Overall, Burma has been probably one if not the most breathtaking country we ever travelled. Despite officially being one of the poorest place in the world, we found very industrious and friendly people.
Yangon: the capital is not too bad to spend 2 days (no more). The Shwedagon Paya at sunset is an inspirational place while walking around in the city center will reveal magnificent and huge colonial buildings, often abandoned. One memorable experience was to take the train to Bagan. What was supposed to be a 14h journey over 600km ... turned to be a 20h journey across magnificent landscape. The very slow speed of the train and the big open windows gave the feeling to be cycling in the Burmese country side.
Once in Bagan, the magnificence of this country came to the peak. The 2,000 temples immersed in a green landscape are amazing. Exploring them is an experience that is at the same time cultural (for the history), mystical (they are still places of worship) and athletical (you can climb on top of the roof on most of them). Buddhist temples are not only places to prey, but their courts are places to meet and spend time with the family. In Bagan, thanks to the help of a group of local women, me also manage to get a ride and navigate, for a little while, the Irrawady river, the main river of Myanmar.
The Inle Lake was our next stop after Bagan. While it’s utterly beautiful, it’s probably the most touristic place in Myanmar and that spoils a bit the atmosphere. Anyway, watching the local fishermen fishing at sunset is something breathtaking. Inle Lake is not the only attraction here. After we were done with the lake, we move exploring the hills of the surrounding area, where agriculture is the main occupation for the population. We even discovered a wine estate producing very good white and red wines.
The last part of our trip was Mrauk-U, a remote rural village at the border with Bangladesh. This was the capital of the Rakhine State and during the 1500 – 1600 AD, was one of the most important cities in Asia. We looked at a painting done in the 1600 and shows a big city with long walls, a quarter for European merchants and a number of vessels and ships trading in the port. Now, the remaining temples and walls are to be found in the wheat fields.
We are in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar.
Almost right. Yes, this is Yangon.
But since 2005, it's not any longer the capital of the country.
Despite, it remains the most important city.
Ok, where should we start? From the local market?
Why not? And then we can take a rickshaw and go to one of the many teahouses,
a legacy of the British colonial period.
Let's present the members of the group.
This is Vale, the official agenizer of the group.
She cleans everything we touch.
This is Guglielmo, he records and takes pictures of every second of the journey.
And this is me, your boss.
And this is you, Nono, the cultural expert of the group,
who loves interacting with local culture and people.
The city has beautiful colonial buildings.
Yes, but look how they restore them.
We are at the cathedral.
Since we are very religious, we are going to pay respect to our God.
Are you ready? What's up?
Here is the Pagoda Amaratha.
Most ancient pagoda.
Pagoda with leaning Buddha.
Pagoda with sitting Buddha.
Pagoda with mobile Buddha.
And finally, the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda.
The Shwedagon is the oldest place for the Burmese Buddhists.
Its origin dates back to the 5th century,
although the current buildings were built around 1400.
Apparently, it is covered by tons of gold
and at its summit there is a 70-carat diamond.
Pagoda with leaning Buddha.
Pagoda with mobile Buddha.
Hello, here is the train we are heading.
Two and a half hours, you know.
Costume of usage, let's skip.
So let's hope that I'm not going to get any rush or anything by tonight.
Today is a new experience,
the flying the air balloon over Bagan.
We are in Bagan and we started visiting
the more than 2,000 temples that this city has.
Here we are and this is like just the start.
Over 10,000 temples were built here
between the 10th and the 12th century
when Bagan was the capital of the first Burmese kingdom.
2,000 temples survive and can be explored today.
Visiting them is an experience which is at the same time
cultural, mystical and athletical.
Their life is simple,
but not one of deprivation and self-irrationalism.
Burmese lives go on on the banks of the Irrawaddy River,
the most important trading route of the country for centuries.
So we have arrived to the Irrawaddy River.
As you can see, it's very wild.
We will go to the other side,
the other side is the main road.
That side is the main path.
They call it Lemon Salad.
I couldn't see any pieces of lemon.
This is my brother.
Today we are looking for a lift to go to Mount Popa, a monastery on top of a rock that is
recommended by the guide.
We are now going to do 777 steps to go up to Mount Popa.
The main issue is that...
This is the dirtiest place in the history of the world.
We are on the way to Inle Lake for the overnight bus.
This is the crew that we just came in with this minivan.
Now we are taking the bus.
8 hours.
We will be there tomorrow morning.
Let's see how it goes.
June, where are we?
Oh.
Bilele Lake?
Bilele Lake.
Isn't it?
Tell me the name.
Bilele Lake is a place where life goes on as it has been for centuries.
People live in palafit, grow vegetables on floating gardens and catch up fishes with
a fishing technique that is unique in the world.
Today is the market day, so basically all the people living...
Today, we took a car to explore the Shan State.
In this land, the life and society are based on agriculture thanks to its rich land.
We are at the cattle market.
And Gucci, he is going to try to bargain for one cow.
Maybe we'll get it.
Let's see.
The Cento Piani are in the area.
We are now home to a cave with 8,000 Buddha.
And we are going to discover now the cave.
No, no, look.
You Italians are not the only ones who make wine.
There is a wine yard here too, on the hill.
I wouldn't have actually expected it, but it's good.
It is good.
We are already checking in for the subway and this is how can we show them.
It's a rolling road.
See?
Mraou is the last part of our journey in Myanmar.
It is close to Bangladesh and to get there, we need to travel for over 24 consecutive hours
by bus, plane and boat.
We arrived in the Rakhine state, west of Myanmar, sailing upstream the river.
The city was one of the most important commercial port in Asia between 16th and 18th century.
And here basically merchants from Portugal, Holland, Britain were coming trading.
Nowadays, after the decline that the city started with the British Empire,
the town is basically nothing more than a rural village.
In Mraou, we end our incredible journey in Myanmar.
We finish in style, though, with a football match, Italy against Buddhist monks.
Yes, but I'm ahead of him.
Go up.
