Shaken, not Stirred
Amarapura, Myanmar
March 13, 2009
OK. This will be a long one, so grab a rye and coke with lots of ice or an iced tea with lots of ice on our behalves (we miss little things like a frosty beverage with ice).
I bet you are expecting a story about a James Bond type adventure or martinis at the very least... not such luck. We are referring to our cab ride around the Mandalay area.
We slept in until 8am. Bill is still throwing back the Imodium (he is so delicate) and not feeling 100%. We dropped our laundry at the front desk and will be able to get it back the next
morning. We had breakfast at the hotel and they have arranged a taxi to the river for us
.
We met Mohammad at 9am for our tour of three towns outside of Mandalay for $25 US. Our first stop was Sun Far travel agency to change some US dollars into Kyat. Our driver took us down a
nearby side street where there were snake and leopard skins for sale. We stopped at the less harmless gold leaf store for a demonstration.
Gold leaf is a very labour intensive process. First a hand machine is used to make strips of gold leaf. Then men use sledge hammers and deer skin to pound the gold leaf into thinner pieces. It goes through this process three times, the first time is 1 hour and in total the process is 6 1/2 hours for a piece that is 3x3. After that, ladies place the pieces in squares between rice paper.
Gold leaf can be taken with medicine, put on your face for decoration (she placed a small amount on our hands with water), or on Buddha statues for an offering
Theresa Negotiating with the Necklace People
. We bought a small amount to place on a Buddha.
Our driver stopped at Muhamuni Paya on the SE edge of Mandalay. The buildings are gold and redt and was originally built by Kind Bodawpaya in 1784. The original shrine was destroyed by fire in 1884, this one was rebuilt more recently.
The main Buddha is believed to be from the 1st century AD. It is 4m high, cast in bronze and is an image of a seated Buddha. Over the years many men (women not permitted) have covered the
figure in gold leaf (at least 15 cm). We were able to see many women outside and many men applying more gold leaf inside.
There are also 6 (3 lions, 2 Hindu gods Shiva, 1 three-head elephant god Airavata) bronze Khmer figures that were brought back from Rakhaing along with the Mahamuni Buddha
. One lady coaxed me over to rub one of the lions for luck. While doing so she attached a lucky owl to my camera so that I was obliged to make a donation.
In the stalls leading to the Paya we could have purchased porcelain statues, gold umbrellas, gold roosters, or bronze bells (gongs).
As we drove out of town we passed through the statue making area. The craftsmen and women are creating religious statues from marble to be shipped to China.
The first town we visited was Amarapura - 11 Km south of Mandalay which is famous for the U Bein or U Pain teak bridge. We are going to come back this way and end our tour here. Amarpura means "City of Immortality". It was the capital beginning in 1783, for 50 years, prior to Mandalay.
We stopped at Maha Ganayon Kyaung, a monastery for several thousand monks
Walking on the U Pain's bridge
. We were there to watch them line-up with their bowls for a meal. When they sat down they chanted a prayer and then ate silently. It was a pretty neat site. It would have been better without the 20 or so other
tourists, but what can you expect. They are doing the same as we are.
We were able to get out of there ahead of the crowd and went to a nearby Paya that was attached to the monastery. There was a reclining Buddha, a seated Buddha and many statues. Some of the statues were of seated monks that I initially thought were real.
We then stopped at a silk factory. The threads were on looms that were manually operated by men and women with their feet. They had a pattern hanging up to follow and they would have to weave in the correct colour thread accordingly. It was pretty neat and looked like a long and
complex process
.
We stopped just before crossing the new bridge (2005) over Ayeyarwady River. The old bridge Ava was built by the British in 1934. In 1942 2 spans were destroyed by the British to deny passage to the advancing Japanese. It was repaired in 1954. We were able to take photos of the river and of Sagaing. We climbed up the Paya to get a better look.
When we returned to the taxi, I asked if there would be anywhere to use a toilet in the near future. He hopped out and went to ask someone. The nearby nursery (daycare) was kind enough to allow me. She even cleaned it up a bit for me. When I was exiting, she motioned me into the building. She had lined the 15 - 20 children up to sing 3 songs for me. One was "hello, how are you?" to the tune of a French song we learned in grade school, another was "I love you" and a third was Mingala-bar" (greeting meaning it's a blessing). I was completely thrilled! They were 3 to 5 years old and the most beautiful children that you have EVER seen. I am so disappointed that I did not have my camera with me, but I think their faces will stay with me forever. Heidi - you are right,
these children are priceless! That is one of the best things that has happened on this trip so far!
In Sagaing we climbed Sagaing Hill for a view of over 500 stupas, the river and Mandalay (too overcast to see Mandalay). Bill was a bit winded on this climb and we made several stops on the way up. At one point we spoke with a young monk, who spoke English very well. My calves were screaming a bit from our climb yesterday, so I was more than happy to take some breaks too.
Our next stop in Sagaing was the silver making shop. There are two methods for making silver pots. If you are making one that has a pattern with people you need to use a hammer and a pointed awl. You hit the end of the awl with the hammer and the point makes an impression on
the inside of the bowl to form and image on the outside. This step needs to be repeated 3 times.
If the bowl has a floral pattern the bowl is filled with wax (or sap) from a tree and the image is created using a hammer and a small chisel. This process is repeated twice.
Then the bowl is washed with water mixed with a type of fruit that makes suds. It is brushed and rubbed with beads that turns the bowl from white to a silver shine. It would take 2 men one month to create a large bowl (like the size you would use for a dinner party for a vegetable dish).
In the shop I purchased a necklace, matching earrings and a bracelet with charms for $35 US (bartered from $48).
I did not go into the next Paya. Bill went into Hsinmyashin Paya (the one with many elephants) to take a picture. He did this to avoid jotting down some notes as to what we had already done that day!
The next town was the ancient city Inwa (Ava). It had been the Burmese capital for over 400 years (1364-1841).
Well, let me tell ya. That was a scene! Bill and I were MOBBED by little kids trying to sell jade necklaces. I did not expect that at all! Bill was surrounded by 4 and I was surrounded by 6. Honestly, they had me pinned between some plants, the taxi and a bike. One of the girls had asked me my name, so they were all shouting my name and sticking necklaces out to me. somehow my name morphed from Re-Sa to Louisa by the end of it. I was a sucker and bought 4 from 4 different girls/ladies. I was able to disentangle myself and start making my way to the boat dock. They all followed and made me promise to think about buying more upon my return. WOW!
The ride across the water was less than a minute and then we were whisked around the island by a man with a horse (pony) and cart at a good, but bumpy pace. We thought the taxi ride today was bumpy, this was worse!
Bagaya Kyaung (teak monastery) built in 1834. Before we entered two ladies tackled Bill and were able to sell him a coke. Bill was very thrilled with this monastery. He asked the monk if we could take a picture of the class in progress and he obliged. We had heard them singing indoors while we were wandering around the perimeter.
The next stop on our tour of the island was a Paya in ruins that is not mentioned in the guide book. It was a small site, but very neat. Very little plaster remained and you could see the bricks that formed the foundation. Bill liked this one very much too.
The watch tower was the next stop. It had been damaged in an earthquake in 1838, which is why it is tilted like the leaning tower of Pisa. The girls who climbed the tower with us and wanted us to buy postcards or bells told us that the abadoned hole in the ground nearby had been the pool of a princess.
Another site was the abandoned monastery - Mahaungmye Bonzan. It is a brick and stucco monastery had been commissioned by the chief queen in 1822. We had two more sales people walk with us around the site. Our female guide was kind enough to offer to show me to the toilet. I had to put on some borrowed sandals (as I had removed my shoes) to use the facilities. They were wet (from the floor with water, I did not pee on them) and when I stepped onto the stone outside, I slipped. Good thing I did not fall because we were on a bit of an incline and I would have slid in the dirt and rocks for a bit!
We bumped into some children playing. They came up to us and asked for stylos (pens), hair clips, candy and earrings. They wanted the hair clips in my head and the earrings I was wearing. They were not pleased when I did not offer them up.
The two guides (young guy, 18 and the young married lady) were helpful at pointing out some spots to look at and take pictures. At the end of the tour I did not buy anything from them, but gave them some money for the tour. They seemed a bit disappointed...
Everyone on this island is going for the hard sell. We were harassed to buy necklaces, statues, paintings, water, coke, postcards, bells,... (no bartering either). I think the tourists have already corrupted this place. It is a bit sad.
We went back to the dock and the children we ready to greet us with jade necklaces again. I was able to distract them by asking them their ages (7 - 12) and about school (currently on break). We were able to get safely back into the taxi without buying some more!
We looped back to U Bein's or U Pain's bridge. It is a 1.2 Km long teak bridge (largest spanning teak bridge in the world) that goes across Taung Thaman Lake. It was built with over 1,060 posts, over 200 years ago, back before hand rails were required. The local people cross it with the bikes to and from work. Monks cross the bridge to go to nearby monasteries.
We walked across and down to a lakeside cafe. We ordered water and our first Myanmar beer along with tempura (fried) corn and another vegetable (gourd perhaps). It is like the tempura snap peas and asparagus at the Keg. It was a nice rest, a good snack and a great beverage. It was neat to see the farmers herd their cattle from the island below the bridge back to mainland. We learned that cows can swim!
On our walk back across we also saw men herding geese back to their cages. We even had some cross in front of the taxi on our way back to Mandalay.
For the first time on our trip we were approached by someone to pose in a picture. A monk asked us to pose with three girls. It was pretty funny. Then when we returned to the cab, Mohammad took a picture of us too!
We arrived back at the hotel after 6 pm. It has been a long day!
At 8:00 the brothers took us via trishaw to the marionette show. It had been a very popular form of entertainment for royalty. Before the show I thought I would like to buy one (a good size one was $7). After the show, I did not really care to buy one. We were glad that we had supported a cultural tradition, but it is not an experience that we need to repeat. I think Julie Andrews did a better job in the Sound of Music!
The brothers took us to a restaurant nearby - The Green Elephant. I ordered lentil soup and curry beef. Bill ordered curry lamb. They brought out a large bowl of soup which could have been a meal for us both. Bill did not want any, so I had too much and then too much beef and lamb too. It was good though!
The brothers took us home. It was a late night for them, they usually are done at 8 and it was after 10.