no passports needed), get a colored sticker
to put on your shirt and hop on board.
The plane was new, though, and the one hour flight had four flight
attendants and served a cold breakfast.
Checking into the Thiripatiyasa Sanctuary Resort was a real
hoot—they put us in a river view suite overlooking the Irrawaddy River, and in
the living area there is big carved plaque that says “His Excellency Sandech Hun
Sen, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia stayed in the room November
11, 2003. As representatives of the Kingdom of Binder, we are most pleased!
The resort is truly lovely—it reminds us of the Furama at
China Beach in Vietnam. We would love to
stay longer, but things are booked on down the line.
Bagan (pronounced buh-GAHN—we have given up trying to
pronounce the name of the hotel), is an ancient area once filled with 4000+
pagodas, temples and shrines of all sizes. Earthquakes (1975, 1993) and age
have cut it down to 2000+, but still. It’s amazing! Nyi Nyi has taken us
through many, all the while instructing us on the basic tenets of Buddhism—we
are finally getting it, sort of. One thing we especially like is that young
boys traditionally all become novices at a monastery at least one point. They
learn the teachings of kindness, how to meditate and appreciate all life---like
that. Everywhere you see young boys in
monks robes of various colors (often carrying soccer balls, though). The girls
seem to go right into household apprenticeship.
It’s been a long, long time since there was a strong higher
educational system and sense of intellectual freedom here. Censorship is just
beginning to relax—and there is now a huge sidewalk/street market, especially
in Yangon, of books of all types—all used and most very battered. Nyi Nyi was
very proud of this ability to buy any book he wanted and ended up buying a
novel and a history of the world as we passed a vendor.
Nyi Nyi often talks about the military (the generals, he
says) and loves telling jokes. Here is one for the dentists. It is very sad that dentists are among the
very poorest of professionals in Myanmar. Why? We are not allowed to open our
mouths to speak. How can a dentist get any work done? Another one mentions how the tsunami in 2006
didn’t hit the Myanmar coast because the generals stood on the beach and told
it to go away—just ask them they will tell you.
The two “must-do” activities in Bagan are to climb one of
the very, very steep pagodas and watch the sun set over the pagodas, and then
also get up long before dawn to take a hot air balloon ride over the pagodas
and watch the rise. We did both and can say that they were each worth every
moment of effort.
Sunset over Bagan
Sunrise ballooning the very next morning.
As pooped as were this morning after ballooning, Nyi Nyi convinced us to take a 1 ½ hour ride up to Mount Popa, where there is a shrine built on the very top of a sheer rock precipice. The idea is to climb the 778 steps to the top, admire the view and (of course) bring an offering to Buddha and/or one the subsidiary spirits.
Then walk down. I announced that I absolutely would NOT make it to the top, but would start out. Soon it became apparent that there were young mothers carrying babies, old men (really old men), old women crippled with arthritis, young couples, little kids—all carrying some sort of offering like flowers or fruits. All, of course, barefoot. All making the climb while chatting and laughing.
Long story short Bud and I both made it to the top and down.
We came home to a late lunch on the terrace, collapsed by the pool, then went
to the room for ibuprofen and hot soaking tubs filled with special bamboo oil
for restoring muscles.
At the time, it seemed totally worth it. Seeing the devotion of
virtually an entire population is amazing. Now it is two days later and I am a lame old crone, grumbling and limping.
We have met two sisters, Diana and Julia, from London who
are traveling independently, like us and seem to have the same itinerary, at
least for a bit.
In the morning we’ll head for the 3-day cruise on the
Irrawaddy River, Bagan up to Mandalay
and we’ll all be on the RV Paukan, a Burmese river boat that is much more local
than the big A & K one.
I am posting this from Mandalay...having just had my first ever Thai massage to ease my legs cramps and limping. Wait til you hear (and see the pix of) what happened to us on the cruise--try running aground, being stranded in the middle of the river overnight, then having the rescue boat fail to show up--a dead battery. Fun!!
I am posting this from Mandalay...having just had my first ever Thai massage to ease my legs cramps and limping. Wait til you hear (and see the pix of) what happened to us on the cruise--try running aground, being stranded in the middle of the river overnight, then having the rescue boat fail to show up--a dead battery. Fun!!