Gallery: Myanmar's exquisite landscapes
A century on and Rudyard Kipling’s sentiments hold true: Myanmar, as Burma is now known, is a sensory feast of chaotic city streets, centuries-old temples and remote hillside villages. It’s a devoutly religious land, where monks smoke cigarettes on the beds of crowded trucks and the citizenry continues to worship nat, spirits left over from pre-Buddhist times.
There’s virtually no Western influence in Myanmar. There are few cars or paved roads. Myanmar’s isolation is both its charm and its tragedy. The country’s stagnation is due to almost 50 years of rule by an intensely xenophobic military junta that stamps out virtually any political opposition. But behind the government neglect lays a country of endless charm, picturesque landscapes and a people of epic friendliness, something I discovered during a two-week journey from Mandalay to Yangon.
U Bein teak bridge, outside Mandalay, is the most photographed spot in Myanmar (it’s featured on the cover of the current Lonely Planet), and for good reason. It’s stunning. Despite the tourists -- and there are many -- sunset at U Bein is a must-see.
At U Bein, hire a boat to get the best photographs. The drivers know the good spots, like this one.
From Mandalay I took a boat down the Irrawaddy River, Myanmar’s lifeblood, to the temples of Bagan. Our boat left at 5:30 am so we were able to catch the spectacular sunrise just as fisherman started their day.
Burmese monarchs built the more than 4,000 temples of Bagan from the 11th to 13th centuries. Today, thousands of temples remain, covering 50 square kilometres of dusty plain. At some of the more famous temples, visitors are hassled to buy paintings and trinkets, but escape is easy.
Golden Shwezigon Paya at Bagan.
I stumbled upon this strange scene at the base of Mt Popa, near Bagan. A local said the director of a Buddhist school was distributing donations by throwing bills from a balcony -- probably not the best way to spread the wealth.
Each bill is worth about US$1, and there were hundreds of them. That’s a big deal in a country where per capita income is about US$1,200. Grown men literally tackled children to get their hands on a single note.
Kalaw, a former British hill station, is a charming village in Shan State known primarily as a trekking base.
Over the course of three days, my group, led by veteran guide Robin Singh of Golden Lily Guest House, hiked nearly 60 kilometres from Kalaw to Inle Lake through hillside villages on trails made red from iron oxide.
One day we ate lunch at the house of an 84-year-old medicine man. According to Singh, the medicine man “once killed three tigers with a musket gun. And ate them. He says it tastes very strong. Stinky.”
Village children checking out their photos on a hiker’s camera.
A child hides her face from the sun. The yellow paint is thanaka, made from the juice of ground bark and used as both make-up and sunscreen.
Local women on the trail to Inle Lake.
Inle Lake is the epicentre of life in central Myanmar. Around the lake’s weedy banks, houses are built on chopstick-like stilts and the only means of transport is longboat.
A tea shop in downtown Yangon, the former capital known as Rangoon during British rule. Tea shops are hubs of social activity in Myanmar.
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