Myanmar (Birmania in Spanish)

Library Art on our ship 

A Very Authentic And Unique Place

Shwe Dagon Pagoda

My aunt works with a lady from Myanmar and she very kindly put me in touch with her relatives in Yangon, where we arrived at on February 24^th. We had booked a tour with a travel agency called Pro Niti (highly recommended!) and they picked us up at the port. Even after waiting for us for more than an hour they were very gentle to us. The ship docked one hour away from the city and on our way to their office in Yangon everything was more like the countryside and little pagodas would pop up every now and then. When we got to the office we talked to the manager, Min, and the other people working there for a long time, they offered us water and coffee and gave us the itinerary for our tour. Since the day we wanted to do the Hot Air Balloon ride had no availability, they helped us change our flights Bagan-Yangon so we could stay one more night at Bagan to do the ballooning. I needed to talk to my friend from Yangon but I did not know how, so Min let me borrow his phone to call her and he also talked to her and gave her directions to get to their office. Min offered us the van that picked us up at the port, to use it for the whole day to visit around the city. When our friend, Tin, got to the office, she and the van driver took us to the Shwe Dagon Pagoda.

Jessica poruing water in the corner of the day she was born

From the parking lot I was wondering where the pagoda was, because I could not see it. All that was there was a park and a fountain. We took our shoes off and went inside. There were escalators to go all the way to the top. Up where the Pagoda is, it was very crowded, with a lot of locals and tourists. It seemed like a small city; it was very big. It took us more than an hour to go around the main pagoda glancing at everything that surrounds it. Tin introduced us to two of her friends and they all explained to us about their religion, Buddhism, and what locals were doing there. For example, there are corners for every day of the week and we are supposed to go to the day we were born on and pour some water –we did not even know our days but all locals know theirs.

It was my brother's B-Day

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda is also called The Golden Pagoda and is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas: Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa, and Gautama. Its design includes a diamond bud, umbrella crown, banana bud, lotus petals, and much more.

Learning how to wear a Longyi

Shew Dagon at night

Tin, Pwint, and Quin took us to a restaurant called Free Yangon and we ordered several different dishes to try them all, and all were very good, although very hot (spicy). They also helped us change currency. $1USD=500Kyats. We had a great dinner with them, and we could notice the incredible hospitality of Burmese people. We had known each other for less than a day, and they treated us like siblings. It was simply great. Finally, we thank them for everything and left with the driver to go to the bus terminal. Then we took the overnight bus to Mandalay. It was a fancy bus, with only three seats per row, very comfortable. Each seat had a TV with headphones and a blanket. They also gave us snacks, water, disposable toothbrush and toothpaste. It was a little bit cold, but I slept almost the whole time.

Bus Ride

We arrived at 6:30am to Mandalay, and I woke up because we stopped and immediately there was a lot of noise coming from outside of the bus. Taxi drivers were waiting to get passengers, but that was not our stop, and we did not know but the lady that works at the bus helped us. On our stop there was again a van waiting for us, with our awesome tour guide Yoyo and the driver Mister Win.

Ringing the bells

Yoyo making tenak

The tour started right away. First we went to the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda. Jerry (the only male from our group) was the only one that was able to get close to the golden Buddha. There, men put gold leaf on the Buddha as an offer, sometimes for special occasions, and this happens a couple of times a year, depending how many gold leaves the person can afford. We also got to ring some big bells as locals do: one ring for the family, two for the friends, and three for everyone. As in all religious spaces, we were barefoot.

Monks lining up for lunch

Then we went to the Maha Gandayon Monastery, in Amarapura. This monastery is famous for strict training of Buddhist Texts and guiding Buddhist Meditation practices. We got there just in time to see all the monks lining up to have lunch at 10:15am. This is their second and last meal of the day. They cannot eat anything between noon and midnight. There were novices of all ages, starting from 4 years of age. Some were wearing white, this meant they were pre-novices. We got to watch over 1,500 monks and it was fascinating. The monks are extremely humble, and the monastery is as well. The problem with this place is that there are way too many tourists, and all have cameras and are intruding the monks’ space. Even though monks seemed to be used to tourists and not paying much attention to us, I do not think this is fair for them.

Tourists in Amarapura's Monastery

Yoyo was telling us that he was a pre-novice when he was very young. His grandparents had told his parents they wanted to see him as a monk, so they sent him to the monastery, but he did not last long, and it is not mandatory to stay for a certain period of time. When Yoyo was a teenager he decided to go to the monastery one year for his father and one for his mother.

It was totally worth it having a local tour guide for the trip, specially such a knowledgeable and humble man as Yoyo. We had the opportunity to learn from all we were seeing, listening, tasting, and experiencing.

U-Bein Bridge. Longest wooden bridge.

Then we went to the U-Bein Bridge, the largest wooden bridge in the world. It was very interesting to see all the young girls selling souvenirs, mostly jade elephants bracelets and collards. The first question they asked was what country we came from, and when I said Colombia they started speaking in Spanish. They spoke three or four languages, and they have learned them by talking to tourists –not in school. Afterwards, we stopped at a hand-weaving factory where young girls make beautiful longji (longs skirts) for different occasions, such as casual or for weddings. Next we ate lunch at MinGaLaBar. We had a lot of steamed rice, which they always had in a big ceramic pot and were constantly serving us more when we needed, with shrimps, fish, and chicken curries; and peanuts and dried fruits for dessert. Meals usually consisted on one big plate per person and about ten more small plates on the table. *Mingalaba is how they greet in Burmese. It can be used as hello, but the common literal translation is “it is a blessing.”

Gold leaf making. Beating.

In the afternoon we went to see gold leaf making. It is a very impressive process. From solid gold they make a gold ribbon, then they increase the size by beating the piece for 30 minutes (first time beating work), women cut the piece into six smaller pieces, young men increase the size by beating this piece for 30 minutes (second time beating work), and then increase the size by beating it for 5 hours. It is a long and exhausting process to get thin gold leaves. The beating is almost harmoniously. Women sit on the floor cutting the pieces, and are very fast and skillful.

Biggest book with Yoyo

Next we went to Shwe Nan Daw, or Golden Palace Monastery. Then we went to Kuthodaw, known as the biggest book in the world, and finally we went to Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset. There were several monks at the top, and we talked to some of them. All the monks were very friendly and some spoke good English. One of them was telling us that he was studying because he has an English test coming up, and that he wants to teach theology in the future.

Monastery

Kuthoda

Public Buses

Lunch

The next morning Yoyo and Mister Win picked us up early in the morning. We started our road trip to Bagan. Outside of Mandalay we drove past a lot of villages, but then the road turned into almost a desert. There were very few people, and it was a very dry area. It was very interesting to see all the public buses, which are little trucks that fit as many people as possible, probably around 15 and all carrying bags. There were also some cows crossing the streets, and a couple of very rustic tolls. After more than 3 hours we stopped in the middle of nowhere at a restaurant Yoyo said and we ordered hot milk tea. We all agreed it was the best tea we had had so far (better than any tea in Japan or China). Close to Bagan we visited Kyaukkuumn pagoda, one that is inside a cave. And when we finally got to Bagan at 3pm, we ate lunch. It is very nice to be in a country where there is no Mc Donalds, or chain restaurants. We never had to ask for traditional dishes because all is local and traditional! That was perfect. I liked the food a lot, but it is very different from what I am used to. Not surprisingly, two of us were getting sick.

With tenaka

Shwe Zigon 

At Bagan we started visiting Shwe Zigon Pagoda, similar to the Shwe Dagon in Yangoon. Since we had to take our shoes off every time we entered a pagoda, our feet and socks were extremely dirty. Jerry forgot his shoes at a shoe rack here (but later on we went back to pick them up). We put on some Tenaka on our cheeks. It was very refreshing –Burmese people use it everyday to protect their skin from the sun. Then we headed to a pagoda to watch the sunset. In Old Bagan we drove by the Sunrise/Sunset pagoda but it was too crowded, so we went to a smaller one next to it. We could see the sun as a big orange/red circle until it hid behind the horizon. The sunset is beautiful in any city in Myanmar, although some times it hides a little above the mountains, behind the clouds. Not all the pagodas can be climbed, but once up there, the view is the same 360º degrees: pagodas, sand, trees everywhere. It is absolutely breathtaking and different from any other place and any other landscape on Earth. 

Great sunset, breathtaking view, and beautiful people

Climbing Pagodas

The vendors also gave the pagodas a sense of the local culture and are fun to interact with. We stayed up there for a while, enjoying the amazing scenery. We went for dinner to a restaurant two minutes away from the hotel and met a lot of SASers there. Food was very cheap. A good meal was about 4-5USD. Fresh squeezed juices for one or two dollars (and shoots about 20 cents).

The next day we went to the Nyaung-u market. There are tents everywhere and locals are selling fruits, vegetables, clothes (longji), souvenirs, and much more. Here, vendors are very pushy, they really want to sell their stuff. They speak little English and are very persuasive. Then we went to Gawdaw pagoda and bought longji, and beautiful sand paintings that are famous in Bagan. There were two long-necked women wearing neck rings, who are common in Myanmar but not very common in the places we visited. For lunch we had rice with chicken and a really good chicken with mango and pineapple salad, with fresh apple juice. It was no more than $4USD per person. We were extremely tired so we went to the hotel and relaxed in the pool for a few minutes.

In the afternoon, Jerry, Christine and Jessica went to a village and some pagodas; but Victoria and I wanted to ride bikes. Next to the hotel she rented an e-bike (electrical bike) and I rented a normal bike.  We wanted to see the biggest pagoda on Bagan, Dammayan pagoda, and explore around. Using a really bad map, out of scale, we left the store seeking for an adventure. There are probably only five big roads in Bagan which are paved. We rode the bikes through a main road with few cars and saw on the way more SASers riding bikes. When we got to Ananda Temple (“the architectural masterpiece,” another beautiful big pagoda) we had to ask locals for directions and we went through an unpaved road for a long time. Sometimes there was a lot of sand and it was really hard to control the bikes so we had to walk a little bit. The good thing was that there were no cars at the time. It was a long and tough ride but we got to Dammayan pagoda right on time to climb it and watch the sunset.

There were several bikes and a couple of buses, and the pagoda was packed. But even that way it looked beautiful. Everyone was waiting to presence a spectacular view. We started climbing the pagoda and it was very hard. There were some huge steps and since it was already full, it was hard to find a good spot. A boy that was selling books, was helping us to get to the top. He looked very happy and I enjoyed just watching him interacting with tourists. When he asked us where we were from and I said Colombia, he took out of his wallet a $2,000 Colombian Pesos bill to show it to me. He was very happy about it, but unfortunately I did not have any bills to contribute to his collection. He kept showing us the way to get to the top even though we had zero intentions on buying any of the books, and he still offered them with a big smile on his face that made me realize he only wanted to have a good time and be kind to us. On the top of the pagoda we were indeed very high and it was getting scary, but we got to experience once again one of the most beautiful sunsets anyone can witness. Clear sky, nature, pagodas, horses, zero noise, tourists, and beautiful locals. The only thing we had to worry about was to find a good spot to contemplate the sunset. I wished that could happen more often, that my only worry would be to find a good spot to watch the sunset.

It is funny that right after the sun hid, everybody left the pagoda, leaving it all for us. We could wander around freely, go up and down, but we also needed to leave because it was getting dark. After the entire crowd left the vendors started packing their bags and everybody headed out of the pagodas. When we rode along all these pagodas we saw little trucks full with locals; their daily work had ended. On the way out, we saw again our new friends (the little boys) and we said goodbye. Not too long after we left, it was dark already. On our way to the pagoda we were not really paying attention to where we were riding, and later on, when it was dark, it was hard to figure out the right path. At some point, we had no idea where we were, and we had to ask some locals that did not speak any English. It was so dark (there were no lights) I could not show them the map we had. When we got to the main road we realized we had passed that road earlier, and we had not been lost, although later on we were confused again about where we were. There were no lights on the streets, my bike had no lights and Victoria’s had a tiny light on the front. Luckily there were not cars, but we had to pass horses, and it was scary. Finally we asked a policeman for our hotel. He told us we were two minutes away, and then we felt relieved. We made it to the store right on time to return the bikes.

I was so happy we had accomplished our mission of riding bikes, going to the biggest pagoda, and watching the sunset, all on our own. It was also a great work out and an awesome opportunity to interact with locals. When we came to the hotel and met the rest of the crew we were all very starving. We started walking looking for food and found a good small spot. I got coconut rice with chicken. It was delicious; a perfect way to finish a great day.

Our last day in Bagan and Myanmar, a van picked us up from the hotel for the hot air balloon ride at five o’clock in the morning. It was still dark, and we were tired, but we were all super excited. When we got to the place they served us pastries, tea and coffee. The main pilot explained what we were going to do while we enjoyed our breakfast and watch the balloons inflate. Our pilot was a lady from Switzerland, and she was great. It was very cool to watch the balloon get bigger and bigger, and once it was filled with air, we jumped in and waited to start rising. The ride was about 45 minutes long and was absolutely beautiful, it was not scary at all, neither warm or cold, it was great. There were about 20 other balloons on the sky, and we got to see the sun rising slowly. The fog made the view even more spectacular. The ride was very relaxing, peaceful, and enjoyable. It was absolutely worth it.

On our balloon we were with a women from Chile and a couple from Australia, all very nice. Landing was another great experience. We had to bend our knees and when we hit the ground I still hit my knees, but it was fun. Ten other guys came to help us stabilize the balloon on the ground. It was funny how they had to climb the balloon on one side that was rising and then on the other side, and then we had to move the balloon to one side. When they were done with our balloon they had to run to help the next one. Some were bigger, heavier and harder to control. When we got off the balloons there was a table set with fruits and the pilots opened a bottle of champagne. We did a toast for our friendship and for our unforgettable experience. They also gave us certificates of being on the sky in Myanmar.

On our way back to the hotel, I found out that the main pilot is from Spain and has been to Colombia. We had breakfast with the pilots and had great conversations. I asked him if he knew my friend’s, Adriana’s, dad (because I know he has something to do with balloons in Colombia) and he did. Indeed, he knew his entire family. It was such a big coincidence that proves what I like to think about the world being a very small place. I messaged Adriana on Facebook and of course she also remembers him... We had a lot of fun talking to the pilots and I really hope we can do hot air ballooning someday in Switzerland too (where the lady pilot is from)! The previous evening riding bikes, and watching the sunrise from a hot air balloon were undoubtedly one of the best 24 hours I have ever had and will ever have.

Just a little bit tired..

At noon, we took a flight back to Yangon. From the plane we could see Mt. Popa, which is a famous mountain where a monastery is and people have to climb a long way to get there. On arrival to Yangon, the same driver from the first day was waiting for us. We wanted to meet with our friends again, but we did not have a way to communicate with them. The driver was extremely nice. He called the agency first and then called our friends. We told him to drop us off at the Kandawgyi lake and not to worry about us, that we would wait for our friends there. But he made some phone calls and we did not know what was going on. All of a sudden he stopped and our friend Pwint came to the van with us. Apparently he had been talking with her and figuring things out. It was very nice of him.

We stayed with Pwint at the lake, which is one major recreational park in Yangon,  and waited there for Tin. When they got there, we went to a restaurant called The Best, and had lunch together. Again, we ordered several dishes (we were very hungry, it was around 3pm) and tried a lot of different things. We made a toast with good Myanmar beer and we had a lot of fun. Finally, they invited us to a pool, so we went there and relaxed for a while. Meeting them again was such a beautiful experience and they treated us like we were all sisters. Definitely Burmese people are very warm and welcoming, and they like to show us their culture, country, religion, customs, and explain things to us.

Visiting Myanmar was probably the most unique experience of all. The country itself is beautiful, but the people are who make it even more special. I hope they can keep their culture for a long time and do not allow other countries change their traditions. I can picture this country developing in the next years, and I honestly wish them the best of luck in the future. Myanmar won a special place in my heart and gave me incredible memories I will never forget. 

To finish, here is a simple yet true quote:

―Traveling outgrows its motives. It soon proves sufficient in itself. You think you are making a trip, but soon it is making you – or unmaking you. – Nicolas Bouvier, The Way of the World

Please take a look at these great pictures from fellow voyagers

Photo Gallery: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2015/03/23/student-photo-gallery-burma/

And if you want to read more, here are some good blog posts from the SAS website:

“A change in perspective” http://www.semesteratsea.org/2015/03/13/burma-myanmar-a-change-in-perspective/

Novication Ceremony Video: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2015/03/17/novication-ceremony/

Pomelo, A Fair Trade Shop: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2015/03/19/pomelo-helping-designers-reach-an-international-market/