Myanmar Trip - Day 2

BAGAN

The next morning we took an early flight to Bagan. In Myanmar, travels

between cities are usually by plane and we will find out later why this

is the preferred mode of travel. At the Yangon domestic airport things

were quite chaotic and before we even got out of our coach, porters

were loading our baggage out. So much for the idea of carrying things

ourselves and saving on tips. Inside the airport, the same porters would

carry your baggage direct to the loading bay after checking in so there's

no way that you could carry your own luggage in. Throughout our entire

trip it was tips, tips and more tips. To add to your tipping woes, the

local currency, kyat, are all in 1,000 denominations (about RM3) and

small change was virtually none existent except for the local people.

Also you would need to have a big bag to carry the kyat and each time

you pay in bundles for purchases, counting over and over again to make

sure you gave the correct amount.

To have a first-hand look of our how the local people live and work

we were taken to the Nyaung U local market in Bagan. A market is the

best place to see the local people and it was really an eye-opener

for us. We were not able to identify with most of the vegetables here

and most of them seems to be jungle produce rather than commercially

produced onces like those we have from Cameron Highlands. Besides

tomatoes and chillies

The long beans are really long.

Shwezigon Pagoda

Located in Nyaung U city , 4miles to the north-east of Bagan, the

Shwezigon Pagoda  was built by King Anawrahta to house the

tooth relic of Buddha. Being a solid stupa and plated with gold,

this structure looks somewhat similar to the Shwedagon Pagoda

in Yangon. The top most structure of the pagoda also has a hti

or umbrella, a symbol of sovereignty. The uppermost terrace

has 4 stupas at the 4 corners of the pagoda.

The Sulamini Temple

This temple has broad terraces resembling the pyramid
with Buddha images facing the 4 directions from the
ground floor. It has fine brickworks and the interior
paintings are believed to be the oldest but only dim
traces could be seen now.
One interesting souvenir worth buying from here is the
sand-art painting. With very fine sand painted on
cloth they are really works of art and we had a field
day bargaining with the vendors.

Sand art painting

Dhamma ya zi ka Pagoda

This was the pagoda where we climbed up to the

top to have a panoramic view of the whole

heritage site and the views here was what I

find featured in websites and postcards of
Myanmar. It was really spectacular but marred
in part by the scorching sun at mid-day and
our equally hot feet. As I had said earlier,
shoes are not allowed once you enter the
compound of any temple here. So with the hot
sun heating up the brick pavements, our bare
feet has to bear the hot pavements and at the

end of the day our feet were really sore.

The Ananda Temple

An architectural masterpiece resembling a Greek
Cross, the Ananda temple is the finest and well
preserved of the temples. It has 4 images
representing the Buddhas of the present world.
One interesting features of one of the Buddhas
was that its face changed from stern when you
view it from near and changed to happy when
you view it from far. This temple was also a
honeycomb of wonders as you could see Buddha
statues in niches in the corridors in various
poses.

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Buddha with stern image when viewed from near and
smiling image when viewed from far.

The Bupaya Temple

A bulbous shaped pagoda situated near the banks of the
Ayer waddy River. It was completely rebuilt after being
destroyed in an earth-quake in 1975.

This was the condition of my feet after a whole day of bare-footed
walking on hot pavements in all the temples and pagodas.

But we  were rewarded at the end of the day with a nice and
beautiful room at the Ayeyar River View Hotel,very much
recommended if you were in Bagan.

My Myanmar Trip - Day 1

It was already evening when we touched down at Yangon International
Airport. So after much apprehension before our trip and not knowing
what to expect, we finally landed at Myanmar. Going through immigration

was not much of a hassle as we have everything in order including our

visa done in KL.

Our lady guide was waiting at the gates for us and soon we were whisked

off to our first stop of our tour, the Great Shwedagon Pagoda. Going

through the main street of Yangon as we made our way to the pagoda
gives you a sense of nostalgia. It seems we were transported back in time
40 years as Japanese cars of long ago are still being used here in large
numbers. There are no high-rises , lots of greenery and the air is clear
and unpolluted. Sadly this is only happening in an undeveloped city and
to be developed you will be bringing in jams, pollution and concrete

jungle just like what we have back home in KL.

Seeing the Golden Shwedagon Pagoda in the evening was a right
decision for us as its golden hues just shine in the lights. There are
several entrances and our guide took us to the entrance where our coach
could be parked easily. But one bane of entering all temples or places
of worship in Myanmar is that we have to remove our shoes. Not that

we are not aware  of this even in our temples at home but here shoes

are not allowed once you enter the compound of the temple. Back home
we remove our shoes if we enter the main prayer hall only. But here
we have to walk around bare footed even outside the temple no matter
that the compound is paved or not or its pebbles or sand outside. So
a good advise is to wear slippers or slip-ons so they can be taken off

easily as visits to temples and pagodas will be the order of the day and

there are no exceptions at all.

Taken in the evening the Golden Shwedagon Pagoda was just

majestic against the blue evening sky. Rebuilt to its present

height of 98 meters, the stupa is made of genuine gold plates

covering the brick structures. We were told to walk clock-

wise around the pagoda.

The Great Pagoda at night.

Burmese food to end our day.