Monday 4 April 2016
Bagan, Myanmar 

It is early afternoon and I am enjoying a 90-minute rest break in my wonderful room at the Bagan Lodge, just outside the archaeological zone in this city in central Myanmar.  My wake up call at 2:50 this morning was followed by room service breakfast at 3 am.  After a quick wash and teeth brushing I head for the Nautica Lounge at 3:40 to meet the group tour.  There are 21 of us, including one other single traveler, a retired pediatrician from Palm Springs, plus our ship's escort--a young man from Chile--and our tour guide, Ang, the same gentleman who led yesterday's tour of Yangon.  So that makes four gay travelers.

But before I describe the wonders of Bagan, I must return to the previous two days, including a day at sea and an interesting but frustrating day in Yangon, largest city and former capital of Myanmar.

Sat 2 April 2016
Day at Sea

I enjoy breakfast in the Grand Dining Room this morning:  a western omelet, coffee, croissants, and all the usual extras.   I finish breakfast in time to attend another lecture on the development  of the various forms of Buddhism in India.  Of course, after that it’s time for lunch at the Waves Grill on the pool deck.

The only other activity of the day is turning the clocks back 30 minutes as we move into the Myanmar and Indian subcontinent time zones.  We will be docking about one hour south of Yangon at 11am tomorrow and our departure on Tuesday has been moved up to noon from 4pm because of the vagaries of time and tides.

So I look forward to another good night's sleep and the start of our three-day visit to Myanmar. 

Sun 3 April 2016
Yangon, Myanmar

By 9am we are steaming up the Yangon River, a branch of the Irrawaddy (I love that name), toward port.  From my veranda I watch dozens of small fishing boats trawling the muddy waters. 

 

Today’s eight-hour shore excursion, “The Golden Glories of Yangon," departs almost immediately after docking, for the scheduled hour drive into the city.  But today is the Sunday before the Buddhist New Year and the streets are clogged with shoppers preparing for the holiday.  Traffic in Yangon used to be tolerable, we are told, but in 2008 the military government loosened the import rules for automobiles and the country was flooded with used cars from Japan.  Unfortunately, neither the roads nor the traffic regulations were prepared for the onslaught of traffic. So the drive takes over two hours instead of the scheduled one.

We are all a little frustrated by the time wasted (at least the bus is air-conditioned and more comfortable than the one in Phuket) before arriving at our first stop:  the temple of the reclining Buddha, a highly venerated relic that was restored only recently.  Unlike in Japan and China, where visitors must remove shoes before entering a temple, in Myanmar we must remove shoes and socks when entering.  I bring along my tube of lidocaine to apply to my toes several times during the day, and we are all given sanitary wipes for cleaning our feet before putting shoes and socks back on.  Fortunately the marble floors at this temple are smooth and cool (I won't be so lucky in Bagan).  

After admiring the enormous Buddha's comfortable reclining position, we have a brief visit to the National Museum, where we can keep our shoes on.  The museum is not very well organized or annotated and is rather sparse on things to see, but we have a brief look at the Royal Lion Throne (one of several animal-themed thrones used on different occasions by Burmese kings), and other elements of royal regalia (swords, urns, etc.).  There is also an interesting exhibit comparing the various forms of Burmese language and script developed over the last few centuries, but the guides rushes us through after seeing what he things are the "best" things.  No cameras are allowed, although we can use iphones and ipads for picture-taking.  But I can't upload them to the blog at this time.

By now it is 2pm and we are ready for lunch.  Luckily, we are treated to a wonderful meal at the Shangri--La Hotel.  Rather than another buffet, we are served family style at round tables.  The offerings include well-prepared and tasty dishes, from shrimp to chicken to beef, with lots of fresh vegetables--all examples of local Yangon cuisine, flavorful but not spicy.  For dessert we are served the ubiquitous but tasty fresh watermelon.   

 

After lunch we walk across the street to Scott’s Market, named for one of the British governors from 19th-century colonial times. This rather up-scale market sells jewelry, fabrics, and dry goods rather than the usual meats and vegetables we've seen at other markets; more like a mall than a market, in fact.  There are literally hundreds of small stores and booths, but after a while all the goods start to look very similar.  At least we are out of the sun for another while.

 

 


The afternoon traffic has eased as we drive through the old colonial center of the city.  The government has finally agreed to landmark a series of 28 British buildings--mostly large, multi-storied offices--as heritage graded structures.  But a number had already been sold to government cronies for private use and conversion to hotels and condos.

At the end of the driving tour we make a brief stop to see the Royal Barge, an impressively-decorated concrete boat that sits permanently in a small lake.  Even better than the barge is the local Hindu celebration procession that is beginning to gather at the site.  We are treated to residents dressed in colorful regalia leading their oxen and carts through the streets to the sound of very loud recorded music and the wafting aroma of incense.  Myanmar is, in fact, the most consistently Buddhist country in the world, with about 98% of the population adhering to one of the two main Buddhist philosophies.  So it is somewhat surprising to be greeted by this small Hindu group.  At least it shows that religious toleration is the byword here (unlike in some other countries I will be visiting).

The final sight of the day is the highlight of any visit to Yangon, and one of the wonders of the "modern" world:  the Schwaedagon Pagoda, a truly stupendous complex originally built to house four hairs of the fourth (and last) ancient Buddha.  But that deserves an entry all it's own, so I will save it for tomorrow's blog.