We spent a second day seeing the sights of Mandalay by boat and horse cart. We visited a beautiful 200 year old monastery made of carved teak wood, built on teak pillars. But I have to say that the monks there are not very egalitarian.
We also went to an elite modern monastery. In general, any boy who wants to be a monk can do so, but at this monastery, the boys have to be referred by their teachers. They study Buddhist texts in the original Pali language but no secular studies (kind of like a yeshivah). Because they study so much, the boys do not have to go out every day for food. Instead, the monastery provides some meals. We were there in the late afternoon and a man was stir frying in the biggest wok I have ever seen with a paddle the size of a boat oar. Also, there were piles of sliced vegetables that I knew would drive Joe crazy.
From Mandalay we flew to Inle Lake, a huge lake known for its floating gardens and the fishermen's distinctive style of rowing. They need two hands for fishing, so they row with one leg while perched on the other.
I had already seen a lot of floating villages which usually means houses built on stilts or sometimes houses on pontoons. But at Inle Lake there are real floating gardens. There is some plant that has large balls filled with air. They put down a bamboo frame and cover it with these plants. Then they can put soil on top of that and grow plants. The gardens are solid enough for people to walk on. I saw this but don't believe it. Also, you wonder where some of the English names come from.
From Inle Lake we flew back to Yangon for one more day to walk around and see the colonial architecture. It was a very packed nine days in Myanmar. Here are a few more random things that I saw.
 |
| Yangon taxis. The driver on the right is resting in the passenger's seat. |
 |
| Me at Bagan |
 |
| Village children |
 |
| How you get oil from peanuts. |
 |
| The final word from the monks. |
No comments:
Post a Comment