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| World's Largest Book |
With fertile ground and a great location along the river, present day Mandalay was home to five ancient capitols from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century with a large number of these ancient civilizations still remaining (Ava, Amarapara, Sagaing, Mingdun and Mandalay). After departing the boat, we headed straight to Sagaing and Ava to marvel at the historical temples, while enjoying a view of the village from the horse drawn carriage. The seven tiered Ava Palace with the accompanying queen’s swimming pool and ornately carved nat figures in the teak walls definitely impressed our crowd. My true highlight came with a visit to the world’s largest book, the Ku Tho Daw Pagoda. With seven hundred twenty nine massive marble slabs engraved with Buddhist teachings, the project took eight years to build and with packed crowds of locals, one could tell the importance of this monument for the people. In true Myanmar fashion, our tour continued with a spectacular sunset atop Mandalay Hill. Overlooking the Shan Mountains, home of the Gurkha soldiers, the view provided a necessary aerial perspective of all the surrounding capitols. Although much different from the stupa skyline of Pagan, the Mandalay sunset did not disappoint as the fireball sun fell over the large gold pagoda. As a result of the heat, Tim and I savored the local Myanmar beer, as we all enjoyed a spicy meal at the Thai Golden Duck for dinner.
Our wonderful and well connected guide offered the kids and I a special surprise for school the following morning. With our school bags in hand, Mr. Aye drove us into the well protected American Consulate Library, where an officer met us to specially open the facility for the morning. I can’t determine if it was the result of not being in a library for months or the awareness that I was in a country that censors every book, newspaper, TV show and internet site for their citizens, but I have never felt a more overwhelming joy of packed shelves of books in my entire life. The American Embassy opened this particular library to lead free English classes, study areas and library books for the people of Mandalay. As the morning progressed, people began to filter in to meet with conversation partners and practice their vocabulary through an intense game of Scrabble. As far as school locations go, this one will definitely be hard to beat!
After lunch underneath the plentiful mango tree, we headed back to our beloved Irrawaddy River for a local boat ride to the Mingdun village. The famous king of Mingdun aimed to build four of Myanmar’s largest structures during his rule of the 18th century- lion statues, bell, lake and stupa. King Bodapoda succeeded in building the world’s second largest bell, measuring over 18 feet in diameter. Ruins remain of the lion statues and stupa, although damage from a massive earthquake did not leave them in excellent condition. As we continued walking through the village surpassing the ox driven taxis, our guide led us to a stunningly unique white temple. The Myatheindan, or Burmese Taj Mahal, was built by the king to honor the love of his life and ensure her place among the seven oceans, resulting in the seven waved layers of this temple. With the perfect afternoon light, this temple surpassed many as my favorite of the Mandalay area. We rushed through the streets to reach our boat just in time to catch a breathtaking sunset, becoming my favorite tradition of our short time in Myanmar.
With another early morning flight departure, we landed in Yangon before 9 am. Anxious to see the country’s largest city and former capitol, Mr. Win picked us up from the airport and we were on our way to see the sights. He obviously knew our crowd well, as our first stop was the famous Scott’s Market/Aung San Market. With its colonial architecture and cobblestone streets, it provided excellent people watching and every store imaginable, including an underground black market currency exchange which provided endless entertainment. We managed to escape without any purchases and spent the afternoon visiting the second largest reclining Buddha in the world and the towering Shwe Dagon Pagoda. Gleaming in gold and decorated with diamonds, the Shwe Dagon Pagoda is a spectacular work of Burmese temple architecture and the holiest Buddhist shrine in all of Myanmar. The main stupa is completely solid, every inch covered in gold and the upper parts are studded with diamonds totaling over 2,000 carats. Truly a wonder of the world! As curious tourists we requested a photo in front of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, yet the guide and driver quickly and nonchalantly responded that if we were to stop they could get shot. We finished our last night in Myanmar with a delicious meal and ever better conversation, as we shared our favorite memories of our time in this wonderful country!
While stationed in Burma, Kipling wrote that “Burma is quite unlike any place you know about”. Isolated from the international community, the country is ruled by harsh tyrants, yet the locals seem to be the most gentle, beautiful and hospitable people that I’ve met throughout this trip. With thousands of temples creating never before seen skylines and sunsets on par with any in the world, Myanmar truly is a magical land.
With fertile ground and a great location along the river, present day Mandalay was home to five ancient capitols from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century with a large number of these ancient civilizations still remaining (Ava, Amarapara, Sagaing, Mingdun and Mandalay). After departing the boat, we headed straight to Sagaing and Ava to marvel at the historical temples, while enjoying a view of the village from the horse drawn carriage. The seven tiered Ava Palace with the accompanying queen’s swimming pool and ornately carved nat figures in the teak walls definitely impressed our crowd. My true highlight came with a visit to the world’s largest book, the Ku Tho Daw Pagoda. With seven hundred twenty nine massive marble slabs engraved with Buddhist teachings, the project took eight years to build and with packed crowds of locals, one could tell the importance of this monument for the people. In true Myanmar fashion, our tour continued with a spectacular sunset atop Mandalay Hill. Overlooking the Shan Mountains, home of the Gurkha soldiers, the view provided a necessary aerial perspective of all the surrounding capitols. Although much different from the stupa skyline of Pagan, the Mandalay sunset did not disappoint as the fireball sun fell over the large gold pagoda. As a result of the heat, Tim and I savored the local Myanmar beer, as we all enjoyed a spicy meal at the Thai Golden Duck for dinner. 
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