They went out into the glaring sun. The heat rolled from the earth like the breath of an oven. 'Oh dear, this heat, this heat. It's too terrible to have to walk about in this sun every day'.
So wrote George Orwell in his novel 'Burmese Days'. And it's just how I felt . We were in Myanmar in February and it was HOT. But it was exhilarating to be here in a country long-closed to the outside world. We are two of an expected 5 million visitors this year, keen to discover its ancient culture, explore the diverse landscapes and find out how the people feel about their future.
YANGON: city of 6 million people
First stop, Yangon (formerly Rangoon) the commercial hub, full of chaotic traffic, colonial buildings and people, millions of them. Here are two of my favourite buildings.
Yangon City Hall
The Secretariat where the 32-year old Burmese Nationalist leader Aung San was assassinated in 1947; fortunately the building is being restored as a museum and cultural centre, while many others of this era are being demolished.
The Bogyoke Aung San market is a vast emporium of stalls selling handicrafts, jewellery, clothes, lacquerware, wood and bamboo items, tacky souvenirs and food. I had fun inspecting lots of jade jewellery and even bought a beautiful Burmese ruby ring.
The spiritual heart of Myanmar is the Shwedagon Pagoda, a dazzling labyrinth of shrines, pavilions, and temples built on a hill overlooking Yangon; its glitzy bell-shaped stupa can be seen for miles. It's the most visited site in Myanmar and I think every tourist in the country was there when we visited, though Steve was somehow able to get a shot of me alone.
It's important for Buddhists to know the day on which they were born and there are special corners at the pagoda, each representing a day of the week. I gravitated to the 'Sunday' corner and dutifully washed Buddha three times.
Bagan has one of the most important collections of Buddhist architecture in the world - hundreds of temples, pagodas and stupas more than 1,000 years old strewn across the dusty, scrubby landscape. Our guide explained that there are so many because when someone wanted to curry favour, ensure success or give thanks, they donated a stupa or temple. Here is a selection.
Watching the sun rise over Bagan is very popular. I have to admit I am not one for sunrises so this is Steve's photo.
Horse and cart is the best way to explore Old Bagan though hiring motorbikes is popular too.
Visiting local markets is always a great way to see how other cultures live. Here are three views of a market in Bagan.
Note the woman's face paint. This is known as 'thanaka' and is a sandalwood comestic paste reputed to keep the skin healthy and protect it from the sun. The women often paint decorative stripes and patterns with the paste.
Following the market visit, our guide invited us to a wedding of a friend of his. All guests received a fan with the bride and groom's name, occupation and wedding date. What an experience.
More pagodas. A cliche perhaps but Steve had fun when he saw the image in my glasses.
Monks kept asking us to have our picture with them - evidently they were fascinated by my fair hair and Steve's height! These particular monks were from Upper Burma and rarely saw tourists so we were a bit of a novelty.
On the road again we passed this peaceful scene.
It was a privilege to visit the village of Min Nan Thu near Bagan and be shown how the people lived. Here, plums are being dried.
Everywhere we went, the people were always friendly and happy to see us. I especially loved the children.
To finish the day we watched the sunset on the Irrawaddy.
MANDALAY
The heat was getting to me - more temples and pagodas. I envied the dog.
The 200-year old 1.2 kilometre long U Bein teak bridge is a much-photographed site. Its charm escaped me but hundreds of tourists were clustered here to watch the sunset either walking over it or watching from boats.
GLIMPSES OF MYANMAR
Throughout our travels we enjoyed watching artisans, farmers and people going about their daily work.
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| Making peanut oil |
Weaving
Praying to the Nats- Burmese ancient animist spirits
Dyeing cloth
Winnowing sunflower seeds
Fishing
Havesting seaweed
The floating gardens at Inle Lake
A CONTRAST
We visited a typical Myanmar tea room where locals go for breakfast, lunch and dinner and all times in between for tea, noodles and sweet goodies.
We had delicacies such as tapioca and sago slices and mushy purple bananas
We had a decadent afternoon tea at the posh Strand Hotel with its colonial-era architecture, palms, rattan furniture and ceiling fans - rubbing shoulders with the ghosts of Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward.
The Strand's version of lemon meringue pie
After two weeks alternating between the unforgiving sun and arctic-airconditioned hotels, we were totally exhausted but have never-to-be forgotten images and experiences of an amazingly diverse country and its friendly, welcoming people.
Of course my account needs to have a sunset shot to end, so here it is (courtesy of Steve).
