Irrawaddy Cruise ends, Singapore stopover.

Day 15 Thursday Dec 14th

We went down to breakfast just before 8.00 so that we could see our new friends, John and Lorraine, off on their trip out to Inle Lake. This group was leaving at 8.00 to travel to the airport and then spend 3 days out at the Lake.
There was a lot of milling around, hugging, well wishing and then they were off.

We went into breakfast and then back to our cabin to put our cases out. We had to vacate the cabin by 9.00 so that it could be cleaned and spruced for the incoming group at lunch time.

Those of us with afternoon flights went up to the lounge and sat chatting.
At 10.45 Terry announced that our coach was ready, we identifed our bags and checked that they were loaded before we got onboard. Then we were off, as I took a photo of the crew waving goodbye my camera SD card flashed that it was full. How about that, I started a new one as we got on the coach at Rangoon airport.

It took almost an hour to get to the airport and then we queued to go through security, queued to go through personal security, queued to check in, queued to go through immigration / departure.
Our flight was at 2.15 and we got through immigration at 1.35.
We were hungry by now so went to find some food - we found a little bakery and chose a couple of the only non-sugar items, cheese puffs. The coffee was good and the cheese puffs were the lightest, puffiest I've ever had; they just dissolved on the tongue. We probably needed something more substantial but there wasn't a lot of choice. We gave a large tip, to get rid of some local money and then found where we could exchange larger notes back into US dollars - at the gold and gem shop!
Now we were right to go, we had no local Burmese currency at all.

The flight down to Rangoon took an hour and was nice and quiet.
In Rangoon we had a 50 minute transit - we all had to get off the plane, walk down a corridor to the transit lounge, queue to put our hand luggage through security, queue to go through personal security, and then walk back, parallel to the corridor we'd come in on, to the Gate where we had just a 20 minute wait before boarding the same plane, in the same seats.

The flight was delayed 10 minutes whilst they removed some stones from the runway, then we were off.  We were served a' light hot meal' but to be honest it was pretty awful. We both chose the chicken and rice option, but speaking to people later the fish alternative was totally inedible.

We landed in Singapore at 9.00pm local time. We had an incredibly short queue at immigration (lots of kiosks open). We soon collected our bags and we were out through customs to be met by a rep from APT who would be taking us to the hotel. 3 other couples from the cruise were joining us at this hotel - The Carlton City.
Soon our bags were in one mini van and the 8 of us were in the other, heading into the city.

We checked in at 10:15pm. All of us were starving and feeling very jaded.
Michael and I made sure that our bags would be taken up for us and headed out onto the street looking for food.
We turned right out of the hotel and walked a block where we spotted a nice looking cafe down a side street. It was busy, with lots of locals but there room for the two of us. We really enjoyed that meal. When we came to pay we had a little problem - they don't take international cards. Cash or some local swipe n go card only. We hadn't changed any money yet, we'd come straight out to eat.
After a few minutes the waitress spoke to a customer who agreed to take me to an ATM. Michael stayed back, (as a hostage). The nice man took me just a couple of streets and there was a row of 3 ATMs - opposite the hotel!!!
If we'd crossed the road, not turned right, we might have seen them but there was work going on on the pavement so the area was behind a light mesh fence, they weren't visible from across the road.
The restaurant gave the customer a free cup of coffee for his trouble and we both thanked him very much. Then we went back to the hotel, up to the 16th floor and discovered our bags in a HUGE room, with an equally HUGE bathroom. I managed to discover how the shower worked without scalding myself and then just before midnight we tumbled into bed. Exhausted but not hungry any more.

Singapore Friday Dec 15th

We had a city tour this morning so there was no time for a lie in. We went down to breakfast and then to the lobby where we met up with our fellow cruisers and waited for our mini bus. This mini bus took us to the meeting point where we were checked off the list and then we boarded a large coach for our City Tour.

Our first stop was to see the symbol of the city - the Merlion.
Our guide walked us, at a break neck pace, through a park and showed us where to get the best photo of the Merlion, he didn't recommend that we walk along the bridge to see it up close "too many people, too many children, much better view from here".

The park was opposite the Art Gallery and it was interesting to see the ferns growing up the tree trunks.

Then we were back on the coach and off to China town and a lovely quiet temple. Thian Hock Keng Temple (Temple of Heavenly Happiness) is one of the oldest and most important Hokkien temples in Singapore. It was completed in 1842, when it was a beach front temple.  At the entrance to the Temple is a very low granite wall or barrier built to prevent the seawater entering the Temple during high tide. The entire structure was assembled without nails. It is an architectural masterpiece of stone, tiles and wood, dragons and phoenixes, amazing carvings, intricate sculptures and imposing columns.  

  It was so different to the gold pagodas of Burma and it felt strange to stand there with shoes on.

Then we went out to the Botanical Gardens.

                                       Wow!  What beautiful orchids.
We didn't have long enough to do more than just a quick walk through, and a tiny peek at the rest of the park.

Then it was back on the coach and out to Little India.

 
By now it was getting hot and we hugged the shade as we walked around the block. Then that was it - tour finished.
Our guide started telling us which mini buses we would be in to go back to our hotels - hang on a moment. You didn't tell us that we wouldn't be going back in the coach, some of us have left items in the coach. One man had actually left his wife on the coach (she feels the heat badly and so had stayed in the air conditioning).
So we stood in the shade and waited whilst he rang the driver and the coach came back.
Then we got into our mini buses and headed back to the hotel, spotting these two beautiful elephants at a road junction.

We checked out the supermarket opposite the hotel but there was no 'fast food' so we decided that as it was so good last night, and we have local money we'd go back to the same cafe. The Golden Cafe.

We had another great meal, went back to the hotel for coffee in our room and all thoughts of an afternoon  stroll disappeared when we looked out of the window and saw that it was raining.

The rain had stopped by early evening so around 6.30 we went for a stroll around the neighbourhood. We passed a lot of bridal wear shops and saw a couple of cars being 'dressed up' for weddings. What bride wouldn't want a pink car??

 There were lots of Korean BBQ restaurants with long queues outside but the Golden Cafe was nice and quiet so we made it 3 in a row.

Saturday 16th December

We saw our fellow cruisers at breakfast, all of us are going home at different times, some having a 3 day stopover, some 4 days.

After breakfast we went for another walk around. We really did check out the neighbourhood, we walked around a large residential estate and then when in sight of the hotel, I carried on solo as Michael's foot was hurting and he went back. I walked down one street where they were obviously preparing for a street party tonight, bands were setting up and the ends of the road were blocked off.

 This Hindu temple was built in 1925 by Nattukkottai Chettiars, a noted money lending community from Tamil Nadu and dedicated to Ganesha, the elephant-headed god. The temple was given the name Layan Sithi as it was originally located at the old Sepoy Lines where Indian soldiers, known as Sepoys, used to be housed.

I like his slogans - We Buy Junk and Sell Antiques
                             Some Fools Buy Some Fools Sell


It wasn't long before I too headed back to the hotel.

Check out time was 12.00 noon so we were all packed and out at 11.55.

We checked out and left our bags with the concierge. We sat in the bar / bistro on the ground floor, we sat at a table by the window and people watched for an hour or so. Then we thought about food - we could go down to the Golden Cafe or eat here in the bistro. The menu looked reasonable so we ordered.
We ordered from the 'snack' menu,,satay sticks, potato wedges, squid rings and 2 coffees. Goodness me, the portions were full meal size. 10 satay sticks and a basket each of squid rings and of wedges. We definitely wouldn't be hungry on the plane later on.

At 3.15 I went and told the concierge where we were sitting so that he could find us when our transport to the airport arrived. He felt it best to double check our booking and rang the service, yes we were on the list. Just 15 minutes later a new Mercedes taxi arrived - our airport transport.

The drive out to the airport took less than 30 minutes. We got help to use the auto check in, dropped the bags off and were free to wander until the gate opened. We boarded the plane on time but were 25 minutes late taking off.
We had paid the extra for the exit row seats so that we had extra leg room, and no one would crush us by reclining their seat fully (always happens to Michael).
But although we tried it was still not possible to sleep, we just 'rested'.
Despite our late take off we actually arrived in Perth on time..12.00 midnight.

Perth Sunday Dec 17th

For the first time ever we were all 'held' on the plane once we reached the gate.
Australian officials from Quarantine and Bio security came on board and spoke to a couple of Chinese ladies. They seemed satisfied with the answers and left, then we were allowed off.

The automated immigration checks worked very smoothly and we were soon out at the carousel waiting for our bags - we had one bag and then the conveyor stopped. Luckily I spotted the other bag around on the other side so I went and retrieved it. We asked to see a quarantine officer to have a couple of items checked, the young lady checked out the pith helmet and parasol, was happy with both so we were out into the night.

A carpark shuttle bus arrived just 1 minute after we walked up to the stop, our stop was the first stop and our car was near the bus stop.
When I packed the bags in Singapore I had remembered to take out the car keys so that I'd have them at hand but I hadn't taken out the ticket to enable us to exit the car park. I knew where it was so before we got in the car I retrieved it and we were definitely good to go.

I drove out of the car park at 00:50. The sprinklers were on along the verge of Airport Road and I had to put the wipers on, then when we got to the highway I still needed the wipers on!? It was raining. It's December in Perth and it's raining. Michael stayed awake to be a second set of eyes, watching for kangaroos but it was a nice, safe uneventful drive home.
We got home and were safely indoors by 2.15am In bed at 2.30am.

We're back safe and sound, with so many wonderful memories.

irrawaddy Cruise Days 13 and 14

Day 13 Tuesday Dec 12th


Another day with both a morning and afternoon tour. The morning tour was in Sagaing to Soon U Ponya Shin pagoda, a silver workshop, a monastery school and an orphanage.
We both opted to stay on board and totally relax.
We were still sitting at the breakfast table when the 'hotel manager' found us to double check that we would be 'staying on board with us' all morning.
After breakfast we went up to the deserted sun deck, sat on the loungers and read our books.

We could see the pagoda across the river, but whilst that visit would have been nice, a monastery and an orphanage was not on a list of things for us to do.

View from the boat of the Soon U Ponya Shin pagoda and The Yadanabon Bridge across the Irrawaddy.
Watching Sagaing village life...

Late morning we adjourned to our cabin and confess to a little nap, through until lunch time.

We sailed further upstream to our afternoon tour of Mingun. Where we would visit the Mingun Pathodawgyi, a huge incomplete brick pagoda.
See the Mingun Bell and the Myatheindan Pagoda.

We disembarked onto an almost level foreshore and assembled into our respective blue and orange groups. Then we followed Terry into the village.
We walked through a covered parade of stalls and shops but kept walking, we would get time to shop later.
Our first stop was just behind the foreshore, to view the amazing huge 'rock' elephants which stand over looking the river. They have lost their splendid covering but are still definitely elephants.

Then we carried on to the Mingun Temple. For those people who would prefer a more sedate tour a Tuk Tuk was available. Michael and a couple of others took this option. (The Tuk Tuk never strayed too far ahead, always within range of the Vox Box and Terry's commentary)

  The building of Mingun Pahtodawgyi started in 1791, by King Bodawpaya. Had it been completed it would have been about 500 feet(150 metres) high, but it was stopped at 162 feet. The  story is that an astrologer said that the king would die when the pagoda was completed, so they stopped building. The king died anyway.
The building was damaged by an earthquake in 1839.

Then we walked just around the corner to see the Mingun Bell.
King Bodawpaya had a gigantic bell cast to go with his huge stupa. it weighs 90 tons, and is the largest ringing bell in the world. There is a larger bell in Russia, but it isn't hanging and therefore can't be rung. Terry proudly claimed this Burmese bell as the world's biggest - it's not a bell if it can't be rung.

Across the road from the bell I spotted The Mingun Home for the Aged.
What a beautiful entrance. It was apparently founded by an old lady in 1915, it was the first home for the aged in Myanmar.

Just a couple of hundred yards from the great stupa and bell lies the beautiful white Hsinbyume or Myatheindan Pagoda built in 1816. (Burmas's Taj Mahal). It was built by Bodawpaya's grandson and successor Bagyidaw and dedicated to the memory of his first consort Princess Hsinbyume (Lady of the White Elephant, granddaughter of Bodawpaya, 1789–1812) who died in childbirth.

 The seven wavy terraces around the pagoda represent the seven mountain ranges around Mount Meru. Some people opted to 'climb the 77 steps to heaven' and enter the pagoda but we were content to admire from outside.

Then we walked back to the commercial area of town, and all those stalls and shops! We had a very, very small list of souvenir items that we wanted - for Michael, a solar topee / pith helmet made of bamboo and for me, a traditional  parasol, made of wood, teak, bamboo and cotton. The waterproof surface is made from cotton with traditional glue from the seeds of persimmon.
We found both, haggled a good price, so were very happy.
We also bought a woven shoulder bag / water bottle carrier and then fell in love with some more beautiful material, which although stitched as longyis can be made into something else (not sure what yet).
Just before we got back to the jetty Michael stopped to buy a packet of old Burmese coins, dated 1966 -1975, which covered the time when he was last in Burma so that was added to the purchases.

Then we were back on board, time for a shower and relax watching another lovely sunset.  We left Mingun around 5pm and were soon approaching Mandalay. The river bank grew busier and busier, we saw a huge wood yard  loading what we presume is teak onto boats.

There were lots of the old style cruise boats moored on the banks, some are obviously being refurbished but whether into modern cruise boats we don't know. By 6.00 we were moored in Mandalay. we moored alongside another modern cruise boat, operated by Cruise Co.
That night was "Crew Party" night with a Farewell Cocktail. Unknown ingredients - just had to pick a Gin or Rum base. I went with gin - it was bright blue and tasted very nice!

After dinner the entertainment was provided by the band and dancers from the Mandalay Fine Art School.

We joined our new friends, John and Lorraine, in the front row.
The band was so enthusiastic and we had our own little game of 'name that tune'.One was particularly easy - 3 blind mice.
Then Terry became MC and introduced the dancers and gave a short explanation of the meaning of the traditional dance to be performed.

The costumes and the dancers themselves were magnificent. An excellent show.

After the finale the passengers were encouraged to get on the floor and join the dancers, everyone had a fantastic time. A wonderful, wonderful evening.

We were moored overnight at Gaw Wein Jetty, Mandalay




Day 14 Wednesday Dec 13th

Our last full day arrived. We had a slightly earlier breakfast because our tour started at 9.00am. This morning we were to visit 2 temples and a monastery.

Our first stop was the Mahamuni Pagoda to see Mahamuni Buddha, the golden Buddha. It is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Burma. The pagoda was built in 1785 by King Bodawpaya. Mahamuni means ' great image'.
 (To pay respect to the Buddha image, male devotees apply gold leaf to the image. As a result, the Mahamuni Buddha is covered with a thick layer of gold leaf of about 15 centimeters, which has distorted the shape of the image. Several old photos of the image in the temple show the difference in the outline of the image between about a century ago and now.)
       This pagoda was the first place where we had to pay and get a 'camera pass', (APT paid for us all). The 'stalls' along the entrance to the pagoda were true commercial shops and there was no hawking of wares.
      The Buddha is housed in a glass enclosed, inner sanctum where no women are allowed. Men only and there is a security portal to go through.  Michael was content with the view from outside the security zone.

We wandered around the pagoda, where there are also some items from Angkor Wat in Cambodia taken as war loot in the 15^th century. One is of the mythological three headed elephant Airavata..

A group of visiting school children was very enthusiastic and gave us all big smiles and "Hello"s, we responded with smiles and "Mangalabar".

There was a money changer in the temple!!! (maybe so you could get money to place on the shrines?)

Then we went to a workshop where they made gold leaf.
The gold leaf is pounded between multiple sheets of bamboo paper. This paper is made on the premises. It is made and cut into 6 inch squares. The sandwiched papers are placed on a steel plate and beaten with a hard wooden stick. The paper becomes strong, wax paper able to withstand the pounding pressure and the gold leaf particles will not stick to the paper.

It was a very loud, very old fashioned workshop. The young men were only about 17yrs old. We questioned why the company didn't buy a modern press and someone asked why they didn't wear ear protectors. 'They don't like wearing them' and although the answer about the press was that it was too expensive we didn't believe it, especially when we saw the price of the gold leaf items in the showroom.


Our next visit was to see The World's Largest Book.
The Kuthodaw Pagoda was built 1857. In rows of little white stupas are 730 marble tablets (729 contain the text, while the 730th describes their creation). These  tablets are the tripitaka of Buddism ( the“three baskets,”which  refers to the baskets in which the original Buddhist teachings were held). The  tablets are 107cms (31/2') wide, 153cms (5') tall, and 13cms (5") thick.
When the tablets were unveiled in 1868, each line of writing was filled with golden ink and the stones were decorated with precious stones including rubies and diamonds. Unfortunately after the British invaded in the mid-1880s, the temple site was looted and the slabs stripped of their gold ink and gems.
Today the sprawling book stands with the writing refilled with black ink.

As we were leaving the pagoda a group of young girls wanted their photo taken with Michael, someone so tall (and good looking - his words).

We also came across a very attractive young lady on her way into the temple. Thomas said that she was either a model or a bride - she was a bride. She was going to have her photos taken. The wedding ceremony would be later in the week.

Then we went to Shwenandaw Monastery, another teak built monastery, which has many carvings of Buddhist myths. These were originally gilt with gold and glass mosaics but sadly none of this remains. It is built in traditional Burmese architectural style, and is the single remaining major original structure of the original Royal Palace
.

The vestige of gold is still just visible between the carvings in the photo below..

The coach stopped very briefly so that we could quickly take a photo of Mandalay Hill,from alongside the Palace.

Then we went back to the boat for lunch.
After lunch we resumed our sight seeing in Mandalay;
We drove to the 'marble carving street' Kuauk Sit Tan Street, where every shop is a marble / alabaster carving workshop. Thomas had brought a box of masks for us - very welcome they were too. The street was shrouded in white dust.
As soon as we got off the coach our glasses were covered in dust.

It was an incredible sight - every shop in the street  was a carving workshop with a yard full of statues in various stages of manufacture.

The carving used to all be done by hand but now power tools are the preferred tools. A statue can be done in less than one day rather than 2 or 3 weeks. The face is the last thing to be carved, which gives a very strange view of the world.. Another passenger and I found that it was reminiscent of a Dr Who episode.

Some of the special, more intricate statues are done by hand but the bulk of the work is not. The men do the carving and the women do the sanding and polishing. It was quite awful to see all of this work with the dust everywhere being done with children sitting nearby. Everyone breathing in the dust.
The statistics for the workers show that they live well into their 60s, but I think that this might have been gathered when they were still using hand tools. With the use of power tools the dust has to have increased so I'm sure the statistics will have changed.
The workers don't wear face masks because in the humidity the masks get clogged within a couple of hours!!

We then went further down the street to a bronze statue workshop.

Here we saw the statues in all stages of manufacture.... wood carving, clay moulds, and finished bronze . It was interesting to see the polished (gold) bronze being welded and then the intricate inscription being added.
Not all of the statues were of Buddha, there was a huge one of General Aung San.

Then it was all back on the coach for the trip through traffic to the boat. Once again there were some interesting sights on the road.

 

All too soon it was time for the last cocktail, called  River Water, - Gin, Fresh Ginger Juice, Honey and Lime. Just what you need for a sore throat. It was good but the ginger was very strong - one was definitely enough.
Then we went in for the last dinner and the final night's entertainment.

 We found out that some of our fellow passengers were quite talented; entertaining us with a few songs. Unfortunately the Aussies were outdone by a couple from Wales who sang a lovely version of 'We'll keep a welcome in the hillside'. The welsh lady then went on to sing a beautiful Welsh hymn.

And so we spent our last night on MV Samatha on the Irrawaddy.

Burma is a lovely country. We saw no signs of trouble but we know that it has as many problems now as it's had throughout it's history. The people are wonderful.
APT was great, everything was well planned and nothing was too much trouble.
Our tour guides Thomas and Terry were a perfect pair. By alternating their days we got an interesting varied aspect of the country. Their mix of historical facts, cultural details and personal anecdotes was just right.