Myanmar Adventures
Myanmar My 10 day tour of Myanmar, or Burma, begun after a short flight from Bangkok, Thailand to Yangon, March 2004. I contracted for a guide/driver and car for 10 days. We traveled from Yangon to Bago, Taungoo, Inle Lake, Pindya Caves, Mandalay, Mt. Popa, Bagan, Pyay, and returned to Yangon. Yangon, formerly called Rangoon, lies in the fertile delta country of central Myanmar about 18 miles from the Andaman Sea. While in Yangon, I visited the Sule Paya. I toured the beautiful golden Shwedagon Paya, which is the most sacred of all Buddhist sites in the country. This dome rises 320 feet. Visitors must remove their shoes and socks and dress modestly to enter these and other sacred grounds throughout Myanmar. Women are seen bathing a Buddha in water in order to purify their thoughts and deeds while others visit other pavilions containing Buddha images, many festooned with flashing colored lights, and money.
In Bago, we visit the Kyaik Pun Paya, which consists of 4 one hundred foot high sitting Buddhas placed back to back. Then we visit the Kha Khat Wain Kyaung monastery, which is one of the three largest monasteries in the country. The monks here are having their meals in relative silence. After an overnight in Taungoo, we visited the Shwemawdaw Paya, In Taungoo, we see all the forms of transportation, especially the trucks that are filled to overflowing with passengers.
In one of the pavilions at the Shwemawday Paya, we come across a nat spirit festival or nat pwe in progress. The drums, gongs, and xylophones are being played at full volume while the two spirit mediums or nat-gadaws are sing and perform special dances that invite specific nats to possess them. Both of these nat-gadaws are men.
At Inle Lake, I spent the day on a small motorboat touring the market, stilt villages, small factories and craft shops, and payas. The Intha people who live around the lake are famous for propelling their boats by standing on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. It enables the rower to see the floating vegetation and to spot fish.I entered the Pindaya Caves to view some of the 8,000 Buddha images that people had placed there over the past several centuries. I visited the Mandalay Hill, toured some craft shops, and saw the Mandalay Marionettes Show. I applied gold leaf to the Mahamuni Buddha, which is a bronze Buddha that is about 13 feet tall covered with a 6-inch layer of gold leaf applied by men over the past few centuries. I had fun riding the ferryboat up to see the Mingun monuments and getting guide service from three young girls along with a prayer from a nun.
I was joined by scores of monkeys on my walk to Mt. Popa, the home of all 37 nats. In Bagan, I was surprised to see that there were hundreds of stupas as far as I could see and many of them were in good condition or had been restored. The Shwezigon Paya was across from where I was staying, so I could see the monks on their way to collect alms from the villagers. In Paya, I visited the Shwesandaw Paya as well as the enormous seated Buddha figure known as Sehtatgyi Paya nearby which dominates the city landscape. With my return to Yangon, I attended a dance performance at the government run Karaweik Palace.
This video is 54 minutes long. Rick Hunt filmed this March 2004.
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