Weekend Biking Tour

For our first weekend of health in Mandalay we decided to head out on our bikes to do a little sightseeing. We arose bright and early to try to salve off the heat for a few hours. Its amazing how two hours makes all of the difference. The air was cool and even a little refreshing as the cars and motorbikes had not yet hit the road.

Our first stop was Mahamuni Paya (Burmese for pagoda). This pagoda is said to house the second most revered Buddha statue in Myanmar. During festivals and holy days the image is so popular that the caretakers of the pagoda have installed video cameras so people can pray to the video screen if they are not in view of the actual Buddha.

It is believed that adding gold leafing to a Buddha image brings merit and for some reason this image is an extremely popular target for merit-seekers. In Myanmar, only men are allowed to leaf an image and many of them come to Mahamuni. The image resulting from the hoards of gold-leafers is quite interesting. Apparently, only the lower half of the statue is allowed to be covered as the top half still shines its original gold and the details of its intricate necklaces and headdress are visible. The lower half, however resembles an amorphous blob. Little mounds of gold leaf sprout up all around the Buddha's torso, hands and legs. Some is said to be 15 cm thick! It is quite an odd site.

Aside from the gilded buddha, the pagoda is also the home of a few statues from the Khmer Empire. As usual, I had no idea what to expect when the Lonely Planet explained the bronze statues. For some reason I envisioned small, shiny statues that would resemble the carvings at Angkor Wat. I was wrong. These statues are as big as a human (or bigger), they are rusting through and falling apart. One is missing a head. They do have interesting features and an interesting story. The statues were taken from the Thais after one of the Burmese kings defeated the Thais in battle. It wasn't until later that they discovered that the Thais had commandeered the statues from the Khmer after winning a battle.

Our next stop on the tour was Kan Daw Gyi lake. Kan daw gyi means royal and this used to be the monarch's lake. We had also toured the kandawgyi lake in Yangon. Like the lake in Yangon, this one also sports a replica "royal barge" that is now a restaurant and karaoke bar. We did not come to the lake to look at the barge, we came to discover what kind of birds roamed the area.

By the time we arrived at the lake the weather was warming up and the sun was already intense. We spent a couple of hours being gawked at by the multitudes of locals who passed us by. We must have looked strange with our eyes glued to our binoculars.

After having our fill of birds we cycled around half of the lake taking in the scenery. For the first half of the ride, the lake is surrounded by nice looking restaurants and homes, but then suddenly these disappear and bamboo shanties come into view.

At the backside of the lake we ran into another pagoda (surprise!). It looked interesting and we decided to take a look. As soon as we entered a boy and girl who were playing on a tree ran to our sides and didn't leave us until we exited the compound. They were fond of staring and giggling, but they could not bring up the courage to answer our questions, even though we asked them in both Burmese and English. They loved having their picture taken and then to view it on the camera. They were cute.

After a Shan noodle lunch by a small roadside cafe we headed home along the strand road (aka the road that follows the Irrawady). By this time the sun was searing hot and most suitable for drying laundry and we witnessed many an article of clothing drying on the grass, chairs and even on the cement road (I'll never understand how this is thought to keep them clean). The Irrawady is a pretty impressive river. I am very excited to get on it and try to see some dolphins!

Later in the evening a few friends of ours picked us up on motorbikes to take us to another lake to view the famous U Bein bridge. This bridge is famous for being the largest teak bridge in the world. Now, my question is: Just how many teak bridges are there in the world? Regardless of its length, it's a pretty neat place to visit. The bridge itself is nothing spectacular, it looks like an old, decrepit bridge. What is worthwhile is all of the people watching and the amazing lake that surrounds the structure. The bridge connects a village to a larger part of the city and thus many people traverse it everyday to bring goods to the market or to buy goods at the market or to run various other errands.

On the bridge we tried toddy which I had always assumed was coconut wine (aka tuba in the 'Pines). In reality, the sweet wine is not made from coconut but from a coconut relative. The fruit comes in a small purple coconut shaped package but when you open it up there are 3 pieces of white fruit residing in pockets around a woody structure. I personally think coconut is much more tasty.

The lake surrounding the bridge is low at this time of the year and full of lillies and other water plants. During the rainy season the waters sometimes flood the bridge. That must be an impressive sight!