Sagaing: I can still make babies cry and women scream!
We hired a car and driver to take us down from Pwin U Lwin and over to Sagaing, which is just west of Mandalay. The draw here is Sagaing Hill, which is dotted with stupas and monasteries, and which is crawling with monks.
Michelle and I set-out to walk up Sagaing Hill. At the very top is a temple, so I got up there, removed my shoes (as is required for any and all temples in Myanmar), and started to take a look around when I suddenly heard a lady scream. I whipped my head to the right, and saw a lady staring at me as though she’d seen a ghost! Big bulging eyes, mouth wide open, hands on cheeks…and I realized that she was screaming at the sight of me!
Turns out this lady was from a place up-country called Shwebo, a town which is best known in traveler’s circles as having lots of cobras, and apparently she hadn’t seen many Westerners. She gawked at me for a few minutes, and then insisted that we get some photos together. That’s her to my immediate left in this photo.
It is a fact that I don’t exactly blend in with the local population. I’m a foot taller, have fair skin instead of brown, have blonde hair instead of white, and have a rich crop of white hair on my arms. It’s not uncommon that a baby will see me and burst into tears, and as this episode showed, every once in a while I can also shock an adult. Good to know that I haven’t lost my touch.
I went back to Sagaing Hill the following morning, specifically to wander around some of the monasteries. Without exception the monks were friendly and engaging, though they spoke no English, and I spoke no Burmese. I went by one of the monasteries, and saw a young monk who was full of life and incredibly photogenic. I took his picture, and showed it to him on my digital camera. Then I put my camera around his neck, and let him try to take a picture of me. He got a kick out of it, and a few of his friends came by to see what was going on.
They wanted their picture taken, then wanted to take a picture themselves, and the band played on. Before long I was surrounded by 20 or 30 monks, and we all had a big time!
Bob’s ratings (1=terrible, 5=ok, 10=fantastic):
- Sagaing: 5
- Sagaing Hill: 6
Next: Mandalay and the boat to Bagan