Myanmar 2014

Mingalaba Myanmar

   A new country - a new adventure! After arriving at the airport in Yangon, a new cultural travel started in the heart of Southeast Asia. 

Yangon - Between beautiful pagodas and dirty living areas
 

   If you would like to describe the life in Yangon, then the word must be "discrepancy"! I never saw a city before, where the word was so appropriate. The living and tourist areas, where many people sold their street food and other kind of fruits, were so dirty of rubbish. Many dogs run around these areas too. 
But if you went close to a sacred place like a pagoda, then the streets were very clean. At the Shwedagon Pagoda, I also met a tour guide, who could speak some German words - such a surprise! But even if there were tour guides, who could speak a bit German and English, it was really hard to find English speaking people. So the communication was based on a "hands and feet conversation"! Another problem in Myanmar was the unbearable heat. If you think, 35 °C in Thailand are very hot, you better shouldn't go to Myanmar! Nevertheless, my Thai friend and me stayed around three hours at the Shwedagon Pagoda, seeing a lot of Buddha statues and golden lions. Everything seemed so impressive and I prayed a lot to get a good blessing of Buddha during the time in Myanmar.

 

Kyaiktiyo - The Golden Rock Pagoda and the Buddha legend

   The next day, we woke up very early to take the bus to Kyaiktiyo. It was a 5:30 hours bus tour through the country. Even if the "Pann Myu Thu" hostel was the worst hostel, I have ever seen, I really enjoyed the sacred place of the Golden Rock Pagoda. On the top of the mountain, it started to rain. It was so strange to start with 35 °C and on the top of the mountain, there were only 16 °C and rain. 

Unfortunately, the pagoda itself was closed on this day, so it wasn't possible to go inside. But nevertheless, it was really great to see the pagoda. I couldn't believe, that the pagoda was partially at the abyss. The dense fog gave the pagoda a mystical feeling. But even if it was a rainy day, it was really worthwile to see the pagoda and learn about the Buddha legend!   

   The legend associated with the pagoda is that the Buddha, on one of his many visits, gave a strand of his hair to Taik Tha, a hermit. The hermit, who had tucked it in the tuft of his hair safely, in turn gave the strand to the king, with the wish that the hair be enshrined in a boulder shaped like the hermit's head. The king had inherited supernatural powers from his father Zawgyi, a proficient alchemist ), and his mother, a naga serpent dragon princess. They found the rock at the bottom of the sea. With the help of the Thagyamin, the king of Tawadeintha Heaven in Buddhist cosmology, found the perfect place at Kyaiktiyo for locating the golden rock and built a pagoda, where the strand was enshrined. It is this strand of hair that, according to the legend, prevents the rock from tumbling down the hill. The boat, which was used to transport the rock, turned into a stone. This is also worshiped by pilgrims at a location about 300 metres from the golden rock. It is known as the Kyaukthanban Pagoda or stupa (literal meaning: stone boat stupa).

Bagan - The land of 2000 Pagodas

   The most amazing part in Myanmar started in Nyaung-U. By renting a bicycle, we could explore the whole area of Old Bagan. There were so many old temple ruins and it was possible to see the sunrise from the top of one pagoda. Many Burmese people explained the history of Bagan and also told many stories about the culture and art of the past. In the evening, we went to see the sunset at the Irrawaddy river. Finally, we enjoyed a big dinner. The food was very unique and not compareable with other Southeast Asian food. 

Mandalay - Friendly help of Burmese people

   We spend the last days in Myanmar in the city of Mandalay. We took the overnight bus from Nyaung-U to Mandalay, but we already arrived in the middle of the night. So all the hostels were closed and we needed to sleep on the street. And during the night, one backpack with clothes was stolen. It was such a pity, but luckily, there were only clothes inside. Some friendly taxi drivers helped me and my friend and took us to the police stations; for sure, we didn't get the backpack back. But at least, I saw the friendliness of the Burmese people, because the women of the tourist information center booked a hotel for us, where we could sleep for free. It was unexpected, but maybe they felt ashamed for those bad Burmese people and they just wanted to give us a positive feeling again. At least, we could leave Myanmar with an almost positive feeling!