Myanamar day 10: Imperial Cities.

We rent a tuk tuk at the hotel to visit the imperial cities, our driver is called Ningy. At 8.30, we are expected on time.

First stop Mahamuni Paya, a seated Buddha of almost two thousand years old covered with hundreds of layers of gold leaf that the devotees deposit and are deforming, much revered by Burmese Buddhists. In the temple there is a painting gallery and a collection of Khmer bronze figures. Only men are allowed to glue the gold leaf, there are cameras everywhere. Entrance fee included in the combination ticket.

Second stop at Amarapura, Maha Ganayon Kyaung Buddhist Monastery. When we arrived, there were hundreds of Chinese tourists lined up on both sides of the road, waiting for the monks to parade and take alms to the big breakfast room. It's a bit frightening how such a beautiful tradition is disrupted by tourists. However talking to one of the monks they say they are grateful for our visit as they live on alms. It is exciting to see so many passing by from the little ones to the older ones all barefoot with their bowl and dressed in dark red (traditional colour of the Burmese monks). We are very lucky to meet their spiritual guide, a 92 year old monk who walks with the help of a young man. We wander around the monastery visiting the outbuildings. The youngsters laugh while having breakfast.

We go to Sagaing, another of the old capitals surrounded by green hills with golden pagodas on top. We stop at the foot of Soon U Pon Nya Shin Paya, 380 steps separate us from the top. When we arrive at the top the views are impressive. Although it is true that the temple has several rooms and they are worth a visit. A nun in a wheelchair comes up to us and gives us money to make an offering, but these people are amazed by us more and more. There are huge bronze frogs to deposit lismones.
We want to visit Tilawkaguru but our driver tells us that it is closed and that it is impossible. In return he takes us to visit the Sitagu Buddhist Academy, which is an important intellectual center of Theravada tourism. There is a golden hemispheric stupa, surrounded by magnificent gardens with resting areas.
We stop at the Sagaing Bridge to see the views, you can see the Ava Bridge with its metal structure.

We eat at a local restaurant in front of the pier to go to Inwa or Ava another of the imperial capitals.

We take a boat to the other end of the river, we meet a very nice English man. When we get off the boat there are horse-drawn carriages waiting to visit the most important places. If you want to visit it by bike or motorbike you have to transport it in the boat, so you see the options are walking or buggy, in the end we choose the latter because otherwise we would not have time to visit it. We find it quite expensive and do not haggle, the price is different for two or three people. The cars are nice.
Inwa is a beautiful island, the temples are surrounded by jungle and rice fields, the landscape is spectacular. First stop Bagaya Kyaung a beautiful teak monastery resting on high poles. Be careful with the nails on the ground. Inside there is a large room where some monks pray, in the adjoining room hundreds of bats live in the semi-darkness. The spectacular setting. We met another group of Spaniards, we chatted with them for a while.
We stopped at Daw Gyan, a group of red brick stupas surrounded by rice fields. Beautiful. Shwezigon Paya, a golden stupa within the walls of Inwa We stopped at Yenadasimi Paya with three seated Buddhas. In Nanmyin only remains standing the tower of the clock to which it is not possible to accede. Last stop Maha Aungmye Bonzan impressive temple of thick walls with pyramidal structure, essential.

We take the boat again and Ningy takes us to see the sunset again in Amarapura to the longest teak footbridge in the world, the U-Bein Bridge. On the one hand we are frightened by the amount of tourists there, especially if we compare it with the rest of the country, Mandalay and surroundings is overcrowded with tourists. Food stands, souvenir stands, music stands, there are a lot of places as well. We arrived at the bridge and it is crowded, after half an hour almost everyone leaves and we can enjoy a magical sunset.
We cross the bridge to the other side, a noisy neighborhood full of people. We go down from the bridge to an islet over Lake Taungthaman, take some incredible pictures. As practically all the tourism left, only locals and monks were left, beautiful.

Back in Mandalay we have a beer in a bar near the hostel. Almost all of them are men drinking rum. We had dinner in yesterday's restaurant. They remember us and prepare dim sum and rice for us, delicious.

Tuk tuk for visiting imperial cities: 38,000 MMK.
Accommodation: ET Hotel 14$ double room with bathroom and breakfast included.
Food: local restaurant 16.500 3 pax.
Boat to Inwa: 1.500 MMK per pax round trip
Horse cart to Inwa: 22.500 MMK 3 pax.
Dinner: local restaurant Shwe Mann, dim sum and rice 8.500 MMK 3 pax.