Jillian's Travels

Myanmar, Part 2

Day 46, February 12

Our breakfast today was fried rice and peas. I love peas but eating that with coffee made for an interesting combo. We had to meet our taxi driver at 8:30 down in the lobby so we really didn’t have time to go at a leisurely pace.

We lucked out and had a random guy join us from our hostel which made the taxi cheaper for each of us. Our first stop was the King Galon Gold Leaf Shop. The process to make the gold leaves starts with a gold bullion that is manually beaten with a 6 pound hammer for 6 hours until it becomes paper like. It is a long, hard process that results in only a few leaves at a time.

Then we went to Mahamuni Pagoda. There was a very large Buddha statue but you had to be a gold leaf donor to get to go up to it. It was hard to even get a good shot of it because everyone that could not enter the roped off area, knelt down and prayed on the outer regions. There was a section that had information about Siddhartha Gautama before he became the Buddha as we know him today. I found that section to be really interesting.

Next was the Aung Nan, a wood carving workshop. We were able to see the woodcarvers carving out different Buddha statues and other Buddhist symbols. This was similar to the gold leaf shop in that we didn’t stay long; just long enough to see what they were doing.

Then it was Mahaganddhayon Monastery. I thought this was one of the top things we did today. There are two types of monasteries; education and mediation. This one was an education monastery where the monks live and study the Buddhist text. The very first thing we saw was the monks in line collecting the alms. Then I walked around a little bit looking at the different building and just seeing how the monks go about their daily lives. While I was standing in a shaded area waiting for my sister a monk approached me and asked where I was from. I told him America and he got very excited and said he wanted to meet an American to ask them questions. His first question was “Do you like Mr. Trump” to which I laughed and had to stop myself from “HELL NO” to a monk. Instead I said “no, not at all”. He asked why and I had to take a moment to figure out how to answer this without calling him any names. I basically said he was crazy child. I thought that summed it up. We chatted a little bit more and then I asked him if I could fire off some questions. He said yes and I started asking him about Buddhism and meditation. He wasn’t sure how to answer in English so he said he had a book that he wanted to give to me. By that time both my sister and the other guy joined us and the monk offered to show us around. We ended by his room and he ran in and got the book he had promised me. Then it was time for us to meet back up with our driver.

I had been wanting to talk with a monk and ask questions for so long so I was so happy I had the opportunity. Meeting the monk and talking to him and receiving a book from him was the absolute best thing I could have ever imagined. It is definitely something I will always remember.

Our next stop was one that I did not get the name. It is another one where it is kind of a hike to get up to but once you are there, the views are gorgeous. It was another one that was white and gold and beautiful like all the others.

Then on to Swam Oo Pon Nya Shin Pagoda.

After that was time for lunch. We stopped at this little shack of a restaurant. I ordered the chicken curry. When the waiter brought it out, we had a tray full of plates and bowls that were all mine. I was shocked by how much came with it. This was not what I was expecting nor wanting. It was not curry at all. Everything had a fishy taste to it so all I ate was the steamed white rice. They brought out a bunch of bananas for the table so I ate one and called it my lunch.

Then we had to take a short boat ride across the Myitnge River to get to the small village of Ahpyinsanyar.

When we first got off the boat we were met by a bunch of horses carriages and guys scrambling everywhere trying to get passengers. The Italian lady I mentioned the other day suggested we go towards the back to get a better deal. She also informed me about the Betel nut (what I thought was blood in their mouth when we first exited the airport). The Betel nut is like dipping tobacco only much, much stronger. It gives them a buzz and a high, euphoric feeling. It also suppresses their appetite and makes them very fidgety as well as helps them stay up long hours to work. It is similar to methamphetamine. The Italian lady said it is easy to spot who uses it because their teeth are all stained and rotting away. She suggested finding something with normal teeth or a female (the female don’t chew Betel nut) because then you won’t be rushed and will have an easier time understanding and communicating with them. So I took her advice and we found a lady that would meet our price. She took us to two stops.

The first one was Bagaya Monastery. When we walked in we saw a Buddhist lesson going on with a few kids in the process of becoming monks, also called novices. The monastery was all wooden and very dark.

We met back up with our horse driver and she took us to the Maha Aung Mye Bom San Monastery.

After that we walked back to the boat area to head back across the Myitnge River to find out taxi driver.

Our last stop of the day was the U Bein Bridge for sunset. The bride was built in 1851 and is made out of teak pilings. It is on the shaky side. I noticed it felt like it swayed a little as people walked along it. There aren’t many handrails to hold onto and some of the planks are even unattached. You really had to be careful where you stepped. Some spots have been reinforced with cement to correct the teaks that had rotted away.

At sunset there are a lot of people on the bridge and it was just way too crowded for my liking. We saw these little row boats that you could take out on the water and sit and watch the sunset. We decided this was worth it and so the 3 of us got into one boat and the rower rowed us around on the Taungthaman Lake for about 20 minutes until it was time to watch the sunset. As our rower was rowing underneath the bridge, I could really see the teaks that were rotting away and likely the next ones to be replaced with cement.

The sunset on the water was a really nice experience. Our boat hung back a little while all the other boats rushed to shore giving us some time on the water without being surrounded by boats.

After that we met up with our drive who took us all back to the hostel. It was a full day of sightseeing and learning but we were happy to head back to shower, eat and rest.

Comments