Meandering in Myanmar: Mandalay Hill

Mandalay is very flat. But there is one aberration, which is the hill located at the north of the city. It rises and provides a good view of what lies beneath. So I opted to visit this place. And yes, there is a temple at the top.

Meandering in Myanmar: Mandalay Palace

My last city in Myanmar was Mandalay. Funny, this city's name evokes exotic places and sights and flavors, but in reality, it was somewhat anti-climactic. It's not the most attractive city in Myanmar, and it also is a little tough and rather unwelcoming. Perhaps the fact that I was already templed out by then didn't help. Plenty of Myanmar's sights are temples and stupas, and so it is a little hard to find something that is not related to Buddhism. Anyway, after spending 5 hours in a minibus from Bagan to Mandalay, I ended up here, and the first thing I checked out was the Mandalay Palace.

Meandering in Myanmar: The Temples of Bagan's Western Plain

Here are the rest of the pictures depicting other smaller temples in Bagan.

Meandering in Myanmar: Thatbyinnyu Pahto in Bagan

There are plenty of temples in Bagan. Here's another one. And yes, this one is big.

Meandering in Myanmar: Ananda Pahto in Bagan

Ananda Pahto is one of the bigger temples in the plains of Bagan. It is found on the Anawrahta Road linking Old Bagan and Nyaung-U. As with most of the other big temples, it is still a fully-functioning temple, and people flock there to perform their religious duties.

Meandering in Myanmar: Shwezigon Paya in Bagan

There were so many temples in Bagan. So for the second day I was there, I opted to concentrate on checking out the larger ones instead of simply strolling around the area like I did during my first day. I began with the Shwezigon Paya, located in Nyaung-U. This is actually a full-functioning temple, and yes, it gets busy.

Meandering in Myanmar: Mingalar Zedi in Bagan

As I said in a previous post, I will cover several larger temples in the Bagan area in their own separate posts. So I will start with the Mingalar Zedi, a brick stupa found in the eastern plain. Until now, the stupas I have seen in the country are golden, but this one was made in brick. It was built in 1284 during the reign of King Narathihapate, also known as Sithu IV. According to Wikipedia, this stupa is one of the few temples in the area that has a full set of terra cotta tiles depicting the Jataka tales.

Meandering in Myanmar: The Plains of Bagan

Oh Bagan, this was the highlight of my Myanmar trip. It was mesmerizing. Seeing those temples casting their shadows across the horizon was just wonderful. It made the trip definitely worth it. But first, in order to get here, I had to take a wobbly domestic flight.

Meandering in Myanmar: Botataung Paya in Yangon

After exploring the rural countryside of southern Myanmar around Mawlamyine and visiting some Buddhist caves around Hpa-An, I opted to go back to Yangon. This time, I rode the bus, which was a little bit faster, and more comfortable too. So instead of taking 9 hours, it only took 6, plus air-conditioning. I spent one night in Yangon, which was enough time for me to see the remaining sights I wanted to check out before flying towards the north. So after checking into my hostel, I went to the riverfront and visiting Botataung Paya.

Meandering in Myanmar: Yathaypyan Cave in Hpa-An

Yathaypyan Cave is actually the first cave I visited when I was in Hpa-An for a day. While riding a motorcycle taxi, we went to the main road again and followed the Thanlwin River, crossing it once, and then driving on a dirt road for a few minutes. We approached a limestone hill, and sure enough, there was an opening, and from there we ventured forward.

Meandering in Myanmar: Kawgun Cave and Kyauk Kalap in Hpa-An

Mawlamyine was my base when I was in southern Myanmar. However, I also did daytrips to other places. One of the places I loved was Hpa-An, which was actually located in Karen State, two hours away from Mawlamyine by bus. So I went to the bus station after eating my breakfast of Shan noodles, and boarded the rickety bus that took me to Hpa-An.

Meandering in Myanmar: Kyaikthanlan Paya in Mawlamyine

I didn't see just old crumbling colonial buildings when I was in Mawlamyine. Of course I also visited a religious site, yes, another Buddhist temple. Now for this one, I should first talk about Rudyard Kipling. The British author famous for writing The Jungle Book features quite a bit in Myanmar. And this is due to his famous poem Mandalay, whose full text can be found here. See, as much as the title makes a reference to a city in northern Myanmar, Kipling actually never set foot on Mandalay. Rather, the only places he visited in Myanmar when he was returning from India to England on a eastward route were Yangon and Mawlamyine (Rangoon and Moulmein in the old Anglicized spelling). His visit allegedly only spanned three days, but his imagination was definitely in overdrive. So in his famous poem, when he referred to a "Moulmein pagoda", there is a high chance that it was Kyaikthanlan Paya.

Meandering in Myanmar: Colonial Mawlamyine

So after spending 3 nights in Yangon, I figured it was time to move on. So I bought a train ticket to Mawlamyine, and spent 9 hours in a rickety train to go from Yangon to southern Myanmar. The train ride was not the most comfortable I have been on, but the friendliness of the locals who were quite curious about the visitors to their country was more than enough to negate the uncomfortable ride.

Meandering in Myanmar: Kanbawzathadi Palace in Bago

A few hundred meters away from Shwemawdaw Paya is the reconstructed Kanbawzathadi Palace. Both sites are actually part of the Bago Archaeological Zone, and therefore they have a joint ticket system where the entrance for one of the sites is also valid for the other. So I figured I might as well see it since so far I have been checking out Buddhist temples for the most part, and not non-religious sites. So I asked around for directions, and a few minutes later I found this place.

Meandering in Myanmar: Shwemawdaw Paya in Bago

After spending a full day sight-seeing in Yangon, I opted to go out and do a daytrip the next day. So I went to Bago. This is a city 80 kilometers northeast of Yangon, and is the capital of Bago Region. This is a dusty provincial town, but it does contain several religious and cultural sites of interest. I got off the bus and was greeted by motorcycle taxis. After a little bit of negotiation, I told him I wanted to go to Shwemawdaw Paya, which was my first stop in the city.

Meandering in Myanmar: Yangon's Colonial Architecture

Yangon (and Myanmar as a whole) feels like a living time capsule. Seriously, my visit there felt like I regressed several decades back. I mean, their train system is pretty much exactly how the British left it back in the 1940s. But we'll talk about that later. This time, I'd like to post some photos I took walking around Yangon, which happens to be the city in Asia with the most number of colonial buildings.

Meandering in Myanmar: Sule Paya in Yangon

Shwedagon Paya was not the only Buddhist temple I have visited while in Yangon. Heck, Myanmar is known as a golden land, mostly because of the golden stupas that are found all over the place. I also visited Sule Paya, which is located in downtown Yangon, right in the middle of a busy intersection. It seems that this stupa was built way before Shwedagon Paya, which means that it is at least 2500 years old. There is a legend that says that there was an old spirit who was residing in Sule Paya, which revealed the location of Shwedagon Paya. Due to its focal location in the middle of downtown, this was where most of the rallies and protests started, especially if they were lead by monks.

Meandering in Myanmar: Shwedagon Paya in Yangon

The first thing I checked out in Yangon was Shwedagon Paya. This is the most important Buddhist site in the whole of Myanmar, and is definitely stunning. Unfortunately, I visited during a renovation period, which meant that the golden stupa that is featured at the middle of the whole complex is actually covered by scaffolding, as they were renewing the gold leaf coating of the stupa. Oh well, it was spectacular nonetheless.

Meandering in Myanmar: Culture Shocked

You know, when I took the train from downtown Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, I already had a weird funny feeling in me. I felt that this would be an adventure. After all, I was again heading to a new country, a place where I don't speak the language, and I don't even have the ability to read the signs. So as I left the train and headed into the terminal, I had a little exciting feeling.

Meandering in Myanmar (with Stops in Malaysia, Thailand, and Hungary)

So, it's been a while since I have taken a long trip (by long, I mean a trip more than a weekend, lasting between two to three weeks, as we both know that as much as I would love to travel over an extended period of time, I also love the routine I have, plus the familiarity of my own personal surroundings). The last one I had was Boston and New York City, but that was just 9 days of visiting friends and family. Before that, I cavorted with the companion in Italy, San Marino, and the United Kingdom, and I also meandered in Malta. While these trips were utterly enjoyable on their own, I was searching and longing for a particular type of trip, one that involved a significant amount of culture shock, as well as a dose of adventure. And the last time I had one such trip was when I cavorted in the Caucasus. So I figured it was about time.