Author: EveColorado

Denver, CO

Itinerary: We’ll leave for our flights home: Bangkok – Tokyo – San Francisco – Denver.
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On our way home, just before settling down to sleep, I glanced out the window and saw this!

A most enjoyable trip to South East Asia.

Bangkok, Thailand

Itinerary:
07.00 Hearty American breakfast.
08.30 Visit to the nearby ethnic Mon Tribal Village (Optional tour: Elephant riding through the
bamboo forest)
11.30 Check-out and depart for lunch at pier.
13.00 Take a historic ride on Death Railway Train, passing lush forest
14.20 Continue by air-conditioned vehicle to Bangkok
18.00 Arrive in Bangkok and transfer to hotel.
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River Kwai, Thailand

Itinerary:
06.00 – 06.30 Pick up from your hotel and depart for Kanchanaburi.
09.00 Visit to War Museum (Thailand-Burma Railway Centre), War Cemetery and River Kwai Bridge
12.00 Take a long-tailed boat from pier to get to the River Kwai Jungle Rafts, passing by unspoiled mountainous jungle scenery. Check-in on arrival. Lunch will be served.
14.45 Take an exciting boat ride downstream to Resotel Pier and continue to visit to the Hell Fire Pass Memorial
19.00 Dinner, followed by a 45-minute presentation of Mon Dance
Overnight on the River Kwai Jungle Rafts, which offers the most traditional close-to-nature floating hotel experience on the world’s historic river, River Kwai. Nestled in a cuddle of tropical forest, magnificent mountain range and historical river and, at night, dazzled by the beauty of hundreds of lanterns. There’s no use of electricity here and the rooms are cooled by the river passing underneath. Each room is built from bamboo and is lit by lanterns. It is a total escape from everyday life. Touch the distinguish presence of Mon culture and the finest moment of the legendary river flows underneath your bed.
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And, yes, I couldn’t resist whistling “Colonel Bogey” whilst marching over the Bridge!

Bangkok, Thailand

Itinerary: Today, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Rangoon. Upon arrival, we will visit the Kaba Aye (World Peace) Pagoda and the Mahapasana Cave, where the sixth Buddhist synod took place. We will also see Botataung Pagoda, Rangoon’s oldest Chinese temple and have a walking tour of Chinatown.

In the afternoon we will fly back to BKK for our farewell dinner. Overnight at the Best Western Premier Amaranth Suvaranbhumi Airport Hotel.
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After flying from Bagan to Rangoon and a long drive into the city, stopping at the appropriately named (priced) Treasure Land and then Scott Market, we had the chance to visit one last pagoda–Sule is named for the minister who built it and is Rangoon’s original pagoda. Some of us decided to stay out of the heat and humidity in the comfort of our air conditioned coach, as well as not having to clean up dirty feet, again. The others didn’t spend very long in there.

The airline changed the time of our flight from Rangoon, which meant we would not get into Bangkok and our hotel until late that night. Roger decided we should have a farewell lunch in Rangoon instead of the farewell dinner we were supposed to have in Bangkok. He took us to Le Planteur which serves traditional “western” haute cuisine with a SE Asian influence.

The wine, food and the presentation was wonderful and the atmosphere was festive, including Turin showing us various ways he could wear his longyi. In Burma, longyis worn by males are called paso, while those worn by females are called htamain.

Thank you, Thai Airways, for delaying our departure from Rangoon. Good job, Roger, getting us into Le Planteur.

Le Planteur has three old British cars, 1947 Vauxhall, a 1954 Morris Oxford and a 1953 Austin Somerset (which wasn’t there when we left so I didn’t get a picture of it). They use them to ferry customers to and from their accommodation, if desired. When Trish and I were children, these cars looked so modern to us, and way beyond our family’s affordablility.

On the way to the airport we stopped by Nay Pyi Taw to see the white elephants. We’d been told the history of the significance of white (albino) elephants and the legends around them and were looking forward to seeing them. It was horrifying, to our western sensibilities, to see these magnificient animals chained to the floor, only able to move a few steps around the bolt, swaying back and forth, back and forth. Looked like stress movement. We couldn’t stand it and had to get out of their fast. If we could have, I don’t think there wasn’t one of us who wouldn’t have snuck back there that night and freed them. A sad ending to our trip to Burma.

After waiting several hours at the Yangoon airport, we had an uneventful 90 minute flight to Bangkok. The food box had a delightfully fresh shrimp and fruit salad plus pineapple cake.

Arriving at the hotel around 11:30 p.m., we said goodbye to everyone, retrieved our stored luggage, did some rearranging, set the alarm for 3 a.m., and fell into bed.

Bagan, Myanmar

Itinerary: This morning, we visit the site of Tayoke-Pyay Pagoda in Min Nanthu Village, as well as the Phaya Thone Zu and Nandamanya Temples, noted for exquisite murals of 13th century. We will also see Kyat Kan Cave monastery, a famous meditation retreat in Pagan.

After lunch we explore the Myingaba Gu Byaukgyi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visit the archaeological museum to view beautiful Buddha images of bronze, stone and lacquer.

Late this afternoon, we will watch the magnificent sunset over
the Irrawaddy River – from the water on a sunset boat cruise, before we
head to dinner at a riverside restaurant. Overnight at the Kaday Aung Hotel.
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We began our morning with a (required barefoot) tour of Dhammayazika Pagoda built in the 12^th century. The unusual characteristic of this pagoda is that it has a pentagonal rather than a square base, and instead of the usual four images of Buddha, there are five including the Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha, yet to appear on earth. Already four have been recognized. The final Buddha will come in 500 years.

Currently the main tower is covered by bamboo scaffolding while workers prepare the exterior surface to receive its new gold covering.

Next, we visited the village of Min Na Thu where we watched various everyday activities including the making of corn leaf cheroots and a man making wagon wheels.Then we spent some most enjoyable time with a very happy and welcoming monk. Before the government opened a school in the village, he used to teach the children. He showed us how his saffron colored robe must be folded for wearing to the village when he does his morning walk for donations of food and, when he showed us what he had left after his breakfast, he chuckled about his big round buddha belly.

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In the evening, Roger hosted a sunset booze cruise on the Irrawaddy River

We spent the rest of the evening at a local restaurant where the first course of lentil soup came in a coconut shell, and ended up with another marionette show, the best one yet.

Bagan, Myanmar

Itinerary: After breakfast we will stroll through the colorful local market. We visit some of the most significant pagodas and temples of Pagan, including Shwezigon Pagoda, built in the early 11th century by King Anawrahta, as a religious shrine. We will also visit Ku Byanuk Gyi, a temple with superb murals of Jataka scenes, Khay Min Ga Temple, noted for its panoramic view of the area’s numerous monuments and Ananda Temple, with four standing Buddha images.

After lunch, we visit a lacquerware craftsmen’s workshop in nearby Myinkaba village. We continue on to Manuha Temple, built in the Mon style in 1059 and then to Nanbaya Temple, a unique sandstone monument said to have been the palace of King Manuha.

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As we were driving to the Shwezigon Pagoda in Nyaung-U and passing one of the villages, we were very fortunate to come across a coming of age / rite of passage ceremony (shinbyu) for several boys. The music was so loud!! The celebration goes on all day, with several hundred relatives and friends eating, visiting, and thoroughly enjoying the ceremonies and the day. As the cost is enormous several families often share in the expense, and the natwin ceremony for girls is also included.

With makeup, jewelery, silk robes and fancy headdresses, the boys were dressed like Prince Siddhartha Gautama would have before he renounced his life as a prince and became the first Buddha (“the awakened one” or “the enlightened one”). This ceremony has to be held before the age of twenty. At the end of the festivities the boys will have their hair and eyebrows shaved off, are given a robe and a begging bowl, and go to the temple for at least week to learn Buddhist teachings and experience temporary monastic life.

After having their ears pierced, girls will return home. Although this ceremony is important to the girls, it doesn’t approach anywhere near the level of importance of the shinbyu, which is a very big deal, indeed.

The sheer number of pagodas, temples and stupas is awe-inspiring, more than 2200 on the 26 square mile plain, many thousand more lying in ruins.

Bagan, Myanmar

Itinerary: We have an early breakfast before embarking on our scenic excursion through rural Burma. We will have lunch at a local restaurant before continuing on to Mount Popa, an extinct volcano. For those who climb the 777 steps to the shrine at the top of the peak, the views are spectacular!

We continue our scenic drive to Bagan (Pagan), passing through several quaint villages. Overnight in Pagan.
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Temples and stupas were everywhere. The morning pit-stop had us using bushes–guys in one direction, gals in the other.

Taung Kalat (pedestal hill), which has a Buddhist monastery on the top, is often called Mount Popa, which is the name of the actual volcano that caused the creation of the volcanic plug. To save confusion, the volcano is usually called Taung Ma-gyi (mother hill). There are 777 steps to the monastery. Our group chose not to climb to the top as it would have taken a fair amount of time, we’ve visited a lot of temples and monasteries, and we wanted to get on to Bagan.

We visited a small town and a couple of villages on the drive to Bagan. Also a basket and lacquerware workshop when we arrived in Bagan. We were shown how the lacquer is applied, engraved, color filled, or decorated with wafer-thin gold leaf, and how they weave the Burmese specialty of horse-hair cups and bowls, which Trish knew about. Horse-hair is wound around a reed frame which is then coated with lacquer. The final product is both strong and flexible and is supple enough that it doesn’t crack or break. All this work takes a long time, and everything for sale was very expensive.

The drive took about nine hours but went by quickly with the interesting scenery and stops. Nevertheless, we were very glad to get to our destination and have our welcome drink.

Mandalay, Myanmar

Itinerary: Following breakfast, we transfer to the airport for our domestic flight to Mandalay. We will visit the Mahagandayon Monastery, where more than a thousand monks live and study. We may have the opportunity to observe the monks having their last meal of the day in silence. We continue on to the 200-year-old U Bein teak bridge, built in 1782 at the time when Amarapura was the Royal capital. We will visit the Bagaya Monastery and see an intriguing collection of Buddha statues.

This afternoon we will visit some of the most revered religious monuments in Burma: the Mahamuni Pagoda, the Shwe Inbin Monastery, the Golden Palace Monastery, and the Kuthodaw Pagoda – the world’s largest book, made of marble! We also visit a traditional hand-woven silk workshop, as well as a Kalaga tapestries craftsmen’s workshop, before proceeding to Mandalay_Hill to watch the sunset. Overnight at the Mandalay_City Hotel.
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On our way to the airport at 6 a.m., then waited for an hour and a half because of morning fog before our flight could leave.

Once out of the airport, in the coach, and driving along the road to Mandalay, our bus driver played the old Frank Sinatra song “On the Road to Mandalay) to a lot of laughter and then some folks joining in the singing. This fairly new highway, built ten years ago, certainly would be a shock to Rudyard Kipling if he visited today.

We stopped to walk on the U Pein pedestrian-only bridge, nearly a mile long, across Taung Thaman Lake. There are 1000 columns dug into the lake base to support it. It was built in 1849 using huge teak poles left over from the construction of the king’s palace.

Next we drove to the Maha Myat Pagodo. This Buddha statue is believed to have been blessed by the Buddha himself and people pay homag by sticking small pieces of gold leaf all over the statue. There is more than 8″ of gold covering the statue, and there are photos of the statue when it was originally put in place and now when it has fattened up considerably. Women aren’t allowed to approach the statue and must stay behind a barrier, although they are allowed to look at it and also are allowed to request a man to attach a piece of gold leaf.

After lunch at a Chinese restaurant, where Leroy thoroughly enjoyed roast Peking Duck, we visited a workshop which produces gold leaf, then on to our hotel. It is right in the heart of Mandaly but after driving from the busy street through the gate in the walls, it is like entering an quiet oasis.

Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar

Itinerary: Following breakfast, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Yangon/Rangoon, Myanmar/Burma. Upon arrival, we will be met and transferred to our hotel. This afternoon, we visit the colonial city center of Rangoon. We will see the Sule Pagoda, dating back over 2,000 years; the magnificent reclining Buddha at Chauk Htat Gyi; and the Karaweik Hall – a floating barge on the Kandawgyi Lake. We explore Bogyoke (Scotts) Market with its myriad of goods including food, clothing, handicrafts, gems and much more.

Following lunch at a local restaurant, we will visit one of the world’s most spectacular monuments, the Shwedagon Pagoda. For Burmese Buddhists, Shwedagon is the most sacred of all Buddhist sites in the country, one which all Burmese hope to visit at least once in their lifetime. Overnight at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel.
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Wake up call for 4 a.m. this morning! With everything packed and our clothes laid out last night, we were able to shower, dress, and be down to breakfast quickly. Then off to the airport for our flight to Yangon.

Myanmar previously was called Burma by the British, and Yangon was called Rangoon. Rangoon used to be the capital of the Burma until the ruling junta, which renamed the country (Myanmar) and cities, decided to make a new capital city called Naypyidaw (City of Kings) located about 30 miles from Yangon/Rangoon.

Motor bikes were outlawed in this city after an important government official’s car had an accident with one. Recently, cheap, imported Japanese cars were allowed; traffic was horrendous and nearly in gridlock.

Our first stop was to see the Reclining Buddha (Chauk Htat Gyee) which is about 65 feet long. The soles of the feet contain 108 segments in red and gold colors that
show images representing the 108 lakshanas or auspicious characteristics
of the Buddha.

After lunch we drove to our hotel, then about 4 p.m. to the Shwedadon (Gold) Pagoda. In Burma, all pagodas require visitors to remove not only their shoes, but their socks as well–bare feet only. Needless to say, we went through a lot of wet wipes of which, fortunately, there was an ample supply available on the coach.

This complex was my favorite of all on the trip.

Bangkok, Thailand

Itinerary: This morning, we will have time to explore on our own. With over 300 temples, set against a backdrop of rolling green hills, Chiang Mai is a visually striking city. The old city of is a neat square bounded by moats and partial walls and is small enough to get around by foot or bicycle.

We depart Chiang Mai and fly to Bangkok. Overnight in Bangkok.
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Trish discovered how delicious these were yesterday at breakfast and had us try them. A bit like the Indian Fry Bread that Valerie, as a young girl, used to make for Christmas (learnt how at summer school at Centennial Village). Eagerly looked forward to breakfast and having some more this morning.