Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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buksida
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Sunset is spent at the best place in town; the top of Mandalay Hill where an ephemeral golden light reflects off the pagodas and Buddha images invoking a surreal spiritual sense of heaven on earth if such a thing existed. The view across the river and city below is pretty spectacular too.
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To follow: Riding to Shwebo

Full gallery and trip report here: http://www.ontheroadasia.com/around-mandalay.php
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Love that hand holding up the sky (DSC_0868).

It does look like a beautiful place.
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

Post by Henry 14th »

Just getting up to press on this thread, brilliant stuff.

"As darkness falls and an orange slash rips through the western sky looking like the discarded robes of a monk, the hulking Shan hills to the east turn hues of deep green into foreboding black. A void of utter blackness soon descended, illuminated only by the twinkle of village fires and the occasional fairy-light adorned chedi off in some remote place."

Brilliant writing.

One thing I notice about the place from your pics is how clean it is. Is that the case or have you been selective with your snaps?

I have a pal from bangkok over there a the moment doing something g similar; tour, photos, I'll direct him to this thread when he returns.


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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Glad you're enjoying it.

Sadly there is at least as much plastic trash as in Thailand, some areas are taken care of such as the monasteries and parks but the poorer villages have mountains of the stuff - plastic is the scourge of Asia.

Shwebo
Today I’m heading north, following the river for a hundred clicks or so before taking the first bridge since Sagaing and heading west into Shwebo. The landscape is lush, iridescent green fields still worked manually, buffalo cart plod along the main road link between Mandalay and north Myanmar, and a herd of cows brings what traffic there is to a halt. Busses and trucks drive like they’re possessed by some manic demon of the road, everyone else has all day to get where they’re going. I stop for a gas check as the gauge doesn’t work and a local guy ambles out of the trees and climbs onto the back of the bike rambling on at high speed, I presume he wants a ride to the dusty nondescript village I just passed through so happily oblige, realizing I’d already gone 40kms off course anyway (GPS wont work here since there is no phone signal, internet or maps for the area yet).

After being stopped twice for a 100 kyat (3 baht) bridge toll I’m barreling down a single lane track into Shwebo, which turns out to be an unremarkable town with a few colonial buildings and token pagodas. My detour cost me time so if I was to be back in Mandalay before dark there would be no time for loitering. The ride back was more comfortable though a little tiresome, that is until entering Sagaing where the horizon turns gold and each corner out competes the previous in terms of chedi grandiosity.

I'd covered over 400 kilometers on a steppy so thought I deserved a treat for dinner. Dining that evening was at a swanky resort with one of the town’s best Indian restaurants, Spice Garden, the food and setting was excellent though a little peculiar sitting in this walled oasis whilst just outside dogs scrapped in the street and people lived in squalor along the banks of a fetid black canal.

I cycle over to the jade market near the river today in search of some stones for the better half. Myanmar produces the highest grade jade in the world and this labyrinthine market is the nucleus of dealings, carvings, and trading in the industry - mostly dominated by the Chinese. Abandoning the navigation of the warren like maze of alleys that makes up Mandalay’s jade district I find a local dealer that appears very knowledgeable and end up walking away with a healthy sized amount of greenness that would be worth a fair bit more in the west.
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To follow: Pyin Oo Lwin, Shan State

Full trip report and photo gallery: http://www.ontheroadasia.com/around-mandalay.php
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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buksida wrote:Abandoning the navigation of the warren like maze of alleys that makes up Mandalay’s jade district I find a local dealer that appears very knowledgeable and end up walking away with a healthy sized amount of greenness that would be worth a fair bit more in the west.
A lot braver than me. I just couldn't contemplate such a transaction for fear of being ripped off. Assuming what you bought was the real thing, I take my hat off to you. :bow:
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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If the Chinese are buying it, its real. The only difference is a price variation between say a tourist shop in the airport and this market. The mrs was happy anyway so that was the main thing!
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Today I'm riding into Shan State and the former British colonial hill station Pyin Oo Lwin at 3,500 feet, the town was established in 1896 as a place to escape the Mandalay heat. Escaping Mandalay is the first challenge as a traffic cop pulls me over for riding over the wrong bridge and proceeds to have a moral battle with himself over whether to extract kyat from the clueless foreigner or let him go on his merry way. Thankfully I’m on the road again shortly with a full wallet, a winsome grin, and the throttle open.

If I ever complained about Thai drivers I take it all back – the Burmese are utter lunatics behind the wheel. It is like a game of moto-bowling with the bus or lorry being the ball and the motorbikes and people the skittles. The bus drivers appear to actually aim for you and accelerate if you’re crossing the road or in their path, if it is some kind of depraved game or entertainment it won’t do much for their karma should they make contact.

Doris makes it up into the Shan hills unscathed though the twisties on these roads are taken with extreme care, like slow dance around a lake of thin ice. After a few photo stops to capture the magnificent vistas that materialize around every corner I press on as the weather is closing in and the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees. On the outskirts of Pyin Oo Lwin I stop at a little coffee shack whereupon I meet a French monk who has taken leave of the world after travelling to 64 countries.

The town is a quaint little place as is the guesthouse I am staying in, Buddha must be on my side today as fat drops of rain slowly start to fall as I pull in. An hour or so later and I can almost see that enlightened face smiling down as blue skies peek through the low clouds and I head over to the botanical gardens area. One tends to get a little ‘temple fatigue’ when travelling in Burma, there are literally millions of them and they top every list of attractions in most destinations here, so a walk around some serene garden and park land was just what I needed.

A National Landmarks Garden offered an almost kitsch display of the highlights of each state; naturally most of them were pagodas or temples re-created and scaled down. The immaculately kept flowerbeds and gardens were the highlight for me and a good hour was spent ambling through this park, until the adjacent amusement park shattered the serenity with full bore Burmese punk rock.
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To follow: More Pyin Oo Lwin

Full gallery and trip report can be found here: http://www.ontheroadasia.com/pyinoolwin.php
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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I started looking at the photos before I read you story and thought: "Boy, that railway bridge looks scrarier than the one at Tham Krasae in Kanjanaburi." Obviously it's just a model and thank God for that. :oops:
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Excellent TR and website Buksida.

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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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The botanical gardens, conceived in 1915 by a British forest researcher and Kew Gardens botanist,was my next stop though with the sun dropping in the late afternoon I knew I wouldn’t have time to see it all. Being a weekend it was busy, young Burmese couples enjoying their nascent smartphone industry and going selfie crazy, families out for a stroll, and not another foreigner in sight. I headed away from the happy snappers and over to an elevated timber walkway and aviary where the beating of wings would herald the arrival of a Giant Hornbill landing on a nearby branch. Black swans gracefully drifted across Kandawgyi Lake (there seem to be one of these in every town) and the island pagoda twinkled in the fading light of the Burmese sun.

After an early breakfast, and swerving a few horse carts through town, I’m riding west heading for Anisakan Falls. The guide book tells me it is a 45 minute hike to the waterfall, it wasn’t wrong, a good 3 kilometer trek down steep muddy, rutted paths into the valley rewards me with a 600 foot high raging torrent showering the entire area with refreshing ocean-like spray. Fortunately there are a couple of locals willing to ride me back up the ravine for 5000 kyat – it was the best 5 bucks I’ve spent all week although it probably did more than that in damage to the ageing motorcycle that screamed back up that valley in first gear!

I take it slow through the twisties on the return to Mandalay and stop for a few shots of the astounding views down into the Ayeyarwady valley and beyond. Sunset is spent at the Dagon Beer Station supping frosted glasses of local brew for less than a dollar on the river bank itself - life is good.
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To follow: Bagan

Full photo gallery here: http://www.ontheroadasia.com/pyinoolwin.php
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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It was time to leave Mandalay and the ‘express’ ten hour ferry down river to Bagan pulls out at 7am sharp. One of the plusses of travelling in the off season is that you’re not swamped with bus tourists and Lonely Planet toting backpackers, the boat was at less than 30% capacity, however they were all young couples and Lonely Planet toting backpackers, the journey down the Ayeyarwaddy was pleasant if uneventful.

The jetty, a wooden plank reaching from the boat into the mud, is abuzz with touts and taxi drivers like bees around a jam jar all looking for an inflated fare in low season. I leave the French backpackers to their quibbling over 50 cents and grab a trishaw to the hotel after paying my $15 entrance fee which goes to the government and is vaild for 5 days. Bagan stretches over three villages, Naung U, Old Bagan and New Bagan, each a dusty collection of streets, houses, hotels, and tourist shops.

Opting for a traditional horse cart to get around the sprawling twelfth century ruined city my guide takes me to a number of temples on a set route. There are an estimated 4,000 in total covering the archaeological zone which is an area of 26 square miles so it would be impossible to see them all. Many of the ruins were damaged in an earthquake in 1975 so have been gradually restored by residents and UNESCO. Some are huge monuments housing colossal Buddha images, the locals evidently have their favourites and are out in force making merit and sticking gold leaves onto various Buddha statues.
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To follow: More Bagan

Full report and photo gallery here: http://www.ontheroadasia.com/bagan.php
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Some of the prangs are very similar to the Khmer ones, which can be found in Isan. This is quite surprising as I had thought that the influence of Angkor Kingdom didn't reach this far west.
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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According to the guide books they're not Khmer but were built between the 11th and 13th century by the warrior King Anawrahta and his successors.
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Looks like a greta trip, will have to get up there myself one day & go check it out.
After reading through your adventure & checking out the pics, you have inspired myself to get up there sooner rather than later.
Keep the updates & pics coming
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Re: Photo trip report: A month in Myanmar

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Fortunately tourist numbers are relatively low at this time of year but as Burma opens up Bagan is bound to be inundated with Chinese tour busses before not too long. The down side of the lull is that the hawkers are relentless; they’ll follow you around offering info on the temple then directing you to their lacquerware stall or whipping out a reel of postcards, or even a copy of Orwell’s Burmese Days for 3 bucks. Some will ask where you’re from then pull out some of your own currency and ask you to change it for kyat, others will try flattery in order to sell a trinket or two, and even the kids are on the hard sales pitch. Women would give you a glass of water to douse a sacred effigy then ask for a 5 dollar donation for the privilege.

Many of the shrines are similar in design, a square construction with large Buddhas on each side, some can be climbed to view the magnificent vista, and others are gated and locked up. A network of sandy tracks links many of the temples and the land between is still being worked and farmed by locals. Many of them live at various smaller temples in makeshift bivouacs with kids in tow in the hope that they can grab a buck or two from visitors that stray from the well beaten paths.
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To follow: more Bagan (I took a lot of pictures here!)

Full photo gallery here: http://www.ontheroadasia.com/bagan.php
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