101. THE ROAD TO MANDALAY

Mandalay

By the old Moulmein pagoda, Lookin' lazy at the sea,

There's a Burma girl a-settin, and I know she thinks o' me,

For the wind is in the palm trees, and the temple-bel....

Is they say - 'Come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay'

Come you back to Mandalay, where the old flotilla lay,

Can't you 'ear their paddles thunkin's from Rangoon to Mandalay.

On the road to Mandalay, where the flyin' fishes play,

An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay.............. Rudyard Kipling 1890

This is the 1st verse of a lengthy 6 verse poem, adapted into a song sung by Frank Sinatra in a Big Band tempo as befits his time and more recently, by Robbie Williams in a raucous version.

The Brits (and I too) have associated Mandalay with romanticism. Mine was based more on a novel I've read by Daphne du Maurier. The most romantic thing on this trip was having dinner under the stars on the hotel's lawn next to a replica of the ruins of a stupa - with my girlfriend. We enjoyed our girl talk nevertheless.

The Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk - Yangon's iconic landmark. Shwe in the their language is 'gold' and it's everywhere.

This one's looking like some castle in Disneyland

This stupa is like something from right out of India (left) with a storyboard too.

The topmost summit of Shwedagon Pagoda (left) encrusted with diamonds and rubies. This part of the pagoda is referred to as 'the umbrella'. The 'umbrellas' of most pagodas have been rebuilt into something golden, reason given has been the old ones toppled during some earthquakes! This country is so extremely rich in gemstones they can decorate their pagodas so fancy, turning them into huge attractions for their people, the Shwedagon in the heart of the capital Yangon - the former Rangoon - is marketed as a must visit pilgrimage spot at least once in their people's lifetime. Sounds like Mecca. Sigh! What poverty? There is'nt any. What oppression?

Chaukhtatkyi Pagoda has the prettiest looking buddha image complete with full make-up.

I liked most the beautifully crafted robe with glass work details, on its feet, a sutra of some sort - as in Thailand and Tibet, Buddhism here is corrupted by big bucks - but their night life is still tame without the sleaze of Thailand's

Left - ceiling details. The Burmese do beautiful fine art work. It was clear from what I saw at the lacquer factory, their jade, marble and woodcarving workshops and their wonderful tapestries and embroideries, that these are a truly creative artistic people. On the right, a group of Korean Buddhists. It was a refreshing change to see Koreans chanting the sutras instead of a fanatical Christian group on their endless retreats in Singapore and Batam Island

There are 7 such altars for the 7 days of the week. This was a photo opportunity - bathe the naga (dragon) that guards and protects those born on the 6th day.

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The entrance to the Ananda Temple (1090) is guarded by 2 deities. One look tells me there's no mistake about their very Hindu eyes, dress and headgear. It seems the king of that period had close ties with Indian kings and merchants...........

More golden monstrosities - there are several buddha images in the Ananda Temple, many were small, simple ones rebuilt into huge golden ones, the common excuse was, they were badly damaged after earthquakes!

Left, wall niches, each housing a buddha image in different hand mudras. Right, a huge solid teak carved door. Many older pagodas have arched ceilings and remind me of cathedrals, like this one here. Lest we forget, Buddhism is older than Christianity.....

The Ananda Temple in Bagan (below) - the old and the new.........

Looking like some gothic medieval castle........

Bagan - in the distance, relics of pagodas & stupas (right)

Those closer to this tower looked new (below).

Myanmar had applied for Unesco World Heritage Site status for Bagan but was rejected due to 'too much tampering' with the buildings. I agree for it was quite obvious in the buildings I saw.

Bagan - pagodas & stupa relics are scattered across a 42sq km plain that includes 1000's of sites. Quite a few looked recent....

They 'plant' stupas here the way we plant trees in Singapore!

Umin Thounze Monastery on Myanmar Hill, Sagaing, where we saw the sun set over Mandalay. The most attractive feature of this place was the glass work which covered almost every inch of the walls and pillars



Kuthodaw Pagoda, Mandalay

........there are 729 of these Pitaka pagodas (right), each housing a marble slab......

........on which is inscribed the entire Buddhist canon. (right). The language used is Pali, this place is best known as a center for Buddhist studies.....

The Golden Palace Monastery - Shwe nan daw Kyaung - is older than most of the rest I saw, being carved entirely out of wood. Known as Mandalay Palace before, it's now a monastery but I did'nt see many monks.

The Mahamuni Temple is decadent. The layers of gold leaf stuck on this Buddha image over many years is 2 tons worth of gold, so much so, the image is out of shape. Talk about obesity...It's in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay that such ostentatious wealth is displayed for that's where the business people are, outside of these cities there's a lot less of such mousetraps.

U Bein bridge, outside Mandalay, is the longest teakwood bridge in the world, spanning Taungthaman Lake. Like the Tonle Sap of Cambodia, (Post 93) this is a floodplain - farmers till the land in summer and during the monsoons the same farmers become fishermen when the land around the bridge is flooded by the Ayeyarwady River (the Irrawaddy)

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Feeding time at Mahagandayon Monastery, Amarapura, Mandalay. It houses more than a 1000 monks. This is a daily ritual. Donors are local business people and wealthy families. Many are Sri Lankans running businesses here. The Sri Lankans have a long tradition of trading and religious ties with Myanmar.

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These are clay water pots for drinking water (left). They're covered in moss. They must be quite old but the sieve hanging there says 'New'! Such pots are seen everywhere and it's for community use.

On the right are snowmen in a public park, which was been decorated for the coming holiday season...

Myanmar's been quite a surprise. They have everything here. Their supermarkets are well stocked. There's personal freedom. It's clean and green and safe. Eating places are full of locals. They aren't doing badly. Not having political freedom is an issue only to the Americans it appears.....

I'm glad I'm visiting before the country opens up fully to foreign investments. Very soon there will be fancy condos, industrial parks, megamalls and traffic jams. And of course, Christian groups looking to 'invest' too.

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The making of lacquerware. I have to record this for posterity as I fear this will vanish once the country opens up more and more. Left, Start with very thin, pliable bamboo strips to weave into a bowl or plate. Horsehair is interwoven into some models for a more rustic, ethnic raw look (right). These will have little or no gold leaf on them but are equally beautiful

Resin is applied before several layers of lacquer are painted over that.










Designs are scratched on to the pieces. Others are painted on. It's a labourious process with multiple steps.

Gold leaf being applied on a tray and the final step is to wash away any excess gold. The water is passed through a sieve and the excess gold is recycled.

Manual labour - they beat the gold leaf to a flat tissue. Many layers of gold leaf is packed between deer skin and it's beaten till they're extremely thin. Gold must be cheap here as a thick wad of these tissues sell for so little. The locals must buy lots as they stick it on nearly every inch of their buddha images.


















The powder used on their faces (thanaka) come from the juice of these branches. It's an all-purpose sunblock and mosquito repellant, cosmetic all-in-one obtained by grinding one end mixed with a little water on a grinding stone. It felt cool on my face.

These marionettes have a strong Javanese influence in their costumes but it's probably very typically Myanmar. Some may say it's more Thai. It's hard to tell what with the close links amongst peoples in the region back in the old days.

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Long before I came across this quote from Osho, I had realised this. When I started this journal in 2004, under its title I included - A Traveller is but a Pilgrim on a Quest.

We go out as tourists and gradually become travellers. Traveller eventually becomes a seeker. Travelling is essential to one's inner journey. Travelling teaches that which no classroom or the four walls of a house can teach..........Osho

I'm an invitation to take a courageous jump into the Ocean of Life. Lose yourself for that is the only way to find yourself - Osho, The Invitation