Mandalay

22^nd April 2013

We weigh anchor at 6.30am, and are treated to a very special sunrise. We will be sailing up the river until after lunch when we will berth on the outskirts of Mandalay, Shwe Kyet Yet village, where The Road to Mandalay have their main base, mainly because it is accessible to the ship all year round.

To fill in the morning, a number of activities are planned. First up is a presentation from the ship’s doctor on the social contribution the company (and he) , makes to the Burmese community. It  is a very interesting presentation, and shows how businesses must work with the community in these countries to give something back, when there is so much need. The main work they are involved in includes, the provision of school buildings for needy communities, assistance with payment of teachers for high school education, supply of materials for students like pencils, books etc, and a significant input to the supply of medical care for those in areas where the ship operates from. They have a free clinic at the main base in Mandalay, for people to come for care when the ship is in port.

At 11am, we have a cooking demonstration from the Head Chef, up on the top deck. It is very well presented and we will certainly try the curry prawn recipe we were given.

After lunch, we are touring again, this time by bus into the main city of Mandalay. It is more like the Burma we were expecting, a bit more basic, roads not so good, and more people living at a much more simple level. Because it has been so dry, it is also dusty, and it is very hot.

Our first stop is the Mahamuni Pagoda. At this temple there is only one Buddha stature, and people can buy and add gold leaf to the statue for good luck. It is now many times its original size as layers of gold leaf are added.

Next we are off to see a workshop making gold leaf by hand. It is a grueling process, but keeps people employed. The process of making the paper which separates the layers of gold leaf being beaten, takes 3 years ! It takes about 50 hrs of hard physical work to reduce the gold down to the thickness used.

We then went to the Shwenandaw Monastery, an old wooden building made of teak, that was originally the residence of the last Queen.

Following this, we went to see the Kuthadaw Pagoda , the site of the Worlds’ largest book, where the entire Buddhist scriptures are carved into marble slabs and displayed in 729 white pagodas.( there are 2 pages in each pagoda, one on each side of the slab).

Each of these white structures contains two pages of the scriptures carved in a marble slab

Slab with scriptures engraved in the face

 Scale model of the site

A photo opportunity, but unfortunately, not a visit inside was our next stop outside the walled old city, where the palace is located. It is surrounded by a huge moat, occupies and area 2 km square, and is now occupies by the Military. Whilst it is the biggest site in Mandalay we are told that there is not a lot to see beyond the walls.

Palace moat

Back on the bus having taken our photos, we are taken to a rough old dirt road lined with people making carvings out of marble. The latest power tools make working on the marble relatively easy, but OH & S rules here are obviously different from home, as workers are coated in white marble dust, and no breathing masks can be seen.

Polishing is still are labour intensive process.

It has been a big day, and we are now on our way back to the ship, or at least we thought we were. One last stop is added to the itinerary, at short notice, a visit to the Worlds’ longest timber bridge. It is only a footbridge but is very long, and is built from teak, taken from two temples in the area that were destroyed to provide the timber. It looks like it needs a bit of repair, but we walked out on it a few hundred metres.

local fleet near the bridge

Now we really are on the way back to the boat, and we are all looking forward to a cool drink to get the dust out of our throats.  After a nice cool shower and a few beers we are back to normal and ready for dinner.

During dinner a strong squall came through. There was lots of activity on the upper deck securing furniture etc., not a lot of rain though.