The Road to Mandalay

2015 Dec-2016 Jan

“O the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay !”

Kipling

Myanmar had been on our radar for a long time, particularly since encountering beautiful embroidered fabrics from Myanmar in our travels. 

We were in Malaysia at the end of 2015 and decided to make a trip to the country after finishing our business there. In this year the elections resulted in a landslide for Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD, giving us the sense that the country would start leaving behind the difficult times of the previous  half century, which had always raised questions about whether it would be appropriate to visit.

So, we flew to Yangon, connecting in Bangkok, where we had thought to store some luggage while we were in Myanmar, since we would be returning to Bangkok to fly back to Europe before returning home, and that this would allow us to reduce to no more than a daypack each. However, we found that the luggage storage fees would be over USD 4000 and decided to take everything with us (we had only hand luggage anyway).

We continued to Yangon where we stayed for a few days, visiting the famous Shwe Dagon temple early in our stay. 

We had tea in the Strand Hotel, on the riverbank, a well-maintained remnant of colonial times. More pagodas followed: the Sule Pagoda, Bohtahtaung Pagoda, the Shwe Phone Pwint Pagoda, and the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, as well as the Reclining Buddha. The Bogyoke Market was our destination more than once, and there we found some of the beautiful fabrics we had sought. 

We dined at the strange Karaweik Palace, where a culture show gave some insight into dance and dress. 

From Yangon we flew to Bagan, via Mandalay; the experience reminding us of air travel in the sixties, with flight departure announced by a gentlemen walking around the departure hall with a sign on a stick. Checking in for a specific airline turned out to be odd, since the flights were actually operated by other airlines, it seemed, apparently in an informal cooperative process. The flights were short and comfortable, and were a “first” for us, in that this was the first time we could recall Christmas decorations in an aircraft. 

Bagan has some temples/stupas: no one seems to know exactly how many, however one source claims that there are more than 2,200. From any high point in the plain it’s possible to see hundreds of them, mostly very similar however with subtle variations, and with some having distinctive forms. The main temples, such as Buledi temple, are visited by numbers of tourists, not overrun, but certainly more crowded than the vast majority, we walked through the countryside, far from Old Bagan town and then tourist focal points, and were alone for most of the time. 

We also rented electric bikes to wander further, and this was a good way to explore; we also took a boat upriver river one afternoon.

On another day we took a car to Mount Popa, enyoying the opportunity to appreciate the countryside as well as the various businesses operating on the road. We then took a car, with our driver Ka Au, to Inle Lake, experiencing the unusual nature of Myanmar’s roads – hardly any vehicle traffic – which is just as well since the roads are almost all only 1-1/2 lanes wide. This took us through rural country, with crops being raised and harvested in traditional manner, then only machinery involved being the occasional “Chinese Buffalo” – a chassis with an engine and nothing much else. 

At Inle Lake we stayed at a very restful hotel on the water’s edge, taking boats to visit the local markets, and to make our way one early morning before dawn to the opposite shore to take a balloon over the Lake to the village of Nyaung Shwe. The flight was a marvellous way to see fishing villagers and their residents as we cruised above the water in the rising sun. 

The markets were a rich opportunity to gain insight into local life. 

At one of the markets we met the Kayan people (the “long-necked people”), comfortable in their beauty. 

From Inle Lake we continued with Ka Au to Mandalay, through green hills,  passing on the way 'heavy traffic"...

... and the hilltop temple at Main Ma Ye' Tha-Khin-Ma Mountain. 

Mandalay itself proved to be rich in opportunities to wander around, finding Kachin textiles, people beating gold at the side of the street, the Mandalay Royal Palace and Shwenandaw Kyaung Royal Monastery. We went to see the U Bein bridge, which was in use principally by the local people simply to get from one side of the water to the other, although there were some tourists as well.   

Christmas celebrations were assisted by the presence of the festive elephant, as you can see. 

On leaving for the airport we found what at first appeared to be most unusual in Myanmar – a four lane expressway, however it soon became apparent that the reason it was deserted was because the surface was terrible – it looked fine from a distance but was so uneven that the maximum speed possible was 40 Km/h!

Myanmar proved to be a wonderful destination, rich in its people, fabrics, green hills, and tranquillity. 

Abrazos

Alan and Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com