7th January 2015 - Mandalay MYANMAR (BURMA)

7th January - Mandalay (MYANMAR (BURMA)

Today we we were going to test our fear of unsafe boating, get our Buddha and temple count up some more and meet even more Myanmar people so we are up bright and early for a full day exploring Mandalay.

On to the Kuthodaw Pagoda in Mandalay, there are 729 stupas containing marble slabs on which are carved the Buddhist scriptures. Known locally as the biggest book in the world. Adjacent sites created over 1000 marble book pages.

Site of the 726 stupas (one row of many)

One of the 1000 marble book pages

The model of the site 1000 stupas all containing a large marble with two pages of the Buddha story

First stop of the day was the top of Mandalay Hill for a stunning view of the city and all the stupas below.

 The "Road to Mandalay" ....the river

Steve Paul went up ahead and by the time Mandy and Janette had got to the top, Steve and Paul had a whole collection of local girls in tow and were having their group photographs taken by a monk !! Should never let them out alone… everyone was happy to see westerners and being photographed was becoming a very regular occurrence. There are not many days that Steve has been photographed with a Buddhist monk

Progress is always a bit slow as everybody want to take a picture of you.

Most locals wanted to be photographed and some wanted to touch our skins but it was a small price to pay for the hundreds of pictures we took of them.  Its forbidden to touch monks.

Japanese tourist praying

 Steel used in the original construction from UK

Then on to the Shwenandaw Monastery which is the only building remaining from the 19^th Century Royal Palace and is made from solid teak hand carved with the most intricate designs. It was originally covered in gold leaf but only small patches are visible now and it was probably was more beautiful without the gilt.

It was a monastery up until 2010 when the new government moved the monks out and designated it a tourist location ! It is still seen as a sacred site for the monks so during our visit many parties of young novice monks came to visit as well which just made the atmosphere of the whole thing.#

Shwenandaw Monastery

The wooden temple took only one year to build despite all of the intricate woodwork.

On next to the Mahamuni Pagoda,  home of the most sacred Buddha image in Myanmar

It draws huge numbers of local people in pilgrimage as well as from all over. They believe the Buddha image was touched by the 4^th Buddha and therefore see it as a direct link to him. The women pray from outside the main Buddha chamber and present offerings of flowers, bananas coconut while the men go in to the Buddha chamber and having purchased small sheets of very fine gold leaf they hammer these on to the Buddha image.

The only are not touched is his face, every morning at 4am there is a face washing ceremony which is regarded as a sacred ritual, so you have this shining untouched face in amongst this lumpy misshapen Buddha statue.

Change of gold thickness over time

As he was wearing shorts, Steve had to borrow a longi to go in to the main chamber. This proved to be very entertaining, not just for us but also for all the locals standing around staring at him !

                  

Above - Worshipping merchandise is huge business and not only do Buddha images get fed with food, a seemingly endless supply of chocolate business and green tea, you can buy your very own and pray at home with a DIY kit.  5' gold Buddhas will set you back about $3500....smaller versions are available and you can even buy a house extension kit to create your own alter.  

 Worshipers buy gold leaf from outside the temple and add it to the buddha.  Some we have seen are so packed out with gold that they have lost their form.

Ahh, thanks to Buddha, you can buy your gold foil by bank transfer

In the afternoon we headed out to Mingun which required a boat trip up the famous Irrawaddy River. Janette had checked boat sizes and was reliably assured it was a bigger boat than Inle lake, which is was….what they omitted to tell her was that we had to cross planks between 6 boats to get to it, or to tell Mandy there was a 10 foot drop under the planks… and also that it would have been condemned on most other rivers ! The handrail for the plank was a bamboo pole held by the boatman and his mate.

Irrawaddy River. Because the river banks are free, a lot of people live and try and farm on the banks.  

The ferry port, you have to weave your way down the banks of the river where transient farmers live to find your boat.  Having found it, you then have to try and get on it.  When we came back, the boat captain had to throw some people out of their bedroom so we could walk through a few boats to get on dry land much to Janette's distress

Oh dear - one boat didnt make it

Another wonderful boating experience …. However once on board the trip up the Irrawaddy was fantastic and the boatman and his mate just really lovely.

River life with Pagoda in the background - one of the many hundreds visible in bright gold

Farmers move onto the river bank in the dry season and grow crops in the sand such as pea nuts and some veg.  The river is also their washroom.
When the rainy season comes, they have move which is why the government allows them to live here for free. 

 River bank living further down the river miles away from anywhere.


We went to see what was going to be the largest pagoda but was unfinished (ran out of money….) and now has been hit by 3 earthquakes.  Remarkable in sheer scale. 

We also saw the Mingun Bell (below) which was the bell cast for the pagoda and again is the world’s largest un-cracked bell at 3.5 metres tall – just massive.

Steve terrified a local family who had gone inside the bell by striking it when they were inside ! They scrambled out and just stared at him.

On the way back to the boat we found the perfect place for the four of us !  The Mingun Buddhist Retirement Home for the Elderly. They are just finishing it now, so we have put our names on the waiting list…

Mandys picture of our retirement home...the Mingun Buddhist Retirement Home for the Elderly.

Women brick layers on the nursing home.

ZZZzzzzzzzz

Back to the boat for a lovely sunset trip down the Irrawaddy back to Mandalay which was just stunning. Very peaceful and beautiful.

Until that is we reached Mandalay and had to disembark. In an effort to minimise our walking the planks game, the captain pulled up alongside 2 large working boats which were also the houses for several families. We pulled up alongside and walked right through all the families having dinner, doing their washing through to the other side where all that remained was a 8ft bouncy plank with yes you guessed it a bamboo handrail held by the boatmen !