Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Thiripyitsaya Resort Hotel, Bagan
Ming a la bar, (Burmese greeting.)
Balloons over Bagan provided us with a special sunrise experience over the temple area. It was well worth getting up at 4:30am. Fourteen of us ended up in a 16-person basket and we all have good visibility. It was so nice to float quietly over the scenery. There were dozens of temples to be seen in all directions. The three other balloons in the air with us added to the photogenic prospects.
Back on the ground and fueled with champagne, we were “treated” to another day full of temples. I almost hate to describe the day as I think you will be getting tired of hearing about temples even more than I am of visiting them. However, I want to keep them as separate as I can for memory’s sake so here goes.
Bagan is more than one large area. It is divided into the architectural district, Old Bagan, New Bagan and a couple other small villages. Most of the temples are in the first two areas and New Bagan is the residential, restaurant and shopping district. We seem to move back and forth in all the areas to see things in the order Ken and Davies have planned.
We started at the Ananda Temple for early morning shots of this beautiful structure. Then we went a mile or so to a tiny temple by the roadside that had elephant and monkey sculptures set into exterior niches. It was quite different than any other temple we have seen. I went around the side to get a look into the interior and got stung by not one, but two wasps. The pain was intense for several minutes after which I was OK except for a bit of soreness. A little ice from the cooler chest ended that too, thankfully.
Next stop was a small temple called Gubyaukgyi near the village of Myin Ka Par. The temple is known for its well-preserved and richly colored tantric paintings that date from the time the building was constructed in 1113. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos of the interior. Ken told us about the Indian artists, hired for their artistic skill, who painted frescos from their own Hindu religion rather than sticking to Buddhist art. Apparently the king of that time was more interested in good art than in the religious symbolism. Many of the faces had long noses and big smiles and looked like caricatures to me. A few frescoes were sexual and one even showed two naked bodies—with the sexual parts later painted over, ala the Sistine Chapel.
In the village, we stopped at Maung Aung Myin, art gallery and lacquer ware factory. We saw several people etching intricate designs on large black lacquered panels. Later color is applied, one color at a time—ochre red, avocado green and mustard yellow—and allowed to harden for several days before the second color is applied. After all the colors are fixed, a clear coat is applied to finish the piece. The number of coats of lacquer also increases the value of the piece. We saw exquisitely made pieces of furniture and chinaware with up to 14 layers of lacquer.
The large chest I really admired took 14 months to make, with the etching taking the most time. Even the sides of the drawers were etched. The piece was already sold for $7,500. Good thing as I might have tried to buy it. Actually, the colors are all wrong for our home. I bought a bowl in dark red and black that will be useful, I think. Will fill it full of some food and take it to dinner parties.
Our lunch stop was at a place called Amata that included several upscale shops in a garden setting. After a lot of negotiating I purchased a pair of flexible lacquer cups that are black on the inside and gold leaf on the outside. Mark bought a small, well-crafted rosewood box. Lunch was western style, which, I have concluded after a few such meals, the Burmese do not do well.
Back at the hotel by 2pm, we were given three hours of free time. I wrote and Mark got a full massage for $23, which he really liked. Then we went swimming in the too warm pool. Five pm came too soon. Off again for the evening, we made photo stops at two temples that are important, that we had already seen and that one of us could remember. No surprise. The two were worth revisiting, especially in the late afternoon sun. The first was Dhammayanghi, which was completed in 1181, has a rounded top and is the most massive of all the Bagan temples, requiring 4 million bricks. It is believed that the temple took only three years and two months to build as the king conscripted thousands of laborers. The calculations are based on information written on excavated stone tablets found near the temple that tell the amount of rice consumed during construction years.
The second was Sulamani, which means “Queen’s Jewel”. It is perfectly proportioned and very pretty. Completed in 1183 and situated very close to Dhammayanghi, they must have been under construction at the same time, yet they are quite different in style. The one being massive and rounded and the other being delicate and vertical. I appreciated seeing then in sequence.
From there we drove to another shop that had lots of antiques and junk. Hard to tell which was which. None of us bought anything, although a supposedly 150-year-old finely etched and lacquered beetle nut box tempted me.
We had a good Burmese dinner, with a very wonderful hot and spicy soup that Mark and I loved and many in the group could not eat. The restaurant was in a Marionette theater with the show in progress when we arrived. Having seen such shows before in Vietnam, Cambodia, and China, we had a hard time staying interested. The best part of the show was when the curtains were up and we could watch the puppeteers maneuvering the various marionettes. Luckily for us, the show ended just as we finished eating and we were back at the hotel before 8pm.
I spent some time in the lobby trying to upload photos into the blog and finally, in much frustration, I gave up and sent the post sans pictures. Very sorry.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Bus ride from Pagan to Mt Popa and back.
This is perfect for me as I can see the scenery and type too. We started the day at 7:30am and drove for two hours to a village named Chauk, where there is a perfect photographic market. Confined to narrow alleyways, everything is condensed and the protected from the sun. All the vendors and their children were willing to smile and pose for us, their produce looked fresh and plentiful and there were few flies bothering the meat and fish sellers. We all went crazy taking pictures and showing them to the people in the image.
The roads we are traveling are mostly paved and tree lined. We pass lots of scooters, some cars, many truck hauling merchandise and truck busses, the mode of transportation for most of the locals. The fields are all green with crops of corn, peppers, butter beans, squash, peanuts, eggplant, and other vegetables. There are orchards of mango and banana trees and trellis’s heavy with Dragon fruit. We pass villages frequently. Often we see public school children in their uniforms of white shirts and green longhis. They are more self conscious about having their photos taken that little children and adults. In one village we stop at a local teahouse where Davies treats us to milk tea, green tea or coffee. I tried the milk tea, but did not like it. It tasted mostly like warm condensed milk.
Every now and then there is a worthwhile photo op and the driver obliges us with a stop. At one point we cross a vary wide waddy, or dry watercourse, that would be impossible to cross during the monsoon season. At another point come across a flooded field full of tall palm trees. All of this central part of the country is a large sandy plain with flat to gentle undulating hills. As we get closer to Mt Popa the grade increases and we climb into mountains covered in dense forests until we arrive in Popa Mountain Park. There is a lovely restaurant built on wooden platforms that protruded out from the hillside and into the forest canopy. An extended platform provided great views of the volcanic Mt Popa (4981 feet) in the distance and its temple crowned cinder cone (2417 feet) on the other side of the canyon. We had another very nice Burmese meal; similar to the others we have had, but outdoors. The elevation was high enough for the air to be pleasant. Once fortified, we drove back down the mountain and to the base of the shorter Mt Popa where there is a tourist village that caters mostly to Burmese travelers who have come to pay their respects to the 37 Nats that reside on the mountain.
According to Ken, many people, although Buddhist, still believe in Nats, who were once living people who were charismatic, but in one way or another came to a tragic end. There were hundreds of them in centuries passed, but they began to get in the way of King Anawratha, who founded the Bagan Dynasty (1044-1287). As a compromise to his subjects he selected the 37 most popular Nats for the people to revere, similar to Christian saints, and did away with the rest. He then restricted Nat worship to Mt Popa at the edge of his kingdom and away from his palace territory. We went into a room where there are statues of all 37 with their respective clothing and trappings that make them readily identifiable to Nat worshipers. Apparently each Nat comes from a specific area of the country and appeals to the people from that district. Some people are purely Nat worshipers, but most are Buddhists who want to cover all the bases. As Ken explained it, Buddha is in the distance, while Nats are personal and close at hand when you need them to help you with a current problem. Most people are afraid the Nats will bring ill fate to them if they do not worship them on a daily basis. Therefore, people change the offerings daily including flowers, meat and alcohol, while Buddha, who is not feared at all, gets only fresh flowers, rice and water.
After seeing the Nats, most of the group hiked up the hundreds of covered steps to the top of the cinder cone. The entire place was filthy from the overuse of people and an infestation of monkeys, who defecate on the steps and grab hold of people to try to get food. In an attempt to keep them from tourists, several boys use slingshots to make the monkeys move away. While walking up the stairs, there were monkeys grabbing on teenagers in front of and behind me. Slingshots were fired left and right. Resolute, I just keep walking and hoping I would be left alone. It worked, but the racket was nerve rattling. Halfway up the hill, we were required to remove our shoes. Ugh!! The good news was that the monkeys were behind us. I made it to the top huffing and puffing. After catching my breath, I saw a few small shrines erected higgledy-piggledy in the small space. Everything looked and smelled filthy. The place was totally unappealing. The Nats can have it. After about 10 minutes, we headed down and got back to the bottom in short order. Sure won’t do that again and would not recommend it. Back on the bus, I used a large wet-wipe for each foot and one for my hands.
The ride back to our Bagan resort was pleasant and uneventful. Mark hurried to his second massage, as he liked the one yesterday so much, while I went swimming.
Later….. the hotel provided dinner for our group in a private area of the gardens. For once we had a very nice western meal for our last night in Pagan. Tomorrow is another early morning departure to our next destination. Sure hope we can get Wi Fi there…wherever there is.
Sweet dreams, Julia
Adventures with Julia 