Tena Koe, its 7.30pm and I am in a luxury resort, having just missed the afternoon by crashing and having a seven hour nap. We are shortly out to dinner but all having been up since 4am (my room mate 3am) we won't be late.
We are in Bagan, after flying 90 mins from Yangon. We are 15km south of where the Allies crossed the Irrrawady/Ayeyerwadi - we flew over this mighty river.
I have given up on my travel diary and writing much here as there is too much. Yesterday afternoon we all glammed up for the second time that day and went off in style to the big dinner, only 500 guests this time. So the morning was the traditional Myanmar wedding ceremony and the evening was the 'western' dinner, with Pipi resplendent in a huge white western style gown and Ko Shei very snappy in a suit. During the evening they changed again and she was in blue evening gown.
We were not 'Vips' this time, others were. I was seated with a couple from Saffron St, by the Chinese Church in Greers rd, and their two delightful boys aged about 9 and 12 maybe. They have lived in Myanmar several years, currently in Mandalay. So it was fascinating to sit with them (and no one joined us) because they could read the Myanmarese menu fluently and describe each dish, and they had experience of society here and could put our experiences in perspective. The boys are home-schooled and very much like Diane and Jim's children.
First up on the menu was strips of skin of duck legs, you know, from the 'knee' down. The whole meal was quite alien to me, we had white crunchy seaweed, random bits of animals and seafood and a lot of unusual flavourings. I was glad not to be with my group who were chowing down.
We did very well in the formal part of the proceedings and sharing time with some of the guests.
So not much sleep.
We landed in Bagan around 8.15am and it was 37 degrees, hot and arid and the sun beating down - no steamy monsoon here. EVerything is quoted in US dollars, example we all had to buy a compulsory $USD 10 ticket to be able to see the shrines, and this internet is $USD1 for 30 mins and a bottle of water $USD.
Several of us had queasy tums so my loperamide was shared as well as used myself.
I don't think it was the food, just the combination of coming down off all this excitement of the past wedding days, lack of sleep and the heat.
So this morning wasn't really appreciated by me. We were picked up by a tourguide and bus, and taken to a local market. Yes its certainly for the locals in terms of full of fruit and vege for sale under shelter, crammed with people and sights and smells. The vendors of touristic stuff were very persistent, but relatively polite, grabbing my arms, painting my face with thanakha paste, following and thrusting fabrics at me. Never before was I so fluent in Maori.
I saw more of Nana and Grandad's items in the market, like the opium pipe, and plastic replicas of the ivory carvings of the little balls inside balls, lots of local black lacquer ware those little containers, and the ivory toothpicks with the tiny carvings on top, these ones plastic of course. - You buy? you buy? this is my shop, you buy? you just look ok this one very nice, you buy?
The tour guide also thrust at us countless statistics. The land is like arid barren cetnral Otago but instead of matagouri, shrubs up to 3m high, and in 42 square kilometres there are 4000 or is it 2000 temples and pagodas from the 11th century onwards. but many from before 13th century. They are just looming up out of the scrub. Given they are from the time of Ankor Wat and that Marco Polo came here to visit (see, I was listening some of the time) - they are truly a world treasure hidden.
The first complex was so hot, the pagoda gold laden and glaring in the sun, with no toilets in the complex and some of us needing to ' make business'. I left the group, navigated the wall of vendors selling maps, books, postcards and shrine offerings, and wondered if the necessity of using this local's toilets would make me worse. - It hasn't - I don't think that bog sees the bums of too many tourists.
SEcond was a little old pagoda with lots of wall paintings inside, and shade. Ko Shei and Pipi and the other two Buddhists in the group prayed at each shrine. By this stage I had to make a stand, and mentioned to the tour guide I want to go to the hotel immediately and not have lunch.
So, thankfully we did. I made up your miso soup and munched a couple of milk biscuits in the lap of luxury. MArble bathroom etc. Surrounded by such poverty as we saw in the streets around the market. Yup 11.45am I was in my luxurious bed, thinking it felt like 5pm. APart from waking for more miso I slept till 6.45pm, and I've just now renegged on going out for dinner. Tomorrow the party goes to a shrine with 770 steps, I kinda have another plan if I can afford it.
Its 8.10pm and I'd better find some kai, but do have more milkbiscuits and miso if needed.
love, M
