Wednesday 18th June 1975

After spending most of the day in the Royal Hotel, Bangkok, we took a taxi to the airport to catch Union of Burma Airways flight 228 to Rangoon. Although a short flight of 55 minutes, it was in complete contrast to our earlier flights. Since Burma is desperately short of foreign currency, Union of Burma Airways tends to fly worn out planes. Instead of efficient hot meals on board delivered in compartmentalised trays, we had a couple of dry sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper.

We felt sightly uneasy as we went through Cutsoms and Immigration at Rangoon Airport; all foreign cash, travellers cheques, cameras, film, calculators etc had to be declared ...... a step aimed at trying to stamp out the black market in Burma.

After a rather pleasant ride in an old Vauxhall Velox taxi, past the world famous Shwe Dagon Pagoda, we had our first glimpse of Rangoon. A city of 2 million people, its main buildings were characteristically British Colonial in style; however the city is generally run down and many of these magnificent buildings were in a poor state of repair.

We soon arrived at our accommodation for the night, The Strand Hotel.

I recall that we sat for dinner at a table in a long hall with high ceilings and pillars; the endearing memory of this experience was watching rats scuttle along the skirting board as we ate dinner! As we lay in bed after a long day's travelling we did not need much imagination to know what the scratching noise was in the ceiling above our bed!

Today The Strand has been refurbished to its former glory and is one of the most prestigious 5-star hotels in Yangon.

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda

Over 2,500 years old, this world famous pagoda is believed to enshrine eight hairs of Gautama Buddha, and sacred relics of the preceeding Buddhas. The 326-foot high main structure is surrounded by 64 smaller pagodas. Whilst most of the stupa is covered with many layers of gold leaf, the top most section (52 feet high) is inlaid with solid gold plates, and the umbrella and vane which crown the pagoda are inlaid with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other gems. The most precious part is the small gold globe on the very top which is set with 4,350 diamonds and 93 other precious stones. The Shwe Dagon domintes Rangoon from its commanding position on Singuttawa Hill.

Sule Pagoda

The Sule Pagoda is a Burmese stupa located in the heart of downtown Yangon, occupying the centre of the city and an important space in contemporary Burmese politics, ideology and geography. According to legend, it was built before the Shwedagon Pagoda during the time of the Buddha, making it more than 2,600 years old.

Pagan

The ruins of Pagan cover a tract of countryside measuring around sixteen square miles along the east bank of the Irrawaddy. The monuments, now all in stages of decay, were erected mostly from the 11th to the 13th centuries A.D. when Pagan was the seat of the Burmese dynasty. The present walled city of Pagan is ascribed to King Pyinbya, the 34th King of the dynasty, whon in 874 A.D. transferred the capital from Tampawadi. The pagodas of Pagan, as elswheer in Burma, consist of two types. The first is the bell shaped stupa of solid brickwork raised on a series of receeding terraces, and crowned with a finial. The second is a hollow vaulted temple mainly for enshrining the Buddha image.

Ananda Temple

Built by Kyanzittha in 1091 A.D., Ananda Temple is on eof the finest and most venerated temples at Pagan. The temple symbolizes the endless wisdom of the Buddha, hence the name "Ananta", which later changed to Ananda, the name of Buddha's cousin

It is a square in plan of nearly 200 ft sides and broken on each side by the projection of large gabled vestibules. These gables are somewhat lower than the main building, which elevates itself to a height of 35 feet in two tiers of windows. Above this rise successively diminishing terraces, the last of which just affording the breadth for the spire which crowns and completes the edifice. The overall height of the temple is 168 feet.

Thatbyinnyu Temple

"Thatbyinnyu" signifies "omniscience", one of the attributes of Buddha. The temple was built in the middle of the 12th century A.D. by King Alaungsithu, grandson and successor of the King that built Ananda Temple. Standing within the city walls, some 500 yards to the south-west of Ananda Temple, Thatbyinnyu Temple rises to a height of 201 feet. Its general plan is not unlike the Ananda, but it does not form a symetrical cross as does Ananda Temple. It has two main storeys and the Buddha image is seated on the upper floor. The high cucibles, the corner stupas on the terraces, the flamboyamnt arch-pediments and the plain pilasters combine to give a soaring effect to the monument.

Mandalay

Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 445 miles north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).

Mandalay was founded in 1857 by King Mindon, replacing Amarapura as the new royal capital of the Konbaung dynasty. It was Burma's final royal capital before the kingdom's annexation by the British Empire in 1885. Under British rule, Mandalay remained commercially and culturally important despite the rise of Yangon, the new capital of British Burma. The city suffered extensive destruction during the Japanese conquest of Burma in the Second World War. In 1948, Mandalay became part of the newly independent Union of Burma.

Today, Mandalay is the economic centre of Upper Myanmar and considered the centre of Burmese culture. A continuing influx of illegal Chinese immigrants, mostly from Yunnan, since the late 20th century, has reshaped the city's ethnic makeup and increased commerce with China. Despite Naypyidaw's recent rise, Mandalay remains Upper Burma's main commercial, educational and health center.

Mandalay Hill

Mandalay Hill is a 240 metres (790 ft) hill that is located to the northeast of the city centre of Mandalay. The city took its name from the hill. Mandalay Hill is known for its abundance of pagodas and monasteries, and has been a major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists for nearly two centuries. At the top of the hill is the Sutaungpyei (literally wish-fulfilling) Pagoda. A panoramic view of Mandalay from the top of Mandalay Hill alone makes it worthwhile to attempt a climb up its stairways. There are four covered stairways called saungdan leading up the hill from the south, southeast, west and north, and convenient seats of masonry work line these stairways all the way up. A one-way motor road today saves time and also makes it accessible for those who are unable to climb up the stairs, leading to an escalator and a lift to the pagoda at the summit.

The Kuthodaw

Lying at the foot of Mandalay Hill, Kuthodaw Pagoda (also known as Kuthodaw Paya or “Royal Merit Pagoda”) is the home of “the world’s largest book” inscribed with the teachings of Gautama Buddha. The Pagoda was built by the order of King Mindon Min in 1857 as part of the traditional establishment of Mandalay Royal City. Feared that the philosophy of Gautama Buddha could not be passed on to the next generations with the British’s invasion to South East Asian region, The King built Kuthodaw Pagoda with the intention of preserving the entire text of the Tipitaka Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism by carving them on huge marble slabs.

Shwe In Bin Monastery

Shweinbin Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Mandalay, Burma, built in the tradition of Burmese teak architecture. The monastery was built in 1895 by a Sino-Burmese merchant married to a Burmese woman of royal extraction. The monastery's construction strictly adheres to traditional rules of Burmese monastic architecture and includes all of the designated pyatthat-crowned pavilions.

Mandalay - Heho (Lake Taungyi) - Rangoon

The next part of our trip was to fly to Heho, the airport that serves Taungyii the access town for the Inle Lake. We wanted to see the famour "Inle Lake Leg-rowers" before we returned to Rangoon. Arriving at Mandalay Airport we were somewhat concerned that the normal plane was not available and they had substituted a Douglas DC3 for the flight. This was a really old plane. It had wooden floor boards inside, and no inner skin. The windows were single sheet perspex bolted into position and the palne was not pressurised. We were in the monsoon season, and the rain was horrendous. The plane had to climb to get over the mountain range on the approach to Heho, and the engines alternated in sound with the efort. Virtually everbody on the flight was sick and it was with incredible relief when we reached Heho Airport. From here we had a taxi ride to The Taungyi Hotel; normally this would have been an interesting ride but with the heavy rain of the monsoon and the fact that the taxi had a bit of polythene for the passenger side window did not make it much fun. We were dismayed to find on our arrival that The Taungyi Hotel was closed for the season! We managed to get one of the staff to come to the door, and he agreed that we could stay. He said that he would go to the market to buy a chicken for our dinner, and he suggested that we use the taxi for a guided tour of Taungyi (in the monsoon rain!) for the afternoon.

We had dinner and retired early. We were somewhat concerned about mosquitos, and made a make-shift mosquito net by draping a sheet over our umbrella in the bed!

The next day we were off early back to Heho Airport and were much relieved when a Fokker Friendship plane turned up, along with the Dutch people we had met in Mandalay. It was certainly a trip to remember! It was not until 2010 that wewere able to return to Burma and to visit the Inle Lake.