My first steps were directed to current Rakhaing state. Having done my homework on Burma I knew that this was where some of the oldest traces of its past greatness were to be found. The culmination of Mrauk-U prosperity was around XVI century. What remains today are the ruins of old palace and a fortified wall. In the short cycling distance there are the still standing old pagodas to visit. Their great days are long gone but it is still interesting so see them. It is probably a good prelude to seeing 2000 Bagan's temples.
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| Mystique Mrauk U from Shwetaung pagoda source: Wikipedia |
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| Andaw- Thein temple complex, The name means 'Tooth Shrine'. It contains a tooth relic of the Buddha coming from Sri Lanka. |
It made me upset to look at the ruined remainings of old stupas and temples scattered around the place; some are in between bamboo houses, some are in the middle of farming fields, the only companion being cattle. What a humiliating end of life for a temple that must be.
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| Friendly Asian bloodline cows in tropical conditions. Just outside on of the temples. |
Some wise books say that two days are sufficient to fully explore the site, for me it was one day. I did go inside pagodas whenever I could, armed in my headlamp, but I did not see murals or much of reliefs. There is quite a good reading on all the temples widely available so no more history here.
It was most enjoyable to go around and see all of the temples. I even got reminded that shoes are off even when walking inactive ones (shame on me, rules are rules no matter if it makes you walk on dog and cow excrement, they are allowed). I did not realize that inactive pagoda also count as sacred places, silly me.
The highlight of this journey will be the boat trip however which deserves a whole separate post.
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