Most travellers use Mandalay as a base to explore the four nearby ancient cities: Amarapura, Inwa, Sagaing and Mingun. I only visited two out of four - my motivation hampered by food poisoning.
Up and aross the Ayeyarwaddy from Mandalay, Mingun is worth the visit. The boat trip drifts peacefully for 11km and half a dozen sights face the water. The most famous site on Mingun is obviously the partly completed Mingun Paya, which would have been the world's largest paya if the king building it hadn't died before it finished.
It is huge, isn't it? Now imagine three times that. An earthquake in 1838 split the paya and reduced it to partial rubble.
I know I have a lot of photographs of children. I just love photographing them!
New tazaung (shrine building) that houses the bell
Yes, this is a real 'taxi'. Not just for our amusement.
The Hsinbyume Paya, also known as Myantheindan was constructed in memory of a king's senior wife, the Hsinbyume princess. The seven white-washed wavy terraces around the stupa represents the seven mountain ranges around Mt. Meru. It was also badly damaged by the 1838 earthquake but the king had it restored.
The paya is actually featured on the cover of the latest edition of Lonely Planet Myanmar (9th edition).
View of Mingun Paya and surrounding villages from Hsinbyume Paya's terrace.My unofficial guide - this guy I befriended as soon as I got off the boat at Mingun - also took me to the villages. He is from Mingun and lived in one of the 50 villages before leaving for his university studies in Mandalay. Most people in the villages weave hats and produce bamboo roofing for a living.
She was very delighted to receive visitors. She told me (through my guide) that she is 15 years old and has been weaving hats since she was 7. The hats produced in Mingun are exported to other states in Myanmar.
In another home where they produce bamboo roofing. He is very shy!
This girl is 12. She spends most of her days helping out her family especially during school holidays. I told her that she is 'la-day' (pretty) and she blushed. My guide told me that life is hard for them because the male breadwinners in their house passed away, leaving them to fend for themselves by producing and selling bamboo roofing. Making bamboo roof is no easy task, especially for young children.
Kyaw Kyaw (pronounced Jo-Jo) returns to his village every semester break, hoping to earn extra money for university by showing tourists around Mingun. Not many Burmese attend university as the costs are high - too high at USD400-600 a year. While that is such a fraction of the amount that most of us pay for education, that isn't even anywhere near affordable in a country where most people make less than a dollar a day. I even heard stories about how some tourists bond with their guides and offered to sponsor their university education.
So how much does Kyaw Kyaw charge as a guide? "As you like..." he said with a sincere smile.
The only photo I took of the U-Bein bridge in Amarapura. I was too sick to even get out of James' car.
hey jess
thanks for the detailed post about your travel in myanmar. i was wondering if you took a travel journal with you as you travelled, or were there a lot of information taken off the lonely planet? heh. either way...
good!!! at least it's not just picture/photos we're looking at. :)
Ms. Redd said...
10:56 AM
she can remember each and every detail 1 loh!! i spoke to her whilst looking at the pictures... ooiyoh. craziness.
and Myanmar is just her FIRST DESTINATION. woohoo. more reads to come, yo.
justbee said...
3:45 PM
i had a journal with me to keep track of my day-to-day activities, ppl i met and also my travel expenditure.
each character i photographed is quite personal - i remember a lot of things in a somewhat poignant manner. that said, when it comes to detailed background, history or information provided of a certain place, a lot of facts are taken from the guidebook.
Kitty said...
7:43 PM
so it's pretty hard learning their language lah, right? considering Kyaw Kyaw is pronounced as Jo Jo instead..
and Paya is like a Shrine, right?
i remember u had a picture of a black coloured pig, right? which was taken near the 12 year old girl choppin the bamboo wan... heehee. i liked that!!
also, are they constantly affected by earth quakes? because u mentioned earthquakes, but they happened like, a century plus ago...
justbee said...
9:46 AM