Religious Festivities

Our guesthouse at night

The religious festival of Thadingyut was occurring while we were in Mrauk U.  During the day there were many women and men dressed in traditional colours, visiting the temples.  At night, homes, businesses, streets, and the old place walls were illuminated with candlelight.  It was truly magical.  As a bonus, there was lunar eclipse that night!

Sat in on a sermon for a little bit

Palace walls illuminated with candlelight

They even put candles on the trees

Trip Report: Inle->Yangon->Mrauk U

Day 8: Nightbus to Yangon

• Spent the day wandering around Nyaungshwe on bikes and lounging around the guesthouse.  
• Took the JJ bus to Yangon, which we had booked while in Bagan.  Costs 18500kyats per person.  Noticed that the price was higher if we had booked from Inle, ?20000kyats.  However, we learned that if you booked from Inle, you got free pick up from your guesthouse.  Since we booked from Bagan, we paid 500kyats each for transfer to the bus, which ended up being cheaper anyhow!  The JJ bus has wider seats which recline quite nicely.  Price includes a dinner of fried rice or fried noodle.  Made 2 stops and can’t remember how long the journey took.  

Day 9: Yangon to Mrauk U

• Arrived in Yangon in the morning.  Bought a bag of sweet buns for 600 kyats and 1L water 300 kyats from a vendor at the bus station.  Took a taxi to the airport for 3000kyats.  Had to bargain hard for this one.  Had previously read that this was the going rate though. 
•  Spent a couple of hours waiting in the airport using their free wifi.  Since we had our packs we didn’t want to do a quick excursion into Yangon.  The free wifi at the airport is pretty good.  Got to plan out the rest of the trip!
• Had lunch past security in the domestic airport.  Fried flat noodles 2500 kyats and 3 egg omelette 2500 kyats.  
• Flew Air KBZ to Sittwe, which we booked while in Bagan.  As we booked the 4 flights that we would be taking all at the same time, I only have the total cost.  But breaking it down it should be around $100USD.  Flying Air KBZ was a good experience.  Flight was on time.  We were well fed too!  Flight was pretty short but we still got served snacks and drinks twice.  The Yangon to Sittwe flight flies in a loop, from Yangon to Thandwe to Sittwe to Yangon.  
• We were originally planning on staying the night in Sittwe as our flight arrived in the afternoon, past the time when the public boats leave the jetty.  A tout at the airport was quoting $160USD for a round trip private boat to MraukU staying 3 nights.  We thought that was too expensive.  While waiting for our luggage we met some expats who had a pre-arranged private boat up to Mrauk U that afternoon.  They let us join them and we ended up paying 35000kyats for the journey up to Mrauk U.
• After a crazy thunderstorm with lightning for hours, we arrived in Mrauk U after dark.  Can’t remember exactly how long the boat ride was, but it was long, maybe 5-6 hours?  We didn’t prebook accommodation in Mrauk U as we couldn’t get through on the phone.  Apparently the telephone lines from Nyaungshwe to Mrauk U don’t connect very well.  Anyhow, took a trishaw from the jetty to Kyasoe guesthouse for 2000kyats.  The room they showed us was gross!  Trishaw driver took us to Royal City Guesthouse, where we got an aircon bungalow for $40USD/40000 kyats per night. 

Mrauk U

The temple is in ruins, but the Buddha statue remains

Kothaung Paya

Stupas at Kothaung Paya

Mrauk U is not frequented by many tourists, and the lack of signage reflects this.  After procuring a map from our guesthouse, we decided to set out on foot to see some of the sights.  Unfortunately, we didn’t make it far due to getting disoriented.  Like everywhere in Myanmar, the roads are not labelled.  However, Mrauk U goes one step further and there is no distinction between paved road and dirt path.  It wasn’t a complete loss though, as foot travel allowed us to walk through the village and observe village life.  The poverty in Mrauk U is very evident.  People live in small raised bamboo huts, and gather water from community wells.  It appeared that the majority of homes did not have running water.  

Pigs, goats, and chickens wander the streets freely

After our failed attempt at a self-propelled tour of the temple site, we opted to hire a moto-rickshaw to take us around.  It ended up being an extremely good idea, as the driver knew exactly how to get to every place we wanted to go to.  To beat the oppressive heat, we negotiated to start out in the early morning, return midday, and head out again in the afternoon.  Despite this, I still got heatstroked.  This trip really showed me, that despite having subtropical genetics, I am not made for hot weather!!!

The Rakhine temple style is quite different from that found in Bagan.

The jungle takes over so quickly

There are three main large temples in Mrauk U, and hundreds of smaller stupas.  The main temples are Shittaung, Dukkthein, and Kothaung.  The style of temple here is very different from that in Bagan.  These temples are built like fortresses, with extremely thick walls and tunnel-like hallways.  I found both Shittaung and Dukkthein to be very eerie and omninous.  Dukkthein is especially known for its bunker-like style and spiral halls leading to the central chamber.  In fact, originally historians thought it was a military bunker instead of a place of worship.  

Hallway lined with Buddhas.

Dukkthein temple

 It was just about to rain when we visited Dukkthein.  At the entrance there was an old man with a walking stick.  He spoke no English, and of course we spoke no Rakhine.  He ended up following us through the creepy dark hallways.  There was no natural lighting in Dukkthein, so the hallways were dimly lit with fluorescent lights.  One of the distinguishing features of this temple are that the hallways are lined with thousands of Buddha statues.  Which in theory sounds serene, but in this setting it was downright creepy.  As we walked through the spiraling hallway, we could hear thunder rumbling outside.  Then, the lights flickered and went out.  By now I was truly freaked out.  Thank goodness I had my iPhone with me, and was able to use the flashlight app for light.  We made it back to the entrance, with the old man still following us.  Looking back, we think he was a temple caretaker or something of the like.  But at the time, he was downright creepy!!!

Met these little monks.  One of them was singing a Justin Bieber song!

Up the River to Mrauk U

Stupas on hilltops during golden hour

After Inle Lake, we headed west to Mrauk U, located in the tumultuous Rakhine State.  Mrauk U is pronounced 'mraw oo' in the Myanmar language, or 'meow oo' in Rakhine language.  It is the site of a former Rakhine kingdom, and probably the most remote location we visited in Myanmar.  According to one reference, the kingdom of Mrauk U was once known as the "Venice of the East", due to the network of moats surrounding the palace.  Nowadays what remains are the city and palace walls, temples, and stupas.  The palace itself was ruined many years ago.  

Travelling up the Kaladan River

There are 2 different ways to access Mrauk U, by flight then boat, or by 30hr bus ride.  We opted for the more comfortable flight and boat ride.  Knowing the state of Myanmar roads (especially in Mrauk U), we definitely made the right decision.  To get to Mrauk U we took the bus from Inle Lake to Yangon, flew to Sittwe, and took a boat up the Kaladan river to our destination.  The situation in Rakhine state is probably the most unstable of all the areas we went to.  In fact, as recently as September there was a curfew in Sittwe due to violence between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority.  In a nutshell, the government does not recognise the Muslim minority as citizens of Myanmar, and much violence and unrest has occurred.  When we were there we definitely noticed a higher level of military/policing.  The local mosque was surrounded by barbed wire and there were armed guards blocking the access road.  On other roads there were armed guards manning checkpoints, limiting where us foreigners could go.  Mrauk U was much quieter.  There were few signs of unrest, and the police presence that was found in Sittwe was not present in Mrauk U.  

The lightning storm lasted for hours!

K and I arrived in Sittwe in the afternoon.  All of the public boats depart Sittwe for Mrauk U in the morning.  There was the option of chartering a private boat, but as it was much more expensive we vetoed that idea.  So, our original plan was to spend the night in Sittwe and catch a boat in the morning for the 5-6 hour journey upstream.  However, when we arrived at the tiny Sittwe airport, we spotted two tourists and decided to inquire about their plans.  As it turned out, they were expats living in Myanmar, and were on a weekend trip with two local residents.  They had pre-arranged a private boat and were happy to have us join in.  

Stormy sunset

The boat was wooden and powered by a two-stroke diesel engine, that at one point decided to fail.  It did not appear to be very seaworthy, but thankfully the river was calm.  Apparently in the past one of these boats capsized, killing some Italian tourists.  The Kaladan river is extremely wide at it’s mouth.  Much wider than the Fraser or Columbia.  At first, the boat ride was exciting – it was pleasant to be on the water with the cool breeze.  Later, as day turned to night, we had a spectacular lightning show.  However, after the sun set the journey seemed to lag on and on.  We eventually arrived in Mrauk U well after dark.  With no map or real directions (the Lonely Planet is quite sparse for Mrauk U), we opted to take a trishaw to our accommodation for the night.