Mingalabar! Myawaddy, Mawlamyine & Yangon 2016

[katie23]

On the way to the Buddha, we stopped for petrol. (1000 k ~ 1 usd)


Nice smile from gasoline girl

[katie23]

During that day, different groups of people had different color motifs. Some wore red, yellow, green, black, etc. This group wore red.


More gangstas The building is a mausoleum for a famous monk, which we visited later.

[katie23]

Panorama shot

[katie23]

These girls were more traditionally dressed and saw them taking pics with their new phone.
I noticed a lot of teens/young adults with cellphones.



There's another Buddha which is under construction. It'll be bigger and better, according to my host-driver-guide.
You can see the beginnings of the face of the Buddha.

[katie23]

Start of ascent to Buddha no. 1. That's the Brazilian girl that I traveled with for the day. She's half black/white, and was traveling with her Swedish bf. She went to Sweden for studies, and speaks Portuguese, English & Swedish - it's great! They're a very nice couple - good folks. Walking with her is our driver-guide.

[baldrick]

There's another Buddha which is under construction

looks like a chinese style tourist attraction

[katie23]

Some views from the top of the Buddha


Peace be with you

[katie23]

Another panorama pic

[katie23]

View of the back of Buddha's head. That's the Swedish bf - the other half of the Brazilian-Swedish couple.


These were our guides: the driver and his wife. Good folks too.

[katie23]

looks like a chinese style tourist attraction

I didn't see any Chinese tour group in that city. Mawlamyine is not really a destination for foreign tourists, I think. Most of the people that I saw in that place were locals. The Brazilian girl was mobbed for photo requests from young ones. Maybe it's the first time that the locals saw someone with Afro hair. The Swedish guy was also asked for some photo ops. I didn't get any photo requests in that place - sad! Lol. Prolly bcos I looked local.

Phuketrichard said that he never got mobbed for photo ops in Myanmar. Perhaps because he's not a young backpacker anymore. I also saw other young foringga couples being asked for photo ops in Yangon.

[katie23]

Buddha's eyelashes... they're made of rebar.


There are some small chedis (?) scattered on the hillside.


From wikipedia
Win Sein reclining buddha at Mudon: 29 km south of Mawlamyine is the world's largest reclining Buddha at Mudon. It is approached by a roadway with 500 life size statues of Arahant disciples of Buddha and a hall whose chamber walls display scenes of Buddha's lifetime, and the underworld.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawlam...uddha_at_Mudon

[katie23]

Inside the Buddha, there are scenes about the underworld and about Buddha's life


Did Buddha have many women? I don't know much of his life story as I've forgotten much of my Asian studies/history.

[katie23]

There's also a place inside the Buddha where people can buy/donate tiles to continue the construction of the place. The floor of the place was plain cement in some areas and I guess the monks want tiled floors.

[katie23]

There were lion guards outside to protect the place


This is the mausoleum for the monk who started this place.. notice the queue...

[katie23]

So we went inside and saw some folks praying


This was a statue of the monk, the one who founded the place.

[katie23]

There's a place at the back where people can bathe. Separate areas for women & men.


After touring the giant buddha, it was time to head for the bus station and the night bus to Yangon. But first, a quick feed at a roadside eatery. I think that was curried chicken and some veggies.

[katie23]

This was the night bus to Yangon. VIP bus, 3 seats per row. I think it was 13 usd for the 6h trip.


The seats could be reclined, and I had a good sleep. They woke us up halfway in case we needed a feed (duh!) or use the loo. I used the loo. It was a squat toilet, sorry no pics as I was too sleepy. Heh.


Yangon pics to follow, I haven't resized & uploaded them to PB. To be continued...cheers!

[BaitongBoy]

Buddha's eyelashes... they're made of rebar.

Might catch on, eh Katie?...Would last your whole trip, but may be tough on the bedsheets...

Great pics once again...

Cheers...

[Phuketrichard]

thanks for the story line.
i love seeing what new comers to Burma choose to photograph, I have been so many times now, ( that plus living in Thailand so long), its all normal

[katie23]

^cheers, Richard. Temples and Buddhas are not common sights for me, but churches and grottos are. Same same but different. Sometimes I get "templed out" too.

Will try to post pics from my Yangon trip last year. Let's see if my crappy net holds.

Grrrr. The links aren't working and my net is @#$%%. Better luck next time...

[katie23]

Ok, let's see if my net allows me to post pics this time.

This was my room in Yangon, ~25 USD, Myint Myat Guesthouse.


It had a/c and I even had my own television!


And it had a Western toilet! Yay! I HATE squat toilets - I should buy the "shewee" if I travel again to the mainland. Heh.

[katie23]

The staff allowed me to check-in early. I think I arrived before 7am, as I had just arrived in Yangon from Mawlamyine via the night bus. I was also given breakfast - simple, but was okay for me.


The GH was on the 9th floor (8/F for the Brits) of a commercial building. The views from the common area (reception + dining) were nice.

[katie23]

These pics were taken later during the day, after I had rested. More views.


Trucks carrying water-crazed ppl - it was songkran/thingyan.


Panorama view

[katie23]

This was my lunch - fried egg noodles w/ chicken. Not the best fried noodles that I've had, as the noodles were soggy. The GH was in a residential area, around 25 min from the center/ Sule pagoda.


I was eating quietly on my own, then the staff, who were having a drink during their off-time, invited me to join them. These guys were very kind and accommodating, and could speak good English. I later learned that two of them were Christians (not Buddhist) - they had Christian/Western names, which I thought were just nicknames. Turned out that those were their real/baptized names.

Please DO NOT QUOTE this post.

[BaitongBoy]

Cheers, Katie...Didn't know "veils" were mandatory there...Heh...