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- 19. jan. 2018, 08:39
- ⛅ 30 °C
- Høyde: 65 m
- MyanmarMandalay RegionNyaung-UPagan21°10’28” N 94°51’54” E
Second day in Mandalay
19. januar 2018, Myanmar ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Today we travelled about 29 Kim’s outside of the city of Mandalay - surprisingly an area full of temples! Our first stop was at a very busy market - everything was available there, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, clothes, cosmetics - you name it, it was there. One interesting thing was the seller of bark from the Thanaka tree. The bark is pounded to paste and then used by the ladies and children to cover their skin. Not only does it moisturise the skin, it’s also an excellent sunscreen. We did wonder why the ladies were lighter skinned than the men and this is why. Next we went to a monastery to watch the 400 monks who lived there, line up for their second and last meal of the day - it was only 11:00 am! Usually, they have to walk out into the town to ask for donations of food and then bring it back to share with everyone. Today, however a local village was their donor for the day and they had all turned out in their finery to serve the food. Some of the monks were novices and were as young as 7 years old - seems harsh life for them. Apparently all boys are required to go and live as a monk for at least a week - our guide told us he only lasted 5 days! After that we visited a nunnery that ran a school for children from kindergarten through high school. Some of the children were orphans and would live with the nuns until they completed their education and then could choose if they wanted to stay or leave, other children were from poor families who couldn’t afford to pay for their education. Amazingly they were all learning English that day, from the youngest to the oldest.
Lunch time came and our guide took us and the driver to a “tea house”.....mmm. I can’t say we enjoyed our meal and Brian developed a touch of the Delhi Belly - the good news is that the meal for four cost only $4 and two Imodium sorted out his tummy problems.
After lunch we had a very short boat ride to cross over to an island where we were taken to two monasteries, one made completely of teak wood and the other one (a copy) but made from brick and then on to the ruins of a palace. We were taken there in an old cart pulled by the skinniest horse I have ever seen! There were no paved roads so the cart dropped into all the potholes it could find - a very uncomfortable journey. Once back on the mainland, we were taken to an old teak bridge that had originally been built in the 1200’s - not an easy walk as many of the slats were almost worn away, there were no guardrails and some of the uprights were rotten - no health and safety here, but non of the locals seemed to mind as they strolled along. The bridge was 2 kms long - some feat of engineering for the time it was built. As it is the dry season, you really don’t have to use the bridge and people live temporarily in the riverbed growing their crops, but once the rainy season comes, the riverbed overflows.
We were offered another sunset to watch, but declined as it was too early and hazy, so wouldn’t have been worth the wait.Les mer