Myanmar – 2016

(July 6 – July 21)

July 16, 2016 Saturday

Around 11am I check out from Bagan Thiripyitsaya. The front desk already had a cab ready for me. I thought the bus station was close but it was about 45 minutes away. My bus for Mandalay ($17) would leave at 1:00pm and be there around 5-6pm. I remember waiting at the station which was like a storage unit with a couple of seats. I watched the guys running the place cut a coconut from the tree in front and they offered me some which was very kind of them. I declined for fear of my stomach. The bus was more of a van. I thought I was the only one but we ended up stopping by a couple of hotels and picking people up. We picked up some local woman who ended up putting plastic seats without backings in the aisle of this van and that was their seat. I could not imagine the energy it would take for the next 5-6 hours of sitting on a plastic stool, the strain! But they did it. When we got to Mandalay, there was a little confusion, some stayed in the van we came in, some were told to get out. They were saying there was a transfer. May be it was easier for the drivers instead of dropping everyone off at their hotels, two vehicles would do it instead which would also cut down the time instead of waiting for your hotel. I got off the van but was told to get back on. I was not part of the transfer. My hotel was “Mandalay City Hotel”. The front didn’t look very nice, but when you got in the drive way/entrance area, it looked much better. I checked in and would relax for the rest of the day.

     July 17, 2016 Sunday

Hung out by the pool. It was actually much cooler and in the shade so I didn’t really go in. I had lunch at the Hotel. I book two tours today for July 19 and July 20th. Not sure why but….I did.

July 18, 2016 Monday

July 19, 2016 Tuesday | July 20, 2016 Wednesday

I would take two tours of Mandalay. Not entirely sure why I planned it that way. I think I wanted to see two perspectives of two different tourist guides. It wasn’t free but I think I probably learned more and appreciated both tours differently. The first was with Ko Soe Soe (KSS) and the second was with Toe Toe (TT). KSS was an older gentleman may be in his 50s to 60s while TT was probably in his early to mid 20s. They were both different telling me plenty of things about their culture and history. It was very fascinating and intriguing. I even learned about the tribes of Myanmar from KSS and learned about meditation and buddhism from TT. Even though some things seemed redundant especially visiting the same locations, it was worth it hearing and really learning the culture and nuances from two different guides.

Mingun Pahtowdawgyi – 1791

We took a private boat over. It wasn’t really private but KSS and I were the only ones on it. He knew the guys running it. There was about an hour delay because some ropes I believe got stuck in the rudder or some part of the boat. It also slightly started raining but by the time we got over to the Mingun which was across the river Ayeyarwaddy, the rain had stopped. KSS also told me today was some holiday and that was why it would be a little bit more crowded since people had a day off. I forget what exactly the holiday was but I think it was the beginning of a new moon or something where it was a day off. Mingun Pahtowdawgyi was an unfinished stupa made by the King Bodawpaya aka King Mindon Min.

Mingun Sayadaw and Mingun Gloke

Mingun Sayadaw has a statue of Shin Vicittasara (1911 – 1992), a Theravada Buddhist monk who memorize 16,000 pages of the Buddhist canonical and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for doing so. Mingung Gloke is a huge bell, maybe even the world’s largest. It weights about 100 tons, about 16 feet in diameter, and is 12 feet high. It started in 1808 and finished in 1810 by King Bodawpaya. You can crawl underneath the bell and stand up and see the writings underneath.

Hsinbyume Pagoda

Shwe In Bin (Teak Monastery)

Chinlone

Mahamuni

Mandalay Palace

Shwenandaw Monastery (Golden Palace Monastery)