Prologue.
I had wasted 10 days of vacation and
holidays during Christmas 2017 and New Year 2018 by hanging around in Singapore
when I could have visited Myanmar instead. I wanted to avoid the tourists. Just
as the new year started, it was time for the Chinese Lunar New Year. I became
restless with wanderlust. Wondering if it might make sense, I wrote a very
short email to Fiona @ Pro Niti asking if it was worth the effort to visit for
5 days. She was my travel consultant during my previous visit in May 2017 and
she remembered the activities that I like. Within a day she responded with not
just one but three itineraries to visit three completely different parts of her
country. She had prepared the itinerary according to my likes and showcasing
the beauty, the culture and the traditions of Myanmar.
Option 1 was Mrauk-U in Rakhine state, the
former capital of the last Arakan Kingdom. With a small protest between some
Buddhist Monks and local authorities having gone bad, we kept our options open.
Fiona kept an eye on the situation and suggested that I pay an advance based only
on the cheapest itinerary which was Option 2 and a backup itinerary.
Obtaining an e-Visa through the Myanmar
Government’s website took less than 1 business day. And SQ had flights operated
by MI at the most convenient times in both directions. Everything was ready a
month before the Chinese Lunar New Year.
15 Feb 2018 – Day 1: Yangon and a dinner.
A week ago, Fiona confirmed that the Mrauk-U
itinerary was a go. I reached Changi Airport with more than enough time on my
hands. First on the list to do was souvenir shopping and looking for new books
to read. A couple of pints of beer and a “Champion Breakfast” for lunch later
at Harry’s pub, I walked over to the gate.
The MI flight was a little disappointing
this time with the in-flight F&B service. I managed to take a nap and watch
a quarter of Assassin’s Creed by the time the pilot announced that we were
approaching Yangon. Walking from the aircraft, through Immigration, collecting
my teeny-weeny stroller and clearing customs took not more than 15 minutes!
The first surprise was seeing Mr Ko waiting
for me. He was the one who chauffeured me around Yangon last year. While I
requested Fiona to check if Mr Tun Tun Naing would be available to guide me in
Yangon, I had forgotten to request for Mr Ko as well. Fiona being Fiona, had
taken care of this as well.
My initial plan was to visit Shwe Dagon
Pagoda at sunset but decided to skip it. Mr Ko drove me to the hotel – Merchant
Boutique Hotel – which is a stone’s throw away from the Pagoda. Check-in was
swift and smooth.
Fiona was waiting for me with all the
necessary documents including travel and hotel vouchers, and a local SIM card.
And a surprise – a gift of a local t-shirt and a lungyyi. Well……..
After a detailed briefing in her usual
formal, brisk and efficient style, she took me up on my offer to buy dinner.
“House of Memories” it is called these days. But, once a upon a time it used to
be the office of Byogoke Aung Sun. His office is still preserved along with his
desk and the office equipment that he used. Around the walls and inside the
office, hung photos of free and independent India’s first Prime Minister, Mr
Jawaharlal Nehru, many with Byogoke himself.
The F&B menu was in the style of a
newspaper with the first two pages telling the history of the building. While
Fiona was busy discussing with the waiter and trying to decide on what local
food to order, I decided to read some history - many a secret meeting had taken
place in this house about Myanmar and India’s independence from British rule; Netaji
Subash Chandra Bose was kept hidden in this house for a few days for his
meetings with Byogoke.
Dinner was <xxxxxxx> cooked in the
<xxxxxxx> way along with a couple of glasses of Myanmar Red Wine. They
make some really good wine in Myanmar! Another surprise for me.
Upon returning to the hotel after dinner, I
parked myself at the rooftop beer garden which had an unhindered view of Shwe
Dagon. This was the main reason I had requested for this particular hotel –
Merchant Boutique Hotel. I had a couple of pints of Mynmar Beer while I set up
my tripod and camera and took some photographs of Shwe Dagon Pagoda in the
night from a distance.
16 Feb 2018 – Day 2: Shwe Dagon Pagoda, Sittwe and sailing on the Kalan River.
I woke up earlier than planned, at about
3:45 AM, and decided to make use of the extra time. The excitement of visiting
the majestic, 2,605-year old Shwe Dagon Pagoda for a second time, that too at
sunrise, could not keep me in bed. A cup of coffee and after a seven-minute
walk through a couple of back alleys I arrived at the Eastern gate of Shwe Dagon
Pagoda where I was greeted with enthusiastic “Mingalabar” from the locals and
the usual question if I am from India (Indu). The security folks and the temple
officials at the visitor’s ticket counter were friendly as usual, and by 4:45
AM I had set foot on the sacred platform around the Pagoda.
Without any tourists and only the serious
devotees, the place was quiet, calm and serene. Walking past the Southern and
Western gates, I settled down at one of my favourite spots - at the North-West
corner, near the Wishing Well where there were a number of devotees praying and
meditating.
After absorbing the atmosphere and having
taken a few photographs, I walked over to the North-East corner to wait for the
Sun to rise and light up the Pagoda with the first ray of the day. There were a
number of Bikhu and Bikhuni on the temples surrounding the pagoda chanting
their mantras in Pali. A special treat indeed.
By the time the Sun came up over the
distant horizon, the platform had turned into a beehive of activity with more
devotees having flocked in for morning prayers. For a while I kept shuttling
between the North-West corner and the North-East corner trying to capture the
Pagoda in its magnificient glory at sunrise.
After eating breakfast at the hotel, I left
for the airport to take a domestic flight to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine
state. The domestic terminal was quite awe inspiring with a really fast
internet connectivity. One of the eateries had some really bing, mouth-watering
puffs that were fried to just the right golden colour. Salivating just by
looking at them, I settled for their signature coffee instead while I waited
for my flight to be announced. The flight, an ATR operated by Air KBZ, was
delayed by 20 minutes, and had a short stop-over at Thandwe, a sea-side town.
On landing at Sittwe, I was met by Mr Tun
Nay Win, my local guide. Mr Tun turned out to be quite an interesting person as
I got to know him during the next two days. We took a boat from Sittwe and
sailed north on the Kaladan river up to the town of Ponnagyun. The bright and
hot afternoon Sun did not help, and with nothing much on either side of the
river except barren lands, temporary fishing villages and fishing boats, I took
a short nap. The first bottle of Myanmar beer was taking its toll. Just as we
neared Ponnagyun we got to see the Sun set behind a small Pagoda near
Uritetaung Pagoda, both of which are located on a hill near the town. At
Ponnagyun, we crossed the Kaladan river as we turned North-East to sail up one
of the tributaries to Mrauk-U. We sailed in darkness, navigating the twists,
turns and exits, between fishing nets and boats, without any light except those
from the distant stars. I cannot fail but to admire the navigation skills of
these Rakhine boatmen. The sky was black, with a gorgeous view of the stars and
to some extent, the Milky Way, our home galaxy. The Three Wise Men shone in
full glory all throughout.
The hotel, a resort located on the
outskirts of the town of Mrauk-U, had a jetty of its own and we berthed there
after sailing a distance of almost 67 kms that took 5 hours and 17 minutes.
17 Feb 2018 – Day 3: Mrauk-U.
Mrauk-U was the capital of the fourth
period of the Arakan Kingdom until 1784-5 when it was conquered by the Burmese
empire, leaving Mrauk-U completely devastated during the invasion. The kingdom
then became a part of the Burmese kingdom. When the palace was burnt by the
conquering army, the metal was taken to Mandalay, the then capital of Burma,
where it was melted to make a bell that still stands in Mandalay. The
architects and other Arakan scholars were also relocated to Mandalay at the
same time along with a considerable portion of the people from the Arakanese
population.
Today, the two (inner and outer) ancient walls
of the city and the palace exist in a crumbled state with most of the city
walls overgrown with vegetation. Around the city wall are stupas built by the
kings on high points (hillocks) that overlook both into the city and outside.
Travelling on a tar road that needs to be
repaired, our first stop was at Mong Khong Shwe Du Pagoda, followed by Peisi
Taung. While the former, a stupa, is still more or less intact, the later, a
temple, is in ruins. Both Pagodas have images of the Buddha from the days of
the Arakan kingdom.
After spending time at both the Pagodas, we
visited the Kho Thaung temple (“Temple of 90,000”). From a distance, this
temple resembles the temple at Borobodur though is shorter in height with about
4 levels. The temple is mostly in ruins, though a lot of the images of the
Buddha are still in good condition. The stupa at the centre is intact with a
shed built to cover the main image of the Buddha beside the stupa.
We took a short detour to view the moat, a
part of the ancient city wall and gate from a hillock with a stupa, followed by
a visit to Para Oak village and Alay Zee village where we watched a local lady
make hand fans with bamboo by hand in the traditional way. We then took a walk
on the ancient city wall to get a sight of the city inside the inner wall through
the city gate.
By then it was time for lunch. A hearty
local meal of fish cake, chicken and greens with rice was what we had at the
main town market in Mrauk-U city center with the locals.
After lunch, it was time to visit some of
the more famous temples of Mrauk-U, the Shai-Thuang (or Shite Thuang, “Temple
of 80,000”, “Temple of Victory”) and Htukkant Thein Temple. Next to the
Shai-Thuang temple are two more pagodas – Andaw Thein Temple and Yadanabon
Pagoda – spending some time at the former.
Last stop for the afternoon was the Lay
Myet Hna Temple which is just a stone’s throw from the Htukkant Thein Temple.
And while we waited for the Sun to set, we
took a break to drink some Myanmar Beer with local snacks. The view from Ratana
Sanrie hill was stunning, but the sunset flattered only to deceive with low
clouds blocking the best part of the sunset.
18 Feb 2018 – Day 4: Visiting the Chin villages
The day started with a sunrise over a
landscape covered in fog and mist. I stood freezing my bare feet on the stone
floor at the entrance to a stupa on a small hillock near the center of the
town, overlooking what might have been the old city of Mrauk-U, the capital of
the Mrauk-U kingdom for 355 years in the not too distant past, and further
away, the remains of the ancient city walls. Behind me, inside the temple, was
the Buddha, ever serene and smiling.
We proceeded to the local market which had
already started to bustle with activity. The flower women had set up stalls on
the main street. We settled down at a local tea shop where I had a double
breakfast of local food – <xxxxxxx>, palatar and thin rice noodles in a
soup.
At 9:00 AM, we drove to Lay Myo river jetty
from where we took a boat to visit a couple of Chin village. The view was
scenic on both sides and as the river wound its way among the mountain ranges,
we watched bamboos being floated down river, children playing with boats or
collecting pebbles near the banks. At the first Chin village, I met 4 of the elderly
Chin ladies who in their youth had tattooed their faces in the Chin tradition.
We spent some time walking around the village and visiting the primary school
where we saw a few children attending Sunday classes with their teacher. We
stopped to chat with these elderly ladies who were more than happy and excited
to wear their large earrings and demanded that I take their pictures. After a
short break to drink coconut water from some really big coconuts and taking
photos of the Chin children, we proceeded further up river to another Chin village.
Each of these Chin villages have a population of approximately 300 people whose
sustenance is mostly cultivation.
After walking around the second Chin
village, we decided to quench our thirst with some local beer before taking the
boat back to Lay Myo river jetty and to the hotel.
By the time we reached Lay Myo jetty it was
late afternoon. I decided to skip the sunset and instead Mr Tun and I went to
meet a friend of his and partake of the local rice alcohol with some spicy
Rakhine food in a small shop beside the canal at the local market. Since we had
not had a chance to eat lunch, the food helped. With the local food and the
rice alcohol flowing, we had long and interesting discussions covering the
history of Rakhine, her people, local topics and issues. We kept eating beef
curry, fish, fish cakes, etc., finally adding rice towards the end to call
it. It was late in the night before we
decide to call it a day.
19 Feb 2018 – Day 5: Mrauk-U-Sittwe-Yangon.
We left the hotel by the same boat to
return to Sittwe. Unfortunately, the tide was coming-in and sailing was slow down
river, taking almost 5 hours to reach the jetty in Sittwe. After a hurried stop
at the local branch of a bank to change some money, we rushed to the airport
bypassing the Old Sittwe jetty.
Mr Tun Nay checked me in and then helped me
clear immigration and custom. Interestingly, they have both even for domestic
travel. After saying good bye, Mr Tun headed to the city to look for a bus to
Mrauk-U while I went back inside the airport and into the departure hall to
wait for my flight. An ATR operated by Air KBZ brought me back to Yangon in
time to visit the Shwe Dagon Pagoda again, this time during sunset.
Sunset is probably the worst time to visit
as I found out. The platform around the Pagoda was packed with devotees. But
probably matching them in numbers were tourists from the west, gawking at and
admiring the magnificience of the place, the devotees and the Therawada
Buddhist way of life and worship. I spent just the amount of time that I
required to get the 3-4 specific frames that I wanted and rushed out.
Mr Ko was waiting outside to take me to
Sule Shangrila where I was to spend the night. Check-in was swift and smooth
once again, and in about 15 minutes, I was back on the Sule Pagoda Road to
visit Sule Pagoda on foot.
During my last visit to Yangon in May 2017,
my guide in Yangon, Mr Tun had shown me a Chetty restaurant next to Sule Pagoda,
and this time I decided to eat my dinner there; Palatar (Pratha) and Naan with
two helpings of Mutton curry at the Chetty restaurant run by 3rd
generation Tamils.
After dinner, I walked around Sule Pagoda
and it’s neighbourhood before proceeding to the nearby pedestrian over bridge
that is strategically located with a view of both Sule Pagoda and Little India.
As I headed back to the hotel, I decided to
look at the cinema theatre next door. Last year it was Bahubali 2, this year it
was the controversial (and banned in some countries as it might hurt the
religious sentiments of the people of that country; WTF!!) Padmavaat. Yes,
Indian, especially Bollywood, movies are a big hit in Myanmar.
It was time for a night cap and I headed to
the Gallery Bar of the Sule Shangri-La for some “Myanmar Beer” before calling
it a day, evening and night.
20 Feb 2018 – Day 6: Dala and Twantay.
My last day of the trip began with a
sumptuous breakfast at the Café Sule, a breakfast buffet that covered Chinese,
Japanese, Indian and Western cuisines. Teriyaki pork, dimsums, onion vada with
mutton curry, sausages (pork and chicken), bacon and eggs was food for the soul
to start a day.
After a big breakfast at Café Sule – the
Sule Shangrila has a big spread Japanese, Chinese and Indian cuisines, in
addition to Burmese. And they also keep Halal meat. Breakfast was Teriyaki
pork, onion vada with mutton curry for a change, pig and chicken that had been
turned into sausages by some curse (or blessing), bacon and eggs, I left with
Mr Tun and Mr Ko to wander and wonder at a different part of Yangon and
Myanmar.
First stop was the jetty to take the ferry
across Yangon River to the village of Dala. Three big ferries donated by Japan
ferry passengers across river. Once across at Dala, we took a trishaw. Trishaws
in this part of the word are different – A cycle fitted with a side passenger
car. Something like those WWII motorcycles with a side car.
For the next hour and half, I was treated
to the sights and sounds of Dala. The villagers are dependent on rain water
harvesting in the traditional way for their daily water requirements. 7-9 ponds
spread around the village takes care of the requirements. Water from ponds
covered with Lotus leaves and flowers are used for drinking, while the other
ponds provide water for all other human needs.
I had the option to visit the local market,
but seeing the crowd, I decided to give it a pass. Not much different from ones
we still have in many cities and towns in India even now.
The highlight of the tour was when we by
chance ran into the Abbott of one of the monasteries, and he decided to have a
conversation with me. Mr Tun had to become the interpreter yet again while the
Abbott took us around the monastery. The devotion that people have towards the
Monks and Abbotts in Myanmar left me flabbergasted. Yet the Monks and Abbotts
lead the life of a Bikhu.
While we took the ferry to cross the river,
and were wandering in Dala, Mr Ko drove up river to cross the bridge across the
Yangon river and reach Dala. We met up at the clock tower and proceeded to
Twantay town a 45 minute drive.
Having missed the turn to Snake Pagoda, we
went around the town to head back to the Pagoda. Nightmare time when I found
out what the Pagoda was about, which was at the door. Live pythons sleeping
inside and around the structure. Not me in there, turn around and run!
We stopped to take a photo of a stupa built
to house the remains of some monk from the past, and then went back to Twantay
to visit the Shwe San Daw Pagoda. Almost a replica of Shwe Dagon Pagoda, it is
about 70 feet or so shorter. Around the Pagoda on the platform are wooden
houses built in the Mon style. And like Shwe Dagon, Shwe San Daw also has four
entrances from the four cardinal directions. It was here that Mr Tun told me
something of significance – why Buddhists in Myanmar enter from the East and go
around the platform in a clockwise direction.
We then proceeded to visit a small, local
pottery where the owner gave us a tour of his factory where he makes water
filters from clay by hand in the traditional way. No thermometers to measure
the temperature inside the kilns, but a small, tiny thing that he buys from
Singapore to measure the heat and temperature inside the kiln manually.
As we headed to Yangon International
airport, we had a lunch of local food at a roadside tea house. A meal that
consisted of water crests with mushrooms, an omelette, minced mutton in a spicy
sauce flavoured with tomato and of course, rice, a meal that Mr Tun, Mr Ko and
I shared.
“Anitya”, said the Buddha Gautama. My
wanderlust was not permanent this time either. It was time to go home.
Enlightened a little more in some way about the people of Myanmar, their
culture, their traditions, their history. And of the Arakanese people of
today’s Rakhine.
My itinerary.
Epilogue.
At the departure gate in Yangon
International Airport, while I waited for boarding to be announced, I found one
of those never ending, winding, meaningless, senseless Indian soap opera being
telecast by a local channel on the wall TV. That too in Hindi with subtitles in
Burmese. These meaningless, winding, never ending, Indian TV soap operas seem
to be a big hit in East Asia from China, through Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam,
Cambodia, all the way down to Malaysia. Does not matter even if it is still in
Hindi.
