Monthly Archives: February 2014

We gathered on the Sun Deck for our final hoorah.  The Hotel Manager again introduced the staff.  We toasted and then they sang a song for us.  The next thing I knew they were playing Abba and the Senior Citizens were dancing like it was 1975.  I hear a lot of people hating on Abba but watch what happens when the DJ plays Dancing Queen.

Before I could escape, a conga lined formed.  For the record, I did not join it nor was I tempted.  There was some crazy dancing going on and I wondered if the locals were sitting on the riverbank opening a beer longing for the old days before they brought the tourists in.  Life in Myanmar will never be the same.   Some of it is for the good and some of it is not!

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It was the final night on the boat and our final hurrah.  It was Pat’s Birthday and her husband had been planning a surprise for her.   I had gotten to know Pat and Dan along the way and really enjoyed getting to know them.  They were great to travel with!

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One of our last stops – Mahamuni Buddha Pagoda.  I remember when I took a tour of Italy.  By the end, I didn’t care to see another cathedral.  I am OK with this being the last pagoda of our trip.

I had seen a lot on this trip but this afternoon’s stop at the orphanage was the most moving stop of all.  The orphanage was an all boys orphanage.  We went in and met the children while they were at school.  The children sang song for us and we took pictures.  They loved seeing their pictures on our cameras.  They were able to speak some basic english and we were able to ask them their age, their names and to show us their books.

Not all of them were parentless – some of them had parents that couldn’t afford to take care of them for various reasons.  We didn’t get all of the stories but we were told some of them will go back to their families at some point.

The tour guides translated a lot of the conversations that was going on and there was something about looking at these kids and they were laughing and talking about their friends and their bunkmates.  Here they were with very little earthly possessions and family yet they were typical boys. Continue reading →

After the Palace we stopped by the Kuthodaw Pagoda aka the world’s biggest book.  It is the biggest book because there are 729 leaves and 1458 pages carved in marble.  Each of the 729 leaves are stored in its own little building making this the world’s largest book.

While in the Pagoda, I was trying to get a picture of the lotus flowers.  Someone else from the boat was standing in front of them and was trying to explain to someone how work her iPad to take her picture.  This had gone on for sometime and I decided to circle back.  The next thing I knew the woman was running after me calling my name.  She explained that it had gotten stuck on video and she fixed that but now when she went to take a picture of something the camera was facing her instead of the other way. Continue reading →

What would Disney Think? Here was Donald Duck out front of a Restaurant called the Golden Duck that specialized in duck.  I doubt Disney authorized that.

As tasteless as it was to put Donald out front, the restaurant was very good.  It was served traditional Chinese style.  I was quickly but politely reminded of Chinese etiquette – the lazy Susan is always spun clockwise – never counter-clockwise.

It was a nice meal and  I was glad to have sat with the people I had sat with.  Don’t get me wrong, the majority of the people on this trip are really nice as well as interesting.  There is one group of about 10 who claim they are from Santa Barbara but talk and act like Fran Drescher’s mom on “The Nanny” – meaning they live in Santa Barbara.  Enough said…..

Lunch was good.  They started with fried shrimp rolled in potato and fried.  A series of dishes followed including duck and other chinese style dishes.

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A full day tour of Mandalay!  We started with the Royal Palace.  The palace was built-in the 1857.  The palace was used by the last Royal family until 1885 when the British captured it along with the royal family and used it as a fort.

During the WWII, the Palace/Fort was heavily bombed destroying everything but the watch tower and the royal mint.  Part of the palace had been relocated prior to the bombing.  What we were looking at had been rebuilt in the 1990s.

Although it was not the original palace and grounds it was still interesting to see as well as to ponder what royal life must have been like.

Afterwards we made a stop to a building that had been part of the original palace grounds but had been relocated prior to the war. Continue reading →

We again ventured off the boat into Mandalay and headed to Amarapura.  Amarapura is the former capital of Burma.  Amarapura is part of Mandalay.

The U Bien Bridge was something to see.  It was built-in 1850 and it the world’s oldest and longest teak wood bridge almost a mile long.  We were taken out on lake in row boats and we crossed under the bridge and then back through.  We were then taken to an area where we could enjoy the sunset behind the bridge while we sipped champagne.

The excursion itself was well done – our tour guides brought the bartender.  Boat by boat we pulled up to them and they handed us champagne.  More importantly it was fund to watch everyone crossing the bridge.  Nuns in pink robes with shaved heads, Monks, locals and tourists all walking the bridge with the sun setting behind it. Continue reading →

We arrived in Ava in the morning. We headed out by horse and cart to visit a teak monastery.   Although the idea of travelling by horse and cart sounded like a lot of fun, it wasn’t all that comfortable.  Overall, I enjoyed it but trying to take pictures while bouncing around on a horse driven cart wasn’t easy.  I was glad when it was over!

Ava is the ancient capital of Burma dating back to the 12th century.  We visited Bagaya Kyaung, which was built in the 1800s.  The entire monastery is built of teak.  On the way to the monastery we passed by ancient city walls and a series of old structures.

Similar to other stops, there was an abundance of stupas and pagodas in every direction that I looked.  There is something about these monuments and the daily life that goes on around it.  A water buffalo standing beside it.  Here I was marveling these monuments while the locals  played soccer next to it.  Just another day for them.

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We spent a couple of days in Mandalay and the surrounding area.  I created blog engtries for specific stops but there were a few stops that didn’t warrant their own blog entry.

There were  a series of stops in Mandalay that were tourist stops including weaving workshops, puppet making, silver making etc.  Some of it was interesting and some of it was not interesting.  At each shop there were at least a few people mumbling about wondering  what were the tour guides or Viking River Cruises commission rate?  This was one of a series of workshops and the prices weren’t that good and it was set up for tourists.  As with previous stops there were signs with “Free WiFi” but there was no internet connectivity.

The boat was docked close to a school and it was fun to watch the kids being kids.  They boys were playing soccer and the girls were either watching the boys or doing something to entertain themselves. Continue reading →