The road to Mandalay, in Mandalay and around Mandalay

Here we are sitting in the Mandalay International airport ( which doesn't actually have international flights yet!) at 7am. We have had an exhausting amazing and inspirational couple of days seeing EVERYTHING of interest and now we are off to Heho in the mountains.

I hardly know where to begin but here's the summary of activities: I had to confer with all of the others as to the order – we accomplished a great deal in a mere two days!

We:

• Wore out our credit cards in the handicrafts shop which was full of old marionette puppets , buddhas of every shape and size, sequinned velvet pieces, gongs, pots ........ I emerged triumphant with a set of wooden monks ( the only problem is how to fit them into the case!)
• 

  Wandered around the Golden Palace Temple which was made of teak and had been relocated a couple of times when the capital changed. Beautiful wood carvings and enormous pillars. It was the accommodation for the last King and very grand but is now part of a monastery.  

There were 729 of these temples: far too many for one photo!

We were stunned by a visit to the 'biggest book in the world' which consists of 729 identical white temples in rows each containing one marble tablet of the buddha's teachings. Bigger than the biggest banana, the biggest pineapple etc etc! The king wanted to get married and thought that would be an impressive feat so he made an enlightment of monks create these tablets ( no-one can remember how many monks it took so an 'enlightenment' is our new collective noun for lots of monks). The interesting thing was that his brother, the Prince, decided he would build a smaller version but with more temples - as only a jealous brother would! So they were constructed next door. 

• Ate at Ko's Restaurant: exquisite Thai food - as usual much too much, even for so many of us. I think the locals have the idea that we eat enormous amounts of food, which is probably true in comparison to them, but the minute a dish is finished they replace it!

• 

  Admired the skills of the workers at the gold leaf factory: many of the pagodas we visited sell tiny packets of gold leaf as offerings  and in some you can place your gold leaf on a buddha for good luck. In this factory the tiny gold ingots that weigh 16 grams are transformed into 2300 tiny 2 inch squares. The process involves a lot of strenuous beating with huge mallets to spread it out, none of which can be done by machine. The ladies were responsible for creating the 0.003 thick gold sheets into squares. Remarkable skills!

• Watched girls weave superb silk lonyis on huge looms using the finest silk : a real test of patience and skill. then we descended on the shop and there were scarves, longyis, shirts and tops being bought at amazing speed.

• Traversed the U Ping bridge: the longest teak bridge in Burma - 1.2 kms. This rather dilapidated bridge features on many of the photos of Myanmar. It was too much of a challenge for some as there are huge gaps between planks and doesn't have any handrails for most of it.

 We walked carefully to the second rest house/shelter and were served cocktilas and snacks. Then it started to rain! Whilst not a monsoonal downpour, it was a test for the umbrellas as it was also windy. Alison and I decided to risk life and limb and go out a bit further. It's amazing that when you meet some poor fisherman sitting in the rain anywhere in the world and determined to catch a fish you don't need to have the language to ask how it's going : charades will do. One girl proudly dipslayed her catch : a 3 inch fish. We all giggled and she said "Small!" to which we all nodded and laughed.

We managed to make our way back to the bus despite a section of the bridge not having any remaining footings and dipping down as we walked on it! 

• Ate at Red Canal restaurant and hotel: superb indian food and a very quirky hotel : well worth a visit.

Day Two:
 

Visited Sagaing in the mountains by crossing the Ayerwaddy River over the new U Bien bridge. A very impressive structure but under no circumstances are you allowed to stop on the bridge and take photos, and for many years you were not allowed to take photos of the bridge itself in case you werwe anti-governement and considering terrorist activities.

Here we are, squashed into the back of the truck, with the others following behind

As we are trying to use all forms of available transport, we had our first ride in a passenger truck to get to the Zygay 14th century monastery at the top of the mountain. 
They are rough modified utes with a tarpaulin roof, bench seat along the sides at the back, and then you hang on to anything you can find to prevent being bounced out. The truck driver had to stop and put extra air in the tyres once we got on and he realised he would need it to carry the WWWs (white whale women, as we have now called ourselves) up the mountain.

 

 

There was much use of low gears and a lot of positive thinking needed to get to the top. The road was narrow and the truck narrowly missed local pedestrians, monks and peddlers a few times.






From the monastery the mountain top views of the river and the pastel coloured tiles and glasswork were lovely. Again, some very graphic modern paintings of the precepts of Buddhism needed no explanation, - especially the one forbidding sexual misconduct.




In many of the places we have been these pottery water vessels are
available for anyone to drink: we didn't of course.
 Many of them were covered in moss from the constant moisture.

The toilet cost 200 Kyats (20 cents) and was fine. After I washed my hands at an outside basin the woman gave me some paper towel to dry my hands, and when I couldn't find a rubbish bin anywhere she instructed me to throw it down the hill with lots of other decomposing paper towel. Very odd!

We tentatively climbed aboard the trucks again and headed down the hill (at breakneck speed in some spots which required a lot of hanging on tight to the rails!), arriving safely but a bit rattled at the Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School.

As in many asian countries it provides a path to education which many cannot afford, so most enter as children and then decide whether they will stay and be ordained when they get older.

There are 300,000 female monks in Burma and about 800,000 male monks.

We had donated money to pay for a meal for all 150 nuns...and us! The nuns wear pale pink and bright orange with a brown shawl. Firstly we met with the Head nun who was very serene : she is the leader of this nunnery, which has 150 nuns, and another one in Yangon which has 50 nuns. She said the key to leadership and achievement of your goals is unity, and to create unity you have to have forgiveness and understanding of others.
 

We then went to watch the nuns, from 9 year old students to their teachers, take some food to be blessed in the temple. They chanted beautifully as we wandered past their huge bamboo Buddha covered in gold (and kept in an airconditioned room!). The nuns were rather intrigued with us and there were lots of smiles and attempts to talk. With their bald heads and flowing pale pink gowns they all looked very young and serene.

 

Then the highlight of the day was serving them as they silently filed past: a scoop of rice from huge bowls into their small metal bowls, and  a cupful of sweetened iced tea into their metal cups. They queued up quietly and neatly put their identical sandals in rows, before silently accepting the rice and moving into the dining room. On their tables were meat and vegetable dishes. They sat on the floor at low tables and sang a prayer which included their welcome and thanks to us and wishing us loving kindness.

 

Then they silently ate as we also elegantly (not!) sat at the low tables that had been set for us: they appeared to be laden with far more food than they had on theirs, and as soon as we finished a dish another one of the same dish replaced it.

I thought I had it sussed when Anne finished her delicious green weed soup and another bowl appeared immediately. So I didn't finish mine completely, thinking there wouldn't be a replacement: but to no avail a second one appeared. The only consolation was that anything we didn't eat would be eaten by others there, so leaving plates of delicious food including pork, beef, chicken, vegies (and fruit and lemon cake for dessert!) was OK.

 

From 12.00 till 1.00pm the nuns have free time for extra study, washing, meditating and chatting. We wandered around and had a look at the basic school rooms with wooden benches and the younger girls dormitory bedrooms. Each bed had a chest at the end which contained the girls personal effects and a bookshelf containing piles of religious texts. Each week for an hour they were allowed to read reference books to broaden their understanding of the world. We met the youngest nun – a nine year old girl from the Shan state. Her friend explained that she had come to the Nunnery to learn to speak Burmese fluently as she only spoke Shan. She said she was happy to be there.

 

We did another quick whip-around and gave the money to the head nun who said we were on the path to Nirvana.

A shorter truck trip brought us to the riverbank and yet another form of transport to add to our list! We climbed aboard a large wooden barge for the two hour trip down the river to Mingon. The breeze was much appreciated as we had lost the cool of the mountains, and the humidity was high. The chairs were very comfortable laid back cane chairs in which I, and quite a large number of my fellow travellers, slept off the intense heat.

It was fascinating moving slowly along close to the riverbank and seeing the locals living their lives: doing their washing in the river, dunking their children in for a wash, and of course the inevitable group of young boys doing 'bombs' - showing off to the the weird white foreigners! 

 

We kept an eye out for the Ayerwaddy River dolphins but to no avail. As it is the end of the Monsoon season the river was high and the current was strong, so it took us more than 2 hours to reach Mingon.

 

The first building we came across on the riverbank was a huge block of bricks which was actually the square stand of an unfinished temple that had been hit by an earthquake and never repaired.Then we:

• Walked along the river bank and were accosted by peddlers selling jade, Tshirts, pyjamas and fans, one of which I bought as it was extremely hot and we were all desperate for anything that would help us combat the heat and humidity. It lasted all of five minutes before it started to fall to bits!

• Climbed the stairs of a white-washed temple Hsinbyume Paya with huge white 'waves' in the design, a resident goat at the top of the stairs, and great views of the river.
 
• Bashed the Mingon bell which is the 3^rd largest bell in world but the largest bell in the world that actually rings (the other two have cracks). The sound was enormous and very mellow. It weighs 90 tons and was actually cast in the riverbank sand when the river was low and then, when the waters rose, it was floated to its current position: not surprisingly it was positioned very close to the riverbank.

• 

  Visited the local Poor Aged home run single-handedly by a very enthusiastic nurse who had lived there for 25 years with assistance from an occasional doctor. But, good news! - her son is close to finishing his medical degree ( the only person from Mingon to ever do so) – and is going to help her.

The most challenging part of the boat trip was disembarking when we returned: we had to climb through three other boats and finally walk across these planks with the handrail being supported by a half-submerged boatman!
Good news: nobody fell in, but we did feel very sorry for the boatman!

Melted in the withering heat and staggered aboard the boat looking red, frazzled and dripping with perspiration : probably the hottest we have been so far. The chilled water, slices of watermelon and the salt of the peanuts ( Yay!) revived us and we enjoyed the breeze as we crossed the river back to the Mandalay side and returned to the Hotel.

Wallowed in the pool for hours, enjoyed some poolside snacks and packed our bags for another early flight and a 5am wake-up call.

Your hot and happy correspondent

Dianne

Massages and Mount Popa

A day off!.....
 

Today we have no commitments until later tonight, so we can do what we please.

The view from the local tower with Mount Popa in the background.

A group of stalwart colleagues have headed off in the bus to Mt Popa.

Here's Thelma's report on the excursion:

A chance to wave at our friendly people at yesterdays lunch place as the Princess Shalimar carried us out into more rural areas. Hearing Ohmnah's usual great commentary was good – about the French re-afforestation project that showed in the plantations that we drove thru, the Chinese gas project pipeline and the road that we travelled on being only 10 years old. Now the road is memorable; like all MM roads, just one vehicle width, with much tooting to work out who stops and who goes first when you meet another vehicle. More village and farm vehicles (or modes of transportation).

At a main intersection and small village, another of those tight turns where it took the 2 drivers (or driver and our busboy/ navigator to accomplish the right hand turn – and a stop for a toll, obviously to take the mountain road.

This hot group of ladies (and Gary - Sue's husband) had no problem agreeing to having the air-conditioning turned off to help the bus manage the steep drive – guess what, it was actually cool outside. Bliss to drive with open windows. The magnificent scenery overcame the sense of OMG re height, sheer drops and sandstone being quarried from the cliffs.

One stop for photos where we managed to get our shoes into an absolutely obscene state in the mud (or whatever else), then finally into the little village where the steps to the temple start.

Here there was an interesting toilet experience for the desperate in the group – just another life's experience! Also saw the first of the monkeys – on roofs, on the ground, etc doing busy monkey things. Omahr's warning was to keep all plastic bags out of sight and anything else the monkeys may snatch.
 

The steps – first stage was gentle with all tiled steps and shops / stalls to the sides – not the amount of hassling as at markets so far. At the end of the shops and first flights of steps, the shoe removal ceremony took place – this time with lockers for our shoes (some enterprising person has seen the business possibility here).
 

We started on the next steps – steeper and to the accompaniment of the banging of sticks and firing of slingshots to scare away the monkeys. One quick fellow snatched a water bottle from a woman, ran off through barbed wire and across the roof, then sat and removed the top and drank the water – at least it didn't go to waste. Frequent stops to catch the breath and sit on the seats built into the sides. By now, the shirt isn't just damp, but dripping, even though the air is cooler. Just keep climbing – slow and steady – then the steep metal stairs, but not too bad as there rails both sides and a sense of everyone giving way to others – very polite (remember Angkor Wat?). More slow and steady tiled steps with locals washing the steps and asking for donations. Enterprising Ursula fanned some local ladies that we gave way to and asked for 'donation for fanning' – the local sense of humour appreciated the joke.

Passed the steps to where the twins were born – who in the world would have climbed to the top of a mountain to give birth???

Ohnmah kept us going with a few 'white lies' about the number of steps left; then the last steep metal stairs, a few more sets of tiled steps and we were there. 'There' was a stunning view across the plains to Bagan, the dam on another side, and Mt Popa on the other. Mt Popa peak was in cloud and a great sight.

At this stage the sun came out and there was a quick photo shoot of the group before an urgent move into the shade.

More to follow......

Hi all and thanks Di for posting the first part of this story. I hope that more of the intrepid mountain adventure crew may add comments and correct where I may have missed something.

Before I continue the downward and homeward journey, I must add in the visit to the spirit ‘house’ at the village before we started the stair climb. This was a really good (not that I am an expert) set of the 37 spirit statues. Very colourful and a close-up encounter with Mr Handsome and Miss Golden Face and their extended family (7 members in all), plus the black clad figures that included the woman with the tiger who continues to search in the forest for her son who listened to music when he shouldn’t and was lost to her. He (the son) is further down the line-up, where she can’t see him.

As usual, the flower sellers were there and some of the group took the opportunity to purchase and present to their chosen statues / spirits. Also as usual with our group, this was not without incident – with Omahr having to sort out why the flower women were over-excited as we were leaving – another of those 1 costs $x but 2 costs 3 times $x situations; then add on ‘my friend has paid for me’ and confusion reigns. But all sorted, more kyat handed over and everyone leaves happily. Are we a soft touch?

Okay – back to the descent via a different set of steps for a start that soon joined the previous steps. Slow and steady does it again and we make our way down; now not daring to stop as the legs are starting to shake and we know that tomorrow there will be pain.

First stop is to retrieve our shoes and try to get them back on. Not easy with legs now in a state of shaking and definitely not feeling as though they belong to the rest of our bodies.

The pain is soon forgotten with a bit of retail therapy at the little shops on the way down the remainder of the steps. Happy that we have achieved some bargains, we step past the on-the-ground monkeys and take our seats in the Princess, ready to return to Bagan.

As we start the journey, it starts to rain – drops at first then a downpour. Along the line, Gary has convinced Omahr that we need Devonshire tea, so there is a stop at a tea house with dragon fruit trees. Now here is a surprise – we had no idea of the dragon tree plants. They have the appearance of the cactus that we saw while on the horse-ride in Bagan.

Many umbrella trips through the heavy rain later, we reach the teahouse and while the rain stops take photos of the dragon fruit. Coffee and tea and banana pancakes (the closest we can get to scones) are ordered. Sue tries to abscond with the baby of one of the workers and we again create havoc in getting the money correct to pay the bill (for a smart group of people, we can really make a mess of paying a few kyat.)

The downpour has continued as we descend - the villages are quite flooded, people are drenched and the road extremely treacherous. Watching the water stream out of the hillside is something else.

Meanwhile......

Those left behind decided to spend the day being totally decadent: late breakfast, plenty of swims and most important of all Thanaka massages.


Kerryn, Kate Kim and Jenny hanging over the edge of the infinity pool
at the Aureum Palace Resort -
complete bliss in the heat!

For those of us brave enough to experience that form of massage we emerged from The Spa an hour and a half after entering, covered from top to toe in thanaka, the cream paste worn by women and children as a sunscreen and beauty product. We'd been exfoliated, massaged - the masseurs even crawled along our backs and used their knees and forearms for some deep massage! - and then painted with this amazing silky paste. Everyone wandered around for the rest of the day looking slightly sickly as the cream/yellow colour looks rather weird on pale skin.

Anyway we were hopeful that we would all look ten years younger at least but to no avail!! 

Sunset at the lake at the Resort

For dinner we all reassembled and went to an open air restaurant right on the banks of the mighty Ayerwaddy River.  We had been warned that this was a cultural event and although we are very interested in the local culture, often these 'events' are less about the local culture and more about the tourists expectations.

However we were pleasantly surprised as it was a marionettes show using authentic puppets and characters from stories from Buddha, accompanied by three very enthusiastic musicians playing a xylophone made from small gongs, a strange trumpet and some drums.

It was really fascinating and they were very pleased when some of our group asked them about the instruments and Alison displayed her vast musical knowledge playing the gongs.

 The food was great: Deb and I have decided that the tiny roasted peanuts are one of the best delicacies here.

The infinity pool at night

Off to Mandalay tomorrow

 

Bagan: market mayhem, palm wine, cart rides and more.....

After a much needed sleep we assembled for a trip to the local market in old Bagan.

Omahr's first words as we drove off in the bus were: “No pagodas today!” at which we all cheered!

After the pep talk from Omahr about how to avoid being pestered by aggressive peddlers and a few practices of “Topi! Topi!” (which means "That's enough"!) we emerged from the bus to frighten the locals. Not the intended effect but accurate I think.

It never ceases to amaze me that you can go to any market in Asia and still find fruit and vegetables you've never seen before. We split up so we would be less of a target for the peddlers and worked our way through the narrow aisles being overwhelmed by the heat, and the amazing cacophony of smells and sights.

To our amazement cauliflowers are in season (in this heat!) and lots of tomatoes and eggplants of every size, betel leaves, chillies of every variety, noodles and of course fly-covered fish, meat and chicken totally unrefrigerated.
 



The rest of the market was the usual mixture of fascinating stalls: clothing, hardware, plastic products and of course hundreds of longyis - the long skirts worn by both men and women. There was also stalls selling thanaka, the cream powder you often see on photos of children and women. You buy a piece of wood from the lemonade tree and grind it on a stone with some water and make a paste. You then smear the paste on to your face, either in a nice design on your cheeks to enhance your beauty or all over for sun protection. Very common everywhere you go, particularly for children and women.

 

There were some very interesting forms of transport one of which looked remarkably like a giant Meccano construction to me: sort of a cross between a tractor and a ute. Will have to include a photo as my mechanical knowledge is nonexistent.

After managing to get everyone back on the bus eventually, we headed off to a traditional tea-house full of men sitting and chatting and filling in time. After managing to get our backsides on to the world's tiniest plastic chairs, we had our first taste of Myanmar tea: ie tea with condensed milk in it. Many of us enjoyed it more than we thought we would, as the tea was quite strong and became more caramel with the sweetened milk.

 

There was a sudden commotion caused by a small palm snake which had made its way into the open air tea-house. Fortunately it wasn't poisonous, but of course this is a Buddhist country so it couldn't be killed (as it might have been someone's ancestor reincarnated). A brave man eventually managed to catch it and throw it out on to the dirt road, much to our relief, and everyone settled into the exhausting business of doing nothing and chatting again.

Ursula helping out with the making of the red bean paste:
stirring the huge cauldrons of redbeans which boil for most of the day

Then back on the bus for a short trip to a soy bean paste cottage industry in a small village: apparently Bagan is famous for this red paste which is used in salads and stir-fries.

Every morning they start the process of boiling huge amounts of the soy beans in huge cauldrons over open fires until eventually it turns into a red paste. The husks of the beans are not wasted as they are fed to the livestock. In this country nothing goes wasted – ever. Very wise.







 

The climber has two pots on a rope over his shoulder as he climbs the bamboo ladder. When he reaches the top he replaces the two pots that have been attached to the fruit collecting the sugar sap and climbs carefully down without spilling a drop!

The fermenting palm wine: only for the strong!

 

Then it was off to cool down in the bus until we reached a Palm farm where they harvest palm sugar and produce lots of very sweet delicacies which we were happy to sample: tamarind lollies, palm sugar mixed with coconut, palm sugar dipped in sesame seeds and so on. The palm sugar is very caramel and a nicer texture than at home. The sugar syrup straight from the tree had an interesting nutty taste but I didn't venture into the palm wine tasting section as, judging by the look on most people's faces, it was like cheap saki!

The farm was owned by a couple (of about our age) who had 5 children, four of whom had been to University. The farm had been successful enough to support them and education is seen as an important way for families to progress from the humble beginnings of agricultural village life.

We saw the whole process of production including a young man climbing a rickety bamboo ladder up a tree with two pots and a knife strapped to his back (OH&S???). He then exchanged the pots with pots full of palm sap and, using the knife, made some more cuts and attached the pots. We were relieved to see him get to the ground safely.

We watched as a weary bullock walked in never ending circles to move a grinding stone which ground the local peanuts into paste. The peanuts here are very tiny but have lots of flavour.
 

We also watched as the wife made huge cigars out of tobacco and herbs wrapped in corn husks: I could feel my lungs closing up at the thought!

Then I spotted a young girl grinding some thanaka on a stone plant and mixing it with water. She sat me down and smeared it onto my cheeks and nose and made a leaf design. Now I understand why it's so popular! It takes a few minutes to dry and feels like a cool astringent. Everyone followed suit: those with the reddest faces looked best as you could see the designs clearly.

Then another Burmese lunch sitting on chairs and tables made from palm trees: fantastic food again.

All of this took place under shelters made from palm leaves and no walls so that we could appreciate any breezes in an effort to keep cool.

Back on the bus - now named the Princess Shalimar due to its bright colours, gold curtains and coloured lights! - and back to the Hotel for a quick swim before heading to a lacquer ware factory called House of Bagan.

Omahr explained the process and we admired the workers skills, trying not to be too distracting as the woman in charge looked a bit fearsome.

The man who makes the bamboo bases was incredibly skilful. He gave me a bracelet he had made out bamboo strips, but it wouldn't fit on my wrist so he measured me up and made me one on the spot form 3 strips of bamboo: his hands moving so fast it was difficult to keep track. It has a shiny sheen to it and is really lovely – the highlight of my day. (Whether the Customs guys in Australia think it's really lovely is yet to be seen!).

After a chaotic 20 minutes of shopping in their huge shop we all emerged triumphant with large bags of treasures. I think Chris, Kim and Anne were the winners there!

Then, for a completely different transport experience, we climbed aboard small carts pulled by a horse, and wandered along dirt tracks amidst hundreds of the pagodas and temples dotting the countryside. We had two people and a driver in each wooden cart. Fortunately there were cushions as the roads were rough and the carts basic. Kerryn and I maintain that the reason we were at the back of the field was the age of the horse: nothing to do with our combined size of course!

It was a lovely way to appreciate the number of temples and the huge variety: some are barely as tall as the trees, whereas others are significant structures. Some had been damaged by a serious earthquake and are unable to be repaired. Most of them seemed to have a sponsor whose name appeared on a stone tablet at the entrance, so they will be preserved. The stupas are shaped in every imaginable way from blobs to tall tapering spires. They are placed in totally random groups or completely alone, and the farmers simply work around them. It's difficult to estimate their age but any time from the 9th Century onwards is possible.
 

After 45 minutes of meandering we arrived at a huge temple with a large platform at the base of the stupa, so we clambered up some stone steps and waited for the sunset to arrive. Looking out over the fields you can really appreciate the uniqueness and the sacred nature of this landscape. Very nice to sit and contemplate life, the universe and everything.
 

Spot the temples in this beautiful landscape

After we struggled back down the steps it was back for yet another swim in the dark and a hamburger on the pool deck with a couple of drinks. A perfect end to a busy day.
 

Your relaxed and waterlogged correspondent

Dianne

Hurray! Internet connection at last!

 If you were wondering whether we had disappeared into the wilds of the Bumese jungle let me reassure you that we are all fine, but just haven't been able to get reliable internet connectivity in Bagan.

So... here are the blogs you've missed:

Yangon to Bagan : Day One

Feeling exhausted so a short but sweet blog tonight!

After our 4am – yes that is FOUR AM – wakeup call this morning we headed for the airport and a short 70 minute flight to Bagan arriving at about 7am, As we flew in on the Air Mandalay 76-seater (for those who want the details) we could see the first of the 5000 pagodas and temples for which this area is famous.
 

First on the agenda was visiting 4 pagodas which are considered the highlights from all of the choices.

The first thing we noticed about Bagan was the heat as it is in central Myanmar: less humidity but it was HOT! One of the joys of pagoda and temple visiting is that you have to take your shoes off, and you also have to be covered up with no knees or shoulders showing: not so very easy when the tiles and bricks on the ground have been baking in the sun for days and the temperature just keeps rising until it's well over 30 degrees celsius. We revived ourselves with lots of water and a few stints of air conditioning when we were on the bus.

Whilst visiting lots of pagodas sounds a bit repetitive, each one was completely different and remarkable in its own way: they varied in age from the 9^th to the 17^th century.

The first was Shwe Zigon, built in the 11^th century and the same style as the Shwedagon in Yangon, except that the Stupa or curved tower was about one-third of the size, at about 30 metres. It's claim to fame was that it housed a replica of Buddha's tooth and shoulder bone. So somewhere, 6 feet underground, they were placed and this enormous shining golden stupa was created.

The next was an 11^th Century tiny pagoda called Gu byauk with intricate but faded paintings: amazing to think they are so old and still surviving ( at least the ones not stolen by a German archaeologist).

The next was Htilo Minlo which had ancient stucco decorating the outside walls that had been there since the 13th Century.

For something completely different then we visited a giant Buddha -Ma nuha - that had been housed in a building that was so small that you had to squeeze past the Buddha to walk around it. Very hard to appreciate the size when you are up that close!

Of course when we arrive we are seen as a cash cow (sorry ladies!) by the local peddlers who are very persistent. We have perfected the technique of not making eye contact and trying to look at interesting items without appearing to be interested.
 

The prize for the best purchase of the day goes to Kim who purchased a truly stunning set of Christmas cards - including one of Father Christmas riding a Brahmin bull! Just what every Christmas needs!

By this stage we had had our fill of pagodas, our rooms were ready for us and we were desperate to catch up on some sleep. The Aureum Palace Resort is certainly palatial: we don't have a room each - we have a small house! I'm sure a local family or two could live in my unit: it has about 5 rooms plus an outdoor balcony.

I had a sleep and then went to the infinity pool which was very spectacular: as you swim towards the edge of the pool you appear to be swimming towards a couple of pagodas: very beautiful and totally decadent!.

Feeling refreshed we headed off for Andana Okkyaung: a beautiful small 17^th Century temple filled with paintings which were worn but still beautiful. The green from the indigo plant and the red from cinnamon bark created a lovely palette and added another dimension to the detailed paintings of Buddha stories and everyday life. We were particularly interested to see lots of pictures of stunning concubines, apparently present to test the strength of the monks' faith .

Last but not least we wearily arrived at the the Andana Pagoda which featured 4 huge smiling golden Buddhas whose smiles were enhanced by clever use of natural light. We tried to overlook the loud microphone used by a Thai tour guide which certainly wrecked the ambience. Given the heat, humidity and fatigue it's amazing none of us went and wrecked his microphone.

Omahr was an endless mine of information and kept us moving: her knowledge about the details of all of these buildings is truly amazing. And we're all so overcome by the heat that I'm sure we keep asking the same inane questions.

So, having reached our limit on pagodas we did the real tourist thing and enjoyed drinks, nibbles and the sunset at the Au Mint tower. Fortunately there was a lift as only Alison had the energy to climb the stairs.

Returned to the hotel for dinner and yet another swim before bed.

Your still exhausted but amazed correspondent

Dianne

The Conference ends.....

Sadly we reached the last sessions of the Conference knowing that some of us will return to Australia whilst the rest of us explore Myanmar further.

Kerryn encouraged us to consider how we would survive and thrive when we return to the 'real' world (all too soon unfortunately) and Kim got us to focus on the experience of the week and its impact for the future.

After lunch a group of us headed out of town to the Commonwealth War Cemetery. We drove past lots of military compounds well-screened from the road, some large hospitals and factories and even a Daewoo factory.

We had some fun on the way there identifying our favourite billboards (as Sally wouldn't let us sing any of 'The Sound of Music' and no one wanted to play I Spy) including my favourite : a Coke ad ( yes it's EVERYWHERE!) with two happy people made of Coke and the slogan - "Open happiness!" We also liked one which was an ad for a Sweety Home store so it went like this - 'Plan your Sweety Home for nice furniture' - now there's an aspirational goal for you! More of these to follow I'm sure.

When we arrived at the cemetery we were struck by the impeccable tidiness of it and the huge number of graves: more than 6000 and a monument to 27000 Indian soldiers whose bodies have never been found. There were a few Australian, Canadian and Nigerian graves but many more that were British and Indian. It was very sobering to read the messages the families had included on the headstones of some of the graves, and even more sad to see so many graves that were marked as unknown soldiers. Just so many of them and so young. The rows of identical headstones were enhanced by the simple but striking monuments and the range of plants between each headstone. Unfortunately there was appalling music issuing forth from the other side of the road : it was so loud it seemed to be a deliberate ploy to disturb the tranquillity of the cemetery.

We proceeded home much more quietly.

On return we caught up with some of the others and their adventures. Some had booked in for a massage by blind students and were all set for the full essential oils and massage experience. Instead the masseurs were deaf and dumb and they were massaged fully clothed. Even with the best planning sometimes things just go astray! Although the massages were apparently enjoyed by all.

After another wallowing session in the pool solving the world problems  we are now about to head off for the farewell Conference dinner at Le Planteur, a French restaurant which is supposed to be one of the best in Yangon.

Fortunately (touch wood!) we appear to have no sickies at the moment so let's hope everyone makes it. We've done reasonably well so far but a couple of people have had a day off to have some quiet time (and antibiotics!) to recover from the usual gastric challenges.

your healthy correspondent

Dianne

Immersing ourselves in this world

As we all staggered out of bed well before 6am to set off for a meditation session at the local monastery (Mahasi Meditation Centre) there were lots of concerns expressed as to the ability of our bodies to withstand the stillness required (and some concern about whether we were capable of not talking for a sustained period too!)

Grasping our towels and cushions we seated ourselves on the floor for a lecture from the senior monk (who was somewhat difficult to understand): some of us were relieved to hear him provide the option of walking meditation or sitting-on-chair meditation.

To my amazement I actually managed to sit cross-legged on the floor and meditate for 30 minutes, almost without moving. I can understand why it is such a useful way of centreing yourself and we all seemed calmer for quite some time afterwards.

We were invited to the monks dining room and sat on the floor at very low tables and enjoyed sticky rice in banana leaves and bananas and tea. We felt we had qualified for the title of 'foreign yogis 'as it says in their booklet.

Then it was back to the serious business of the Conference: this time with Anne and the first attempt at looking forward to the future. The gingham tablecloths and plates of food provided a World Cafe environment and moved the discussion along (not that we are ever reluctant to talk!)

Then it was off to a traditional Burmese lunch - fantastic dry beef curry, greens etc. and yet more watermelon.

Then we visited two NGOs helping the women of Myanmar.

Myat Myanmar is an organisation that trains young women from one of the industrial area/satellite towns  to sew: they had made our fantastic orange conference bags. Basically their employment options were limited to prostitution, market work and menial labour, so the prospect of a factory job is a huge achievement for them.

They were just delightful and the program has been very successful: 170 girls have been trained and so far almost 50% have permanent employment. So it was another whip around and we gave them enough money to buy some fans or an air conditioner: we nearly all melted away in the heat whilst we were there. Nilar who had also attended the Women's forum manages this program and many other projects for prisoners, AIDS etc. with minimal support from the government. Truly an inspiration.

Then we visited an outlet full of textiles, candles, and handicrafts. We were going to visit the actual women's workshop but the Tour company wasn't able to get approval as it was in a politically sensitive area.


Next a drive past Aung San Suui Kyi's house, where the gate and wall has been rebuilt and the road is very new. Not so long ago it was forbidden to drive past her house and it was closely monitored.

Back to the Hotel for more swims and out to dinner at Padonmar: another Burmese restaurant.

After having lunch with Geoffrey (Goddard) on Monday he had offered to come and talk about his experiences in Myanmar so he joined us for dinner. As a Senior Editor at the Myanmar Times he has had to contend with the pre-publication censorship (depicted in the documentary 'Dancing with Dictators') for some years and he produced some examples of pages with red marks to demonstrate the unpredictabilty of the censorship decisions. Whilst very recent changes have decreased the censorship, the publishing of a newspaper in the current climate remains challenging. The struggles he has faced to maintain his integrity but remain safe politically were clear to all of us. He answered lots of questions and really added to our understanding of the complexities within Myanmar.

One of the most interesting aspects of the discussion was about the future leadership of the country and his belief that the people with the capacity, intelligence and integrity came from within the military:he attributed the recent changes to the 2 newest leaders - President and Vice-President - and not Aung Sun Suu Kyi. Whilst she has a lot of profile and provides inspiration to the people, it appears she hasn't achieved much change in her own right: a very interesting view.

After a few drinks by the pool (good news : the isotonic is almost gone!) we all went to bed feeing much better informed about the political sensitiviities and life in Myanmar,

Your better-informed correspondent

Dianne










     

Mixing it with the masses

Currently I m sitting by the side of the pool at the Governor's Residence Hotel with  some of my fellow travellers bobbing around very slowly and noisily in the pool awaiting the arrival of the G&Ts. It's about 5pm and for the first time a few raindrops are falling to cool us down.

We have been out and about since 8am getting a better sense of the life of the local people. Although I have to admit it is a little difficult to blend in and be unobtrusive when there are 24 large white women travelling en masse. And before anyone accuses me of being rude about their size: even the smallest of our gang is larger than the very petite Burmese women.

We set off to cross the Yangon River - muddy and brown like the Yarra. That involved a boat trip on a huge ferry equipped with tiny plastic chairs too small for western bottoms and peddlers of all sorts of items from quail eggs to hats to men's shirts. We caused quite a sensation and our endless "mingalaba" (hello) to everyone was met with big smiles. We got caught up in the masses of people getting on and off the boat and also the live chooks, TVs and bicycles which were also being transported.

On the other side we were met by chaos on the dock and caused major traffic jams as we piled into tri-shaws for the trip from the Dala township to a village about half an hour away.

Not many tourists visit this side of the river apparently and consequently the tri-shaws were not designed for the size of our bums. I managed to manoeuvre myself into the seat but was jammed tight and had great difficulty extricating myself elegantly (which my FRIEND Kerryn managed to photograph!) at the other end. As Sue pointed out I could have ended up like a hermit crab with the bike permanently attached, so I was somewhat relieved when I managed to squeeze myself out.

On the way to the village we stopped at the local market which was fascinating. It's interesting to see the different reactions to the sights and smells: I love the pungent smell of the herbs pastes, chillies and unrecognisable fruits - but some found it rather confronting.

I decided to buy some limes to try and make the new taste sensation of gin and ISOtonic even better. I did a great job of bartering (actually didn't even try!) and ended up with 6 limes for the princely price of 150 kyats (about 25 cents). And judging by the amount of giggling going on I still paid more than I should!

The sad thing was the amount of plastic rubbish at the front of the market. In days gone by all of the rubbish would have just rotted away, but now with the number of plastic bags the rubbish remains and turns into a horrible quagmire.

I squeezed back into the trishaw and we headed off down the rocky potholed road. (I felt positively at home as it was much the same as the driveway at Orygen: even Anne noticed the similarity!)

We passed a couple of small medical clinics apparently staffed by a doctor,
usually trained in Myanmar

After quite some time travelling through expansive rice fields we arrived in the village which has a population of 3000.


Even this small villgae had an NLD ( National League for Democracy) headquarters in a tiny building with a large billboard out the front with photos of Aung San Suui Kyi and her father Aung San

We spent some time wandering through the village: neat tiny wooden houses, all of them with large pottery urns for water, and small spirit house for offerings to the local deities. A mix of animism and Buddhism.

We walked around the tiny lake, past the local pagoda and ended up at the school where we really caused  sensation.

We were apparently the first tourist group to ever visit the village so everyone came to see us and greeted us warmly. However, the under two year olds were not so keen: when I got too close to one of them she took one look at me and screamed! In fact most of the babies we saw were perfectly content until they caught sight of these strange white faces and started to frown or cry.

At the school, controlled chaos reigned: there were about 6 classrooms with huge numbers of kids in each, all dressed in the Myanmar school uniform of white shirt and dark green pants/skirt. The prep class had 72 children in it and were learning English! Although they were very distracted they all behaved very well. The older boys were cheeky and posing for photos just as they would anywhere. The school routine went out the window and they giggled happily as we took photos.

Their resources were scarce: not every child had their own exercise book and there were no posters or teaching aids to see. So we did a quick 'whiparound' and gave them about $300. The head teacher was insistent that we present it to them formally and take photos as she said everyone in the village would know by the time we returned to the bus and she needed to be accountable.

So we did a group photo of all of us and the teachers (whilst all of the kids amused themselves and didn't misbehave!).

 By the time we had a look around the local monastery and its cats, and had a chat to the local monk we were exhausted. The humidity and heat were high and we were wilting!

But the news had spread and we were greeted at the headman's house where we were having lunch by a reporter from 'The Light of Myanmar' who insisted on taking a photo - just when we were looking our gorgeous best!

We were also photographed a number of times whilst we were travelling in the trishaws by a man in a uniform ( whom somebody decided was using a speed camera: very amusing!). He was apparently from the Tourism ministry and keen to show that we were having a great time to potential tourists.

The lunch was a very traditional Burmese meal with spicy chili and tamarind paste to liven up the stirfries and rice. Red bean cakes, pickled green tea, and peanuts served with green tea completed the meal. The loo proved a challenge for some (and their thigh muscles) as it was the squat variety, but we were in a Burmese home.

With some relief we jumped on the cool bus and headed back to the dock for the ferry trip back to the other side. A short walk brought us back to the Strand Hotel to collapse gratefully in the cool on comfortable cane lounges. When we revived we had a browse in the Beautiful Gallery and shop. Then it was off to the Gallery of Min ...Aung famous for his pictures of the local monks. Kerryn and I then realised that we had bought copies in the market the day before(which was fortunate as we couldn't afford the real thing).

Then it was home for a much-needed swim and a G&T: hooray! A quiet night will be had by all as we have to be up for meditation at 6.30am.

Your relaxed and much cooler correspondent

Dianne