Temples of Bagan and upriver to Mandalay

Temple in Bagan

There are almost 4000 temples and pagodas in Bagan and those are the ones that survive today out of many more built in the city’s heyday between the 11th and 13th centuries. Obviously you can’t see them all and the area is vast, so where to begin? 

Temples, temples, everywhere

I decided to hire a bicycle for two days to explore. You can hire ebikes, but I prefer cycling. It’s good exercise and the slower pace allows you to savour the countryside. I spent the first day in Old Bagan and the second day further afield on the Central Plains. After carefully following the top sights according to the Lonely Planet, I soon realised it was much more interesting simply to cycle off down dirt paths and chance upon isolated ruins devoid of other tourists. The temples are all atmospheric, with inner corridors around the main Buddha statues, often in darkness. A torch comes in handy to see some of the well-preserved murals. 

Temple murals

On the third day I hired a boat to take me along the river to visit some temples overlooking the  Ayerarwady. After an earthquake in 2016 and due to the need to preserve the ruins, it’s now forbidden to climb the main temples which used to be a popular activity to watch the sunset. But it’s still possible to clamber up onto these riverside temples and the views are tremendous. 

Looking out over the Ayerarwady

On the fourth day I took a day trip to Mount Popa. It’s a sacred site and there are 777 steps to get to the top. Like similar temples all over India, it’s also swarming with monkeys, some quite agressive in their attempts to relieve you of any food you might be carrying. Once at the summit, you find many small temples and golden stupas reflecting the sun.

Monkey on Mount Popa

Mandalay was to be my last stop in Myanmar and, to avoid another long bus journey, I decided to take a boat up the Ayerarwady. It’s quite pricey at $29 compared to the bus and it takes 12 hours, but breakfast and lunch are included.  It’s cheaper and longer to go upriver, the way I was headed, and less popular. In fact, as I boarded in pitch darkness at 5am I discovered I was the only passenger. So for the whole day I had an entire crew and boat to myself. I read a little and listened to music, but it was surprising how quickly the time went just watching the river bank glide past. 

Heading up the Ayerarwady at dawn

Mandalay is not a particularly attractive city. The name conjures up romantic images of the East, but the truth is it’s a grimy, noisy place. Luckily, there are some worthwhile things to see outside the city. I spent one day in a tuktuk driving around the former royal capitals of Sagaing and Inwa. This was another opportunity to visit yet more temples! At sunset on the way back I stopped to see the U-Bein bridge; at just over a mile it’s the longest teak footbridge in the world.

The U-Bein Bridge at dusk

I spent another half day taking a boat trip to Mingun, a normally peaceful country village and the site of the ruins of what was to have been a gigantic temple but which was never finished. However, it was Christmas Eve and the place was heaving with foreign as well as domestic visitors. 

Unfinished temple at Mingun

I have loved my time in Myanmar. It’s been great for me that generally there have been fewer tourists, but I also felt sorry for the local people who are feeling the pinch of the downturn in numbers. I spent a month here, but there’s still so much to see and I’ll definitely be back some day. 

Myanmar parasols

Myanmar – Trekking from Kalaw to Inle Lake

Fisherman on Inle Lake

Inle Lake is one of Myanmar’s top tourist attractions and it didn’t disappoint. It lies in the east of the country, north of Yangon in Shan state. A popular way of getting there is to hike in from Kalaw, west of the lake. It’s a relatively easy walk which takes you through the countryside and traditional local villages. But first I had to get to Kalaw.

Stilt houses, Inle Lake

I’d spent a few days in Taungoo which is between the lake and Yangon. Getting a bus in Myanmar is an art I’ve not really mastered yet despite being in the country for three weeks now. There are two huge bus stations in Yangon which are more like cities within a city. There’s no terminal building and no platforms, just a bewildering grid of dust tracks, filled with busses, taxis and pedestrians, all attempting to locate the tumbledown shed that acts as the bus company’s office. Taxi drivers will help you, but mine seemed just as confused as I was. 

Fisherman, Inle Lake

In Taungoo there’s not even a bus station. My hotel suggested the best option was to go through an agency who would be able to book me a seat on the Yangon to Kalaw direct bus at 11.30. The only snag was that it didn’t come into town, but instead passed by on the Expressway several miles to the west. This involved getting a motorbike taxi there. But how was I going to identify the correct bus? There’s very little signage in English anywhere in Myanmar. But the motorbike driver stayed to help me and it all worked out surprisingly well. 



On the trek

When I’d asked about the arrival time, estimates had varied between 3pm and 9pm. We arrived at 6pm. Kalaw is in the mountains and it gets pretty cold in the winter at night. I had time to organise my trek for the next day through Uncle Sam’s agency. I wanted to do the three day trek, but the only trek for the next day was two days. It was a good deal, costing only 35,000 kyats, about £17.50. 

Drying chillies

We drove to the trailhead the next morning and started trekking through farmland. The corn had been harvested and only dry husks remained. But the local villagers were all busy collecting red chillies which they dry in the sun for about two weeks. It was an amazing sight. It was also fascinating to see the young kids playing in the main temple grounds. With no iPads or X boxes to entertain themselves, these boys seemed quite content rolling around old wheels with a stick. 

Old-fashioned playtime

We spent the night in a village and it was bitterly cold at dawn the next morning. I joined the family warming themselves around an open fire on which they were boiling pumpkin. They chopped up the pieces and then put them into the hollowed-out shell with the lid back on!

Cooking pumpkin at dawn

We climbed up during the morning and then descended through a pass in the mountains to the lake. The last part of the adventure involved a boat ride across the lake to the main town, Nyaung Shwe. It’s a quiet and relaxing place to stay with some great restaurants. 

Maing Thauk market

The next day I met up with two Spanish guys from the trek to share the cost of hiring a boat to explore the lake. You pay for the boat with up to 5 passengers. The houses and even temples in the settlements around the lake are all built on stilts. The fishermen have a unique style, with one leg paddling. The lake is famous for its rotating 5 day markets and we visited one at Maing Thauk.

Cave temple

The next day I hired a guide to take me to see a fantastic cave temple (Htet Eain Gu) filled with Buddha statues. On the last day it was time to take it easy with a cooking course, but with so much food to eat it was more like an eating course. Inle Lake has definitely been the highlight so far, but my next destination was another of Myanmar’s star attractions -Bagan.

Monks at dawn with their alms bowls in Nyaung Shwe

Myanmar – from Yangon to the beach at Ngwe Saung and into the mountains around Taungoo

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon

I was supposed to be getting away from the depressing misery of British politics, but within a few hours on my first day in Yangon I somehow found myself having to explain my position on Brexit. The guy who started speaking to me wanted to practise his English and seemed remarkably well-informed. I soon realised that there is a lot more freedom and access to media and news than I had thought. Why is there another election? the guy wanted to know. Is Boris Johnson not allowed to do the job any more? Oh, if only! It must be quite confusing for someone brought up in a military dictatorship and I quickly realised I was making a real hash of attempting to explain British democracy. So, I left to continue my exploration of the city.

Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk, Yangon

The biggest tourist attraction in Yangon is the huge Shwedagon Pagoda and I visited it around 4pm which was a great time to arrive. The colours in the late afternoon sun were stunning and I also got to see it lit up at night as the sun sets quite early at this time of year, around 5.15.

Snake Temple

But for me the best day trip I had was catching the Dalah ferry across the river from Yangon where I teamed up with 2 others to hire a tuktuk to take us to the town of Twante. The highlight here was the Snake Temple, where huge Burmese pythons slither and slide freely around the altar. Our driver joked – don’t be scared, they don’t bite. They just swallow you whole. We were also lucky enough to see some local people, who consider the snakes holy, come and give offerings. Not far from the Snake Temple is the tranquil Pagoda of 1000 Buddhas. It’s relatively new and not in the guidebooks so we saw no other tourists.

Temple of 1000 Buddhas

After a few days in Yangon it was time to recharge my batteries at the beach in Ngwe Saung, about a six hour bus ride west on the Bay of Bengal. There’s nothing special there, but it’s a good place  to relax. I took a boat trip out to Bird Island and the view from there was great, but the crossing was surprisingly rough and there we’re  too many waves to go snorkelling.

Bird Island

After a night back in Yangon I headed north to Taungoo, a little visited place. I spent a day driving up into the mountains with a motorbike taxi. It was a bumpy 2 hour journey, but the little village of Than Daung Gyi was fascinating. Many of the local people have converted to Christianity and I climbed up Naw Bu Baw mountain which has a church perched precariously at the top.

Naw Bu Baw mountain

 

So far, my impressions of Myanmar have been great. The people are really friendly and, despite the fact that it’s less developed than neighbouring Thailand, it’s much easier to get around than I expected. The only sad thing is that it’s obvious tourist numbers are down due to the political situation with the Rohingya and local people are suffering from the lack of business. It’s easier than I thought to discuss the issue with people, though, and from the few people I have spoken to it seems to be there is a recognition that the military government is in the wrong  and has behaved appallingly. My advice: come to Myanmar and engage in conversation.

Street food, Yangon