As the internet carries the news that a cyclone in the Indian Ocean is threatening
Myanmar, it brings back memories of my trip to that beautiful country in February 2004.
I didn’t spend much time there – just two weeks, but I was especially struck by the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people.
Despite the poverty, the oppressive government, and a generally grim future, the local people I met managed to find something to laugh about everyday.
Mandalay was the capital of the Burma kingdom when it came under British control. Situated along the Irrawaddy River, Mandalay is Myanmar’s cultural and religious center of Buddhism.
Mandalay is in the center of Myanmar
Myanmar is nicknamed the Land of Pagodas for a good reason
This sign is posted on the door of the toilet on the boat we took up the Irrawaddy to Mandalay. There were no local passengers on the boat at the time, so I wasn’t sure if it was enforced.
The Irrawaddy is a major transport route down the length of the country
Dinner at a sidewalk eatery under the buzzing street lamp
Washroom haiku, posted over the toilet at the guesthouse I was staying in
On sale: wheels made with folded low-denomination bills – for offerings at pagodas, for funerals, I’m not quite sure
The street market just outside of my guesthouse, with the bell-shaped pagoda of a monastery at the end of the street
The reconstructed royal palace is now a sterile museum
Intricate woodwork on one of the buildings in the royal compound
The golden paint on the building glint in the afternoon light
A VW Beetle makes its way out of the eastern entrance to the royal compound
People’s Desire: something straight out of 1984
The climb up Mandalay Hill is made easier with the covered walkway
View over the city from top of Mandalay Hill
Novice monks taking a break
The monastery building is bathed in the low afternoon light
Burmese script on the pillar: poetry? scripture? warning signs?
Tourists watching the sunset in the haze at the top of Mandalay Hill
Sunrise from one of the smaller pagodas near my guesthouse
From the top of Shwesandaw, the countless pagodas dotting the now parched plains came into view. The lush vegetation would return when the monsoon came later in the year.
With very little vehicular traffic around, the trishaw was a cheap and efficient way for people to get around.
Vendors hawked souvenir at the more popular pagodas.
Shrines like this one, scaled to the appropriate size, are always found inside the pagodas.
This little kid sat with us at dinner. He was wearing thanaka on his face like many children and women in Myanmar.
This lady at our guesthouse made thanaka by grinding a log of thanaka wood on a piece of stone. Thanaka is worn as a cosmetic, sunscreen, and skin conditioner mostly by women and children.
With the cooling sensation of the freshly applied thanaka on my face and the drafty longyi tied around my hips, I was now ready for the oppressive heat of the dry season.
Lacquer ware was a famous local craft.
When parched from riding around the dry dirt tracks, a glass of freshly squeezed sugar cane juice was all you’d need.
Goats grazed in the shadows of the Ananda Temple.
Workmen repairing a sign in front of one of the pagodas
Ananda Temple, like many of others here, was still being used by the locals as a place of worship.
The afternoon sun streamed through a window inside the Ananda Temple.
This gilded statue of Buddha received many offerings from the locals.
Dinner consisted of rice with little dishes of delicious Burmese curries.
Sunsets were always magical in a setting like this.
The lifeline for much of Myanmar, the Irrawaddy River is a place where people do their daily bathing and washing.
