Once a key part of the historic overland trade route between India and China, Burma (Myanmar) is seemingly frozen in time. Its mist-shrouded lakes, ancient Buddhist temples, and multiple cultures remain largely unspoiled by the modern world. It is only now emerging from decades of political and economic isolation.
Our trip began in Rangoon (Yangon) with a visit to a gigantic reclining Buddha and an adjoining monastery, where a chance meeting with an aged monk provided me with a very special memory. Later we had a mesmerizing sunset experience at the Shwedagon Pagoda, whose dazzling gold stupa has dominated the city’s skyline for a thousand years.
We then flew to Mandalay, where we experienced monasteries, nunneries, remarkable pagodas, and explored village life.
From there we flew to the ancient capital of Bagan, a remarkable religious center that ruled much of Southeast Asia from the 11th to the 13th century. Devotees built more than 10,000 temples, pagodas, and other religious structures on the vast plain east of the Irrawaddy River. Today, the remains of more than 2,200 monuments are still left from the “Kingdom of the Temple Builders.”
We then flew to remote Inle Lake, where daily life unfolds among stilt houses and floating gardens set over tranquil waters. There we met the Intha people, who navigate the waters using a unique leg-rowing technique.
I added a personal two day extension mainly to travel to the Mon State and capture a sunset photograph of the Golden Rock, a world wonder and important Burmese pilgrimage site, accessible only by scaling a mountain in a flat bed truck.
The Burmese culture is infused with ancient and sacred traditions, like morning alms for monks and offerings to spirits called nats. The Burmese people are a warm and welcoming people, laboring to build a better life with the new opportunities now appearing in their lives.
