22/1/14 - Tan Kyi Taung - Bagan

Wednesday 22 January, 2014

Tan Kyi Taung - Bagan

Looking toward Bagan at dawn

Bagan is meant to be the highlight of the cruise and it does not disappoint. There were once over 10,000 pagodas in this area, now there are around 3000 which is still a most impressive and amazing sight. Our morning tour takes us to Shwesandaw Stupa where in one of the side buildings is an old, reclining Buddha image - not the glitzy kind of statue we found in Yangon, but a seemingly, good to honest ancient Buddha. We climb the VERY steep steps up the stupa and take in our first gaze across the landscape of Bagan - astonishing! What it would have looked like 800 -1000 years ago when these stupas were first being constructed, goodness knows, but today it is quite fabulous.

Next, on to Dhamayangyi Temple. This is the largest temple in Bagan and was built by a wealthy prince as atonement for murdering his father, elder brother and wife in order that he should be king! The brick construction is extraordinary - they didn't use mortar but instead the stone masons had to make sure that every brick fitted precisely to the bricks around it. The story goes that the prince would try and put a ??? Between the bricks and if he could, he would have the hands of the stone mason cut off!

A brief stop at the Khemeinga Pagoda Complex where we are surrounded by small stupas each with a small Buddha inside then on to the Ananda Temple - the masterpiece temple of Bagan, containing numerous artifacts. next to the temple is also an brick monastery where there are some stunning murals inside a small building.

This place is amazing - a truly wondrous landscape. We knew it was meant to be special, but it surprised us just how special it actually is - again, it is somewhere where pictures do not do it justice - you need to visit to get the 'vibe'.

The afternoon takes us to a lacquerware factory. We expected this to be a bit 'ho hum', but again we are surprised at how interesting the process is - from stripping cane down to its thinnest strands which are then wound round and round to form the various shapes. The bamboo is then smoothed and covered in lacquer from a special lacquer tree and then left to dry in an underground cellar for up to a week. The lacquering and drying process is then repeated up to 12 times! So, yes, a piece can take 3 months to be made before it is then etched with the desired pattern before having colour applied to the etching. Depending on the number of colours, this process can again takes a couple of weeks while they wait for each colour to dry and set. A large piece can take up to 6 months to make!

After some shopping (Rose a teapot and jewelry box, Bronwen a bangle, Steve an owl - guess who came out best!) We head off to climb a stupa to watch the sunset - simply fabulous!

Now back to the boat to freshen up before cocktail hour and dinner. After dinner we are treated (the word is used a little loosely) to a puppet show on the sun deck. The show was vaguely amusing and one had to admire the quality of the puppets and the skills of the puppeteers, but to the untrained ear and eye, the sixteen (yes, sixteen) dances were a tad repetitive.

Bed!