The hotel rooms (we had two, Eleanor and I shared one, and Leo and Adrian the other) were a sight for sore eyes: modern bathrooms, chrisp white sheets, duvets and air con. In my early travelling days I developed a preference for independent hostels/guesthouses for three reasons: they are cheaper, you can often cook for yourself so eating is cheaper, and you have a far greater chance of meeting people and having interesting conversations. These things hold true, but we were very happy to see a clean and comfortable hotel nonetheless.
After a good night's sleep we were ready to explore the city. Our boat to Bagan left early the following morning, so we wanted to make the most of the day. We arranged a driver to take us to a few central sights. Unfortunately, immediately after breakfast Leo was sick, the last one of the four of us to suffer some form of bug (and hopefully the final one!). He looked okay immediately afterwards, but as we didn't know how it would progress we decided that he and I would stay at the hotel for the morning, and that Adrian and Eleanor would return to the hotel to reassess at lunchtime. Leo and I slept and played cards; relaxing for both of us!
[Adrian] Eleanor and I headed to Mandalay Hill, which you can ascend by stairs but the driver took us almost to the top by car. There we explored the temple complex at the top which was nice if unremarkable but also quickly discovered something about Myanmar different to Malaysia and Thailand: here, small white children are still a rare enough sight that the locals cross crowded temples to get a selfie with them. And so they did... by Eleanor's count she had her photo taken at least 20 times. It felt like a lot more to her Daddy!
After that we visited U-Bein bridge, a long teak bridge over a lake where we were rowed across in a dinghy kind of craft then walked back over the bridge itself, only pausing for another dozen photos of locals with Eleanor. Then it was time to head back to the hotel for lunch and to check in with Leo.
As Leo was eating and very bright by the afternoon (bouncing up and down and racing about) we decided we'd all visit Mandalay Palace and a couple of temples. The Palace complex sits well inside the huge moat and city walls and was reconstructed in the 1990s following WWII damage. We enjoyed exploring some of the large number of buildings (around 40). They are mostly wooden with fairly elaborate roofs and basic interiors, apart from the more glittering throne room. It is a bit ramshackle already, but that adds to the charm. Eleanor and Leo had a great time running, dancing and playing games through the buildings. We climbed the creaky watchtower for a view and bit of perspective on the Palace area.
Eleanor and Leo were asked for their photos regularly, or we were on their behalf. We've told the kids that if they are happy to have their photos taken, that is fine, but if they don't, we'll say no and ensure it doesn't happen. It is generally okay when there is only a couple of people, but a group seems to want individual photos which gets a little much. And sometimes when one person stops so do others passing by.
For the moment they are loving their celebrity status and continue to keep a running total of photos taken. From our perspective it is a little on the intrusive-side, but people are generally very polite and they are all respectful.
After the Palace we visited the beautifully intricate carved teak Shwenandae Kyaung, which was moved from within the Palace walls and turned into a monastery, apparently because King Thibaw could not cope with the ghost of his father, King Mindon, who had died in his sleeping chamber there in 1878. It is the only one of the Palace buildings to have survived bombings during WW2. Just as well for us it did!
We popped into the huge Atumashi Kyaungdawgyi next door. It is fairly plain, but houses a large Buddha and the kids enjoyed chasing each other around the huge interior supporting columns.
We had planned to visit another teak temple, but our driver suggested Kuthodaw Paya instead. Wow, what an excellent recommendation that turned out to be... we spent over an hour wandering through just some of the 700-odd small white stupas, each of which houses a marble slab. The slabs present 15 books of the Tripitaka. They are striking individually, but row after row is amazing. Eleanor and Leo ran between them hiding from us in a game they called 'marshmellows and toothpicks', which is code for spies. We stopped briefly at the large modern stupa towards the end of the complex and Buddha complete with flashing lights, both of which seem a little out of place with the calming white stupas.
Interestingly, amongst international visitors here we are probably at the middle to lower end of the age scale. There are lots of older people from the US, Canada and Europe (English, French, German, Swiss especially) and couples/friends in their 20s/30s. It is a travelling crowd rather than holiday-makers. We are yet to see any other families with young children, but have seen a few parents with children in their teens/early 20s. You come here for the sights rather than a party!
As we didn't want to risk being templed-out too early, we retreated to the freezing cold pool at the Swan Hotel for half an hour (I managed less than a minute!), before heading back to the Royal Pearl for dinner and to pack. Thankfully there were no further signs of whatever had made Leo unwell.
Our boat left Mandalay for Bagan at 7am, the following day, so we were in a taxi at 6am. Once the driver found our ferry company (not easy in the dark!) we walked down some steep steps onto the river bank and across some narrow planks onto the boat. We had allocated interior seats, but sat up the back outside on and off for the whole trip. If we'd been on board slightly earlier, we would have had cushioned wicker chairs on the top deck, but were fine on the plastic chairs/metal benches.
The journey takes almost 10 hours, so we settled in for the day. Eleanor and Leo played on the iPad and read stories for most of it. The Irrawaddy is a huge river, even at this time of year, but must be shallow because the boat criss-crossed from side to side, which must have added considerably to the time it took!
We enjoyed watching the world go by... cargo barges, fishing boats and people tending their crops and stock. There are some beautiful little wooden ships that you can spend a day or two on; they have cabins, swimming pools, exercise areas etc., but the cost was $US1000 per person, so we'd chosen to stick with the budget (and less time-consuming) option. Having said that, we were all pleased to arrive at Nyaung-U and jump into a taxi to our hotel in New Bagan.
Disembarking was the same as boarding; across narrow boards onto the river bank and up steps. Only this time there was a crowd of people on the bank offering accommodation, taxis and books written by European authors about Myanmar in various languages, like George Orwell's Burmese Days. The madness only added to our excitement at being in Bagan.
Throne room, Mandalay Palace
Kuthodaw Paya
Sunrise on the Irrawaddy
No comments:
Post a Comment