Myanmar: Local Life in Bagan

On our second day in Bagan we got the opportunity to see a little bit more of what local life is about.  We started the morning early observing the monks as they walked down the streets of the local village collecting their alm food.  Monks are not allowed to use money so the only way they can eat is by collecting donations from the people.  The villagers would greet the monks on the street and fill their bowls with rice and curry.  They are not allowed to eat after noon so they will eat all the food in their bowl before then.

Monks loaded up on the truck.  They can't drive either so a volunteer has to bring them.

Villager spooning out some rice for them.

Young monks getting more rice in their bowls.

The next look into daily life was walking the streets of a village community that was a bit outside of town.  It was humbling to see people who live without electricity or running water.

Women fetching water from the pond.  They will drink it after putting it in a barrel and adding some chemicals.

The blacksmith's shop.  

The cattle are kept in place by just tying then to trees.  No paved roads in this town.

Cactus used as a fence.  All the houses were made of thatched bamboo.

Because they don't have electricity provided, many families have solar panels to get a little power.

Piggy banks.  Most people invest their money in animals.

This lady had gone into the city market and bought goods in bulk.  She then brings them to this village and sells it to the local women.  She is weighing out some fish. 

One of the old ladies smoking a home rolled cigar of sorts.  Notice the paint on the other ladies faces.  They grind up bark to make a paste and wear it on their face.  It protects their skin from the sun and gets rid of acne.  It is also supposed to make their skin very smooth.

With 2200+ temples in Bagan, we had a few more to visit.  We spent the rest of the morning going to from temple to temple.

This temple is getting the gold leaf replaced.  It takes 1.5 years to complete and they have to do it every 5-6 years.

A closer look at the bamboo scaffold.  Nothing but bamboo and twine.

13th century inside the temple.

Along the road to another temple I caught a glimpse of this guy plowing his fields.  Plow made of bamboo.

Many of the temples were once covered in decorative plaster which can be seen on this temple.  Most of it has been fallen away and so only the underlying brick remains.

One of the most popular temples in Bagan, Ananda Temple

One of the four Buddha's in Ananda.  Each was created by a different artist and were done independently.  They were not allowed to see what the other artist was doing and if there were any similarities between them then the artist would be killed.

Ancient light and air conditioning for the temple.

Men and women in Myanmar typically wear sarongs so Derek and I decided we wanted to get some.  Our guide lead us to the local market to get them at their cheapest price ($3-5 each).  There are no large suppliers in Myanmar so this is your Walmart.  They have all kinds of meat, fruit, veggies, clothing, homegoods, etc.  I took more market photos in Yangon which I will feature next.

One of the few aisles that wasn't packed. 

Dried peppers

Betel leaves which they use to make betel nuts.  I loved how they so elegantly stacked them.  Betel nuts are a stimulant and have been determined to be carcinogenic.

We ended the day with a boat ride up the Ayeyarwady River to visit a cave temple.  We really enjoyed seeing the people along the river.

All along the river were people bathing, collecting water, and washing clothes. 

Gate to to the cave temple.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures inside the caves although there wasn't much to see.

Enjoying the ride back to Bagan with some drink and snacks.

Two days in Bagan was just enough time for us to see everything we wanted.  You can only go to so many temples before they all look the same.  It was definitely worth the trip though!

Myanmar: Temples in Bagan

Myanmar (Burma as the US calls it) was never a place we thought we would visit and up until a few years ago, no one really could.   After decades of isolation, Myanmar opened up its borders and began encouraging tourism.  Everyone told us that the sooner we go, the more genuine the experience would be as it hasn't become a complete tourist trap yet.  I will say that it was a very different trip for us and I took a lot of photos so I've chosen to break it up into three posts.

We arrived in Yangon late Friday night and were whisked away to our hotel to get 2.5 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport to catch our flight to Bagan.  The airport was a new experience in itself.  There were no computers at the counter or electronic scales.  They did it the old-fashioned way: checked if our name was written on the list for the flight, hand wrote and stamped the ticket, used a manual scale, and moved the bags from counter to plane by hand.  They did have a metal detector but that was the only electronic thing in the place.  Once entering the waiting area, we sat looking for someone to walk around with a signboard announcing that our flight was ready to board.  This all called into question the quality of the airline we would be flying but the plane was in great shape and the flight was actually very pleasant.

When we arrived, our guide and a driver picked us up to begin our two day tour of Bagan.  Bagan is an ancient capital city of the Kingdom of Pagan that is known for its more than 2,200 temples and pagodas.  Everywhere we looked it seemed like you could see a dozen or more temples.  It was really unbelievable.  We spent the day touring and climbing ten temples, took a horse cart ride, and enjoyed the sunset.

A young monk carrying his ahm bowl.  He is probably about 8 years old.

16 weeks pregnant!

They don't have a lot of heavy machinery and still use oxcarts

Most of the temples did not have electricity so we walked the hallways in the dark

My favorite gate that I saw blocking one of the entrances to the temple

Three modes of transportation: horse cart, motorbike, and everyone piling in the car.  The van was full of locals doing there own tour of the temples.

When we went on the horse cart ride, much like these people, the children would run up and grab onto your cart while trying to sell their self drawn postcards.

Local children pushing a barrel of water to their home.

Atop the Sunset Temple waiting for the sun to go down.  

Just before sunset.  It was starting to get crowded and the clouds were blocking the sun so we left early.

We called it an early night after only getting a few hours the night before and having to wake up early the next morning to watch the monks go out for the ahm food.  More to come!