Upon arriving in Yangon we were surprised by just how developed it was; we had been expecting a real lack of infrastructure including roads. We were surprised to find lots or development, western hotels and restaurants / shops catered towards ex-pats and tourists alike. Needless to say our expectations were soon realised as we left Yangon. To summarise a little bit which you'll see throughout the photos under Myanmar. Myanmar is a country only recently opened up / morally acceptable to visit and as such most of the Burmese outside of Yangon have not had many interactions with white foreigners and most of the transport networks used are the same as the locals use. Of course this is the best way to visit any country; by truly immersing yourself into local life. :) You will notice in some pictures that the local women and children have markings on their faces. This is known as thanaka and is used on children and women to protect their skin from the strong sun that is present in Myanmar. Many of the women choose to also style this in a unique manner in order to attract male partners. It should also be noted that Myanmar decided to switch from driving on the left hand side of the road to driving on the right to improve trade etc. with China. Unfortunately there is no law banning left hand drive cars in Myanmar meaning that in 90% of the transport you get a co-pilot sits in the passenger seat and signals to the driver when it is safe to overtake or not. This spilt second delay between the co-pilots signals and the driver taking action led to incredibly tense times while been driven around. Especially when you know you can see more than the driver it makes it hard to trust their instincts.
Sule & Shwedagon Pagoda
On are first full day in Yangon we went to see both the Sule & Shwedagon Pagoda. The Shwedagon is probably one of the largest and most extensively gold pagodas that we saw in the whole of
Myanmar. The numerous angles for great shots under the midday sun with the gold making it almost impossible to look at was kind of mesmerising. This on top of the hundreds of Buddhists who
were there to pray along with a VIP monk who had his own personal bodyguards and all the locals bowing at his feet made this an unforgettable introduction into what Myanmar had to offer.
Overnight Train to Bagan
That evening after having just really arrived in Yangon we left on an overnight train to the old capital of Bagan. The train ride would of been impossible to
imagine as a train ride at all. It had more similarities to that of a space shuttle launch drawn out for over 11 hours than a train ride. We were shaken until
our limbs almost fell off and our carriage spent at least one third of the night not on the tracks. How an earth the train did not derail was beyond me. At one
point we had dinner and really had to try hard not to stab ourselves in the face with our forks. This was an unimaginably difficult feat. Simply making your way
to the toilet was perilous and for most of the night my entire stomach contents where repeatedly sloshed around and we haven't even mentioned the noise yet. Oh
my god it would have been easier to sleep during the blitz without a shadow of a doubt. The closest I can come to describe it is if you were inside a washing
machine with its transport bolts left in, set to full wash cycle with a group of five year olds playing on a bop-it for 11 hours. To summarise I think that if
you survive this train journey then you could easily walk away from a plane crash as that would endure less stress on your body. :) Given the state of the railway
journey I can only assume that Myanmar has not made any updates to it since the British built it many years ago. On a positive note the views from the train provided
us with some awesome incites to that of the rural Burmese village life and people. Definitely not something to be missed by cheating and getting the AC'd, quicker
sleeper bus. Also the beer on-board led to us finding it more bearable. Eventually we arrived in Bagan and a full day of sightseeing awaited us. You have got to
love tours for their ability to squeeze everything in.
The first thing we noticed about Bagan was the lack of major infrastructure considering that this was the old capital it came across as more of a village rather than a city, let alone a capital city. This did make for an altogether more pleasant experience even if at some of the major sites a few tour buses had already arrived here in order to spoil the view / atmosphere. God help them in 5 years when Myanmar becomes a major tourist spot.
Day 1 - Palm wine & 700 step Pagoda
On the first day we were here we were taken to see the making of Palm wine, something you may already be familiar with if you've read over / spoken to us about
our Ghanaian experience in 2006. Anyway it is very strong and you can easily get a little bit too drunk too quickly if you are not careful. After this we headed
on to see the local belief of Gnats and a 700 step Pagoda plagued with evil probably HIV and Rabies ridden monkeys who attempted to attack and molest any human
being who was unlucky enough to get within range. This made climbing the 700 steps in the first place a real challenge. Once we reached the top of the Pagoda you
soon realise just how baron Myanmar is as a country once you step outside of the city. Everywhere we looked we only saw small shacks and the old building with many
more pagodas, monuments and trees visible than anything else. A site like this makes you realise how lucky one is to visit Myanmar at this time before overdevelopment
and the plague that is the human race moves in to enjoy and exploit it.
Day 1 - Sunset
Late on the afternoon of the first day we went to one of the spots to watch the sunset over a selection of Myanmar's pagodas and monuments. This provided us with
fantastic views and I personally preferred this spot to the one we stopped at on the second night which was full of tour buses and the type of people who opt
for that way to visit a place like Myanmar. I'll stop talking now and let you simply enjoy the pic's.
Day 2 - Tour of Bagan
On our next day in Bagan we had what was arguably the best day in Myanmar. We started the day by hiring bicycles and riding them around some of the many temples in Bagan.
To list these would be pointless and so I won't go any further into explaining these simply enjoy the pictures below. As part of our tour we also stopped at a lacquer
ware factory where high quality lacquer ware is made in the traditional Burmese methods. Later on that afternoon we were given the choice whether to continue on bicycle
to the afternoons sites including the sunset spot or bail and take a car. Most of our group decided to bail and get a car or not come along at all. Both myself and Kat
opted to continue on with the bikes. This lead for the best experience of the day and possibly the entire trip as we were left with Coco our 12 year old local guide / bike
fixer who was the son of the woman who had rented us the bikes. He was a cheerful soul and really made the afternoon, if not day. We had thought, and our guide had told
Coco to take us the long boring road to the sites, one we had already seen. However Coco rebelled and took us (unbeknown to us) the wrong way this led us down a sand path
past many gorgeous pagodas and temples in the low lying afternoon sun. The only way to get more local than this would've been to have of grown up in Bagan. Coco made the
day. :)
Day 3 - Boat to Mandalay
On an early morning we left Bagan on the Boat to Mandalay. We were supposed to arrive at 5pm. This ended up being 7pm due to the fact the river had a lack of water,
especially for the size of ferry we were in. Thankfully we avoided getting stuck as the next group to come the same route ended up being beached for over 5 hours.
The size of the ferry did however provide an awesome vantage point of the entire river and its banks and we watched for hours on end on the top deck and we were
roasted by the exhausts cooling system. We saw many things including farmers working the land for maze, locals bathing, children playing, women washing clothes and
plates, shepherds washing their cattle, fisherman fishing and gold miners mining for gold in the river. This was on top of the now usual site of golden pagodas and
temples led to a day almost as awesome as the view from the boat trip we made into Laos.
In Mandalay we got our second dose of severe food poisoning which has now lead us to avoid any food with a Chinese influence. This was a violent infection inducing over 35 vomit / diarrhoea episodes each over the course of a day. In shear violence this was worse than the food poisoning that we had in China, but in physical pain China still wins. Needless to say neither of us are sure of how many years it will be before we can each food with a Chinese influence again. Also when we were in Mandalay 9 miles down the road a Muslim slit a Buddhist monk's throat. In a 90% Buddhist country this lead to some severe violence and the government ended up invoking martial law in the region, an issue that has still not been fully resolved. Thankfully we avoided any issues, mainly because we don't look like Muslims.
Day 1 (Morning) - Mahamuni Buddha Image, Maha Gandayone Monastery, Kaung Mu Daw Stupa and a Monk Inaugeratin Ceremon
In Mandalay for the Mahamuni Buddha Image I was required to don the local attire of Longji and as I'm sure you'll agree from the photos I look very fetching. Both the
local men and women seemed to agree, with the three of us gaining lots of attention, applause and smiles / humour. Next we went to see the Maha Gandayone monastery. I'm
still not particularly sure I agree with this, but in essence we turned up to photograph monks at a monastery waiting for their main meal of the day. Some tourists really
did go over the top and basically might as well of hit the monks in the face with their cameras while they were trying to eat. Thankfully our group showed some common
decency. After this we headed towards the island of Inwa but on route we got stuck in a monk's inauguration ceremony. In short this is a procession where loud music is
played from loudspeakers attached to cars, children ride elephants, horses or cattle based on their families wealth and family members dress in lavish outfits and play
musical instruments. Getting pictures at such an even was nearly impossible so please accept apologies for the bad photography. A bad picture is better than none at all
after all. This really was something most tourists to Myamar would miss, it was mere fluke that we were caught in it and a pleasure to watch. Also note that the first few
images of people at the Buddha Image were part of an inauguration ceremony as well.
Day 1 (Afternoon) - Inwa and U Bein Bridge
Shortly after the procession ended we carried on to Inwa. Inwa is a strange island with only horse and cart as a means to get around. This was both enjoyable
and painful at the same time. In Inwa we went to see monk children as they were in school, a local watchtower which was collapsing and some more temples and
pagodas where we socialised with local children. I pray they never replace the horse and carts with mechanised transport as it would ruin the enjoyability of
Inwa. Later that afternoon we headed to U Bein bridge. This appears to be a place where locals go to make out and drink as they watch the sunset. It was also
a haven for rebellious monks who were drunk and molested / took inappropriate pictures (for a monk) with tourists. This was heavily condoned by our guide upon
our return almost to the extent of him denying it ever happened. Thankfully Kat was molested by a monk and a companion captured one of these instances on camera.
Not everyone in the world can say that they have been felt up by a drunken monk!!!
Day 2 - Minigun Temple & Bell, Kuthodaw Stupa, Mandalay Palace, Shwe Nandaw Monastery and Mandalay Hill
On our second day in Mandalay we went to see the Minigun temple & bell. The temple is one which shows large cracks from when an earthquake hit in 2009 and the rest of the
temple appears precariously balanced. The bell here is said to be the largest un-cracked bell in the world with the largest bell in Russia having a large crack from overuse.
That afternoon we headed to the local palace which was rebuilt after it had been destroyed during WWII by the British and Japanese. To summarise Myanmar was a much poorer
country when it was rebuilt, presumably after us and the Japanese stole all the gold and the rebuild shows a significant skimp on the amount of gold paint used. Next we
stopped briefly at another monastery before heading to the Kuthodaw Stupa which is also known as the world's largest book with Buddhist inscriptions made on 729 marble slabs
each housed within their own pagoda. Finely for sunset we headed to Mandalay hill which strangely enough has an escalator for ascending and a lift to come back down. While
the view over Mandalay was ok the significant use of gold and population spoiled the pictures. The next morning with both of us heavily stricken down with food poisoning
and no sleep we headed to Kalaw where we were due to spend the night before reaching Inle Lake the next day. Making this journey was the number 1 most difficult thing we
have done this year so far. For a long time we were thinking that we would have to stay behind for a day before making the 8 hour minivan trip. Thankfully neither of us
fully remember the trip due to being so drugged up and spaced out from lack of sleep, fever and dehydration.
Inle Lake, a place I prefer to refer to as the unknown jewel of Myanmar. When most people think of Myanmar they think of golden pagodas, monks and Buddhism. Inle Lake is a huge lake in the north of Myanmar where the locals fish and live in houses built on stilts in the middle of the lake. They also have manmade gardens attached to their houses sometimes. I personally think I was most shocked by the life in and around Inle Lake over elsewhere in Myanmar. During our time here we spent a day on V8 powered "rocket" canoe exploring the life on the lake from vegetable plantations to silver workshops and monasteries etc. We also opted to spend another day doing a full morning trek to see the local village life and sugar cane manufacturing. As with everywhere in Myanmar the people here were super friendly and happy to see foreigners venturing out from the tourist traps to see their daily life. The people who lived here were the poorest we had seen up close in Myanmar and many of the children displayed signs of the typical pot-belly. That evening we headed to the hot springs in the area which was a welcome change after having been on a morning trek, although as it turned out the ride to the springs in a tuk tuk was more of a challenge than the morning trek. Upon departing Inle Lake we realised we were taking off from the airport where the plane crashed in December 2011 killing a few British tourists. We actually saw the wreckage of the plane as we travelled down the road to the departure terminal. We had previously thought that we were going to avoid this airport. Nonetheless we had no choice but to continue, and on the positive the UK Foreign office doesn't list them as being unsafe. :)
Golden Rock Pagoda
Shortly after taking off from Helo (Inle Lake) we touched down back in Myanmar's capital of Yangon. From here we transferred via 3 hour minivan to the base of the hill
which housed the golden rock. This was ironically the closest we came to being killed during our whole time in Myanmar with suicidal bus drivers coming from all angles.
Eventually when we did make it to the base of the hill we found out that we were now due to be transferred by local cattle truck to top of the hill. This was basically
a mountain ascent to a base camp from which you could trek to the golden rock pagoda. This meant the truck accelerated hard up the hills and tried not to on the steep
downhills. Thankfully the trucks were newish and in decent shape, especially considering that if the truck rolled of the cliff edge we would all have of been dead. I
hope the pictures go to show how we were simply sitting on a tiny bench, held in by the others we were squished against. If you go on a less budget trip you actually
get the truck to yourself. Thankfully we didn't as it made the experience being with the locals and socialising. After 45 minutes we got off the death truck and had a
10 minute ascent up a 45 degree gradient which was too steep even for the truck. Drenched in sweat we arrived at the "so called" best hotel on the mountain. That evening
after an hours rest we continued via 45 minute ascent to the golden rock pagoda where we were greeted by a gorgeous sunset. Afterwards we descended back to our hotel
and shared a couple of beers with the group while we socialised with them and our tour guide.
Sights on the way back to Yangon - Reclining Buddha, Snake Monastery, the Four Faced Buddha Pagoda and the war cemetrey
The next morning we headed back down the hill to meet our minivan via the same death truck as mentioned above. We had worse seats on the way down and the pain for
someone over 6 feet caused by this made it nowhere near as enjoyable as the ascent. Nonetheless I survived without permanent disfigurement and we continued on our
journey back to Yangon via the other sites that Bago had to offer. This included a huge reclining Buddha where the tiled floor meant we risked 3rd degree burns to
our feet in order to get a picture. A snake monastery where a crazy women lived with a 16 foot Burmese python who was believed to be a monk. A four faced Buddha
pagoda and a war ceremony listing all those who died in Myamar during the second world war against the Japanese. This included many Brits, Ghurkhas, Burmans,
Australians, Burmese, Kiwis and others.
Next we left on a flight to Phuket, Thailand where we planned to island hop our way into Malaysia through some of the greatest islands the world has to offer instead of following our original plan of taking the boring, excessively hot overnight train from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. This was a decision which really made Thailand for us and showed us something that we hadn't seen before.
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