Mingus, Monks and Malicious Murmurings!

We had now reached day seven of our trip and this morning we had to be up and ready to leave by 5:45am to watch the sunrise from U-Bein Bridge. Six days in Southern Asia and so far everything seemed to be going well and then on the seventh day ... my stomach decided it was time to play up! 

Having experienced severe 'Delhi Belly' back in India 6 years ago; with the memory of the whole experience etched forever in my brain (and in my blog!),  I was desperately trying not to panic after my third trip to the loo between the alarm going off at 5:15 and the coach departure. And I was determined not to miss out on the day's events. But to be honest, the idea of spending an afternoon on a boat was probably not the best thing to be doing.

However, I decided it was mind over matter and my mind was all geared up to say that it didn't matter. So I made it onto the coach and we headed for the bridge.

The U-Bein is found in the town of Amarapura and stretches across Lake Taungthaman (named after an Ogre who arrived in Amarapura in pursuit of Buddha - this one had no intention of cutting off his breasts for him) and is recorded as the worlds longest teak footbridge at just over 3,936,000 feet (1200 meters to be precise), when in 1859 the Mayor U Bein of Amarapura arranged for the bridge to be built from the teak support columns left behind from the palace, after it had been moved to Mandalay. 

I thought it would take ages to walk the full length of the long bridge and back again, but it really didn't seem that bad as I strolled along chatting to Jane and Derek; one of the English couples in our group, but sadly it was rather overcast that morning so there wasn't much of a dawn horizon to see, but there were plenty of passing monks in their dawn coloured robes on their way to and from The Maha Gandayon Kyaung (monastery).

A short break back to the hotel for a quick breakfast (and a quick loo break) and then we headed off to our awaiting boat for an afternoon on The Ayeyarwady River.

The boat itself was like a little barge, there was covered seating up top and a big space down below - and luckily a flushable toilet! 

First challenge was to climb on board, my balance isn't great at the best of times and it didn't really help that we had to walk along a narrow plank with a temporary hand rail which consisted of a wooden pole held at either end by one of the men operating the boat. 

I wobbled but luckily I didn't fall, nor did anyone and we all settled upstairs for the first part of the trip quietly heading along the river, looking at more pagodas along the shore ... whilst I tried to ignore the gurgling in my belly!

To be honest, I don't remember too much of the day as I was feeling quite rough.  I remember stopping off in Sagaing to watch the Monks procession as they lined up and headed into the monastery to have their lunch - everything they receive is from donations from family and locals. They line up in order of age/experience and head into the vast dining room, passing by a group of locals who would hand them each a pad and pen donated that day. With regard to food and any other donations, if any supplies run out before the end of the procession, then those monks go without. Which is quite hard anyway as all The Buddhist monks over here are not allowed to eat any solid food after midday anyway?!

As each monk approached the steps of the dining hall, they removed their brown sandals and left them neatly lined up on the steps outside. So it was quite impressive to watch as each monk left after their meal of rice and fish,  they knew exactly which pair of sandals was theirs.

As we went up Sagaing Hill we stopped off to visit 'Sone Oo Pone Nya Shin Paya (yes another pagoda). I could just about appreciate the beauty of it, my stomach was feeling better but my brain was starting to merge all pagodas together. 

Close by is Umin Thounzeh, known for its curved chamber which houses 43 seated Buddhas and two standing ones. Grateful for the shade we stepped into the cool tiled chamber to take a look, it was quite beautiful though maybe slightly monotonous with one Buddha after the other and so on and so forth.

We returned to the boat and eagerly climbed on board ready for lunch. There was so much food, it was delicious but I was cautious to eat it for medical reasons of course, but also I was starting to feel a bit gluttonous having watched the monks procession and seen the small amount of food they live off of.

After lunch we carried on up the Ayeyarwady River and stepped off in Mingun; a small village that holds big history thanks to the late King Bodawpaya who in 1790 ordered the construction of an enormous .... yes you guessed it ... Pagoda! It was so enormous that by the time Bodawpaya died 29 years later, the only part that had been finished was the lower portion. As described in my guide book: "Quite possibly the largest pile of bricks in the world". Had it been finished, the Pagoda would have been close to 150m high. But even so, it is still a huge tourist attraction, even more so by the mere fact that it had been damaged by two earthquakes in 1819 and 2012.

By this point I felt as though an earthquake was about to erupt in my stomach. Which in itself made me feel panicked bcause standing amongst the market stalls outside a semi built Pagoda on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river with various sellers shouting "Madam! Longhy?" was not the ideal place to give into the needs of my digestive system. And so I sat down at one of the tables under cover and held on tight, in deep discomfort, smiling through my gritted teeth at my fellow group members as they went off to see The Largest ringable Bell (9 tonnes) in the world and The White temple (oh dear I missed seeing another Pagoda!).

Once they'd disappeared I crossed my arms on the table, laid my head down on them and managed a little sleep. By the time I woke up, I was feeling slightly better and waited as I organised my photos on my phone (mainly as a distraction) until my group returned a short while later.

Derek and Jane were the first back and walked me back to the boat. Luckily Derek carried a couple of anti spasm tablets around with him that he'd given me earlier and they had started to kick in. So I managed to return to my seat on the boat and enjoy the ride back down the river with ease.

That evening back at the hotel I had a much needed night in alone while TC went out for a slap up meal with the rest of the group.