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View of Sule Pagoda
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Downtown
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The famous Shwedagon Pagoda
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Smaller pagodas on the Shwedagon compound
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Mandalay
Mandalay also has many temples worth visiting, especially Mahamuni Pagoda.
Inside, the Buddha statue has been covered with tons of layers of gold
leaves which were brought by local people. Another interesting spot are
the pagodas below and on Mandalay hill. Mandalay is also home of the
Moustache Brothers, a political comedy group striving for democracy. They
are not allowed to perform in public and local people are not allowed to
visit their home performance. Two of the members, Par Par Lay and Lu Maw
were arrested during the protests against the regime in September/October
2007 but have been released since then. Par Par Lay and the third
“brother” Lu Zaw were arrested on 4 January 1996 after they had visited
Aung San Suu Kyi at her home in Rangoon during celebrations of Burma’s
independence day, making jokes about the regime. The next seven years they
spent in prison.
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The Moustache Brothers
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Together with Aung San Suu Kyi
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Par Par Lay
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One of many temples in Mandalay
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The entrance to Mandalay Hill
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View from Mandalay Hill
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Mandalay harbour area
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Ubein, Mingun, Sagaing
Ubein bridge is a 1.2 km and 200 years old teak wood bridge leading
through swamp land. It is close to Mandalay and can easily be reached by
bike. The atmosphere is very nice and quiet
A boat from Mandalay harbour travels along the opposite shore, passing
fishing villages. After 11 km Mingun Pagoda appears, which was built from
1790 until 1819 but only one third had been finished by then. When King
Bodawpaya died it was decided not to go on. An earthquake in 1838
demolished the pagoda which would have raised to 150 meters, had it been
finished.
Close to Mandalay, Sagaing was the capital of an independent Shan kingdom
in the 14th century. Nowadays Sagaing and Sagaing hill is
covered with dozens of monasteries. When I went there I hired a rikshaw at
the road junction and asked the driver to take me to the guesthouse of my
choice. When he told me that an abbot was one of his friends and that he
would certainly welcome me as his guest, I decided to go to the monastery
with him. The abbot and his two novices were very delighted to receive a
foreign visitor. I was invited to stay for the night and since they were
so overwhelmingly friendly, I accepted. The evening we spent together and
I tought them some English, which was especially fun for the novices
because now the abbot was no longer teacher but a student as themselves.
The next day my rikshaw driver picked me up early in the morning in order
to avoid paying entrance fees at the pagodas. The fact is this: the money
goes exclusively to the government. Instead of paying them, it is
encouraged to save the money and put it into the donation boxes inside the
pagoda.
He told me his story: the government had forced him out of his home
because they intended to build a bridge. He was given a piece of barren
land and some money to build a new house. The money he got however, was by
far not enough to buy wood for a little house for himself and his family.
He had to spend all his savings in addition, and his dream to buy a small
car and become a taxi driver was further away than ever.
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Ubein countryside
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Ubein Bridge
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fishing village in a sandstorm
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Mingun Pagoda
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The giant Mingun Bell
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Inside a Sagaing temple
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Early morning in Sagaing
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With my rikshaw driver
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My rikshaw driver with his friends from a monastery
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A pagoda in Sagaing
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Maymyo (Pyin Oo
Lwin)
A hill station for the English during colonial times, the town has still
many attractive old houses and a botanical garden.
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Botanical Garden in Maymyo
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In the streets of Maymyo
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Monastery festival
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The kitchen crew
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Sugar cane juice
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The common horse taxi
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Mosque
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English colonial style house
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Collecting money for school or temple
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Hsipaw
There is a train running from Maymyo to Lashio, on the way it crosses
Gokteik viaduct. Built in the 19th century, it was once the
world’s second highest railway bridge. It seems to be a strategically
important site, because it is strictly forbidden to take photos of it, and
military posts have been installed alongside the viaduct.
In Hsipaw there is a palace of a former Shan prince.
The last sao pha was arrested in 1962 when the military took over power,
and he was never seen again. In her book, the Austrian born American
author Inge Sargent has written down her life with her former husband and
describes what happened during those days, and how autocratic and beastly
the military behaved. The title of this heart-touching book is “Twilight
over Burma: My life as a Shan Princess”.
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On the way to Hsipaw
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Gokteik Viaduct, strictly no photo!
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Crossing the gorge
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Market in Hsipaw
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The Shan prince palace
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View down on Hsipaw valley
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Pindaya
Pindaya Cave houses thousands of Buddha images and is an important
pilgrimage site. Surprising is that in the middle of nowhere, there is an
elevator building which takes people up to the cave entrance. You will
hardly find anything like this in Rangoon or Mandalay.
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"Bus" to Pindaya
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Pindaya Caves - the elevator building
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Thousands of buddha figures in the cave
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Inle
Lake
It is a great place to hang around for a couple of days, to take a boat
for a lake trip, passing monasteries, temples, floating vegetable gardens,
and see the boatmen using their legs to move the paddle back and forward.
Another day a boat could be taken to drive through the canals or rent a
bicycle and cycle along the lakeshore.
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My boat driver
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Pagodas along the canals
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Buffaloes swimming
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The typical feet rowing
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Rice fields at the lake's shore
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Swimming vegetable gardens
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Seaweed harvest
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Shoemaker uses old tyres as raw material
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Mount Popa
Said to be
an extinct volcano since 250000 years, it rises about 737 meters above the
flat surrounding region. Mount Popa houses the 37 Nats, spirits with
magical power. Each one has a different function and they can be seen
standing in a shrine. It’s Burma’s Olymp.
Bagan
A vast area of forty square kilometres with pagodas of all sizes which in
parts have been rebuilt. It saw its best times from 11th to 13th
century. The village which once was in the centre of the archaeological
part was taken down in 1990 before the elections. People had to leave
within one week and were resettled five kilometres away.
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Sunrise on Irrawaddy river
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Self made film developing laboratory
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Restored Ananda temple
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Inside the temple
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Bago
The Shwemawdaw Pagoda is the highest in Burma rising 114 meters.
Additionally, there is lying Shwethalyaung Buddha, 55 meters in length and
9 meters high.
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Burma's largest pagoda, Shwemawdaw
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Shwethalyaung Buddha
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Family business
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Showing Burmese beauty
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Hindu festival
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People of Indian origin
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Fixed with needles through his skin
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Preparing for the walk through the glow
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In trance
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Kyaiktiyo
From the pilgrim village it is a 13 kilometers walk during which 1000
meters of altitude are gained. Beside Shwedagon in Rangoon and Mahamuni in
Manfdalay, it is one of the most important Buddhist sites in Burma. It is
rewarding to start in the middle of the night and arrive after a three to
four hours walk to see the sunrise. It is unknown how the rock made it to
be there, of course there are myths and legends. One thing is for sure: it
is held in its position by one of Buddha’s hairs.
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Village shops selling dried fruits and sweets
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Fruit stand
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After sunrise
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On the golden rock compound
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The golden rock
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Pilgrims huts
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Moulmein (Mawlamyaing)
This tropical and quiet town is the fourth biggest town in Burma, with
300,000 habitants. On a hill stretch behind town there is a line of
monasteries and pagodas which invite to walk from one to the other and
look down on the town and the sea. Not far away in Yadana Taung, there is
the 160 meters long Reclining Buddha. It is the world’s largest Buddha
image. At the time I was there in 2002, construction was stopped because
there were problems with statics. Inside the Buddha, on several floors,
there are rooms with daemons showing what happens to sinful people. Other
rooms show good examples of people.
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Arriving by boat
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Palm forest just next to town
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Reclining Buddha
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Reclining local
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Being invited
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Out of town
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Candy manufacture
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Going by horse cart
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Giant Buddha near Moulmein
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Daemons inside show how sin is penalized
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Hpa-an
A boat trip from Moulmein to Hpa-an runs through picturesque scenery and I
can highly recommend it.
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Peaceful villages
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Beautiful scenery
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Rangoon
Mandalay
Maymyo
Hsipaw
Inle Lake
Bago
Kyaiktiyo
