Beauty of Myanmar

Introduction

Myanmar is a jewel that remained hidden for decades, but which is now opening up to the world, revealing astonishing natural beauty and an unparalleled cultural heritage.  

With a civilisation that's more than 2,500 years old, Myanmar (previously Burma) is a mysterious and magical land with magnificent temple architecture and timeless landscapes.  

Everywhere a visitor travels they will encounter welcoming and hospitable people.

Ayeyarwady River

Perhaps the most pleasurable way to see Myanmar, feel its pulse, live its legends and understand its history, is to travel the Ayeyarwady River. While enjoying the river's tranquillity, life on the riverbank offers endless fascination. 

From the small teak and bamboo dwellings, home to the excited children who run along the riverbank and the women purposefully going about their daily chores, to the ox carts cultivating fields, a river cruise gives a unique insight into the way of life of the country. Elegant monasteries rise above canopied trees, and ruined ancient temples reveal a wealth of historic treasures.

The Ayeyarwady River still remains Myanmar's lifeline, the people and economy ever dependent on its vital natural source. Ferries, bamboo rafts, barges and fishing boats, all ply their trade along these waters, at a slow relaxed pace - there is no need to hurry in Myanmar. Over the centuries Myanmar has developed around the banks of this mighty river making it the ideal vantage point from which to experience this once isolated nation.

Sights of Myanmar

Some 5,000 monuments, a testament to Bagan as a former centre of Buddhist spirituality and learning, are scattered over the 42 square kilometres of the Ayeyarwady River. 

The kings of Burma from 1044 to 1287 devoted their energy and considerable resources to building pagodas and temples. While their great palaces which were built of wood have since burnt down or crumbled away, hundreds of temples and pagodas remain on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River. 

As a World Heritage Site, Bagan stands alongside the other great centres of South East Asia, comparable only to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. 

Framed on both sides by the great Ayeyarwady River, the main concentration of monuments is around the original city on the bend of the river. No two monuments are the same. All are highly original in design and conception. Bagan cannot fail to move you. Ask any visitor who has witnessed the sun rise or set across these fields of glowing temples. The temples are now empty. 

Sacked by man or felled by nature, the great communities of chanting monks and reverberating bells have moved on. In its place is calmness and peace, and a vision of wonder at how man was capable of creating such a vast city of spiritual monuments.

Situated in the state of Kachin, Bhamo is a trading post close to the Chinese border, and has suffered frequent incursions over the centuries. Today it is home to a daily market which attracts many ethnic minorities to the town. You can often catch the colourful costumes and faces of Kachin, Shan, Lisu and Palaung people. 

Adventurous travellers might enjoy the local ferry boat trip from Bhamo to Mandalay, that takes you through lush jungle, bamboo forests and steep rock gorges.

The so-called Ledo Road etches out a route through the rocky mountain region of Kachin State. This old caravan route was upgraded in 1965 to link China, Myanmar and India but has since fallen into disrepair. Kachin is just opening up to tourism and will soon become an important destination. 

Magnificent mountain scenery, the great Ayeyarwady River and a fascinating mix of people from many different ethnic minorities are all features of this intriguing state.

Lake Inlè in Shan state is nearly 100km long and just 5km wide, with more than 200 villages on or around it. Most of the inhabitants are Intha people, Intha meaning "sons of the lake". The villages have been constructed on stilts over the water while floating gardens have been cultivated out of water hyacinth and silt from the lake that float on the surface. The water is crystal clear and a pictorial paradise for the professional and amateur photographer alike.

Inles most unusual feature is its extraordinary 'leg-rowers' who have developed the original, eccentric method of rowing with one leg. With the other they balance precariously on the back of their sampans leaving their hands free to drop their tall conical nets over passing fish which they can spot in the shallow lake.

Built along side the Ayeyarwady River, Mandalay combines Myanmar's royal history and the preservation of spiritual traditions. The royal heritage can be found at the Golden Palace Monastery with its exquisite wood carvings. The spiritual heart is enshrined at Mahamuni pagoda, housing the most venerated Buddha statue in Mandalay. The large seated image is so greatly revered that layer upon layer of gold leaf, placed as a mark of homage by a ceaseless flow of worshippers, have distorted the true shape of the statue. Only the highly polished face, gazing serenely is untouched.

With its wood-carving, stone sculpting, gold-leaf-making and cheroot rolling, Mandalay comes across as a kind of huge oriental bazaar. The shopping hub of upper Myanmar, this is where the colourful hill tribes come together and mingle with the townspeople. The nearby Sagaing Hill provides stunning panoramic views. The pagoda-studded hill at Sagaing ranks as one of the most imposing sights in the whole of Myanmar, with the view also taking in the Ayeyarwady River itself - a reminder of how the river serves as the very lifeline connecting all the major sights Myanmar has to offer.

60km south east of Bagan, Mount Popa makes a fascinating day trip. Home to Myanmar's most powerful 'nats' (spirits) it is an intriguing place. Over 1,500 metres high, Mount Popa has recently become a national park. On top of a rocky crag is a picturesque complex of monasteries, pagodas and shrines, which you climb via a winding, covered walkway. The 20 minute climb is steep and stiff, but it gets cooler as you get higher. The view from the top is one of the most beautiful panoramas in central Myanmar.

Surrounded on three sides by water, Yangon has a unique charm with its old colonial buildings, tree lined streets, bustling markets and tranquil lakes. Pagodas glisten among trees and houses and at the heart of Yangon is the mighty Shwedagon Pagoda…always bustling with people who come to worship, picnic, read or simply quietly absorb the surroundings."The Shwedagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a sudden hope in the dark night of the soul….." wrote Somerset Maugham.

One of the most magnificent monuments on earth, and said to date from the 11th century, the stupa is plated with more than 8,000 solid gold slabs and its tip is set with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and topaz. The Shwedagon is surrounded by more than 100 smaller stupas, pavilions and halls. Yangon, as the capital city of Myanmar, is a thriving sea port which is fast-changing with new buildings and busy streets as you would expect from a newly-emerging international city.

Other attractions include a selection of smaller pagodas, an intriguing national museum, and traditional markets which are worth a browse. The city can be comfortably visited in a day or two, allowing more time for exploring the richer sites of Mandalay and Bagan.

Cultures

Cuisine in Myanmar is a cross between Chinese and Indian and a typical family meal consists of liberal servings of rice, usually eaten with a curry. Although Myanmar's cuisine is influenced by India, as well as by China, the curries are slightly different from the Indian variety, involving fewer spices and more garlic and ginger. 

Meat is not eaten in large quantities. Chicken, fish or prawns usually constitute the main course and Burmese cooking makes full use of the wide variety of vegetables available throughout the year. Fish sauce and dried shrimps are commonly used as flavourings.

Two of the most typical Burmese dishes are ‘mohinga’ and ‘khaukswe’. The former is a thick fish soup eaten with slightly fermented rice noodles; the latter consists simply of noodles, most commonly prepared with chicken stewed in coconut milk. Desserts usually consist of fruit, including such exotic treats as mangosteens and the foul smelling but delicious durian. 

Green tea, as well as tea curiously brewed with milk and sugar, are the most usual drinks, while coffee has more recently become popular. Alcoholic drinks are generally not favoured in a Buddhist country, although there are local beers and strong liquors made from the juice of the toddy palm.

The national dress of men and women in Myanmar is a sarong called a 'longyi' which is wrapped around the waist and takes the place of trousers and skirts.

The longyi has many advantages being a very practical form of wear for the tropical climate. During the day it can be flapped about to cool the legs while at night it helps to keep out mosquitoes.

A pagoda is a bell-shaped structure providing a place for the faithful to pray or make an offering. The centre of the pagoda usually enshrines a holy relic. For this reason they are usually sited on elevated ground. A temple is a building in which devotees can enter to pray unlike a pagoda where worship is conducted outside.

Yangon is probably most memorable as the site of the Shwedagon pagoda, the biggest and the most important Buddhist shrine in the country. Rising from the top of a small hill, its golden spire soars to a height of nearly 100 metres to dominate everything around it. As you reach the top of one of the four covered stairways you see hundreds of pavilions and shrines, statuary images and throngs of devotees praying and making offerings.

The Mahamuni Pagoda can be found on the southern side of Mandalay. Pre-dating the foundation of the city but reconstructed in the late 19th century, this large shrine is approached by covered walkways lined with shops and astrologers’ booths. It houses the most venerated Buddha statue in Mandalay. The large, seated image is so greatly revered that layer upon layer of gold leaf, placed as a mark of homage by a ceaseless flow of worshippers, have distorted the true shape of the statue. Only the highly polished face, gazing serenely on the daily scene of religious observance, is untouched.

Ananda temple on the plains of Bagan, its name stemming from Burmese for “infinate wisdom of Buddha”, was completed in 1091. The centre is a vast cube dominated by four 9.5 metre high Buddha’s richly coated in gold. The vaulted passages around it are pierced with many niches.

Eleven kilometres upriver from Mandalay lies Mingun, home of the worlds largest uncracked bell and the largest unfinished pagoda.Started by King Bodawpaya in the early 19th Century the construction was abandoned at 150m high on the death of the King in 1819 and was subsequently damaged by an earthquake in 1838. Dwarfed by Mingun Pagoda is the beautiful white Settawya Pagoda built in 1811 containing a marble footprint of the Buddha.