We'd spent the night anchored off Mingun. In the early morning light the mysterious, earthquake-damaged bulk of the Unfinished Pagoda looked particularly impressive. The Captain took the ship the last few miles downstream to Mandalay - perhaps one of the best-known city names in the world but probably one of the least-explored by Westerners. Part of that fame derives from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'The Road to Mandalay' which gained a new lease of life when performed as a song, originally by Oley Speakes in the United States of America. Of course 'Road to Mandalay' refers to the River Ayeyarwaddy which was the original (and perhaps still today) the best way of reaching Mandalay from the former capital of Yangon. The British linked these two cities with a metre gauge railway which, at one time, was the Pride of the East but today it is run-down and slow. Until recently, roads provided a poor alternative for long distances but there is now a dual carriageway road extending north from Yangon, although I've only travelled on a small section of it or viewed it from an aircraft. Flying is certainly the fastest way from Yangon to Mandalay, if not the most enjoyable.
After about forty minutes cruising downstream from Mingun, we passed a thriving small village constructed from bamboo right by the river on a sand bar.
At Mandalay, we once again moored mid-stream at a location usually called 'Mandalay Pier'. Our Fast Boats were moored side-by-side against the hull of a larger, unpainted ship tied up to the quay. All the Guests were, by now, quite used to being transferred ashore by our Fast Boats but this time we had the novel experience of also walking through the unpainted ship which appeared to be waiting for fitting-out. It should be an impressive craft when finished. Once again, the Guests were divided into smaller parties between a number of buses. I was in Bus 6, with the lady guide Nang.
We set off east on one of the city's main streets (26th Street, I think). Almost all the buildings are modern. The population of Mandalay is around two million but I always think it must be more because every street teems with the commerical life of Myanmar's second largest city.
One of the most noticeable features of the city is the wide, square moat around the brick battlements built to protect the Royal Palace. The battlements are a nineteenth century construction on the grand scale - each side of the square is 2.2 km in length. All the original palace buildings were wooden and destroyed by bombing during the second world war but a replica has been constructed which we were to visit later. We drove north keeping the moat on our right and then turned east. At the foot of Mandalay Hill, we stopped and transferred to a pickup truck provided with a tilt cover and longitudinal seating. This type of vehicle is used as a 'local bus' and they can be seen everywhere carrying amazing numbers of passengers, looking like an attempt to enter the 'Guiness Book of Superlatives' for largest number of people carried by a four-wheeled vehicle.
Our pick-up made the hair-raising climb up the zig-zag route leading to the summit of Mandalay Hill, where there's a temple complex. In bare feet, we entered a lift (elevator) which raised us to the level of the temple. The temple commands splendid views in every direction. Of course, serious pilgrims walk from the base of the Hill. There are wide, concrete steps (about 2,000 of them), covered with 'tin' roofs for this purpose and we saw plenty of Burmese using this route. I noticed that two Army Officers who arrived to pray at the main shrine, parked their Jeep near the lift and made use of it.
Next, having changed back to our bus, we went to the Kuthodaw Paya which was started in 1857. It has a central, golden stupa based on the Swezigon near Bagan. The entire Tripitaka, the Buddhist canon, is engraved on 729 marble slabs, each housed in a white-painted small stupa. This has been accepted by the 'Guiness Book of Superlatives' as the "world's biggest book".
The Shwenandaw Kyaung, usually called the 'Golden Palace Monastery' has an interesting history. It is the only original building from the Mandalay Royal Palace to survive. It is the building where King Mindon died and his son, Thibaw, had the whole building moved to its present site in 1880 as a monastery. The building thus avoided destruction by bombing in the second world war. As we came out, a party of high school students visiting Mandalay were just having the 'Group Shot' taken, prior to going inside the building. I couldn't resist taking my own 'Group Shot' which I showed to the Group Leader and some of the students.
We then passed through the battlements of the Royal Palace site and drove to the reconstructed Royal Palace, spending some time exploring the mainly empty buildings and touring an interesting small museum. It was about 11.30 a.m. by the time we were back on the bus and we drove to the Sedona Hotel, reputedly the best international hotel in Mandalay. I had stayed at the Sedona during an earlier holiday ('Far East 2'). This time, we all enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch in pleasant surroundings.
After lunch, the tour was to continue to see Gold Leaf production and the famous Mahamuni Temple, finishing at Amarapura and U Bein's famous teak bridge. However, the Doctor asked if I would like to visit Taung Be Lar School and I said 'Yes, please'. I had visited the places on the afternoon tour before and, although I'd have very happily gone again, the opportunity to see Monastic School No. 21 again was irresistible. I went with the Doctor and Sammi in an air-conditioned vehicle from the Sedona Hotel to the 'Road to Mandalay' River Station at Shwe Kyet Yet. The ship was already berthed there, having travelled downstream since putting the guests ashore at Mandalay Pier earlier in the day.
In ten minutes, I managed to shower and change and then the Doctor and I returned ashore where a 'local taxi', a rather dusty 4-door saloon was waiting for us. 'Air Conditioning' in these vehicles is achieved by winding all the windows fully open - actually, this arrangement suits me. We drove over the new road bridge and continued to the foot of the Sagaing Hills. Here, we turned left onto an unmetalled, dusty road with a number of religious teaching centres left and right. The road then entered open, undulating country which could have been miles from anywhere with just a few bamboo houses scattered around. We paused at one rutted junction whilst the Doctor and the driver considered the right route. As we set off again, the Doctor explained to me "The banyan tree is the marker". It was the right route and after passing a herdsman with his animals and some small businesses which seemed to be extracting and crushing stone, we came to the school building, set on a slight rise and with good views of the river downstream of Sagaing.
'Road to Mandalay' has provided renovation and other support to this school which serves a very poor rural area, but some later extensions funded by a local donor appear to have run out of budget before the work was complete. We had a look round the main school building and walked to a multi-purpose building a few hundred yards away labelled as a Voluntary Vocational Training Centre but also used by pupils from the school.
By the time we arrived back at the main school building, the stationery that the Doctor had brought with us had been laid out on a table by the teachers, ready for distribution. Each child was to receive two ruled exercise books, two pencils and a short plastic ruler. Doctor Hla Tun and I handed out the stationery to each child individually and gave the balance (to cover absentees and some stock) to the teachers. Some erasers and pencil sharpeners were also included in the stock left with the teachers.
The event was fully recorded by our taxi driver using my camera, including 'group shots' with the pupils proudly displaying their new exercise books.
We set off by car to return to Shwe Kyet Yet and the waiting ship. The taxi driver decided to return by a different route, which crossed the railway near a station. The Doctor said that there was time for me to take photographs, so I spent a happy half hour taking pictures around the station.
The station was called Ywa Taung and, although it's on a 'main line', a herd of cattle was grazing undisturbed up and down the station area. Just before we left, a freight train arrived, complete with a guard's brake van similar to those I'd seen in Thailand.
Back at the ship, I was pleased to have a shower and a bit of a rest - it had been a hot, tiring but very enjoyable day. In the evening, I was included in a dinner party on the top deck with a number of my new friends before the day was rounded-off by a display of 'Tribal Costumes of Myanmar' in the Observation Lounge, modelled by students from Mandalay and introduced by San. My 'nightcap' was a cup of tea in the Piano Bar and then I retired, to recharge both the camera battery and my own 'batteries', ready for the next day.
Photographs:
Arriving at Mandalay.
Mandalay Hill and the "World's Largest Book".
Shwenandaw Kyaung.
Taung Be Lar School.
Ywa Taung Station.
[Revised 19-Oct-2012]
