A Beautiful Country and a Beautiful People... Myanmar

From May 16-21, 2016, Krissy, Zac, Nick and Tim did an 8-day/7-night bike, kayak, and walking tour with SpiceRoads through the country of Myanmar, otherwise known as Burma. Myanmar shares borders to the west and north with India, to the north with China, and to the east with Laos and Thailand.

Myanmar has a population of approximately 55 million people. It is slightly smaller in size than the state of Texas but geographically, it is very diverse with beautiful beaches in the south, rich farmland in the lake regions, arid terrain in the summer months in the central region, and lush, green mountains in the north.

What to call the country? Myanmar or Burma? Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries (including the United States) continue to use "Burma" because they do not recognize the legitimacy of the ruling military government and its authority to rename the country. After a discussion with our guide, Toe Toe, he explained that Myanmar is actually more inclusive of all ethnic populations living in the country whereas the use of Burma (which was established during colonial occupation) is more specifically derived from the Bamar people which represent only one ethnic group in the country (albeit the largest ethnic group at 68% of the total population out of 135 distinct groups). Outside sources will tell you that this is not accurate as the word “Burma” and “Myanmar” are etymologically the same; however, we opted to use Myanmar as that is how the local people seemed to refer to their country.

Buddhist Monks at a Temple in Bagan

Religiously, the country is 89% Buddhist, 4% Christian and Muslim, and 3% animist and other. The Buddhist influences are clearly evident throughout the country. We visited many temples when we were in Myanmar particularly in Bagan and learned much about the religion including these few interesting facts:

• The monks in Myanmar wear a dark red/burgundy robes while the young monks in training wear bright red robes. Nuns wear pink robes.
• While in Myanmar, we noticed that Buddha was depicted as skinny versus some of the fat Buddha’s we’ve seen elsewhere.  The skinny Buddha is Sakyamuri Buddha, the historical Buddha. The fat one or “laughing Buddha”  is what we most often see depicted in the West and is not really Buddha at all but an icon of a Chinese monk whom they believe was a reincarnation of the future Buddha.
• When visiting different temples, we noticed that Buddha has different hand gestures. Here’s what we learned: Both hands with palms out symbolizes protection from fear; Right hand touches the ground symbolizes when Buddha sat beneath a Banyan tree and gain enlightenment. Also, symbolizes Buddha’s connection to the earth and nature; Palm(s) up symbolizes the offering of teachings to the world; Both hands resting palms up signifies meditation; and Thumb and forefinger form a circle symbolizes public discourse on Buddhism.
• The Buddhists use a different calendar that is based on when Buddha passed away, 2554 years ago. The days of the month are counted in 2 halves, waxing and waning based on the cycles of the moon and always contain between 29 and 30 days per month. The years are based on solar years with the objective of synchronizing the lunar part with the solar part. It would be impossible to completely describe the entire Buddhist calendar in this blog post so if you’re interested in learning more, I would suggest searching for “Buddhist calendar” online.
• The Shwedagon temple in Yangon is the most sacred temple in Myanmar as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas.
• It is customary to circle the Buddhist stupas in a clockwise direction.
• It is important for Burmese Buddhists to know on which day of the week they were born as this determines their planetary post, as Wednesday is split into two (AM and PM). Each planetary post is marked by animals that represent the day and has a Buddha image where devotees pour water on the image with a prayer and wish.

Nick paying tribute to his birth day at the Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon

The Burmese food that we tasted on our visit was exquisite. We did need to be very careful about what we we ate and we did experience a few gastrointestinal issues but we loved the variety of food that we tasted along with the flavors, curries, and spices. If you like chilies and spices, you can’t go wrong. And their national beer, Myanmar beer, can be found everywhere and goes well with the food.

While visiting Myanmar, you will also hear a lot about Aung San Suu Kyi, who for 15 years was held under house arrest in Myanmar as a prisoner of conscience. Her life story is a source of inspiration for many of the people of Myanmar. Of the people with whom we interacted, they had many fond things to say about her work particularly in cleaning up the country and creating new economic opportunities.

On our trip through Myanmar, we experienced but a small slice of the country but what we did experience was completely transformational. Our visit included:

Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar located in upper Myanmar

In Mandalay, we attempted to see the sunset on Mandalay Hill, a 760 ft. hill but where thwarted by cloudy weather. It was still fun and interesting to see the city from the top of the hill and see all of the monks. We also saw the world’s biggest book, an area that contains 729 text-inscribed marble slabs. And before leaving, we took a walk across the longest teak bridge.

The "Largest Book in the World" in Mandalay

Nick, Tim, Krissy and Zac on the longest teak bridge in the world

 Bagan, an ancient city of temples also located in the Mandalay region

Bagan temples at sunset

Bagan is a wonderous vista of over 2,200 pagodas, stupas, and temples all dating back to the 12th century.  Bagan was perhaps one of our favorite places to visit due to the history of the city. Bagan is separated into New Bagan and Old Bagan. Anything outside the gates of the old city is new Bagan. We stayed in New Bagan near Tharabar Gate and spent most of our time touring the temples and pagodas of Old Bagan on bike. It would be impossible for me to share with you every site that we saw but the city is magical and since we saw it in off-season, we often had the run of the temples that we visited.

 Kalaw, a hill state located in the Shan state of Myanmar

Colonial Hotel in Kalaw

Our trip to Kalaw involved biking from Bagan to Mt. Popa and driving the rest of the way to Kalaw. Mt. Popa is a spiritual mountain for nat worship. Next to Mt. Popa is Tabletop Mountain, a 2418 ft. volcanic plug with a gilded Buddhist temple that is accessed by 777 steps which we climbed after riding the road to Mt. Popa. Kalaw was a hill station built by the British who were attempting to flee the heat of the plains. After our driver Soe Soe, navigated up a windy, narrow hill in the rain and dark for over an hour, we arrived in Kalaw in the dark. We would have loved to have spent more time in Kalaw. Alas, it was only a stop-over before our descent the next morning into the Inle Valley.

Table Top Mountain next to Mount Popa

 Inle Lake, which included a floating city located in the Nyaungshwe Township in the Shan state

Inle Lake is the second largest lake in Myanmar at 13.5 miles across and 7 miles wide. We stayed at the north end of the lake and took a boat across the lake and then kayaked through the stilt house villages and floating farms where the people grew all kinds of vegetables like tomatoes and squash in what was essentially a hydroponic garden. It was also magical to see the flat-bottomed skiffs propelled by the Intha people who use one leg wrapped around the paddle to drive the blade through the water.

 Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar and former capital located in the lower regions of Myanmar

Yangon was a sharp contrast to the rest of the country as it is not only the largest city but it is also much more modern and well-developed. The overall infrastructure (roads, Internet, buildings, commerce, etc.) seemed newer and more stable though we did have a couple of power outages while we were there. We only had a short time in Yangon and were exhausted from the rest of our trip so we visited the Shwedagon Pagoda and a market for buying goods and then retreated to our hotel to relax.

We learned so much while we were in Myanmar about the people, culture, language, food, and economy. We loved every bit of what we experienced. Our guide, Toe Toe, did an amazing job of sharing his experience and his love of the country. We feel so fortunate to have spent time in Myanmar and look forward to going back.

Face painting at the "Largest Book in the World"