Myanmar (Burma) - Day 7 - Exploring Nyaungshwe

Morning rain was discouraging for exploring, but things cleared up and we made it out to see a bit of the town where we're staying, Nyaungswhe.  Located 3 miles north of Inle Lake and connected to it by a canal, the town is the jumping off point for exploring the lake.  We explored a bit by foot and bicycle today, and set up our boat tour for tomorrow.

Walking around, it becomes clear that the definition of where the lake actually is, is somewhat confusing.  Acres and acres of wetland and very wet farmland surrounds the lake, making the distinction between land and water ambiguous.

In town, the flat terrain makes drainage somewhat tricky, but the open sewer system slowly carris the morning's rainwater to the canal that links the town to the lake. 

 

Myanmar (Burma) - Day 6 - Bus to Inle Lake

Bus travel around Myanmar is just starting to respond to the tourist influx.  Reports I had read about the bus route from Bagan to Inle Lake were discouraging, but after asking at our hotel in Bagan and confirming that it was air conditioned, we opted for the 9 hour bumpy bus ride over winding roads through the mountains.  Seeing the some of the (very wet) country side and the mountains up close was an added bonus.

During our lunch break, some serious downpours broke out.  The restaurant where we stopped harvests the rainwater and uses as much of it as it can.  

We arrived in Inle Lake just in time for some afternoon downpours and a power outage, but both were quickly resolved.

Myanmar (Burma) - Day 5 - Mt. Popa

Located in the mountains East of Bagan, Mt. Popa is a volcano which includes a sheer-sided volcanic plug (Taungkalat) with a shrine located at its summit.  The 777 steps from the town at the base to the summit include shrines to 37 Burmese nats (spirits), as well as monkeys (and their droppings).  The climb is a sweaty one in the heat and humidity, but the views over the plains and nearby mountains are impressive from the summit.

On the drive there, we stopped at a palm plantation where they make palm oil, palm candy and palm whiskey, as well as some other peanut products using very low-tech processes.  Nothing quite like a shot of very strong palm whiskey to start off the day.

Myanmar (Burma) - Days 3 & 4 - exploring Bagan

After arriving by ferry yesterday, and the morning thunderstorms, Dave and I set out by bicycle into the 95 degree heat (we switched to electric bikes after sweating through the first day) to explore some temples in Bagan.

Located in Myanmar's dry central plain, Bagan is an almost endless sea of Buddhist temples.  Chronicles put early settlements in Bagan in the 2nd century C.E. with most of the temple construction occuring between the 9th and 13th centuries when Bagan was the capital of unified Burma.  After the fall to the Mongols in the 13th century, only a small village remained amongst the ruins.  Some of the temples have been worn away to ruins by wind erosion and earthquakes, some have been maintained over the years, and some have been restored (with much criticism of the materials and methods).

The Bupaya (rebuilt after earthquake damage in 1975) was once located near the center of what used to be the rectangle of Old Bagan, but now sits on the river's edge as erosion over the years has reshaped the river's path.

Myanmar (Burma) - Day 2 - ferry from Mandalay to Bagan

Sorry for the delay in posting.  Just left Myanmar yesterday (Oct 4), and got a reliable internet connection

7am departure on the Shwe Keinnery ferry from Mandalay headed toward Bagan.

The river is high this time of year and we moved relatively swiftly downriver toward Bagan. (about a 9 hour trip)  The Ayeyarwaddy (Irawaddy) River is the main river of Myanmar and before the recent construction of the Yangon - Mandalay highway the main shipping route for the country's major cities.  Development along the river reflects this as the river valley is lined with small villages, agricultural fields, and of course, gold stupas.  The river is given a wide berth through the central plains as seasonal variation in rainfall can turn islands into wetland and wetland into just water.  During our stay in Myanmar flooding was reported in the Ayeyarwaddy watershed, and fixed pieces of infrastructure that we passed (bridges, seawalls, etc.) seemed to be near their maximum allowable water height.

As we arrive into Bagan (technically, we arrive into Nyaung-U, but it's a short ride to Old Bagan and New Bagan), the landscape shifts slightly from wide open plains to clay bluffs along the river.  The original shape of Old Bagan, a rectangle, has been worn away by the Ayeyarwaddy over the past millenium, and now is something more like a trapezoid, or almost a triangle.  The views onto the bluffs are dramatic though.

Myanmar (Burma) - Day 1

After a rainy layover in Bangkok, Dave and I took off for Mandalay, Myanmar's major city in the North of the country.

From above, it looks like villages lining river valleys with some small plots farmed in the upper hills.

After getting settled, at our hotel near the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy (Irrawaddy) River, we took off of motorbike taxis to see the U-Bein bridge, located just South of Mandalay.  Constructed out of reused teak from a palace when the capital moved to Mandalay in the 19th century, the bridge connects two sides of a large lake.  Like most highly visited sites in the country, it has a religious purpose, connecting temples on either side of the lake, but it is also a place for fishing, recreation and socializing.  The lake level is highly variable, and was near its peak, as we arrived at the tail end of the rainy season.  In the drier months, the bridge deck towers above the much lower lake, and vegetable growing operations thrive in the shallower water, but on our visit, the water level is fairly close, and invasive water hyacinth, like we saw in the canals of Xochimilco, is present here as well.

After crossing the bridge, we took off to Mandalay Hill for a sunset view of the city and the river.  Also, a temple site, we enjoyed a barefoot escalator ride for the last portion of the trip to the top. 

 Internet and electricity have been patchy.  More posts to come, but probably not very quickly.

Mexico City - Day 11 - Canal Nacional

So, it took a while to get this last post from Mexico City up, but finally got to it. 

On our last full day, we explored the remnants of one of the most important canals of Mexico City from the 19th century.  La Viga was once the main transport route for goods and agricultural products from Xochimilco and Chalco to Mexico City.  Markets were formed on the Eastern edge of the city where both la Viga came in and where the terminal for rail lines to Veracruz was built.  The canal has been replaced with a major road of the same name, but the remnants of the la Viga exist as la Canal Nacional, one of the last open waterways in the city that connects Xochimilco and Chalco to the major pipe network that drains Mexico City.   

Just north of Xochimilco, the canal occupies a linear park on the edge of remaining agricultural land that is almost surrounded by the sprawl of the city.  The once wide canal has been dividided into two canals, with different speeds of movement and pumping stations that control the flow as it approaches the urban part of the canal.  

Now well used as a weekend jogging spot, the ruins of previous embarcaderos still line the banks of the now still canal.  Overgrowth has taken over the shallow water, but the steps down into the mud remain.

The canal abrubtly exits the park, and the surrounding change distinctly.  The narrow swath of green surrounding the canal abuts with dense development.

However, hints of the past agrarian life still appear.

Our plans to explore the markets that still occupy the area where the end of the canal was had to unfortunately be cancelled due to ongoing protests, street closures and metro closures.