MYANMAR IN PICTURES

Whether you call it Myanmar or Burma, there is no debate over how captivating and beautiful the country is. Looking for places to visit in Myanmar? Here is your fix of Myanmar travel photography for inspiration. Then go pack your bags.

Myanmar is an incredibly beautiful country, and the incredible cultural monuments and unique culture of the people make it one of the best countries to visit for travel photography. I’d put it right on top as the most photogenic country on earth (neck-in-neck with India, and just ahead of Ethiopia).

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Most places have names that simply tell you what they are called: Pretoria, Manchester, Hamburg, Daegu, Detroit, Kansas, Preston, Den Haag, Dundee – the list seems endless.

Then you get places whose names grab your imagination, grip it tightly and won’t let go. Every syllable spine-tingling. Names that make you want to give your boss the finger, pack your bags and book a one-way ticket.

I’m thinking of Ouagadougou, Lhasa, Kashgar, Srinagar, Safranbolu, Bukhara, Yogyakarta.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as we start our descent to Mandalay International Airport, please make sure your seat backs are in their full upright position and your tray tables are folded away .“

Mandalay. 
MAN-DA-LAY.
Every syllable made my spine tingle.

Looking out the window, I saw the airport was in the middle of nowhere. Scrubs and tall palm trees stretched to the horizon. I securely fastened my seatbelt. I had no electronic devices to turn off.

MANDALAY: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

We wanted to start exploring as soon as possible as we had less than 2 days in Mandalay. Even in Mandalay time waits for no one, contrary to appearances. Our hotel offers to get us a driver but we decline. We sure as hell don’t need a driver…

Soon after setting out the idyllic connotations to the name vanished like eagerness to work on a Friday. Somehow we expected an enigmatic version of Luang Prabang: laid back and exotic. Mandalay’s streets were gritty, the traffic crazy and walking around wasn’t fun.

The sidewalks had holes every few meters, big and deep enough for grown men to disappear into. It felt a lot more like being in India than in South East Asia. I must admit that I felt extremely disappointed during our first few hours in Mandalay. Our inspiration to travel Myanmar was running very low.

“Right now Mandalay is not ready for all the tourists. We don’t have enough rooms. We need more taxis.” Lawrence, the manager at Smart Hotel spoke impeccable English. Composed and with authority, Lawrence reminded me of the grandfather I had never known. During our stay we noticed how he made an effort to talk to all the guests, giving advice and making them feel at home. After our conversation, we understood why it took almost an hour to find a taxi to bring us back to the hotel. They don’t exist.

Myanmar is a country in flux and hasn’t been open for tourism for that long. More and more travellers are coming to get a glimpse of the old Burma. We were a few years too late to catch the old Burma, but we will join the choir by saying: GO NOW!!

THINGS TO SEE IN MANDALAY

There are a few sights worth seeing in Mandalay. However, the best sights in Mandalay are a little further afield.

SHWENANDAW MONASTERY

Before sunset Lawrence arranged for a driver to take us to the Shwenandaw Monastery, simply known as Teak Temple. This exquisite temple, entirely constructed of teak, was just what we needed to forget about our misadventures earlier on. 

Adorned with splendidly carved panels depicting Buddhist myths, this is the only original structure remaining from the original Royal Palace. Walking on the creaking teak floor and breathing in all that aged wooden mystery rekindled our curiosity and left us wanting to see more.

The main reason for visiting Mandalay however is not so much to see the city, but rather to use it as a base for the ancient capitals of Sagaing, Amarapura, Inwa and Mingun in the countryside surrounding the city. Lesson learned from the day before, we knew the best way to get around is with a car and driver. After breakfast, Lawrence got us a driver who was waiting outside in an old, white Toyota station wagon.

GOLD POUNDERS AND MAHAMUNI PAYA

At a workshop in the gold pounders’ district, we saw how lean, muscled men hammered away like machines. Each golden sheet is pounded (about a hundred sheets at a time) for about six hours until it’s thinner than paper.

When the back-breaking work is done women cut it into 1 square inch sheets before they pack and sell it to devout Buddhists. This gold leaf ends up on Buddha statues around town as a form of worship. We bought a few packs of gold leaf and continued to the Mahamuni Paya, Mandalay’s busiest temple.

The Mahamuni Paya is a hustle and bustle as thousands of devotees stream here each day to pray and apply gold leaf to the Mahamuni. Most of the gold leaf sold in the gold pounders’ district end up here on the Mahamuni.

So much of the shiny metal papers have been applied to the Mahamuni that his whole body is covered with a knobbly 6-inch layer of the precious metal. Only his shiny smooth face is still recognizable. I (only men are allowed to approach the Buddha and apply the gold) took one of our packs of gold leaf and added my nano millimetre of gold to his ever-changing, shapeless body.

DAY TRIP TO SAGAING AND AMARAPURA FROM MANDALAY

Before heading out on a day trip to Sagaing and Amarapura we stopped to see Buddhas come to life. They don’t simply descend from Nirvana or appear out of thin air but are chiselled, carved and polished out of white marble, somewhere west of the Mahamuni temple along the Mandalay-Sagaing road.

About 20km southwest of Mandalay, on a rocky ridge running parallel to the Irrawaddy River, lies Sagaing. It was the capital of the Sagaing Kingdom about 700 years ago before power shifted and the kingdom came to an end after only 50 years.

Today Sagaing is home to numerous monasteries. On the drive up towards Sagaing hill, we saw many young nuns dressed in pink wandering around.  U Min Thonze swallowed us wholly into its rainbow, crescent-shaped, cave-like structure full of buddhas, pastel-coloured tiles and mirrors

The golden Kaungmudaw Pagoda impresses with sheer size and simplicity. Sitting on the cool, marble floors contemplating the enormous golden dome I couldn’t help but wonder if the design was inspired by a woman’s perfect breast.

ICONIC U BEIN BRIDGE

Late afternoon we arrived at one of Myanmar’s iconic and most photographed sites: the U Bein bridge in Amarapura. At 1200 meters long, it’s the longest teak bridge in the world and ….well…it’s a bridge…made of teak. It is however extremely atmospheric and photogenic, especially in the late afternoon light.

This bridge is an iconic site for travel photography in Mynamar due to the nice lines, perspective, reflections and the constant flow of people walking across the bridge.

Make sure to arrive well before sunset to give you time to walk across the bridge. A big part of U Bein’s appeal is crossing the bridge with the monks, farmers, fishermen and other tourists and soaking up the atmosphere. Sunset doesn’t only draw the tourists, but a constant stream of locals cross the bridge on foot or on bicycles- all of them in that soft, warm glowing afternoon light. Your camera will thank you later. If silence were golden, my camera shutter didn’t get the memo about shutting up and getting rich.

For about 10 000 kyats, hire a boatman to row you out on the lake for the best vantage point. Relishing in the setting sun’s golden glow from the boat, I thought about expectations. Mandalay was not what we expected, perhaps because it’s so unlike anywhere else we’ve ever been. It simply is so different, so unique and so quirky that you can’t compare it to anywhere else. No matter what expectations you have before coming here, Myanmar will surpass it. We were happy that our journey had brought us here.

Check out prices and availability at Smart Hotel in Mandalay now
Car and driver: US $40 for the whole day

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PHOTOGRAPHY IN BAGAN

Temple – pagoda -temple – stupa – shop – shop – pagoda- pagoda -horse cart- house – hotel – stupa – temple- goat – monk – temple- stupa- stupa-horse cart – stupa- shop- stupa- stupa – stupa- stupa. That’s Bagan for you in a nutshell. A town within an ancient architectural wonder.

About 2000 pagodas and temples are scattered across the plains, and in that lays Bagan’s magnificence. You will be spoiled for choice. With 3 full days in Bagan, we chose a different mode of transport each day. Old school ( with emphasis on OLD) bikes, horse cart and e-bike.

The market in Nyuang U is a great place to start and is extremely photogenic. The vendors with thick thanaka make-up smoking bazooka-sized cigars and the staggering amount of fresh produce and Irrawaddy river fish on display make for great subject matter. While in the market we came upon a group of nuns collecting alms. (What is the collective noun for nuns? A virginity of nuns? A blessing of nuns perhaps? According to Google, it’s a convent of nuns)

PHOTOGRAPHY IS A GIFT TO SHARE

So we followed the convent of nuns back to their convent on our old bikes. Keeping our distance behind the pink line of women and then showing up uninvited they welcomed us with open arms. Although no one spoke any English we felt really welcome as they showed us around and even gave us a plate of green tea mixed with peanuts.

We really wanted to share something with them too, but alas we showed up empty-handed. That’s when we decided that the best we could do was to take Jin’s Polaroid camera and take some pictures of them. And so we took a polaroid of each and every nun, from the oldest to the youngest for them to keep. Watching their expressions as their pictures developed right in front of them was priceless, and one of the best experiences we’ve ever had on our travels.

Our chariot awaited the next morning after breakfast and all we had to do was jump on. The horse cart driver will take you around the most popular pagodas and show you some hidden ones where you’ll be the only people there. At sunset, he’ll take you to a pagoda which you can climb to watch the sunset over the splendour of the Bagan plains.

E-bike was by far our favourite way to see Bagan. Fun, fast and silent, the e-bike gives you the freedom to go where you please. Most hotels and shops around town will rent these out.