Great motorcycle ride through Bago, Myanmar.
Myanmar's tourist industry is growing, and the locals are proud to show their land to the outside worship. At the small city of Bago, a few hrs easterly of Yangon, I encountered Kyee Maung (pronounced Chee Mwah). However, he does more than just make an excursion to the places of interest and wants to give his visitors more than just a fleeting glimpse of Bago.
Maung uses his links in the congregation to work his way into the everyday lives of many locals. Now if you are Kyee Maung, very! Thought I' d be sharing some of the high points of the trip he gave me through Bago and the area. Though it is the conversation we have had and his opinions about Myanmar's recent past that have been particularly pronounced, this photographic essay will hopefully give you a good impression of some of the intriguing things he has shown me.
Begin the afternoon with the Shwemawdaw Pagoda, the major attraction in Bago. Of course Kyee Maung knew a little bit of a knack and took me through the doorway where I didn't have to buy a foreigner's admission card. May Kyee Maung showed me her dormitories where they are sleeping on the ground with no barrier between them.
So it was dinner now. Bago's major industry is the production of cigarettes and cigars. Worked at such a past tempo that there was still gossip and gossip left (and some gossip when they said I look like Leonardo DiCaprio). Bago has many convents, like most towns in Myanmar.
Not some old serpent, a holy reborn one! The locals came and stared at the serpent, said one or two prayers and then threw some cash at it. Maung Kyee said to me that the serpent hadn't had anything to eat for six month and was probably getting anxious. Some of the most popular attractions of Bago are the Four Buddhas (called Kyaik Pun Paya), one of which points to every direction.
Near the Four Buddhas we halted at a wood carving plant. I' ve been informed that most wood carvings are sold to China. On the way to our next stop we made a small side trip to a typical bar. Maung Kyee was very happy to show me the roasted rats and the roasted cats that are regarded as a great addition to the sap.
I discovered that every trip through a town in Myanmar must contain several different types of eagles, and so it was off to another one in Bago. It was interesting because you could go into it where there were Buddha seated sculptures. It was then for the " clandestine temple ", a moniker that Kyee Maung gave her for no other purpose than not being in a travel guide.
It is one of the holiest places in Bago and is full of legends. Apparently, the old recumbent Buddha (technically named Shwethalyaung Buddha) was constructed more than a thousand years ago as a devotion to a king who took Buddhism to the pagans in the area who worshiped wicked deities.
Not far from the old lying Buddha is the new lying Buddha. However, as the Bago setting was sunny and on a very bustling working sunny morning, it was a nice and tranquil place to end a splendid trip with Kyee Maung.