One of the huts at Queen Inn
We all woke up before 6am and had our breakfast... banana pancakes. For some reason banana pancakes have become a norm for tourists in Myanmar (and I think in the Indochinese region too), which I suspect is due to the proliferation of Western tourists who prefer food closer to their "comfort zone". Again, would've preferred a more traditional breakfast, but oh well... it tasted ok.
We woke up early because we booked a 7am tour to Inle Lake and the boat stopped right beside the lodgings (cool!). If I'm not mistaken Inle Lake was around 5km away from where we started, but as the lake is quite large we took quite long to reach our first destination, despite using motorised boat. Contrary to road traffic, water traffic (at least here) is on the left-hand side. Most common forms of housing are built using sheets of interlacing bamboo strips (not only here but most countryside areas)... this could explain why Cyclone Nargis destroyed the homes of so many.
Next we went to see a family making silver. It was all quite cool but I did not intend to buy those stuff so we left soon after.
Then it was off to the market. It was located behind a temple. Had to take off our shoes within certain areas. Most stuff were laid down on top of sheets on the ground.
Temple near market place
Scenes from the market, this was at the inner covered area
The outer, uncovered area
I remember seeing this type of snack at the Pasar Malam back in Batu Pahat
Our next stop was a place where they weaved threads into cloth. One interesting thing I learnt was that certain parts within the stalk of the lotus plant can be "processed" into threads and cloth. It has a much coarser texture though. They also made clothing from cotton and silk. Below was a shop selling clothing (What's new. So touristy). Wasn't very interested and was put off by the prices so didn't buy anything.
Lotus plant processing
Forming a ball of yarn from the thin threads
Lotus yarn at the bottom, I believe cotton at the top
The traditional cloth-making machine
Next we got our chance to visit a Padaung family. In case you don't know, Padaung are the people with "long necks". There was nothing much to see there except the necks of the females of the family... so we left quite hurriedly. I didn't take photos with them in the end because then it would feel to me as if they were some strange creatures in a zoo.
Next up was a hut (all the places we went to were floating huts or houses above Inle Lake) where ladies were making cheroot cigars. A lady served us tea (I forgot to mention... at almost all the places we've went we were served tea) and talked to us. Apparently she has a daughter or a relative or something like that studying or wanting to study in Singapore (Hannah please verify).
Home industry in action
As part of the tour package we also got to go to a more secluded area called Indein. In was nonetheless just as touristy. We did see some western tourists once in a while, but the number of tourists in Myanmar is much lower compared to its eastern neighbour. There were some interesting pagodas at Indein, all located near the top of the hills. We didn't know if we could access them. 2 friendly young novice monk asked us to follow them up a path. We were led to some old but crumbling stupas on top of a hill. From there we could see many other old-and-crumbling stupas but it would take too long for us to reach them so we did not go there.
Ruins
The 2 novice monks
After reaching the foot of the hill we said thank you to the novice monks. We were about to leave and to my surprise one of them said :"sorry, money?" Don't know about Hannah and Xuwen, but I was utterly shocked. We did pay them some money, can't remember how much. To be honest it disgusted me a bit because I felt what he did tainted the name of Buddhism. How did they lose their innocence? Tourism? I don't know.
We then had lunch at this place... as we were eating 3 ladies sat at the table beside us and they sounded PRC-like so I asked where were they from in Mandarin. They then looked at each other with quizzical looks and then asked me what did say in English. @.@ I repeated in English and then Mandarin and then a lady said she thought I said some weird foreign language because they didn't expect me to know Mandarin (+ perhaps I had some accent). They told me they were from Guangxi and asked me if I've heard of it. I proceeded to say...“哦我知道。。。广西壮族自治区嘛！” which surprised them (哇你还知道全名啊！). Haha.
Lastly we went to the Jumping Cat Monastery to see... well, jumping cats. Sorry didn't take any photos =P
Another interesting (must-see) sight at Inle Lake are the leg-rowers. Also, every now and then we see people in the lake, probably clearing some grass beneath the surface etc. to ensure that boats don't get trapped. And some of these people were really fit. Like clearly defined 6-pack abs fit. I guess that's what you earn from hard labour!
The fabled leg-rowers of Inle
On our way back it started drizzling and I slept a bit on the boat. Once in a while we saw passengers on boats (motorised or otherwise) waving at us and we waved back (and exchange some Ming-la-bars). They are very friendly people.
After resting for a while we then packed and walked to town to wait for the pickup truck that would bring us back to the main junction of Shwenyaung. This was the cheapest and most common way of travel for the locals between Shwenyaung and Nyaungshwe. When we boarded the pickup it was already 1/3 filled with market produce (vegetables and fish etc) and we also had to share it with some locals. Along the way some people boarded and alighted (some standing on the ledge at the back and holding on to the rails).
Throughout the journey I felt as if something was moving in the rattan basket beside me, and sure enough, halfway through the journey a fish managed to fight its way out. The pickup truck was quite cramped so we didn't know for sure what was on the floor until the local lady opposite me felt it. She proceeded to pick the poor struggling fish up and found a plastic bag to keep it in. Then before she alighted she took some Kyat out of her purse and gave it to the person in charge. No wonder that their money look and smell dirty. Lol.
Anyway I had some tea while waiting for the bus. The bus had windows that could open unlike the previous one where it always got really stuffy (aircon always breaks down). We retraced part of the route we took to get to Shwenyaung, including the breakfast place. Bus passengers tend to wrap their rubbish nicely instead of throwing it on the floor, but proceed to throw it out the window most of the time. The toilets at the rest stops are surprisingly clean. As usual they played some Burmese MVs and sitcoms... I noticed in most of their sitcoms common English pop songs are used as background music (such as Enya's Orinoco Flow, Madonna's Vogue etc.). It seems like roads in Myanmar, even the major ones, have Malaysian kampung road width, but usually have some excess space at the sides.
Day 5
We reached Mandalay very early in the morning and it was raining quite heavily. Tried to bargain with the pickup truck drivers but didn't manage to get a huge discount. Where we wanted to go was actually quite near. Anyway we settled on ET Hotel. We got 3-bed room with hot shower, air-con depending on electricity supply and the view outside our windows was a wall barely 1m away. We all bathed and slept.
We woke up and washed our clothes, then went out for breakfast. It was still raining so we went nearby. The place looked dirty with lots of flies, but hey, I'm Malaysian so I can get use to it. Lol. At least I hope I have the necessary resistance. Anyway we had Samosas and these fried dough pieces called Ei Kyar Kwey (which is actually Yau Char Gwai lah! 油炸鬼/油条). We went back to the hotel for awhile. The lady boss was there and suddenly talked to us in Mandarin （对不起现在没有电，等下就好了）. Sounded like the Malaysian/Singaporean variety of Mandarin.
We spent 1 hour at an internet cafe and then walked to downtown. As usual the roads are stained with red blots, no thanks to the prevalence of betel nut chewing here. Walked by part of the outer perimeter of Mandalay Palace... it's quite wide, 2.1km X 2.1km based on Google Earth and surrounded by a moat 70m in width. The palace is thus kinda on a square island. The rest of the city is mostly to the south of it.
A clock tower in downtown Mandalay
The moat surrounding the palace
Strange-looking tree we saw along the way
Strange-coloured lizard we saw on the trees. Probably a chameleon but doesn't change colour much. But why turquoise?
Xuwen injured her toe before we had lunch. That made all 3 of us inflicted with toe/toenail injuries. After lunch Xuwen went back to use the internet while me and Hannah went into Mandalay Palace. Entrance fees were quoted in US$ and my bills were rejected by the counter lady because they were too crumpled (what?!). So Hannah had to pay for me first. No doubt this is one way the junta earn their money (and they expect clean uncrumpled money too). There were also lots of propaganda billboards:
People's Desire...
"Tatmadaw and the people, cooperate and crush all those harming the union"
The palace is actually a rebuilt version after the original was destroyed during World War II. There was also a small museum inside the palace grounds.
Original layout of Mandalay, still pretty much intact except maybe the outer wall. I don't know if it's still there.
We then moved further north and I got a bottle of Star Cola (they have many local version of international products since there are trade restrictions with Myanmar. Didn't see a single Coca-Cola or Pepsi when I was there). Visited some temples. One of the temples was the one featured on the cover of Lonely Planet and we didn't even know! It was Kuthodaw Pagoda. Almost all white, save for the central stupa which was blinding gold. Some teachings of the Buddha was inscribed on 1774 marble slabs and all the slabs were housed in a structure at topped off with a stupa.
Also went to some other temples but they were not as interesting, plus we got harassed by people wanting to sell us stuff (postcards, drawings etc). One such incident went like this:
Seller: Look at these. Look nice. 5 for (some amount) Kyat.
Me: It's OK, thank you.
Seller: Please take a look. How about this (unfurls a long pack of postcards)? It's nice.
Me: Thank you, I don't want it. (walking out of temple)
Seller: Please buy, I want to sell!
Me: But I don't want to buy!
She needs some lessons in economics.
We then went up Mandalay Hill. There were stairs all the way and it was also not a very tall hill so it was quite an easy climb. We had to keep our shoes in some racks at the foot of the steps for a fee. I didn't mind that, but I was disgusted by all the rubbish and apparent dirt and vandalism I saw along the way amidst a supposedly Buddhist setting. The juxtaposition felt so incongruent. On the top however was a humongous standing Buddha overlooking to city of Mandalay. The views from the top were so-so as well, but it was good exercise!
Mandalay hill as seen from the south east corner of the palace
Entrance to the steps climbing up Mandalay hill
Evening time near Mandalay palace
There was actually celebrations going on to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Mandalay (surprise surprise, not as old as most people think), but we couldn't really see anything interesting going on. Maybe it was too early. We later did see people flocking to the direction of where we came from, but we were interested to see the "Moustache Brothers" so we gave it a miss. Probably wouldn't understand anything too.
After walking back to the hotel we discussed the travel plans for the next day with a trishaw driver cum tour guide. We then went to Lashio Lay restaurant for our dinner ("clean and good" says our would-be tour guide).
After dinner we went to see the "Moustache Brothers". They are a comedic act featured in Lonely Planet Myanmar as a highlight. Apparently one of the 3 brothers was caught by the junta before. They were from a traditional performing troupe whom one Brother claimed travelled around Myanmar but later confined to performing in Mandalay and now confined to performing in their house. To be honest I didn't find the act very entertaining for so expensive a price, and also the Brother's accent was quite strong at times. Halfway through a grasshopper/cricket flew in right into the face of an asian american guy. The Brother later caught it and said the season is coming where lots of them will swarm. Yikes. Went back to hotel after that and slept.
Got to see some traditional Myanmar dances (dancer is the wife of the Moustache Brother in the background)
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been here! And the photo of the lady at the top right corner is the aforementioned dancer when young.
Moustache Brother Par Par Lay who was arrested in 2007
Day 6
Woke up a bit late. Managed to have breakfast (usual western fare again. haiz), then went to meet our guide for the day. First he brought us to see jade at a person's home. He told me that there were many people selling fake jade outside, which I know to be a fact. Problem is, I can't really confirm what he is selling to be genuine too, and the prices were quite high. So too bad lah. Wanted to buy for my mom.
We then went to a gold shop. There people were pounding on small lumps of gold to make gold leafs. Gold leafs are bought by devout Buddhists to be placed on holy items, such as figures of Buddha or stupas (think Shwedagon pagoda). They sold some interesting stuff but I decided to buy some jade (fake ones I believe) for my sisters.
Making gold leaf
Gold leaf is produced through continual pounding of a small lump of gold many many times.
Next we took the pickup truck to Innwa. Well, not exactly to Innwa because it was across a river and there were no bridges. So we had to take a boat (not very expensive if I remember correctly). At the other side we were 'supposed' to go buy horsecart (because there were 3 main attractions and it would take too long by foot). Unfortunately we couldn't manage to cut the cost to K5000 as our guide told us (he didn't join us) and paid K6000 total for 3 people instead. The three major sites were a teak monastery, a watchtower (the only remains of an old palace) and a stone monastery.
The teak monastery
They seem to be running a kindergarten inside nowadays
The watchtower... actually the original watchtower is in ruins. They built this new modern one directly on top of the old one. That's why it has a serious slanting problem...
...I took this photo trying to align my camera phone to the horizon. I guess it's a pretty dangerous building.
The stone monastery
After crossing the river again to go back, we had lunch. I think it was some normal chicken stuff. The mango afterwards was really sweet and juicy though! The next destination was Sagaing Hill which overlooks the region. We went up the "unofficial" way to save on entrance fees. =P At the top was a rather nicely adorned temple. Again, our guide did not join us.
The parts of this rabbit that are not oxidized are those where people always touch... for good luck I guess?
View from the top
Lots of glass used to decorate the temple
On our way down we met our guide resting and sat down with him. He then talked about Myanmar (politics, education, corruption etc.) and how much better our countries were. Well... sometimes I don't really know if "progressing" is such a good thing. In modern places many people tend to "lose their innocence".
Anyway we then proceeded to Amarapura, which is famous for its long teak bridge where many monks cross during sunset (the type of scene photographers supposedly love). We traversed the bridge to the other side and seeing nothing much walked back again. Sunset was slow to come but unfortunately the weather was not very good for taking photos. Rather cloudy. Too bad loh. Halfway back we met a tour guide with 2 Slovakian girls so I chatted up with them and tried what Michael (Czech guy) taught me:" Miluju te kočičko" Had to try several times before they understood. Lol. Czech is a hard language.
Trees at the other end of the teak bridge. Could've been taken in Beverly Hills eh?
Evening time on the bridge. An island is present halfway across the bridge at some times of the year.
Proof that the hand-holding culture amongst guys is present not only in Bangladesh and India
Then it was all the way back to Mandalay city proper. Had dinner at Mann Restaurant and we tried Myanmar beer! It's like Tiger, but less bitter, so kinda like Stella Artois also. Incidentally a few days later back in Yangon I saw a factory that had the logos of Myanmar Beer, ABC and Tiger Beer on it so they are made at the same place. Too bad wasn't very chilled. So far we've yet to have "proper" chilled drinks. There were people watching football (this IS a global phenomenon) and a blackout occured for a while but it was ok. After-dinner dessert was ice-cream at Nylon Ice Cream. Strange name but their ice creams are homemade and good! Had tapioca ice cream and it was so nice. Internet after that and slept.
Next to come: Pyin Oo Lwin and Bagan
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