Today I decided to see three of the old capital cities of the country. In the morning, I was able to get a German man and Spanish man to share a taxi with me.
First stop was some marble carvers along the road. Near here I saw some old Dodge trucks still in use. I’m thinking they might be about 70 years old.
Next, Maha Ganayon Kyang, in Amarapura, which is a monastery that is something like the Harvard of Myanmar. We arrived to see the meal being served to over 1000 monks.
Then it was to Sagiang, maybe the most impressive place we visited. There are hills here scattered with hundreds of golden or white pagodas and monasteries. The driver dropped us off at Sagaing Hill. We walked to the top through covered stairways, saw the hills around us had more stairs, so after some lunch we walked to some more places. I wish we had the driver meet us somewhere else (not the best driver in the world) because it was a long walk back.
Then it was Inwa, which first required a ferry across a small river, and then a horse cart ride to get around the ancient city. We saw a teak monastery called Bagaya Kyaung, some stone ruins, a watchtower (named Nanmyin), and an interesting building called Maha Aungmye Bonzan. This one had a series of dark corridors in the basement, bigger ones up above, and then a flimsy bamboo ladder kids were using to get to the roof (I didn’t use the ladder).
Finally, it was back to Amarapura to see U Bein’s Bridge at sunset. It is a narrow wooden 1.2km long bridge crossing a river. It was a pleasant walk across and back.