• Three weeks in Myanmar (Burma) with Dragon Travel, March 10th - 31st 2013
• Click on any image to enter the gallery of larger images.
• ming-guh-la-bar means Hello. Everyone says it.
• Selecting 96 from 1260 pictures has proved to be a bit of a challenge.

chris and sue jackson e-mail

The story starts in Manchester where we flew with Singapore Airlines to Singapore, a long haul of over 12 hours exacerbated by a stop off at Munich to top up on their cheaper fuel. At Singapore we had a six hour wait to pick up our connection to Yangon (Rangoon) with Silk Air, a subsidiary of SA. No complaints here, there was plenty of leg room on both flights, lots of food ad plenty of attention from the delightful cabin crew. At Yangon we were met by our guide and we joined up with the rest of our group. Now we were eight. We stayed at the rather splendid Kandawgyi Palace for the next two nights and here, we collapsed into our king-sized bed and slept the sleep of the innocent.

11th March. The weather was quite hot though not humid, around 35C and that, combined with jet-lag gave us a strange sense of disconnection for a few days. Today we were taken on a tour of the sights of Yangon, a low rise sort of town with various reminders of British rule via its colonial style buildings.

Just in case you wondered...

• Pagoda or Paya: Any kind of Buddhist edifice.
• Stupa: Shrine, not always accessible but containing a holy relic.
• Ku: A basic place of cpntemplation, ofter a simple building with one door.
• Temple: An often elaborate construction, usually on a square base with four entrances.

Buddha hand positions are important.

The Sule Pagoda a Stupa located in the heart of downtown Yangon occupying the centre of the city and an important space in contemporary Burmese politics, ideology and geography. According to legend, it was built before the Shwedagon Pagoda during the time of the Buddha, making it more than 2,500 years old. Burmese legend states that the site for the Shwedagon Pagoda was asked to be revealed from an old nat who resided at the place where the Sule Pagoda now stands.

According to Burmese legend the site where the Sule pagoda now stands was once the home of a powerful nat (spirit) named Sularata (the Sule Nat). The king of the Nats, Sakka, wished to help the legendary king Okkalap build a shrine for the Buddha's sacred hair-relic on the same site where three previous Buddhas had buried sacred relics in past ages. Unfortunately, these events had happened so long ago that not even Sakra knew exactly where the relics were buried. The Sule nat, however, who was so old that his eyelids had to be propped up with trees in order for him to stay awake, had witnessed the great event. The gods, Nats and humans of the court of Okkalapa therefore gathered around the Sule Ogre and asked him the location, which he eventually remembered.

The Shwedagon Pagoda has existed for more than 2,600 years, making it the oldest historical pagoda in Burma and the world. According to tradition, two merchant brothers, Taphussa and Bhallika, from the land of Ramanya, met the Lord Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight of the Buddha's hairs in BC 588. The brothers travelled back to their homeland in Burma and, with the help of the local ruler, King Okkalapa, found ,Singuttara Hil, where relics of other Buddhas preceding Gautama Buddha had been enshrined.

Picture 1; the Sule Paya, the huge golden temple in the heart of Yangon; 2, reclining Buddha of Chaukhtatgyi temple which at 59.28m long is probably the biggest in Asia if not the world. He was amazing and had a building all to himself, on the soles of his feet was a pictorial representation of the life of Buddha. The whole statue was quite breathtaking; 3, the golden Swedagon Pagoda, a fantastic parade of gold plated temples and red-robed monks and 4, not all monks still live in 500BC.

12th March, we left Yangon and took a short 50 min flight to the town of Bagan. This may seem extravagant but outside the towns the roads are very poor and travelling by road to Bagan would have taken most of a day.

Bagan, (formerly Pagan) is an ancient city located in the Mandalay region. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.

The weather was hot, about 38C but it didn't stop us marvelling at the sights. We'd never been anywhere quite like this. As far as the eye could see there were stupas, temples and pagodas, some in a state of ruin, others sensitively renovated and still in use. It was as if we had landed on some alien planet. For the next three nights we stayed at the delightful Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort with its pools and tropical gardens.

Picture 1; just one of the many temples of Bagan with 2, a temple guardian. Inside the temples were Buddhas, sometimes four; 3, lunch overlooking the Irrawady river; 5, temples, temples and 6, temples at sunset through the heat haze.

Next day we continued our exploration of the Bagan plains.

Picture 1, one of 4 huge golden Buddhas at the temple of Ananda Pahto; 2, Thatbyinnyo Temple; 3, Mahabodhi Paya which is modelled on the Maha Bodhi temple in India; 4, Hotel grounds. In the evening we were taken out for a meal and puppet show at the Nanda Restaurant which, despite it being a bit of a tourist trap was very enjoyable. The puppet show enacted traditional Burmese stories with amazing skill.

March 14th. Today is hot with temperatures creeping into the low 40C. We drive to the village of Salay and visit a museum and the Yoke-Son monastery, then drive to Mount Popa where we see the remarkable 737m Taung Kalat, a volcanic plug with its summit monastery. The Popa Taungkalat monastery can be reached by 777 steps and the Shrine is home to 37 Mahagiri Nats or spirits. Statues depicting the Nats are at the base of the Shrine.

Thanaka is a yellowish-white paste made from a ground bark. It is a distinctive feature of Myanmar, commonly applied to the face and sometimes the arms of women and girls and to a lesser extent men and boys to promote smooth skin and sun screne. The use of thanaka has also spread to neighbouring countries such as Thailand.

Picture 1 shows a young monk at the Yoke-Son monastery; 2, Taung Kalat and monastery; 3, essential refreshment, 4, Nats; 5, collecting toddy, the juice of the sugar palm tree which is made into a fiery liquor. Last, Sue has a Thanaka make-over.

Our stay at Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort overlooking the Irrawaddy river was pretty idyllic. We were allocated our own chalet amidst tropical gardens, and just minutes from expansive views across the Irrawaddy river. Sue tried the pool, I laid on the grass staring at the sky. On the morning of the 15th we all transferred to the banks of the Irrawaddy where our boat was waiting to take us to Mandalay over the next two days. This was a splendid river cruiser, all wood panels and brass, and due to our late booking we had to take a deck-top cabin, at extra cost I might add. All very nice, excellent food and air conditioned accommodation where one could just watch the world drift by out of our patio windows. We had to endure 3 nights of this.

Picture 1 looks across the pool at the Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort; 2, Irrawaddy river boats; 3, our boat the MV Paukan; 4, our cabin; 5, not too hot and 6, river boat.

On passage up the river we stopped off at a couple of river villages where normal life seemed to be ensuing despite dozens of tourists and clicking cameras. The village life may be permanently scarred after John introduced them to the traditional English dance, the Hokey-Kokey. Picture 1, Ladies came to sell cloth to us; 2, collecting water from the river is a constant task; 3, village boys.

Next day we visited another village, Yandabo where they made unglazed pots, which, because of their porous nature, keeps the contents cool by evaporation. During the day the river grew increasingly shallow and despite our draft of only 1.5m we went aground a couple of times. Electronic depth measurement has not yet reached this corner of the world and like Mark Twain, men were stationed at the bow of the ship with long striped poles probing the water depth, unsuccessfully sometimes.

Picture 1; sunrise over the Irrawaddy, 2; river ferries; 3, pot making; 4, unfired pots; 5, village elder.

As we neared Mandalay we passed under 2 bridges. The first was the old Ava 16 span bridge built during British colonial rule in 1934 and destroyed by the retreating British army but rebuilt by the Burmese in 1954. It is now falling to pieces and confined to train traffic. (no, we didn't understand that either). At one time this was the only bridge over the Irrawaddy. The new one was built by the government. Picture 1; fishermen's camp; 2; The Old and the new bridges; 3, river life.

March 17th we disembarked our boat and met our guide. Before reaching our hotel the Rupar Mandalay we dropped in at a large monastery and saw monks bathing, studying and eating. It was interesting to learn that unlike our monks their lifestyle is totally funded by public contribution. We spent some hours here. Afterwards we visited the nearby Mahamoni Paya with its gold Buddhas and where there was a parade of beautifully attired children in a procession for the initiation of a young monk.Our hotel, although a few miles outside dusty Mandalay was an oasis of tranquillity. Picture 1; Monks preparing for their midday meal at 11.00am; 2, monk studying; 3, Mahamoni Paya; 4, young girl in procession.

We left the hotel early to travel through Mandalay to Taungthaman Lake and its much photographed U Bein's bridge. This teak Bridge was built across Taungthaman Lake in the mid 1800’s out of teak posts. It’s said to be the longest teak bridge in the world at 1.2km and is the sole link between Amarapura and Taungthaman village. Obviously an attraction, it’s also in heavy use by the locals including a stream of monks on their daily errands. Sue and I and Eric and Larraine took a boat trip out onto the lake to be dropped off at a halfway landing. We got quite close to the fishermen casting their nets and then went aground, soon sorted by our oarsman who got out of the boat into 40cm of water and pushed us off the mud bank.

Picture 1; Morning rush-our in Mandalay; 2, U Bein's bridge; 3, local fishermen; 4 and 5 Buddhist monks on the bridge.

Unlike boys, there is no obligation for girls to join a religious order though some do. We were allowed to visit a nunnery and saw the girls preparing for their midday meal. Later we were taken to Sagaing Hill where there was a temple containing hundreds of Buddhas and some stunning views of golden temples all the way down to the Irrawaddy.

After lunch we crossed a river and went in a horse and trap round Inwa, the ancient capital, where we stopped and visited the Maha Aung Mye Bonzan Monastery which is a fine example of Burmese monastery architecture during the Konbaung dynasty. The monastery, also known as the Brick Monastery is a well preserved building in ochre colour. The very ornate structure is decorated with intricate stuccoed sculptures.The Maha Aung Mye Bonzan Monastery was built by Queen Me Nu, wife of King Bagyidaw of the Konbaung dynasty in 1818 as the residence of the Royal Abbott. L-R; 1,young nun; 2, Buddhas on Sagaing Hill; 3, Sue on Sagaing Hill; 4 and 5, Maha Aungmye Bonzan monastery.

Above, one of the many local markets.

After breakfast at the Rupar Mandalar we headed for the Irrawaddy and took a pleasant ferry ride of about one hour to the ancient city of Mingun.

The Mingun temple is a monumental uncompleted stupa began by King Bodawpaya in 1790. It was not completed, due to an astrologer claiming that, once the temple was finished, the king would die. The completed stupa would have been the largest in the world at 150 meters. Huge cracks are visible on the structure from the earthquake of 23 March 1839. Like many large pagodas in Myanmar, a Pondaw paya or working model of the stupa can be seen nearby.

King Bodawpaya also had a gigantic bell cast to go with his huge stupa, the Mingun Bell weighing 90 tons is today the largest ringing bell in the world. The weight of the bell in Burmese measurement, is 55,555 viss or peiktha (1 viss = 1.63 kg), handed down as a mnemonic "Min Hpyu Hman Hman Pyaw", with the consonants representing the number 5 in Burmese astronomy. Not many people know that.

In the evening we went into Mandalay town for a meal at a restaurant followed a visit to the nearby Mintha Theatre to see traditional Burmese dancers performing dances similar to those we had seen at the puppet show.

Picture 1, on our way to Mingun; 2, The Mingun temple and 3, Sue and the Mingun Bell. I slithered underneath to find that the inside surface is covered in graffiti;

March 20th. After our last breakfast at the Rupar Mandalar we headed for Mandalay airport for our flight to Heho which took about 40 minutes. We were met by our guide and once we had recovered our luggage and settled in to our bus we set off for the Shwe-Oo-Minn limestone caves and about 9000 Buddhas. The bus trip was long and bumpy but the caves were pretty stunning with thousands of splendid golden Buddhas lodged into every nook and cranny of the caves.

According to local legend, the term Pindaya is a corruption of the word Pinguya, which translates to Taken the Spider in Burmese. The name arose from the legend that there was once a large spider which resided in the caves and it had captured a local princess. The princess was rescued when the giant spider was slain by a prince using a bow and arrow. When the spider was killed, the prince was said to have exclaimed that he had taken the spider, that is to kill it. Thus, the exclamation became the name of the region, and from it Pindaya received its name.

Hotel at Kalaw, simple but adequate

.Picture 1, the entrance lift to the cave; 2, the prince and the spider; 3, Sue and the spider; 4, cave entrance, please remove your footware ; 5, inside the cave.

On our way to Inle Lake we stopped off at a local market and a parasol factory. The parasol factory was particularly interesting and every thing from the paper to the rather complex struts and catch was made from raw materials at the factory.

At Inle lake our luggage was loaded into two motorboats and we set of in a haze of spray for our hotel, the Shwe Inn Thar,The boat trip was exciting enough but the hotel, on stilts out of the lake was totally amazing. On close inspection it could have done with a bit of TLC or a few $ investing in it, the breakfasts were a bit basic too but you couldn't fault the position. On one side we had sunsets, on the other sunrises and in the lake were strange birds and waders. Despite our fears there seemed to be no mosquitoes.

We spent a whole day being taken around the lake, past floating gardens, lake houses and pagodas. As we were in the dry season the lake was very shallow in places and we had to be rescued once or twice.

Next morning we were taken to the Heho airport where we learned that there was about a 6 hour delay for our flight. Conspiracy theories abounded but the most likely one seemed to be that they had taken the flight out due to lack of passengers. This would have been more tolerable had our guide not abandoned us to the airport in the assumption that all was OK. So no food and a long wait.

Malcolm had wifi connection and sent an e-mail to Dragon Travel complaining at this. Full marks to Dragon however, they arranged a free meal and wine for us at our next hotel.

Picture 1 typical (noisy) lake motorboat; 2, part of our hotel; 3, the rest of our group arriving; 4, traditional leg paddling; 5, house in the floating gardens and 6, sunrise behind the hills.

March 24th. Five night at Ngapali beach hotel. This was undoubtedly the best hotel that Sue and I had ever stayed in, it had to be 5* and a bit more. Our rooms were probably bigger than the ground floor of our house, huge bed, dressing room, bath room with individual sinks, free-standing bath and walk in shower. From the bedroom we could see the sea. Food was excellent, particularly the sea food though quite expensive (we were B&B) and service was excellent. The restaurant sloped down to the beach and for a few days all was well with the world.

Did I mention the beach? Well we had our own personalised loungers and parasol, the sea was almost bath temperature and at 5.00pm there was happy hour when cocktails were half price.

Picture 1 beach looking north; 2, Singapore Sling and Cuba Libra sir; 3, cocktail service; 4,beach life;, 5, Ruth's birthday party; 6, the fruit lady.

chris.jackson@zen.co.uk