2/8/2020
Mandalay is a bustling city of 1.8 million unlike its rural sister, Bagan, of 800k. There is a beautiful 8 yr old 4 lane highway outside of the city that runs from Mandalay to Yangon for 370 miles.
It is Monday and there was not much traffic on our morning drive on this new road to the airport today except for one tall man walking in the left lane and a dog or two. Our guide felt the man was an unusual sight and "just a crazy guy." The dog was probably common. Today, Monday, we are headed to Inlay or as the locals say it "Inle" Lake near the town of Heho.
As I sit at the airport this bit of a break in the action gives me a moment to reflect on the past two days. That is why I have it titled "Saturday."
Mandalay reminds me of Yangon. Crowded roads with crazy drivers. There are lots of beeping from cars, mopeds (locals call them "Chinese mosquitos), motorcycles, ("Chinese horses") and bikes all competing for space in the two-four lanes of traffic. Stop signs are rare, traffic lights intermittent and some how pedestrians and dogs seem to survive the chaos. Obama basically put Myanmar on the tourist map. Since his visit in 2012, the number of travelers increased from 300k to 3 million!!
Our driver was a speedy guy, slipping in and around buses, trucks, mopeds and bicycles, often carrying 2-3 passengers beyond capacity. It is like a group of skaters slipping past one another in a race. Annalisa and I buckled up and watched the mayhem as if we were on bumper car ride. We saw monks and women carrying heavy loads on their heads walking into traffic without a care like they all have a magical force-field protecting them. It all works and certainly adds to the "thrill" for us foreigners.
Mandalay is an old city. The buildings are in various stages of disrepair and trash and garbage is intermixed with roadside coffee-table stands and make-shift restaurants. On our arrival we were taken to a smaller enclave called Amerapura (the immortal city) where there is one of the largest monasteries in Myanmar. Over a thousand monks, of various ages, line up at 11am for their lunch offerings (alms) and are served rice, packages of fruit, and handed 1000 Kjats (local money pronounced "jets worth .66 US$) to all one Thousand of them. What packages of food that was left over was handed out to town children and visitors like us. We've snacked on the mandarin oranges and mooncakes (delicious) for several days!! The monastery has workers who cook a hot meal of vegetables and a protein to add to the rice the monks collect. This will be their last meal for the day and it must be consumed before noon.
Speaking of food, during our stay here, we ate in two different restaurants for lunch and enjoyed dinner at our hotel. We averaged 10-15 dollars a piece per day for both meals. We were never hungry and food was delicious. Breakfasts at all hotels has been an interesting combination of local fare and western food. Croissants seem to be a staple here that we both enjoy. The local Myanmar beer is enjoyed by us at lunch time. It goes down well with our spicy meal and settles our nerves for the traffic chaos ahead.
Our guide Bo Bo and driver Mr. Winn were very charming and treated us like princesses. And what would a day in Myanmar be without a visit to yet another temple?
After our visit to the monastery, we traveled to another village and along the way noticed children in pink robes with their heads shaven. We stopped to take a closer look. We were right in the middle of a girls school run by nuns. They were on break for lunch and the local ice cream guy had a steady line of young ladies to feed. Our driver donated some money for the ice cream so I felt compelled to do the same. The girls were just as interested in us a we were in them. There were a lot of smiles, hellos (mengalaba) and high fives all around!! We were told that many of the poor send their children to monasteries to be educated. Most never become nuns or monks.
I've lost track of the number of temples we saw during our two days here even though the number pales in comparison to Bagan. Each temple or Pagoda has historical and had different religious significance. Like Bagan, many date back to the 11th and 12th century. Most were commissioned by a king who decides the most auspicious place to build "his" temple. They all have Buddha statues made out of various hard substances like wood, marble, gold or jade.
Many local worshippers come to pray or meditate in front of the Buddah. Men are the only the ones allowed to step up near the throne of the Buddha where they are permitted to rub gold leaf onto the body of the statue in a place where they hope to be healed. If they have heart or lung issues they choose the chest. Knees get many layers of gold. I was tempted to put some on the Buddha's feet but the line to reach the statue was too long and I was not allowed!
Our guide often made changes to our schedule according to our wishes. The confirmation would come in on his cell phone. The ring tone was from Abba's "Dancing Queen!" It seemed out of place in Mandalay and especially odd inside a Pagoda. Of course every time I heard it (often) I wanted to start dancing, even less appropriate!!
We ended day one with a trip to the historical, 200 yr old U Bein bridge named after the engineer. It is a 2 mile long, narrow span of teak slats and posts that are widely spaced with no guard rails. It was built over water to connect two villages. Tourists and locals love to visit (kind of like saying "U Been", Done That!) Local girls wear their finest, take group photos or selfies and some pose with parasols. One woman, proud of her degree, wore her graduation robe and hat and posed on the bridge. We walked half way across. But the crowds that day made us concerned for our safety. As we made our way back a group of high school boys, with the word "English" written on their shirts, stopped and engaged me in a game of "twenty questions".
Home by 7 pm, over 11k steps, exhausted!! Stay tuned for day two!!
what a wonder full trip. I am enjoying this so keep sending.
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