Touring Mandalay

Reckless motorcycles drivers, excessive heat, firecrackers and cheap delicious Indian food is what comes to mind when I think about Mandalay, Myanmar. Being our final stop before flying back to Thailand we wanted to soak up all this city and country had to offer before taking off. 

While walking around sweating buckets we we’re approached by a local tour guide who provided tours to all the major sites on the back of his motorbike. While we usually would do this on our own, the price was decent enough and we wouldn’t have to worry about finding these locations ourselves. To this day I’m still amazed that I’m actually alive to tell you about this adventure. 

We were picked up and before long we were both holding on for dear life. I’m pretty sure this guy dreams about being a dare devil as I’ve never been more scared in my life. It’s one thing to drive like crazy, but it’s another when you live in a city as busy and crazy as Mandalay. Weaving in and out of other motorcycles, bicyclist, cows and naked babies on the dirt roads didn’t seem to slow this guy down a bit. All this was escalated with fireworks being shot onto the road and no working headlight to guide us. 

While we saw many lovely temples, the religious highlight was a temple made completely of beautiful teak wood. We also visited the 1.2km U Bein Bridge where local fisherman wade in the water catching fish for their families. Another highlight was all the delicious Indian food we consumed with our driver. Taking us to one of his favorite places we gorged on food which still makes my mouth water today.

Bago in a day

When we arrived in Bago we had two options, head out asap and keep heading north or see the sites and stay a night. We really didn't think this town had much to offer so we didn't care to stick around. When we found out our bus was running late we knew we could see the sites in time to still catch our bus out. ​We quickly jumped on the back of some bikes with a couple of guys promising to take us to all the sites without the fees for a small price.

My favorite site of the day was a Buddha statue that was under a bit of scaffolding. The most religious site in town was next to this statue with a much better story but it lost some if it's luster since it was basically housed in a huge warehouse. To finish off our day we visited a cigarette rolling factory where ladies old and way too young worked long hours for very little money. Unfortunately, for many families having your children work is the only way to put food on the table. 

Millions of Buddhas

The small town of Hpa-An is nothing to write about, but what is worth writing about is the countryside around this village: dotted with temples, caves, rice paddy fields, and ​limestone mountains it is eye candy beyond belief. The first temple we explored on our all day motorbike ride was a temple perched on a limestone rock. The views were breathtaking and a good start to our day. 

Knowing this was only the first stop of many we pushed on to a stunning buddhist cave of an exiled king. I was floored when I saw it, not only was it something we had never seen before it was beautiful. Little intricate carvings 40 - 50 ft up of buddhas. Thousands, no millions of buddhas were on display. It was beautiful in a painstakingly holy crap that king had a lot of time on his hands way; not in a tacky pile as many buddhas as possible kind of way. ​

Neon Buddha

Just outside downtown Yangon is the heart of Burma, the Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in the country. It's believed to hold four relics of the buddha enshrined within, including eight strands of his hair. Standing a whopping 99 meters above the city this gilded pagoda shines like the smile of the 14th Dalai Lama. According to legend, The Shwedagon Pagoda was first built 2,600 years ago. Making it the oldest pagoda not only in Burma, but the world.

The most fascinating thing to us was the surprising Vegas-style lights behind all the Buddha statues glowing in heavenly enlightment. Defenitly makes for some of the most entertaining buddha statues we've ever seen. Although I wouldn't think it would be very conducive to meditation. 

Buddha get's tired of sitting sometimes

Wat Pho in downtown Bangkok is a buddhist temple famous for it's large reclining Buddha, it's also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. The lovely temple is named after a monastery in India where Buddha is believed to have lived. As Cassie and I lined up to enter the temple with hundreds of other curious visitors we knew this would test our patience. The walking space to view the lying buddha was large enough for only a few folks, most certainly not hundreds. After shuffling with the crowds for a while we quickly made it to the exit, but not before we captured a few funny photos of our fellow visitors.