Mandalay & The Muddy Irrawaddy

Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, is home to over 1.6 million people and was a complete 180 from the serene Inle Lake. Seated on the Irrawaddy river, Mandalay is a hub of commerce & religion and is the last royal capital of Burma. Our bike tours around the city, in the two days we visited, really showed many sides of the current Myanmar culture. The stark differences between the wealthy modern city, and the abject poverty of those on the outskirts was difficult to stomach. Old and new ways sat side by side where in one field a farmer was sitting atop a huge diesel tractor, tilling his land, while his neighbor walked alongside an ox cart, slowly achieving the same results. 

In Mandalay, we visited the largest Monastery in the country, where over 1,000 monks live, practice and learn about Buddhism. Monks in this Myanmar are treated like royalty, the whole country pitches in with donations of all kinds to keep the monasteries up-kept and the monks fed. It is an understatement to say 'it takes a village.' 

Following a sunrise cycle among the fields that boarder the Glass Palace, we loaded onto an overnight boat to head 115 miles down the huge Irrawaddy River to Bagan. We took in the desert scenery, read books and relaxed before anchoring up for the evening to sleep along the banks of the Irrawaddy. We visited the remote village of Yandabo, known for their clay pots. During the rainy season, most of the village floods to waist level when the river swells past its banks.

In Mandalay we enjoyed a few bike tours through the magnificent and plentiful pagodas

Kristin pitched in with the local ladies cutting cigar filters made from corn husk

Here, fellow B&R rider, Dennis shares their pic with the local rug rats 

Kristin passing Pagoda after Pagoda

After our ride up river on the East bank of teh Irrawaddy, we take a lazy cruise back to the city of Mandalay

And kick off our shoes and enjoy local beer and cigars

And look back at all the pointy pagodas we passed

Nice group shot on the back of the boat

Refreshed and out for another day of riding, we stop in at a huge monastery and all have to cover our legs with the traditional longyi

Monks of all ages live at the monastery and study Buddhism

In the area we find some ornate woodwork

And more silk weaving

Here soma very ornate and decorative silk on the loom

On our final morning we went for this sunrise bike ride among the heavy fog and mist

The photography was dramatic but tough

As the sun came up and the milky mist hung around

Long light in the fields offered some unique shooting subjects

Here a local man builds shrimp nets

In one of the villages we rode through, monks collect food door to door on their daily call for alms

And the village wakes up as people head out

On various means of transport

Oxcarts were not uncommon among the moto scooters

Kristin made friends all along the way

Aboard the Irrawaddy Princess II we settle in with cold drinks for the lazy boat down river

Dad reads, or maybe is just resting his eyes

While Kristin watches the dramatic scenery

Some impressive pagodas as we work our way South

For lunch, our main local guide, Cho Cho, shows us how to make  Burmese Tea Leaf Salad

The boat pulls ashore for us to visit the village of Yandabo – nice hand rail, no?

Children run the streets and adults make clay pots

And of course there's no shortage of very wise Buddhist monks

Kids of all ages play in the school yard

And of course there are more beautiful faces among the crowd

Clay pots dry before they get fired

After the 'kiln,' pots turn red

Here a villager demonstrates her wheel skills

Chickens and roosters run all around the dirt streets

And ingredients for tasty Burmese food dry in the sun

I think this was the favorite face of the trip, sporting some uber hip ray bans 

Sun starts to get low behind the local pagoda

Back on the Irrawaddy we enjoy some dramatic light on the tranquil river

And the sun sets for our cocktail hour

Buddhist flag flies from the bow of the boat

Last light on the ship as we anchor on shore for the night