nothing twice;: Travels: Alone in Myanmar II

25th July 2012 - Day 05A: Finally alone for a bit.

Had an alright sleep, but as the environment is new, I woke up early. White House Hotel serves breakfast on its rooftop, and that's when I discovered the hostel is really not as small as it seems! I climbed endless flights of stairs before I got to the "Energy Station". View from Level 9 or 10.

The poor dude living downstairs...

Buffet breakfast. Nothing fancy, nothing special. Just traditional food, toast and a mix of fruits. The variety is huge though! Upon arrival, they would serve you toasted bread with sliced bananas inside. They call it "banana cake" but it's just bread. The bananas were awesome though, I love bananas haha!

Finished my breakfast before Stanley and Wei Chang finally came up. I stayed with them for a moment for a chat, and then went back to my room to change.

I got ready and waited for the guys at the reception area. One of the staff (probably someone in the family) preparing maps for the residents. I saw the effort they put in their family business - the old maps were coloured in with colour pencils, but for these new maps which they printed, they prepared stickers to mark the locations; I also saw the owner and his niece preparing new signs to put up.

Waited for really long and the guys didn't come down, so I went upstairs to find them. It was my last full day in Myanmar and I was really eager to get out and see the place. Fat cat lazing around...

Off we go! We decided to go to Yangon University and Inya Lake to see Aung San Suu Kyi's house (when she was under house arrest). 2 PRC ladies from our hostel tagged along.

Our driver. When he knew we were going to Yangon University, he revealed that he himself graduated from Yangon University with a degree in Physics. He is 58; his wife graduated from Yangon University with a degree in Biology, while his daughter is studying law in Yangon University now.

Isn't it awesome, that when you travel, you meet people and get to know their stories? Sometimes you will meet them again, and other times you might never see them again. But who cares? To have crossed paths even once is amazing enough.

We finally arrived at Yangon University, alma mater of General Aung San, as well as Ne Win. It is the oldest University of Myanmar, set up by the British and modelled after Oxford and Cambridge.

Later on, we found out it was actually not open to visitors, haha!

Their department of adminstration and finance.

Sneaked in...

Archives.

For the first time in my life I appreciated NTU.

Department of Physics. It was probably their holidays, so the university was rather empty.

The Department of Arts.

Because it was so empty, it was kind of creepy. With the slight drizzle, there was a quiet creepines to the entire place. It didn't help to know (from Stanley, thanks) that many students died here during the 1996 student protests.

Department of Zoology. Cool!

From Level 2.

Their hostel. They have quite many halls, but this is Pinya Hall.

We strolled over to the Central Library.

The Central Library. A man shouted at me when I snapped a picture. :O

I asked the guard who this is, and I think he didn't understand what I was asking, so he said "the librarian". Then Stanley and I joked that the librarians here are really privileged. I still don't know who this is.

Their free access lab. :D

Noticeboard. I like that everything is handwritten. Even their CCA posters were handdrawn, super adorable.

Old school! I can't remember where I've seen this type of catalogue cards before.

The Reading Room. Only 2 students were there.

A giantic 200-feet Tetrameles nudiflora.

We passed by the Convocation Hall when we were in the taxi and it looked nice, so I was dying to see the Convocation Hall.

A short walk.

We finally found the Convocation Hall!

Caught this man taking a photo of us with his iPad, so we took pictures of him taking photos of us and waved at him. Yes, it's a human.

We were not allowed to take photos inside, I snapped one before the lady came over to tell us just that. The Hall is not the grandest of places, but probably the best in the University.

Sneaked another photo!

We then left for Aung San Suu Kyi's home at Inya Lake. Unfortunately, the driver drove us to Inya Lake resort._. We finally got to Suu Kyi's home after a bit of navigation and asking around.

PS: I got distracted and went to YouTube to listen to Aung San Suu Kyi's speech made in Oxford earlier this year. "Burma is at the start of a road... it is a road that we have to carve for ourselves..."

A little blur. We weren't allowed to enter.

We then made our way to Inya Lake, a short walk down the road.

Wai Lun Wun Monastery.

Taung Pulu Monastery. Plenty of monasteries on the way in to Inya Lake, this one in particular is not accessible to ladies, though.

Finally! Inya Lake.

Meeeeee.

With Stanley and Wei Chang. Last picture with them, as they left for the National Museum after this. They would be heading to Bagan after lunch.

Beautiful lake. I thought it would have been more beautiful had the weather been a little more sunny.

The 3 groups (Stanley and Wei Chang / Me / 2 PRC ladies) parted ways. I took a taxi to Chauk Htat Gyi Paya which is relatively nearby.

Had to remove my shoes right here. I almost slipped to my death on a puddle on the way in.

The famous reclining Buddha. It really reminded me of the reclining Buddha in Bangkok. Its face is encrusted with diamonds and precious stones.

When you travel alone, such skills come in very, very handy. I think I did the same thing in Bangkok, but of course, I believe I have improved. :D

At its feet, you can find engravings.

There are a hundred and eight marks on both soles of the reclining Buddha, and they represent the 3 worlds: Okasaloka (the inanimate world); Satlaloka (the animate world); and, Sankharaloka (the world of the conditioned). These marks are on the Buddha's soles to indicate that he is greater than all 3 worlds.

When Buddha was born, the marks were already apparent. 8 out of the 108 royal astrologers present cast their predictions, but only one, Sudatta Kondamma, the youngest of them all, made a sure prediction that the royal child was destined to become the Buddha. He made this prediction as the image of Cakkvatti (the Universal Monarch) appeared on the soles, and anyone superior to Cakkavatti could only be Buddha.

Awesome skills.

By the way, in the background, you can see a man. After I took this photo, he approached me and introduced himself. He's a tourguide and he looks like a mad monk. He insisted I take a picture of his name card.

Shrine of Ma Thay, who blesses Sailors with good weather and safety.

Sounding the gong. I scammed the security guard into leaving his post and taking this photo for me. :P

A smaller version.

Other parts of the Paya.

I then made my way to Nga Htat Gyi Paya, a short 10-minute walk down the road.

But I did realise it was way, way in from the main road.

Quite a walk up.

Finally got there! As I was walking up, a taxi kept following me. The taxi driver called out to me, but I ignored him. He then circled around me for quite a while, and I ran in.

Arrived there, and within 10 minutes, an elderly man who spoke fluent English approached me and started talking to me, telling me about the temple and stuff. I'd thought he was just a worshipper.

He asked which day I was born on. I answered Thursday. And he replied, that he too was born on Thursday. He got me to pour water over this Buddha figure 9 times.

The Nga Htat Gyi, a Buddha in royal regalia. The lady who accepts the admission fees says it's a Buddha of war. Never heard of such a thing? But the Buddha dates back to 1900.

So the elderly man tells me, a lady donated a 27-carat diamond, which is at the forehead of the Buddha. The gems on the Buddha are worth a total of USD18 million.

However, I was more interested in the carved wood backing of the Buddha statue. It is huge, about 2-3 storeys high.

The view from Nga Htat Gyi.

The elderly man tells me the story of how Buddha led his son and disciples to "enlighten" a pair of evil-doing dragons.

The prayer hall. SHINYYYY.

The enthusiastic elderly man tells me about the numerous monasteries and ruined temples near Nga Htat Gyi Paya. I trustingly followed him, thinking he is just a very friendly elderly.

100-year old Colonial building.

A monastery.

And then he led me further and further down. I got a little scared, when we had to walk through forested areas.

We got to another monastery. I was relieved to see people.

Random figure. I was getting a little wary of the elderly man.

At this point, I snapped a picture thinking that if I got killed, hopefully someone would find this photo.

We walked through a forested area again, and I clutched on to my umbrella real hard. I was prepared to whack him and run if he took out a knife or what. Paranoia...

He brought me to a temple with a Buddha. He claims this is rare as it is carved from marble, and also because it is a standing Buddha. As we walked out, we met a group of caucasians. He spoke to the caucasians, one of whom complimented him on his fluent English. He replied, "Yes, I am a tour guide."

I was relieved he is not a murderer of any sort, but a bit annoyed that he hired himself? Indeed, when I made up an excuse that I was going to meet my friend (but at that moment, all my friends have either left Myanmar or gone elsewhere), he beat around the bush only to say, "Sister, can you give me USD5?"

I was really, really annoyed, but seeing that, well, he did give me a tour of the area and that he is so old, I gave him the USD5. I flagged a taxi down, and he got up the taxi as well?

He told me the taxi driver would drive both of us to Bogyoke Market (where I claimed I was meeting my friend) for K1500. A while later, I got paranoid again as the trip was taking way too long, and the elderly man was chatting with the taxi driver in Burmese in very low volume in a suspicious manner. I asked the taxi driver how long more it was going to take while planning (in my head) to jump out of the taxi if it ever stopped at a traffic light. He said we were arriving.

I felt unjust that the elderly man hired himself so I asked, so it's K1500 for both of us, meaning he pay K750 and I pay K750? I think at this point, he got a little embarassed of his doings so he shut up. I paid the K1500 in the end. I'd wanted to ramble on and on about how he was doing evil as his actions constitute a form of cheating and it would be bad karma for him, yada yada. But I shut myself up.

Arrived at Bogyoke Market again. Took a short walk around inside, I wanted to begin my official downtown walking tour from there.

I did not have lunch and it was already 2pm, so I bought a little snack for K300. Expensive leh, my noodles cost me the same.

The New Bogyoke Market, opposite Bogyoke Market.

After Bogyoke Aung San Market, I was supposed to head to Sri Kali Temple. I got a little lost. Walked and walked... I passed by a donut shop, J Donuts; I was getting hungry, so I went in for a snack.

Off I go again, to find Sri Kali Temple... Spotted a stall selling really new cellphones. At that moment, I couldn't help but think that somewhere in Vietnam, there is a stall with BOTH my phones. );

I asked people for directions to Sri Kali Temple beside this stall, which was at a cross road junction. I got ignored by many people for the first time in Myanmar. Then this Chinese-looking man whom I'd seen crossing the road earlier on turned back to ask "May I help you?" while a group of Indians were trying to tell me where Sri Kali is.

The helpful Indians communicated to the Chinese-looking man the directions, and the man was so helpful that he even walked me there. On our way, he told me he is a Taiwanese businessman doing business in Myanmar, Thailand and Taiwan. I guess he must have stayed in Myanmar for a long time, and his Taiwanese accent is a bit off; he sounded like a Thai Chinese.

But he is really nice.

Sri Kali Temple, a temple built by Tamil immigrants during the colonial times.

My next stop was Theingyi Zei Market. With my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook map, I managed to figure out how to get there even though road signs are non-existent in Myanmar.

I love such overhead bridges hee.

Finally! Theingyi Zei Market, also known as Lion World.

The interior. They sell mostly clothes and stuff. As I walked on in Theingyi Zei market, I realised the Singapore Food Junction was part of this complex. So I was at Chinatown! Ah, realisations.

Walked along Mahabandoola Road...

And got to Sri Siva Temple. Wei Chang actually pointed this clock tower to Stanley and me when we just arrived at White House, telling us that he uses it as a marker to locate our hostel. Another realisation!

The beautiful clock tower of Sri Siva Temple.

My next planned stop was Moseah Yeshua Synagogue, but unfortunately I couldn't find it.

It was getting late, so I rushed to the Main Post Office. In the end, it was closed. I was a little disappointed as I'd thought it was open from 9am - 6pm, but a lady selling postcards told me it actually closes at 4pm. I got there at 4.30pm. Awwwwww, so no postcards for my friends.

I decided to walk over to Bo Ta Taung Paya, which was also on Strand Road. I asked around, and a few commented it was a bit far.

Passed by the Red Cross Building.

The Red Cross vehicle.

The rain only got heavier as time passed.

Saw this. Sudden inspiration and washed my shoes here, as the sand in my shoes was making it hard (not to mention, painful) for me to walk.

Strand Road is near the sea, so the port was there too. There were many heavy vehicles travelling on Strand Road.

Outside Bo Aung Kyaw Terminal.

It was pouring... I was in a maxi skirt and got really wet. At first I still tried avoiding the puddles, but later on I didn't care anymore.

Wet! It was scary walking along Strand Road because there were so many heavy vehicles zooming past.

Boys playing football.

When the Burmese say a place is far, you gotta believe them. I didn't expect Strand Road to be so freaking long. I think I walked for 45 minutes (I always walk at a fast pace, mind you) before I spotted Bo Ta Taung Paya... I think I cried out in joy (in my heart).