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The Biggest Pile of Bricks in the World - Mingun Paya 2009 |
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This is the sixth part of our 2009 Burmese Odyssey. To read more about our 2009 bash which includes many non-steam items, please see Rob and Yuehong in the Golden Land 2009. We had a day free in Mandalay before we continued our journey south and we took the opportunity to take the standard tourist boat trip to Mingun. Basically, the foreign tourist boat leaves the riverbank at the west end of 26th street at 09.00, returning from Mingun at 13.00, the fare is Ky 4500. There is meant to be USD 3 extra on top for a Sagaing area antiquities ticket, but if you wave dirty old notes at the officials most likely they will soon lose interest! The journey upstream takes an hour and apart from the local traffic, it's of no great interest:
First impressions are not great:
But the great pile of bricks with its earthquake cracks is certainly imposing:
And once we get to the top we pose for the traditional pictures of the pagoda behind which graces the cover of the current Lonely Planet Guide.
In the red roofed building behind Yuehong is what is said to be the largest hung bell in the world at some 90 tons:
A lot of the freight on the Irrawaddy River results from the country trading 100 year old teak and mahogany trees for shiny Chinese motorbikes which will last 5 years at most:
In between ferrying fat tourists the short distance to the ruins the bullock cart taxis serve more traditional local traffic:
For the 40 minute return journey, the sun is far too strong to ride on deck, we relax with the boatman's family below.
His T shirt absolutely fascinates me. It was designed for a hockey festival at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. I worked in the chemistry department at USM from 1972 to 1979 and my two children were born in the general hospital there - half a lifetime ago...
Our next destination is Kalaw, on the slow train. |
