A Day in Mandalay

A BURMESE ROAD DOG!!!!!

We were back in group mode again. We met our tour leader, Helen, and decided that, like road dogs, tour group leaders are a “type”. Most of them are 30’ish, unattached, independent, detached from the western world, charming, but very tough and not too concerned about their looks, clothes, etc.
After breakfast, the group headed to the streets to negotiate rickshaws to take us to the boat jetty. Their first question on sizing up the group to set a price was “Ok, who’s fat?”. Since our tour group was primarily German, with a mix of Americans and New Zealanders- there were a few very big folks.

We made it to our boat and had a leisurely ride down the Irrewaddy River to the small town of Mingun. It was a little disconcerting to get out of the boat and immediately be carved up by the local kids- who pick their tourists and cling to you as you walk down the road. We decided that we could either put up with it or let them know that we’re from “No Buy”. A few “no buys” and they headed off for more lucrative tourists.

Mingun was a one street town with the largest unfinished pagoda and not much else to offer. The pagoda was the work of King Bodawpaya who had thousands of slaves laboring to build the “world’s largest stupa” in 1790. Work halted when he died, leaving a brick base that stands about a third of its’ intended height. An earthquake spit the monument in 1838.

To go along with his stupa, the King also had a gigantic bell cast. It’s claimed to be the largest uncracked bell in the world. The rest of the town was dust and heat and very little of anything cold to drink.


We headed back to the boat and back to Mandalay. The streets of Mandalay were filled with old WWII American jeeps- originals- still in perfect running condition. We had a few hours before our next tour- so we walked the streets looking for any restaurant serving non-Burmese food. We finally found a place with great Chinese noodles and an 8 year old as our waiter. His brother and mother sat around while this little kid busted his butt serving us. On the streets, they were selling owls and falcons …not sure what purpose they serve. We were told that they clear the farm fields of rodents- and then, when the fields are clear, they make a great soup.
We decided that Intrepid, our tour company, is like the K-Mart version of Explore (the British group we used in India). They are incredibly cheap and claim it as a virtue—“you get to meet the real people and stay in private hotels”. Most of the hotels we were in were running from $5-10 a night, including breakfast. A new motto, “Sunsets are free”….since their entire focus seems to be finding some place to see sunsets and spending no money on tours or guides.

We did, however, get the make-up tour of Mandalay in the afternoon- and saw the Teak Monastery (Shwe In Bin Kyaung) We got a private tour from one of the 25 resident monks. We of the best quotes- “There are no suicide problem in Burma. There’s no need- you can always join a monastery”.

We also got to see the meditation center attached to the monastery. Buddhist monks have 2 birthdays- their actual birth date and their birthday as a monk…so they can be 45 years old, but only 24 in monk years. Outside the monastery, they were restoring WWII jeeps to mint condition.
We then headed to Mahamuni Paya pagoda- home of the gold leaf Buddha (another King Bodawpaya structure, built in 1784). Inside, was a huge Buddha covered with gold leaf The statue was originally cast in bronze, but over the years has been completed covered in a 15 cm thick layer of gold leaf (that can only be applied by men).

Women have to stay in the area in front of the Buddha, a few steps down). At 4:00 am, the monks wash the Buddha’s face and brush his teeth. As a man, John got a closer view of the Buddha statue and saw no evidence of teeth.

In the pagoda, they also had a number of bronze statues stolen from Anghor Wat in Cambodia, including a three-headed elephant. The people believe that by rubbing the statues, they can cure ills, so the stomachs, heads and other body parts were all shiny from rubbing. Outside the pagoda, we stopped by a few stalls selling Buddhas and nats- and bought a bronze version of Thagyamin, the King of the Nats (while our guide showed John the anatomical details of the marionette puppets).

On the way back, we stopped by a gold leaf factory. One boy had a 7-lb. hammer and all day he flattened gold leaf. He used a coconut ladle in a bowl of water to time the three minutes that he has to hammer each piece before sending it to the room for cutting into one inch squares (all done by women).
Dinner- where else, the BBB.