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The Road to Mandalay
The Union of Myanmar...Suvannabhumi...Burma...The Golden Land.
The year was 1044. The Tibetans were the scourge of Asia, having overrun the Yunnanese tribes of China across southeast Asia. A small army of them settled in the middle of a mysterious land of riches that lay just east of India, where 8 warring tribes held check the land since before history. The new people had come to be known as the Bamar, and their king (Tibetan General Anawrahta) ascended the throne with little direction.
The king of the great Mon tribe sent a delegation to Anawrahta, offering him Theravada Buddhism. Anawrahta was so taken by it, he immediately sent for relics and the Tripitaka (the entire written history). Doubting the depths of Anawrahta's faith, Manuha dutifully denied his request. Anawrahta awoke with the fervant vison he had long sought: He would unite the people, establishing the richest and most spiritual nation in Asia. He immediately marched south plundering the Mon capital of Thaton, bring back the entire state, including Manuha and his army. Anawrata then conquered the remaining lands and united the people, building a city of golden temples like the world had never seen. Buddha was their god and life, Anawrahta his servant. The capital was Bagan and here the Burmese nation was born.
Time has since frozen and Myanmar, as it came to be known shortly after Anawrahta, has changed little. The 20,000 some gold temples, stupas and pagodas that once dotted the jungles of Bagan now stand mostly abandoned on a dry, dusty plain numbering a more modest 4,000. The few left are so magnificent, imagination easily covers the distance. Many temples are still quite active, expecially right now. The full moon of Pyatho (December/January) ushers in the paya pwe festival at Ananda Pahto, the grandest of the Bagan Temples, where a thousand monks chant in unison for days. The surrounding atmosphere of a land where westernization has no hold, nearly everone still dresses in homemade longi and sandals, and people revere their culture creates an aura of surreal beauty like nowhere else. The full moon also makes for stunning pictures and the time of year makes the plains nicely cold. Imagine how totally immersive this atmosphere is, then imagine little bands of ragged, dirty faced kids circling you to sing christmas carols, not deterred by their total lack of English. :-) They won't take money because in their culture they must reciprocate with something similar. It would warm Scrooge's heart...
We went there daily to take in the atmosphere and were truly amazed with the friendliness of the villagers. Pagan is everything people say it is and more. It is truly a land of magic. Now Mandalay on the other hand... wow, what a sprawling dirt hole rivalling only Chongqing in my book. The days trips from there make it worth it though. Mingun, upriver from Mandalay, boasts the largest bell in the world and what was to be the largest zedi. I met up with a group of kids who took me hone to meet their families and it was so wonderful I missed the last boat back. Fortunatley, I I (pronounced "eee" "eee') talked me onto a charter and I made it back to Mandalay by nightfall. Yangon (Rangoon) is a rare city, green and lush, graced with gold temples and people who have the warm nature of people from a small village. Now there is a great city. Not a lot to do really, but the Schwedegon is one of the most beautiful temples in asia (IMO) and the people make it even better.
I awoke the morning after Christmas to a small tremor to find later that a 14 meter wave traveling at 700 Kph struck the coasts and penetrated 2 km inland, killing nearly a quarter million people. Myanmar was almost entirely spared the horror other countries faced. As you know, my original plan was to head up the coast by boat, through the Andaman Sea to Sittwe to reach Mrauk U. If Myanmar didn't pan out I had planned to head to Phuket. Blind luck or fate, you pick.
Some have asked, why go to Burma when there is an mutlinational boycott and trade embargo in place to starve out the miltary regime who holds the country hostage. Forced labor is common and elected officlas remain in jail for 14 years now. Some say it is a dangerous place, warring tribes and a heavy handed dictatorship fighting for control. This is a topic for another day, as the issues are deep, but I can say that first person witnessing is the best hope for world wide awareness, and starving innocent locals to force them to rebel against their goverment seems a lot less humane to me than putting a few Kyat in their pocket to eat with.
Happy New Year and my best wishes for a healthy and happy 2005.
Joe
The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated
Thank you to those who were asking if I am alive. The last travel plan I sent out had me on a ship headed north up the coast of Myanmar in the Andaman Sea on Christmas day. My alternate plan was to kick back in Phuket. Luckily entropy prevailed and I did neither.
The Sumatran Tsunami that hit Africa, Asia and Indonesia destroyed both and the death count is now up to 42,000. We are scrambling here to account for our friends who are in Thailand. I spent Christmas in Bagan with friends from Sri Lanka who are getting peices of information on their friends there. Apparently the 500 mph wave hit and took out concrete buildings easily. Wow.
Sorry to not post earlier, The Myanmar goverment does not allow access to email and phones were down in most places. I am back in in Bangkok now waiting to get out to Manila. You can imagine the scene here. Hope your holidays are going well. No doubt they were better than the coastal people here had. No there is something to be thankful for in the coming year...
Happy New Year,
Joe
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