Posted on

Myanmar: Shan State, Pindaya Cave

Another sleepless night on the bus and Laurie and I rethought our decision on night buses. It was driven by a man and his sidekick who yelled out directions as he drove up the winding and bumpy road between Bagan and Shan State. It was like being put inside a shaker with someone yelling what sounds very similar to ‘s$&!’ over and over again. An effective interrogation method had we had something to confess.

I had mentioned in a previous post that one of the concepts British colonialism had left behind was the right-steering car. Up until 1970, the entire country drove on the left side of the road. Then one day, for an unreported reason, the government decided everyone should drive on the right side. The problem was and still is that most cars and buses are right-hand-drive. Thus, our driver was driving on the right side of the road with a right-steering bus and was practically blind to everything happening on the left side. Ergo, the sidekick yelling direction through the night. But we survived.

After arriving at the hotel in Inle Lake, the breakfast of Shan noodles and eggs put us back in a good mood. After a couple of hours of rest, our guide from LM Travel Myanmar, Joshua, picked us up in a van and we drove another 2 hours to Pindaya Cave past plantations of wheat, corn, and cigar leaves. This area in Shan State has red soil fertile with minerals and is great for growing crops. 

Farming is the way of life here as is evident by the lines of white cows marching alongside the road. We passed a market that traded and sold these cows. Joshua told us the market opens once every five days to allow farmers who live far away to travel there. There were cows of all sizes, but even the biggest here is a lot skinnier than their American counterpart. And cheaper. A prized cow is about $1,000 U.S.

 

Along the way, we stopped at an old monastery with an infestation of sweet cats. The monastery is over 170 years old. It was teak and looks very much like a traditional Thai home. It has peak roofs and inward leaning walls. Shan State borders Thailand to the east separated by a mountain range, and there are many similarities between Myanmar and its neighbor who shared a long history of warfare.

As we climbed higher and higher, the flat green fields transformed to hills and mountains. The people here also look different from those we met in the south with lighter skin and smaller eyes. There are more than 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar, with 7 being the largest minority nationalities: the Chin, the Kachin, the Karenni (sometimes called Kayah), the Karen (sometimes called Kayin), the Mon, the Rakhine, and the Shan. Each group has their own language, culture, and history, making up Myanmar’s rich tapestry.

After another quick stop at a train track overlooking beautiful vista, we finally arrived at our destination. Pindaya Cave is a stalactite cave estimated to be 2 million years old. It sits on a limestone hill overlooking Botoloke Lake.

In the 18th century, while a war was raging between tribes, the different groups hid images of Buddha here to protect them from possible damage. There are now over 10k images climbing up the sides of the cave. The oldest is from the 17th century. Like other sacred sites, Burmese visitors filled this place. At the entrance of the cave sat a man praying in front of a golden Buddha image. He was chanting in Pali from scripture. His voice echoed throughout the cave.

Posted on

Myanmar: Bagan – The ancient city

We took the overnight bus from Yangon to Bagan. Although technically we could have afforded plane tickets, we decided to try the local way. I’ve traveled by bus before in Thailand when I was younger, but this was a whole new ballgame. First, it was freezing cold. It seemed the driver was compensating for the hot weather and turned up the AC. Then there’s the roads. They were so bumpy we thought we were on a Mars rover.

To maintain a semblance of comfort, I found having these items helped: 1) Ear plugs (there were snorers); 2) Socks, jacket, scarf, sarong or whatever to keep warm; 3) Sleep mask because they left the lights on; 4) Water and snacks. Not all buses will give you food so don’t count on it; 5) Wet wipes. There were no bathrooms on the bus and the quality of bathrooms at the different stops was not standardized. One of the rest stops only had squat toilets with water in a bucket for washing.

When taking an overnight bus in a country where you lack the language skill, it is important to pay attention to what the driver said or ask your neighbors when in doubt. I know this should be a no-brainer. But at 11 PM, the mind does not think straight.

At the 76 km mark, the bus almost left our little group behind at a food stop because. Our fault. We didn’t know we only had 30 minutes. The driver had some attendants hunt us down while we were eating the last of our hot noodles soup. The walk of shame back to our seats was pretty embarrassing.

We arrived at Bagan just as the sun was rising. Bagan is an ancient archeological city that was the seat of the Pagan kingdom from the 9th to the 13th centuries. At its height, there were over 10k Buddhist temples, of which 3,122 remained. We spent our first day here in 4 of them: Shwesri Gon Pagoda, Htilominlo, Ananda Temple, and Shwesandaw, the Sunset Pagoda. The Shwesri Gon Pagoda from 11th century contains the bone relic of the Buddha. The Ananda Temple, another from the 11th century, has 10k Buddha images. Some depict the story of how the Buddha transformed from a prince to the enlightened one. There were more things we would have learned had we not had to siphon all of our effort toward not passing out from heat stroke. 

The temples would be best visited early in the day. The walls of the temple absorb the heat and by end of the day it felt like 120 degree with 100% humidity inside. It was not easy to stay focused on our knowledgeable guide as he lectured about the differences in Buddha images from century to century. After a while, all we wanted was just a cold drink.

A few things I did learn:

1) Never, ever go to the Shwesandaw for sunset. It was a zoo! The precarious steep steps are dangerous to navigate when congested and the clouds made it impossible to see the sunset.

2) Some tourists can be rude if stuck on the said stone steps. They seemed to bring out the worst in some people. Just move slow and hug the wall.

3) Bobby will buy anything if under enough pressure. There were hundreds of vendors hawking all kinds of tourist trinkets. Some were extremely persistent. Bobby is now a proud owner of a painting he will never hang.

4) Always order the Burmese set meal. Always. You choose the meat (I chose fish and shrimp but there were also beef and chicken), which were then cooked in spices, onions, and peppers. It also came with a soup, a vegetable side, and rice. Heaven.