I didn't know knees could sweat

'Day 6: Mandalay

It is amazing what a good night's sleep will do for us. We got at least 7 and woke up new women. The shower might have helped too. And the fact that we actually got to sit down and enjoy a breakfast and not gulp coffee in 2 minutes. We also got to check out the hotel a bit, which has two swimming pools we may need to take advantage of later. The hotel is very nice and composed mostly of teak wood.

We started out the day with a boat ride on the Ayeyarwaddy (formerly Irawaddy) River, which is the longest in the country - almost 300 kilometers from north to south. It gets very shallow in the summer and floods in the rainy season. Right now, it is 6-10 meters deep. The docking area was crowded with people and boats. There were two big buses full of Australians. They came here on a big charter flight - all 190 of them - which we saw at the airport. Their Australian guide leader got a little out of sorts when she thought we were trying to crash their boat. No worries there. We have no desire to be part of the herd. We were just walking from boat to boat to get to ours. Which of course is our own private boat. The top was shaded with 5 nice wooden chairs, that reclined back and let us enjoy the leisurely cruise. We saw all kinds of boats, from small fishing boats to tourist boats. The most interesting was two boats transporting teak wood, huge amounts that were very heavy. It takes it 10 days to get to its destination. We passed a number of pagodas and stupas. There was also a Buddhist university along the river where over 400 monks study. The founder died in 1993. He had memorized over 17,000 pages of scriptures and was in the Guinness Book of World Records.

About an hour into the boat ride, we stopped at Mingun Paya which is home to this huge unfinished stupa. (Side note: Before 1996, the only way to get here was private boat so not many tourists came here. For awhile after, whenever children would see tourists, they would run and hide. Now they wave). It would have been the world's largest if it was ever finished. They started building it in 1790  but work on it stopped when the king died in 1819 when it was only 1/3rd complete. But before you get there to see it, you have to get past the women selling things. A woman gravitated to each of us, becoming our personal fanners (and maybe shoppers?). Moira and Lallande bought some gifts early. Steph held out a bit longer. I was shopping with Momo (as she called herself) and told her I would find her later. But back to the stupa. Only the bottom third was finished before they stopped. Then there was an earthquake in 1838 which put big cracks in it. It also knocked the heads off the lions which guard it (and which are huge too). People used to be able to climb to the top which was 120 steps but there was another earthquake on November 11, 2012 which caused damage to the steps. Tonton said the guides are glad that they no longer have to climb it as it was steep. And hot. He told us it was about 32 degrees at this point (close to 11 AM) which is almost 90 degrees. But later when we were heading back to the hotel at about 630 when the sun had set, we saw temperature readings of 32 then so if has to be hotter earlier.

The biggest pile of bricks isn't the only attraction here though. There is also the world's largest ringing bell. There is a larger bell in Moscow but it is cracked and doesn't ring. This one weighs over 90 tons and is 13 ft high and 16 ft across. It fell during the first earthquake and was in the ground for 65 years before it was resurrected. We also visited a shrine to the monk who memorized all those texts. There is also a huge limestone stupa, called the Hsinbyume Paya. It is very white and gleaming and is painted once a year. We walked up some steep steps to the top. It was quite hot and humid by now, around 90 degrees. Steph and I were not wearing dry weave type of pants (and you have to wear pants or very long shorts as your knees must be covered to enter these places) so we looked like we had an accident of some type from all our sweat. And yes, you can thank me later for loading you up with that image. For some reason, my knees were particularly sweaty and wet. I didn't know knees could sweat. Walking back to the boat, other ladies tried to sell me things but Moira told them, "she only shops with Momo." I wasn't sure if I would see her again but like she had a homing decide on us, she found me.

It felt nice to get back on the boat and start to move a bit. Notice I said a bit. We went a few minutes and the engine stopped. It got very quiet and the driver went down below. Tonton then joined him. He came back up In a little and said some pin came out and they were trying to fix it. He went back down. After a few minutes, Steph said, "This isn't our problem to fix, is it?"  And no, it wasn't which is a great thing about vacation. As anyone who follows our adventures can tell, we are accustomed to delays (third one on the trip so far). You have to be or you will go crazy. And while it sounds adventurous to say we were adrift on the Irawaddy, they fixed it in about 30-45 minutes (no real,sense of time here) and we headed to our next destination. But first we enjoyed a nice box lunch on the boat, complete with a cold refreshing Myanmar beer. And yes, we are already lamenting what we will do when we can't have a beer at lunch.

After about an hour, we got off the boat and got into a horse drawn carriage in Inwa which at one time was the capital of Burma for 650 years. It was recently flooded so we saw a lot of make shift houses and cattle by the road (the cattle weren't makeshift...just the houses...they moved the cattle to keep them safe). Our first destination was a monastery made almost entirely out off teak wood, the Bagaya Kyaung, or the wooden monastery. It has 267 teak posts holding it up and keeping it cool, and it dates back to 1834. We also stopped at a couple of other monasteries. At one, a boy trying to sell us things asked us where we were from. I said US. He replied, "oh, rich." Moira then promptly renounced her citizenship and declared to him she was Canadian.

Back at the dock, we boarded a ferry to take us back across the river. We got stuck on the boat with a slew of the Australians. They kept shoving them in so we had to sit in the front of the boat in the sun, almost on the hull (is that what the front of a ferry is called? No idea). Have I mentioned it is hot? We were dripping again and when we got up to exit the ferry, Steph said, "let's go straight out to dinner and a puppet show" (see yesterday) which we all found hysterical. And which we decided would be our new saying for when we are hot, sweaty and need a shower.

Back in the van, we visited a weaving factory that makes very intricate things, like wedding y dresses. From there it was in to Amarapura, which was a royal capital of the country for about 70 years. It has this amazingly huge monastery which has over 1,200 monks. We walked through the grounds where Tonton taught us about monk life. I am too tired to remember most if it, but I do remember that:
- Boys' families send them there when they are young. They have to stay for a week but after that, how long they stay and if they become a monk is up to them.
- If a monk's family doesn't have money or if he has no money, someone else (usually those with means but without a son) can sponsor them. That means you have to, for the rest of a monk's life, prove him with food, accommodations, medicine and clothing.
- If a monk goes home to visit, he has to stay in a local monastery, not at his family home.
After awhile, monks become a bit like zebras in Africa. You can only take so many pictures before they all look alike.

Amarapura is also the home of the counties longest wooden bridge, U Bein's bridge . It is over 1.5 KM with over 1,000 poles holding it up. It is one of the most beautiful places to watch the sunset and is one of the most widely photographed as well. We did that by getting in a boat to head out on the water with the bridge and its silhouette in the background. Gorgeous pictures  opportunity. Our driver was very skilled at getting us to the right place, although he often still had to say "picture, picture" to us.  Then back in the van and back to the hotel for our complimentary cocktail. Moira and I took advantage of our free (also) 15 minute Thai massage...by adding an hour to it. Lallande and Steph already for massages in Lake inlay. Dinner was late and at the hotel. They had their own music/dance/puppet thing going on, which wasn't as creepy as last night.

For anyone keeping track, our version of Trains, Planes and Automobiles was : van to boat. Boat to horse cart. Horse cart to ferry. Ferry to van. No wonder I can barely see straight now. We have another part day in Mandalay and then head on to Bagan. I am not sure what the internet situation will be which means you may end up getting a break from my ramblings.

Things we learned/saw:
- It is about a 10 hour drive to China from here and the Chinese have a bigs influence. A lot of cars and electronic products come from there. They are also building hydro electronics plants on the water which is hurting the environment and communities and really only benefits the Chinese not the Burmese. But the government allows it because they want the money.
- Tonton has two daughters (seems to be a theme with our guides). He came to this area originally to make guitars with his brothers.
- The Buddhist nuns wear pink and also have shaved heads. They can start at age 11 and they stay in their whole lives. It is their choice to become nuns.
- The sun is so intense here that women and children wear thanaka all over their faces instead of just in certain spots. And very few people wear sunglasses which we find odd. I would have said no one but Tonton wore some today. Maybe it has something to do with their dark eyes?
- Motorbikes are really prevalent here. It isn't as bad as Vietnam but my guess is it will be in a few years if the population keeps growing.

No flight segments or crazy airport bus rides today. Yea!! Instead check out these great sites for Myanmar photos:

www.bobophotoart.com
www.asiaphototravel.com