Nov. 26, 2015
Happy
Thanksgiving! We flew from Bagan to Mandalay this morning - a 30
minute flight. This is the second largest city in Myanmar with 5
million people. Unlike Yangon, people are allowed to ride motorbikes
and motorcycles in the city so there are far fewer cars and therefore
less traffic congestion. You can see whole families riding on a
motorbike - babies upfront with dad, and mom riding side saddle
in back - zipping in and out around busses and cars. And everyone
drives with their horns.
Mandalay was established in 1856 by King Mingun. In 1885, the British
troops came in and sent the king and queen into exile to India.
Mandalay is on a direct route through the mountains to China and
many of the businesses in Mandalay are owned by the Chinese. Also,
human trafficking is a big problem because of the closeness to China.
Many young girls are lured away from their rural villages with promises
of better, higher paying jobs only to find that their job is as
a prostitute in China or Thailand.
Our
first stop was to see the Mahamuni Buddha, a huge sitting golden
Buddha which is considered the most sacred shrine in Mandalay. It
was erected in 1718 but it has become fatter and fatter each year
with the addition of more and more gold leaf. Unfortunately, we
couldn't see the body of the Buddha as it was covered with a brown
robe like a monk. Today
was Full Moon Day, one of the 12 major holidays celebrated by the
Burmese people. On this day, donations are made to the monks, including
new robes, umbrellas, sandals, pots and pans, as well as money.
And this is a day when everyone pays their respect to Buddha. So
it seemed like all of Mandalay was visiting the Golden Buddha. On
the plus side, we learned alot about Buddhist practices and Full
Moon Day. In fact our guide followed the traditions and gave a gift
of a robe, umbrella and sandals to a monk she encountered on the
property.
We
then visited a gold leaf workshop where sheets of gold are beaten
into gossamer thin pieces. Placing gold leaf on a Buddha image is
supposed to bring great merit to the faithful, so there is a steady
growth of gold layers on Buddha statues throughout Myanmar.
All
but one of the 114 buildings on the palace grounds was destroyed
during WWII. The only thing that remains is the huge moat that surrounded
the palace. The one remaining building was moved and reassembled.
It is made of teak with intricate carvings inside and out. The carvings
inside depict the life of the last Buddha in great detail.
After lunch we checked into our hotel, the Mandalay Hill Resort
Hotel. This is another beautiful hotel, very oriental in design,
and the bed is much more comfortable than in Bagan.
We
then headed to Mandalay Hill for a panoramic sunset view. To get
to the top, we piled into the back of a pickup truck (which is the
standard taxi service for the locals.) It was like Mr. Toad's wild
ride as the road was windy and bumpy and our driver was in a big
hurry. Once we arrived at the end of the road, we took off our shoes
and socks as this is also a pagoda. It is a very ornate building
and due to the holiday, there were alot of people visiting the site.
Since our guide Bunny had given gifts to a monk, she followed the
local practice and rang a bell three times to show that a good deed
had been done.
Although dinner was not included in today's itinerary, Bunny arranged
for all of us to eat together at a local restaurant to celebrate
our Thanksgiving and her Full Moon Day. We didn't have turkey or
pumpkin pie but Bunny gave us all a package of candy made from pumpkin.
What a nice gesture (and it was yummy).
Nov. 27
After
breakfast, we boarded the bus for a visit to the world's largest
book in the Kuthodaw Pagoda. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The
pages of the book are carved in stone and each page is inside of
a stupa or shrine. There are 730 pages and stupas in all. If stacked
on top of each other, they would be as high as a 5 story building.
It took seven years between 1860-1868 to complete the carving of
the book. It contains the teachings of Buddhism. There was a small
scale replica depiction of the whole site, which included a pagoda
and other shrines.
We
then boarded a boat for a ride up the Irrawaddy River to the village
of Mingun. It was a really pleasant ride, almost cool. We passed
local fishermen hauling in nets and women washing clothes in the
river.
We walked around the village to get a glimpse of the local culture
and to view one of the world's largest ringing bells.
Cast in 1808, it is still uncracked and weighs in at 90 tons. It
is said that people ring this bell after performing a good deed
so they can share with others the merit they earned. Burmese Buddhists
consider this one of the world's sweetest sounds.
Our
last stop in Mandalay was to the longest wooden bridge in Burma.
The U Bein footbridge stretches 3/4 of a mile over the shallow Thang
Thaman Lake. It is constructed of teak planks and has withstood
the elements for more than two centuries. We walked a little ways
over the bridge but it was so crowded we soon gave up and went down
below to watch the sunset.
This
was our last day in Myanmar. Tomorrow we say goodby to our wonderful
guide, Bunny, and fly to Bangkok, Thailand for the start of the
main tour. We really enjoyed our time in Myanmar and are so glad
we decided to do the pre-trip.
To view more photos from our trip to Mandalay, please go to Mandalay
Photo Gallery. To read about the next location visited, go to
Bangkok.
Home
Locations Visited Photos Map
Contact Us
|