Burma, Of Women and Monks

Even as its most famous woman personality, Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be under house arrest, women have a strong presence in Burma. They enjoy equal legal rights with men. Birth of a baby girl is equally celebrated as that of a boy. Interesting practice of Burmese women is the use of a white paste to cover their faces.

With Buddhism as its predominant religion, monks occupy a position of respect in Burma. Every morning, monks and nuns walk the streets with their bowls to solicit food in time for their 11 am lunch.

Ironically, it is in religion where women take a back seat to men. There are areas around Buddhist shrines which are off limits to women. Birth of a girl also is regarded as indicating less religious merit than the birth of a boy.

Indein in Inle

Highlight of a boat tour of Inle Lake is a visit to Indein where there is an impressive collection of ancient stupas. To get to these stupas, you have to walk up a long stairway which is lined with hundreds of wooden columns. It is a tiring walk up but your efforts are rewarded with the exotic sight of stupas majestically standing on the hills in a jungle like setting.

Inle Lake

The Philippines has lakes similar to Inle Lake in Myanmar. So it was not really impressive for me. Nevertheless, Inle Lake still boasts of unique features like the floating islands ( flowers, fruits and vegetables are grown on these floating gardens), leg rowing boatmen, and the Padaung, tribe of long neck women.

Majestic Mingun Paya

Mingun Paya is actually just the cracked brick base of what was intended to be a really grandiose pagoda. Still it looms high and wide, and dominates the landscape of Mingun.

You can actually climb up this pagoda ( on barefoot!) to have a fine view of the village and the river. I did this and actually felt my feet burning from the heat of the brick tiles on my mid day climb.

Mingun in White

Almost did not make it to Mingun. The riverboat that goes to Mingun did not have the required 4 passengers to make the journey. Fortunately the following day, there were 8 tourists going to Mingun. And what I saw was the most amazing part of my trip in Myanmar.

The architecture of the white colored temples captivated me. The brick Mingun Paya was grand and awesome. It was an out of this world experience. Mingun was definitely the highlight of my Myanmar holiday.

Amarapura at Sunset

The best time to visit Amarapura is before sunset. The view of the 200 year old U Bein Bridge at sunset is unforgettable. The teakwood footbridge is 1.2 km long and is supported by more than 1000 teakwood post. It is one of my favorite places in Myanmar.

Sagaing

An alternative to Bagan is Sagaing with its around 500 white colored stupas. The view of the white stupas from Sagaing Hill is interesting but not awesome as the stupas of Bagan.

Ancient Ava

To get to Ava, you have to take a ferry. This ferry leaves once a foreigner boards and pays for the fare. Locals are allowed to board the boat for free. Horse carts are available in Ava to bring you around. In Ava, the most impressive sight is Bagaya Kyaung, a teakwood monastery constructed in the 17th century, which happily has not been restored nor renovated. With its detailed and intricate wood carvings, it is most beautiful teakwood monastery in Myanmar and perhaps in the whole world.

Me Nu Ok Kyaung, a brick and stucco monastery is, likewise a sight to behold.

Snake Pagoda

I thought I had the ultimate "snake" experience in Thailand until I went to the Snake Pagoda in Paleik about 20 km south of Mandalay. Here the snakes (actually giant pythons) are led out of the sanctuary of the Buddha image into the wash area where they are bathed. Tourists are then given the opportunity to hold and cuddle the snakes. After being given a bath, the snakes crawl back to the Buddha where they sleep curled around the Buddha. It was a unique sight.

More Mandalay Photos

Teakwood monastery (top photo) and Kuthodaw Paya, dubbed the world's biggest book ( bottom photo)

Royal Mandalay

One friend said it was the best place to see in Myanmar. And another friend told me that it was not worth visiting. So I did not really know what to expect in Mandalay. But what I saw, I thoroughly enjoyed! My other friend was right... it is the place not be missed in Myanmar.

Temples mostly painted in white were pretty. Teakwood monasteries are nothing like I have ever seen with its beautiful and intricate carvings. Areas around Mandalay, particularly Mingun and Amarapura, were truly awesome. And I understood why Mandalay was Myanmar's last royal capital!

So if there is only one destination that you can go to in Myanmar, make it Mandalay.

Bagan's Ancient Temples

Because of its more than 3,000 of temples, Bagan is impressive. It is most specially awesome if viewed from the top of Buledi temple, a great alternative to the more popular Dhammayangyi temple. There are less people at Buledi although the vendors can be bothersome. I was the only tourist in Buledi until about 5 vendors arrived who were persistently trying to sell their stuff to to me.

However, the ancient temples are not as awesome as the ones in Siem Reap in Cambodia. Bagan's temples are smaller and only looks good from the outside. There is really nothing much to see inside. Siem Reap's temples including the Angkor Vat are huge in size and are impressive inside with its beautiful hieroglyphics and wall carvings.

Nevertheless, it is still worth seeing Bagan's temples. But best to go there before going to Siem Reap in Cambodia, to be able to truly appreciate Bagan's temples.

Burmese Food

I had trouble finding food suited to my taste buds in Burma.  There was this chicken place  that I went to on my first night in Yangon.  Fast food joint was named Tokyo Fried Chicken and  this was supposed to be Yangon's version of KFC.  I could not eat the chicken.  It had a bad after taste. Also tried a noodle place called 999 Shan Noddle Shop.  Noodle soup  was  okay but not as good as  in Thailand and Vietnam.

For a couple of days, I could not really eat much.  My best meal was always breakfast, which consisted of bread with butter or marmalade, eggs and fruits.  I thought I was sick since I did not have a good appetite.  Until I met this French woman who runs the nicest  restaurant in Nyaung U in Bagan.  Unfortunately I can not remember her name and the name of her restaurant.  She explained to me that Burmese food has a lot of oil and fish sauce.  This is why many foreigners have a hard time eating Burmese food.  She suggested that before I order to check  if the food on the menu is cooked Burmese or Chinese, or better yet find restaurants that specialize in Indian, Japanese, Korean or Chinese cuisine.

Finally, following her advice, I was able to eat well in Burma.

Traveling Around Myanmar

Because of the horror stories about the bad roads, unreliable bus schedules, and poor condition of buses, I opted to travel by air to go around Myanmar.

It was a wise decision.   I took Yangon Airways to go to the other three major destinations( i.e. Bagan, Mandalay and Inle)  in Myanmar. My four airlines tickets  (Yangon to Bagan, Bagan to Mandalay, Mandalay to Inle, and Inle to Yangon) cost around US$190.  My Yangon Airways flights were all on schedule, and it was a comfortable ride on their planes.

To arrange for these flights, I only had to email Columbus Travel and Tours at www.travelmyanmar.com  They promptly responded, and the tickets were ready for my pick-up on the date and time that I specified. I paid for my ticket in cash at the office of Columbus Travel and Tours.  Credit cards are not accepted in Myanmar.

Shwedagon Paya

Shwedagon Paya in Yangon is truly an awesome sight. It ranks alongside the Eiffel Tower of Paris, Opera House of Sydney, Statue of Liberty of New York as one of the most impressive iconic monuments of the world. It is just sad that it is not given the prominence it deserves probably because of the political situation in Myanmar.

Glitters in gold during daytime and shines at night. A spectacular sight which I never got tired of viewing while I was there. Stayed from around 2pm until 8pm to fully enjoy this spectacular monument. It is one of my favorite sites in the world!

Air Asia flight to Yangon and Yangon Airport

My Air Asia flight left Bangkok promptly at 6am for the short 1 hour flight to Yangon. The flight was great value. However, since i am on budget fare and I did want to pay any extras like for privilege of choosing seat on aircraft, my seat was assigned by the computer. You can not also move from this assigned seat even if there are a lot of vacant seats.

In Cebu Pacific, upon check in you can request for a particular seat which will be given to you if available. You can also change seats once the aircraft is on the air. I guess that makes Cebu Pacific better value than Air Asia!

Anyway, my Yangon bound flight was only a little over 25% full. It was off season in September and not a lot of tourists go to Yangon because of the political situation. Passengers were also mostly Caucasian. Very few Burmese on board. I guess because of travel restrictions for locals.

My surprise upon arrival in Yangon was the relatively modern airport! Not as good as the airport in Bangkok but better than the ones we have in Manila.

No problems at immigration even if Myanmar is under military rule. The immigration officers were actually polite and courteous.

I was picked up from the airport by a taxi arranged by my hotel. The taxi was old and dilapidated, a 60s model car. This was the start of my traveling back in time in Myanmar.