緬甸 Myanmar

樹林裏一片廟海

旅程重點 Highlights

- 廟, 各種各樣的廟

- 歷史文化習俗

- 緬甸菜

- Temples and pagodas

- Historical sites

- Burmese food

Tips: Three extremely important things to know before you visit.

(1) Dress appropriately, cover your shoulders and knees no matter how hot it is.

(2) All pagodas and temples require you to enter barefoot, regardless of how rough is the surface of the floor.

(3) They do not take USD bills with slight wrinkle, this is quite dumb as wrinkles had nothing to do with fake bills, its very annoying but you need to keep your USB bills straight.

行程路線 Itinerary & 基本資料 Basic Info

進入 Flying into/ 離開 Departing from: 仰光

(1) Mandalay [1 Day]

(2) Bagan [1.5 Days]

(3) Yangon [2 Days]

(4) Bago [1 Days]

Tips: Yangon and Bago are in the south, Mandalay and Bagan are in the North. Most international flights get you to Yangon, you can take domestic flight between Yangon and Mandalay. Hiring private cars from Mandalay to Bagan and from Yangon to Bago are very common. Highways were quite developed, so one option is to hire a private car between Bagan to Bago then you can skip one leg of the flight.

• 衣: 建議在 11 月至 2 月的冬季旅遊, 白天穿短袖, 晚上可以加一件薄外套, 除非你超耐熱+打算裸跑, 否則不要在夏天旅遊。由於進廟要脫鞋, 請帶上方便脫和穿的涼鞋。 Wear: Visit during winter between November and February. You can go with short sleeves for the day and add a thin jacket for the night. Don't visit during the summer unless you really love the heat. Since it is required to take off shoes when entering the pagodas or temples, bring sandals that are easy to take off.

• 食: 緬甸菜融合了中國, 印度和孟族的影響。街上隨便一間地道餐廳的食物味道都不錯而且不貴, 仰光和曼德勒有不少高級餐廳, 價格可能是 10 倍, 但味道當然不會是10 倍, 個人覺得兩種都值得嘗試。 Eat: Burmese cuisine is a mix Chinese, Indian, and Mon influences. Food is inexpensive at any local restaurants and in general they taste well, there are fine dining restaurants in Yangon and Mandalay for upscale food, probably x10 times the price but definitely not x10 times the taste. Its worth to try both.

• 住: 酒店的水平很不錯, 價格也不貴, 而且有很多選擇。導遊或司機會有他們的推薦, 但若你採納的話基本上等如免費幫他提升住宿, 所以建議你自己資料搜集。 Stay: Accommodation are decent and not expensive and there are tons of options, tour guide or driver will have recommended one but that usually means the price is higher, so do your research before.

• 行: 大城市的交通非常混亂。有種4X4客貨車會像公共汽車一樣在要路線上來回。包車是最好辦法而一般價錢合理。導遊和旅行社可以代你安排. 但基本上和被搶刧沒分別。必須到處問價, 然後你就會發現價格可以差天共地(一個報價可以是另一個報價的兩倍或三倍，特別是你看上去很有錢的話)。 Transportation: Traffic is quite messy in big cities. There are pickup trucks that serve like a bus on major route. Hiring private car is by far the most efficient way with reasonable price. Tour guide and travel agent can arrange car for you but they will for sure rip you off. The price really varies (one quote can double or triple the other, especially if they think you are rich) so make sure you talk to a few. Tips: Check as many options as you can, usually directly dealing with the driver get you much cheaper price. Some drivers are not very reliable though so be cautious.

Day 1 Mandalay - Mandalay hill - Shwenandaw Monastery - Kuthodaw Pagoda - 皇宮 - 街檔 - Mahamuni Buddha Temple - 烏木橋

我們前一天晚上經仰光轉機抵達曼德勒。早餐以包點和飯麵為主, 沒想到竟然相當好吃, 可能是這裏的中國混合孟族調味正好對我胃口, 也可能在上一站大魚大肉了一週, 反正想吃簡單的, 甚至還專人即煎奄列。

We arrived in Mandalay with a transit stop at Yangon the night before. Mainly bakeries and rice or noodles were offered at breakfast and they tasted good. It might be because the Chinese mixed Mons seasoning was my cup of tea, or it might be due to the fact that I had a week of fancy meals in my last stop, such that I appreciate simple food more. There were even freshly made omelets.

第一站是曼德勒山, 這座城市的名字出自此山。山上有200多座佛塔和寺院, 是緬甸佛教徒的主要朝聖地。兩個巨大的chinthes(leogryphs)守衛在山腳下的山門, 進門後, 有一條叫做 saungdan 的樓梯通向山頂. 在山頂上可以看到曼德勒的全景, 山頂有座金碧輝煌的Sutaungpyei(意為如意)寶塔。進去的第一個感覺是: 滿眼都是金色! 塔身, 牆身和柱都是金光閃閃, 不過在緬甸待了幾天後便見怪不怪了。還有個小發現, 右圖中左邊雙牙象星座是週三, 右邉那個大家猜是週幾?

First stop of the day was Mandalay Hill, which the city took its name from. There were over 200 pagodas and monasteries on the hill, which has been a major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhists. Two gigantic chinthes (leogryphs) stand guard at the main door at the foot of the hill. There were stairways called saungdan leading up the hill and it offered a panoramic view of Mandalay from the top. At the top of the hill was the Sutaungpyei (means wish-fulfilling) Pagoda. The first feeling I had was: full of gold! The tower body, walls and columns were all glittering with golden colour, but in a few days, I would get used to it. There was also another interesting discovery, the constellation of the tusked elephant on the left in the picture represented Wednesday, how about the one on the right side, which day was that?

下了曼德勒山, 便來到Shwenandaw Monastery。它是一座佛教寺院, 由Thibaw Min國王於1878年建造。寺院原為皇宮的一部分, 是原皇宮從Amarapura遷至曼德勒後僅存的主要建築。它僅用木材建造, 採用緬甸建築風格。在牆壁和屋頂上隨處可見佛教神話的柚木雕刻, 雕樑畫棟, 讓我大開眼界。

Shwenandaw Monastery was a Buddhist monastery built in 1878 by King Thibaw Min. It was built with wood only, in Burmese architectural style. The monastery was originally part of the royal palace and was the only major structure left from the original palace, after the palace was moved from Amarapura to Mandalay. Teak carvings of Buddhist myths can be found everywhere on walls and roofs.

不到1公里外, 我們就到了Kuthodaw佛塔(意思是“皇家功德”), 這是一座因為藏有世界上最大的書籍而聞名的佛塔。它建於Mindon國王統治時期。佛塔本身高57米, 全身金碧輝煌, 極為雄偉, 讓我想起了金鐘罩, 練好了這門功夫是不是等如把這東西罩在身上? 第一次看它時大開眼界, 但之後幾天會看到幾個和它長一樣但更大的佛塔, 回想起來便覺得這個沒有甚麼等了。所以說呢, 在這個世界要生存的話, 從前靠帥靠漂亮都還可以, 但在這個年代, 漂亮的太多了, 有時候反而是"獨特"的東西才會讓人記住, 譬如像上面那個全木造的寺院, 反而令我有更深的印象。在這邊, 厲害的東西反而是在後花園, 那裏有 729 個 kyauksa gu (意思是石刻洞穴), 每座石刻的洞穴裏都有一塊大理石板, 前後均刻有大藏經的一頁文字, 大藏經有三大體系, 這裏流傳的自然是南傳佛教的巴利三藏。圖中每一座石刻裏都只有一頁, 對! 每一頁建一座! 它們加起來佔據整個花園, 就是傳說中世界上最大的書, 不過遺憾的是我們並不能進洞穴裏參觀。我覺得這裏非常適合拍那些尋寶片, 主角收到密碼"4796", 想了半天如何破解, 最後發現原來是這些石刻的座標, 第47排第9個第6行, 就是秘密! 而那主角, 既然是我想出來, 就由區區在下演出吧。

Less than 1km away, we arrived at the Kuthodaw Pagoda (means "Royal Merit"), which was a Buddhist stupa famous for containing the world's largest book. It was built during the reign of King Mindon. The stupa itself was 57m high, and looked just like many other Pagodas. The most stunning element here was the garden, where 729 kyauksa gu (means stone-inscription caves) stood, and each contained a marble slab inscribed on both sides with a page of text from the Tripitaka, the entire Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. That's known as the largest book in the world.

就在附近還有一座佛塔: Sandamani佛塔。 1874 年, Mindon國王為紀念在太子叛亂中與三個王子一起被暗殺的弟弟, 建造了這座紀念塔。現在給你一個測試, 不許回去看上面的照片, 你能分辨出這佛塔和上面Kuthodaw佛塔的分別嗎? 說不出甚麼吧! 現在回去檢查照片, 你會發現一些不同, 對吧?

There is another Pagoda right next to it: Sandamani Pagoda. It was commissioned by King Mindon Min in 1874 as a memorial his younger brother, who was assassinated along with 3 princes during a Prince rebellion. Let me give you a challenge, without looking at them side by side, can you tell the difference between this Pagoda and the Kuthodaw Pagoda? Now go back and check the photo, and you notice some difference, right?

然後我便夜闖皇宮, 偷吃御膳, 調戲公主, 飛簷走壁, 如入無人之境...... 以上這一句, 只有"無人"一句是真, 曼德勒宮是緬甸君主制的最後一座皇宮, 建於 1857 年左右, 當時Mindon國王遷都至曼德勒, 也建了新的皇宮。它採用了傳統的緬甸宮殿設計, 四周有圍牆和護城河。一個有趣的發現是, 建築物上方的尖頂數量代表著了它的重要性。最後兩位國王Mindon和Thibaw曾在此居住。第三次英緬戰爭期間, 緬甸野戰部隊進入皇宮並俘虜了王室, 標誌著這座建築被用作宮殿的終結。今天,它成為一個主要的旅遊目的地。Nanmyintsaung(瞭望塔)高 24米 , 在塔頂可將宮殿和國家的全景盡收眼底。從這裏看下去, 由於屋頂的顏色單調而平均, 整座宮殿看起來就像一個為拍攝電影而建的模型。

The Mandalay Palace is the last royal palace of the last Burmese monarchy, constructed at round 1857 when King Mindon founding the new royal capital city of Mandalay. It used the traditional Burmese palace design, with walled fort surrounded by a moat. One interesting observation is that the number of spires above a building indicated the importance it. The last two kings Mindon and Thibaw resided in it. During the Third Anglo-Burmese War, troops of the Burma Field Force entered the palace and captured the royal family, marked the end of the building being used as palace. Today, it became a major tourist destination. The Nanmyintsaung (means watch tower) stood at 24m and provided panoramic view of the palace and the country. From there, the palace actually looked like a model built for movie shooting.

遊完皇宮後, 我們吃午飯, 每人可選一個肉, 一個炒菜, 還附送沙律和果汁。我只能說一句, 非常好吃, 特別是那咖喱, 帶點印度風味但完全沒有印度咖哩那種刺激, 更像是粵港或東南亞的口味, 我吃了一口又一口, 甚至覺得飯有點不夠, 後來還加了飯。

Leaving the palace, we had lunch at a restaurant on the side of the street, each person could choose one meat, a fried vegetables, which also came with salad and fruit juice. I would only say one word: delicious. Especially the curry, which came with a little bit of Indian curry flavor but not as spicy, and more like the taste of Guangdong, Hong Kong or Southeast Asia cuisine, I couldn't stop eating that and even ordered some extra rice.

吃過飯後, 特別去本地的大商場和街檔感受一下本地人的生活。Diamond Plaza 的裝潢和發達國家中一是歷史比較久的商場很接近, 裏面沒有國際名牌, 賣衣服球鞋的比較多, 也有電子產品和手袋包包, 而化妝護膚的並不多。之後, 我又到外面33街的街逛了一陣, 街檔都是賣吃的, 當中又以串燒, 新鮮海產和包點為主, 有些食物還是挺吸引的, 而且十分便宜, 要是這是最後一天,可能還真的會試一下, 但因為這是第一天, 不能冒風險, 所以忍住了沒試, 若你逗留許多天, 想省錢又不擔心那個長坐廁所幾天的風險, 倒不妨試試, 然後告訴我如何。

After lunch, we specifically went to the large local shopping malls and street stalls to experience the life of the locals. Diamond Plaza looked quite close to the relativel older shopping in developed countries. There were no international brands, rather there were more clothes and sneakers, as well as electronic products and handbags. Compare to the developed countries, there were not really any makeup and skin care products here. Coming out from the mall, we visited the street stalls on 33rd Street. Most of those stalls sold food, among them, skewers, fresh seafood and bakery products were most common. Some of the food was really attractive and cheap. If it was my last day here, I might really try it, but because it was the first day, I didn't want to take the risks. If you stay long enough and want to save money and not worry about the risk of sitting on the toilet for few days, you might as well try some and let me know how do you like them.

Mahamuni佛寺幾乎是緬甸最重要的佛教朝聖地, 相傳佛陀到達了Arakan的首府Dhanyawadi。國王堅持要留下佛像讓人們供奉. 所以佛陀坐在菩提樹下打坐一周, 而國王則命人雕刻了一尊佛像。佛塔附近有許多寺院, 通往主神殿的拱廊有許多售貨亭, 出售佛教用具。Mahamuni 佛像坐在被稱為gandhakuṭi的空間中。佛像高 1.84米, 以青銅鑄成, 以被稱為Bhumisparsa Mudra的姿勢坐在寶座上, 雙腿交叉, 雙腳向內, 右手觸地, 以示毋忘前世, 左手異常大, 掌心上翹, 搭在膝上。

The Mahamuni Buddha Temple is pretty much the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Myanmar. According to legend, the Buddha visited Dhanyawadi, the capital city of Arakan. The King insisted that to keep Budda's image for people to worship, so the Buddha sat under a Bodhi tree for a week of meditation, while the king sculpt a statue of Buddha. There were many monasteries adjacent to the Pagoda. The arcades leading to the main shrine have many kiosks, selling religious paraphernalia. The Mahamuni Buddha image was housed in a small gandhakuti chamber. At 1.84m tall, the Buddha was casted in bronze and seated on a throne in a divine posture known as the Bhumisparsa Mudra. The legs were crossed with feet turned inwards, and the right hand touches the ground, as a witness of his past deeds and the left hand was unusually large, and rested in the lap with an upturned palm.

我們在黃昏時趕到烏本橋, 此橋建於1850年左右, 是世界上最古老, 最長的柚木橋, 興建該橋的木料據稱來自從前Inwa的皇宮, 橫跨Taung Tha Man 湖, 長達1.2公里, 共有1,086根立於水中的橋柱。這裏以看日落而聞名, 黃昏時人山人海, 踏上橋上, 發現每走一步, 腳下的橫木都在震動, 兩旁的橋柱也有腐爛跡象, 勇敢如我自然走了大半, 但沿途不免動魂驚心, 怕下一秒便會在水中載浮載沉, 然後上了第二天國際新聞。

We arrived at U Bein Bridge at dusk, the bridge was built around 1850 and was the oldest and longest teak bridge in the world. The woods for the construction of the bridge were said to have come from the former Royal Palace in Inwa. The bridge crossed Taung Tha Man Lake at the length of 1.2 km, with a total of 1,086 bridge pillars stretching out of the water. This place was famous the sunset view and attracted a lot of tourists and locals during that time. When I stepped on the bridge, I found the lateral bars shaking, as some pillars were decayed to the point that they entirely detached from their bases and only remain in place because of the lateral bars holding them together. As brave as myself, I walked most of the bridge, but couldn't help to be a bit worried that I would end up in the water.

晚飯我們城中最有名的餐廳之一Green Elephant餐廳, 餐桌都佈置在庭園中, 氣氛不錯, 我地燈籠最有印象, 餐具也十分精緻, 客人全是老外遊客, 但食物的水平實在沒有比午餐好, 咖哩的味道也比較普通。由於它們主要做遊客生意, 據說後來沒有捱過疫情, 永久結業。

For dinner, we went to Green Elephant restaurant, one of the most famous restaurants in the city. Tables were arranged in the garden, atmosphere was great, the lanterns were the most impressive decoration, the bows and plates were all in special shapes. Most of the guests were foreign tourists. However food wasn't particularly impressive, at least they were no better than our lunch, the curry was as ordinary as those we ate at home. Since they were mainly engaged in tourist business, apparently they did not survive COVID and closed permanently.

晚上, 我們回到昨晚住的酒店, 以價錢來說, 酒店整齊而漂亮。

We returned to the same hotel for the night. For this price, the hotel is neat and beautiful.

Day 2 Bagan - Sulamani - Bulethi - 瑞喜宮 - 古彪基 - Htilominlo - 阿難達 - 達冰諭- Bupaya - Mingalazedi - Manuha - Lawkananda

蒲甘城建於公元100年左右, 起初是一個小城。公元849年, Pyinbya完成擴建蒲甘城, 建立蒲甘王朝, 被視為第一任國王。公元1044年, Anawrahta即位, 展開南征北戰, 南佔勃固, 北達大理。他引入佛教, 大量建造佛塔, 其中以瑞喜宮佛塔被視為最古老的佛塔。據稱他還參考孟族的文字創立了自己的文字。及後兩代國王, Kyansittha和Alaungsithu致力鞏固文化及經濟, 蒲甘王朝的勢力在Narapatisithu和Htilominlo時達至頂頂峰, 摩訶菩提寺, 蘇拉瑪尼, Gawdawpalin, Htilominlo等雄偉寺廟皆建於這個時期, 領土範圍也達至頂峰。歷代國王均遣使向宋朝朝貢, 被宋朝為由南方大國。由Anawrahta掘起開始, 共歷二百年興盛, 但亦因為諸王不斷修築寺廟, 勞民傷財, 於是國勢日衰。叛亂四起, 終於被元朝隊敢陷蒲甘城, 蒲甘王朝滅亡。時至今日, 超過10,000座佛塔和寺廟聳立於蒲甘平原, 成為了緬甸重要旅遊城市。

Bagan Settlement was built around 100 AD and started out as a small town. In 849 AD, Pyinbya completed the expansion of Bagan City, established the Bagan Empire, and was regarded as the founder. In 1044 AD, Anawrahta came to power and turned this small principality into the First Burmese Empire, occupying Bago in the south and reaching Dali Kingdom in the north. He introduced Buddhism and built a large number of pagodas, among which the Shwezigon Pagoda is regarded as the oldest. Burmese script was also emerged, believed to have been derived from the Mon script. Anawrahta was followed by a line of able kings who cemented Bagan's place in history. The next two kings, Kyansittha and Alaungsithu, were committed to cultural synthesis and economic growth. Bagan reached the height of political and administrative development during the reigns of Narapatisithu and Htilominlo. The Sulamani Temple, Gawdawpalin Temple, Mahabodhi Temple, and Htilominlo Temple and other majestic temples were built during this period. The kingdom's borders expanded to its greatest extent. Each of the king sent envoys to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty, and was recognized as a sovereign kingdom by Song Dynasty, and Indian Chola Dynasty. Starting from the excavation of Anawrahta, the kingdom prospered for two hundred years, but since Htilominlo, a devout Buddhist, the kingdom over spent on building temples, and neglected the administration and gave up commanding the army, the country started to decline and finally fell to the Mongol empire. Today, more than 10,000 pagodas and temples stand on the Bagan plains, making it an important tourist city in Myanmar.

我們的第一站是蘇拉瑪尼寺, 它是蒲甘最著名最宏偉的幾座寺廟之一。1183年由Narapatisithu王按照達冰諭寺的設計建造, 也受到Dhammayangyi寺的影響，後來成為 Htilominlo寺的模型。我們之後會參觀其餘三寺, 所以可以好好比較。此寺在 1975 年地震後得到修復, 採用磚石結構，其基座程方形, 有金字塔形的階梯, 面朝東方。主要有兩層樓層，在四個方位和每個主要點都有門廊, 朝東的尤其突。紅磚砌得十分精美平滑, 特在主力柱及外部以石頭承托, 十分巧妙。外牆特別是內外邉綠和轉角處的佛塔形式的壁柱都雕琢得十分精緻, 走廊中有 12 世紀到 19 世紀的壁畫殘骸, 以光與影展示著當時的人對信仰的呈現, 第一層樓的走廊光線充足, 讓人能看到壁畫。

Our first stop was the Sulamani Temple. It was one of the 4-5 most popular temples in Bagan. It was built in 1183 by King Narapatisithu, following Thatbyinnyu Temple's design, also got some influence from the Dhammayangyi Temple, and was later the model for the Htilominlo Temple. We would visit all of the three so we can compare later. Sulamani Temple was restored after the 1975 earthquake, and utilises brick and stone, with frescoes in the interior of the temple. Its base was in square facing east, with pyramidal steps on each sides. There were mainly two floors, with porticoes at four orientations and at every major point. The brickwork was very beautiful and smooth, in particular, the main pillars and the edge were supported by stones. The pilasters in the form of stupas at the inner and outer walls and at the corners were all exquisitely carved. In the corridor there were the remains of frescoes from the 12th to 19th centuries, showing the presentation of the beliefs of the people at that time through light and shadow. The hallway of the first floor was full of light, allowing one to see the frescoes.

下一站是Bulethi佛塔, 外形和曼德勒城中所見的佛塔十分相似, 但卻並不是金碧輝煌外, 塔頂殘破不堪, 正在維修。我們登上了旁邊一座不知名佛塔, 那裏 可以眺望附近的一片廟海, 唯樓梯十分陡峭, 遊客上落都要手腳並用, 令我想起柬埔寨吳哥窟和墨西哥的金字塔 等。

The next stop was the Bulethi Pagoda, which is very similar in appearance to those seen in Mandalay City, but it was not in gold. The top of the pagoda was dilapidated and was under repaired. We climbed up an unknown stupa next to it, where we had a panoromic look of the sea of ​​temples nearby, but the stairs were very steep, and tourists had to use both hands and feet to climb up and down, which reminded me of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the pyramids in Mexico etc.

下一站是著名的瑞喜宮佛塔, 建設始於Anawrahta王統治的時期。它由標誌性的圓形鍍金佛塔組成, 周圍環繞著較小的寺廟和神社。幾個世紀以來,這座佛塔因多次地震而受損, 並經過多次翻新。我們去的時候, 該塔正在進行大型維修, 將會用上 30,000片銅片覆蓋頂部。它聲稱供奉著釋迦牟尼佛的骨頭和牙齒。在入口處，我們再次看到了守護者的巨大雕像chinthes。

The next stop was the famous Shwezigon Pagoda. Construction began during the reign of King Anawrahta. It consisted of the iconic circular gold leaf-gilded stupa surrounded by smaller temples and shrines. Over the centuries the pagoda had been damaged by many earthquakes and had been refurbished several times. The was an ongoing project to cover the top with more than 30,000 plates. It claimed to enshrine a bone and tooth of Gautama Buddha. At the entrance we saw the huge statues of guardians, chinthes, again.

下一站是建於公元 1113 年的古彪基寺。這座寺廟並不大, 但裏面卻別有洞天, 牆上有大量保存完好的壁畫, 此寺因而聞名, 這些壁畫是在蒲甘發現的最古老的原畫, 為保護壁畫, 遊客並不可以向壁畫拍照, 所以各位要自己去看了。寺廟的風格包括孟族和印度元素。特別是寺廟的塔樓是以印度 Shikhara 風格建造, 但當時正在維修中。與蘇拉瑪尼寺相似, 古彪基寺有方形底座，入口建在東側。Pyu 風格的窗戶阻擋了大部光線, 令裏面很暗, 我們會在這些窗戶上方的內部露台上看到些小佛像雕刻, 另外在十多個牆壁凹處裏則放有佛像雕像。我看到這個寺廟的名字, 就總是覺得它是個人名, 不知那個江湖大佬曾經在這裏建了一座寺廟。附近還有一座小古彪基寺, 樣子和古彪基寺差不多, 建於同一個年代。

The next stop was the Gubyaukgyi temple, built in 1113 AD. The temple wasn't huge, but was famous as it contained a large among of well-preserved frescoes on its interior walls, which were the oldest original paintings to be found in Bagan. We were not allowed to take photos of the frescoes in order to protect them, so you will have to go see them yourself. The style of the temple includes both Mon and Indian elements. In particular the temple's towers were built in the Indian Shikhara style, and was under repair when we visited. Similar to Sulamani temple, Gubyaukgyi temple had a square base, with the entrance built on the east side. The Pyu-style windows let in very little light. We would see small Buddha figures in the interior above these windows are terraces with. There are also a number of statues of Buddha sit in the recesses in the walls. There was a Gubyauknge temple very close by, it was believed that there were built at the same time.

Htilominlo寺建於Htilominlo 國王統治時期。看起來確實和我們之前參觀過的蘇拉瑪尼寺有點相似, 但寺頂的塔樓則是以印度 Shikhara 風格建造, 不過和許多其他我們看到的塔頂一樣, 正在維修。它是用紅磚建造的, 以精緻的石膏雕塑而聞名。在寺院的一樓, 有四尊巨型佛像朝向四方。寺門外還有一個小市集, 售賣各種本地衣飾。

Htilominlo Temple was built during the reign of King Htilominlo. It indeed looked like the Sulamani Temple we visited earlier but with a tower of Indian Shikhara style, which as under repaired just like many others we saw today. It was built with red brick and known for the exquisite finely detailed plaster moldings. On the first floor of the temple, there are four Buddhas that face each direction. There was even a market outside the temple, selling local clothings.

之後, 我們在路旁一間開放式的小店午飯, 和昨天一樣是地道緬甸菜, 有魚有雞有羊, 和各種炒菜, 口味十分適合我。

Afterward we had lunch in an open patio behind a Ananda temple. It offered authentic Burmese food similar to yesterday. We ordered fish, chicken and lamb, which came with various stir-fried vegetables. The taste was my cup of tea.

午飯後我們參觀了著名的阿難達寺, 該寺於Kyansittha王年代時興建, 寺廟的名稱阿難達來自佛陀的堂弟及侍者, 十大弟子之一的阿難達尊者。寺廟佈局呈十字形, 有幾層梯級舶遞進至頂部的一座小佛塔。寺中有立佛四尊, 分別面向四方。這座寺廟因融合了孟族和印度風格的建築而廣為人知, 但是與其他寺廟相比, 我倒沒覺得特別印象深刻。四尊立佛均舖滿金箔, 各有名號，迦葉, 角散, 金剛摩那, 釋迦牟尼面朝西。四個佛像當中, 南北向的兩尊據說是原版, 擺的是蒲甘式手位, 象徵佛陀的第一次佈道, 而另外兩個佛像被大火燒毀, 現存的是新替代。它們全部由實心柚木製成, 朝東的金剛摩那佛像在拇指和中指之間握著一個小堅果狀的球體, 那是一種草藥, 據說這種藥草象徵性地代表佛陀建議佛法作為痛苦的治療方法。朝西的釋迦牟尼佛則展示了abhaya mudra, 雙手伸出,做出無畏的姿態, 最特別的是朝南的迦葉佛像, 近看顯得憂傷, 遠看卻是一副歡喜的表情。你右圖看得出分別嗎?

We visitied the famous Ananda temple after lunch. It was built during the reign of King Kyansittha. The name Ananda of the temple was derived from the Venerable Ananda, Buddha's first cousin, personal secretary, one of his many principal disciples and a devout attendant. The temple layout was in a cruciform with several terraces leading to a small pagoda at the top. There were four distintive standing Buddhas, each one facing the cardinal direction of East, North, West and South. The temple was widely known as an architectural wonder in a fusion of Mon and Indian style of architecture. However I did not find it all that impressive compare the other temples. The four standing Buddhas were all adorned with gold leaf, each had a specific name, Kassapa, Kakusandha, Konagamana and Gautama. Out of the four images, the images facing north and south were said to be original, of the Bagan-style hand position symbolizing the Buddha's first sermon, while the other two images were new replacements, after the originals were destroyed by fires. All of them are made of solid teak wood. The east-facing image of Buddha Kongamana was shown holding, between the thumb and middle finger, a small nutlike sphere. It was a herb. This herb was said to symbolically represent the Buddha suggesting dhamma (Buddhist philosophy) as a cure for misery and distress. The west-facing Buddha Gautama displayed abhaya mudra, with hands outstretched in the gesture of fearlessness. The south facing Buddha Kassapa looked sad from close quarters but gave and expression of mirthfulness from distance. The photos on the right show a close up view and a distance view, can you tell the difference?

達冰諭寺就在阿難達寺對面, 被聯合國教科文組織列為世界遺產。它建於Alaungsithu王統治時期, 人們普遍認為這座寺廟反映了蒲甘時期創新的建築和藝術創造力。 達冰諭寺高 66米, 有五層樓, 被稱為蒲甘最高的寺廟, 但它比最高的佛塔, 100米的 Shwesandaw 要矮得多, 畢竟要加高一個佛塔比加高一座寺廟要容易得多。我想起在中國和許多古文明, 許多皇帝都爭著建出"史上最大"或"史上最高"的建築物, 在蒲甘這裏好像並沒有這種情況。我們到達時已近黃昏, 白色的牆和露出的黑色雕刻看起上來就像一幅畫。

The Thatbyinnyu Temple was right across the Ananda Temple. It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built during the reign of King Alaungsithu, and it was widely believed that the temple reflected the Bagan period's innovative architectural and artistic creativity. Stood 66m with five-story, Thatbyinnyu was known as the tallest temple in Bagan, athough it was significantly shorter than the tallest pagoda, the 100m Shwesandaw. After all, it would be much easier to raise a pagoda than to raise a temple. I recalled that in China and many ancient civilizations, many emperors competed to build the "biggest in history" or "highest in history", which didn't seem to be the case here in Bagan. It was nearly dusk when we arrived, the white walls and exposed black carvings looked like a painting.

我們在黃昏時趕到Bupaya佛塔看日落, 因為這裏據說是看蒲甘看日落的最佳地點, 沒有之一, 亦因如此, 所以這裏極度擁擠。這座著名的寶塔位於Ayeyarwady江右岸的一個彎道上, 它體積極小, 有一個球狀圓頂, 但它是這裏數以千計的尚存或已毀壞的佛塔中最著名的之一, 所以我關於“比起金光閃閃, 更需要看起來特別”的理論是沒的。原來的佛塔在 1975年的地震中被完全摧毀, 現在的寶塔是用現代材料重建的。

We went all the way to see the sunset at Bupaya Pagoda, it was the top spot for sunset so it was extremely crowded. This notable pagoda located at a bend on the right bank of the Ayeyarwady River. It was a small pagoda and had a bulbous shaped dome, but it was one of the most notable shrines among the thousands of new or ruined Pagodas in Pagan, my theory about "needed to look special rather than putting more gold leaves on it" stand. The original pagoda was completely destroyed in the 1975 earthquake, the current one was reconstructed using modern materials.

日落後, 我們經過了蒲甘王朝晚期建的Mingalazedi佛塔, 它建成後三年便亡國。然後我們進入了Manuha 佛寺, 這是蒲甘最古老的寺廟之一, 並且在外觀便能看出來, 1067年由被俘虜的孟王Manuha所建。該建築內有三尊坐佛和一尊佛入涅槃像。佛像很大, 幾乎塞不進樓裏, 裏面完全沒有走動的空間，想退一步拍照也不行。而門洞只有佛像一半的高度, 估計當時要嘛是建了佛像再蓋寺院, 要嘛便是在寺廟裏組裝佛像的零件。我在想, 這幾位佛爺還挺可憐的, 苦所比現代人的納米樓還小, 想出門也要爬出去。在前往酒店之前, 我們在建於Ayeyarwaddyem 畔的Lawkananda佛塔(意為“世界之樂”)稍在停留。裏面有佛牙舍利的複製品, 而Lawkananda佛塔節於每年7月舉行。不過, 佛塔又在維修中。

After sunset, we dropped by Mingalazedi Pagoda, which was built a few years before the Bagan Kingdom was pillaged by the Mongols. Then we entered Manuha Temple, which was one of the oldest temples in Bagan and you could tell by the appearance. It was by captive Mon King Manuha in 1067. The building contains three images of seated Buddhas and an image of Buddha entering Nirvana. The Buddhas were so huge that they could barely fit into the building, and left no space to walk, and one would not be able to take photos from distance. And the door was only half the height of the image, I suspect they either had to build the temple after building the Buddha image, or they had to transfer parts of the image into the temple and assemble there. At that moment I felt pretty pathetic for these Buddhas, as their living space were small than the modern Nano units, and had to crawl pass the door if they wanted to go out. Before heading to hotel, we dropped by the Lawkananda Pagoda (means "joy of the world") which was erected on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. It was famous for containing a replica of a Buddha tooth relic. Lawkananda Pagoda festival was held in July every year. Unfortunately it was also under repair.

晚上, 我們選了一家相當不錯的酒店, 這裏張燈結綵, 佈置誇張, 感覺房錢有一大部份用來交電費去了, 不過氣氛著實不錯, 裏面住的都是外國遊客, 相當熱鬧, 晚飯是在庭園中, 由於已過了晚飯時間, 所以就只有我們這一枱, 我們早已餓了, 所以晚飯好像特別好吃。

In the evening, we chose a relatively high end hotel, which was full of foreign tourists, and it was quite lively. Dinner was served in the garden, since it was past dinner hour already, we were the only table in the garden. We were already hungry, so we felt that the dinner seemed to be particularly delicious.

Day 3 Bagan - 日出 - Shwesandaw - Dhammayangyi

昨晚看了日落, 這天當然是要看日出的, 我們早上5點多便出門, 5點20便爬上了其中一座佛塔, 靜靜等期天亮。嘗試了一下拍星空, 但可惜這晚的星不多, 只拍到了零落的幾顆。日出的時候, 無數熱氣球在遠方同時升起, 在一望無際的樹林廟海上, 十分壯觀。

Following the sunset last evening, we were to watch some sunrise today. We went out at 5am in the morning, climbed onto one of the pagodas by 5:20, and waited quietly for the dawn. I tried to take some photos of the starry sky, but unfortunately there are not many stars this night, only a few scattered ones made the photo. By sunrise, countless hot air balloons rose at the horizon as well, contributed to the spectacular view over the endless forests and temples.

在回酒店的路上, 我們經過了蒲甘最高的佛塔Shwesandaw佛塔, 這座寶塔由Anawrahta王於 1057 年建造, 我很好奇為甚麼在蒲甘最興盛的200年中, 為甚麼沒有國王打算超越它, 這麼曾經有描繪本生經場景的赤土磚, 還收藏了釋迦牟尼的頭髮。

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by the tallest pagoda in Bagan, the Shwesandaw Pagoda, the pagoda was built by King Anawrahta in 1057, I was very curious why no kings tried to surpass it in the 200 years after where Bagan kingdom reached its peak. It once contained terra cotta tiles depicting scenes from the Jataka and also housed sacred hairs of Gautama Buddha.

我們還參觀了Dhammayangyi寺, 它是蒲甘最大的佛教寺廟, 建於Narathu王統治時期。他通過暗殺父親和長兄奪走王位, 然後建造最大的寺廟來贖罪。 Dhammayangyi 也是蒲甘最寬的寺廟, 其建造圖則與阿難達寺相似。而且在這裏還真的可以看到蘇拉瑪尼寺的影子。不過有趣的是, 在寺廟還沒建成之前, 國王本人就被暗殺了, 所以最後寺廟也沒有建成。我想這裏的教訓是, 如果你想贖罪, 你最好在報應到來之前盡快完成。

We also made a stop for the Dhammayangyi Temple, which was the largest Buddhist temple in Bagan, built during the reign of King Narathu who stole the throne by assassinating his father and elder brother, then built the largest temple to atone for his sins. The Dhammayangyi was the widest temple in Bagan, and was built in a plan similar to that of Ananda Temple. I could also see its influence to Sulamani Temple. However, interesting enough, the king himself was assassinated before the temple was not completed, so the temple was not completed. I guess the lesson here is, if you want to atone your sin, you better do it faster and complete before karma arrive.

之後我們便回到酒店吃了個豐富的早餐, 並收拾行李準備離開蒲甘。連同以上兩個, 我們已參觀過蒲甘最主要的佛塔和寺廟, 我最喜歡的造型是上面這個Dhammayangyi寺或是和它差不多的蘇拉瑪尼寺, 內部最深印象的是有四尊立佛的阿難達寺, 最有趣的肯定是以上最沒名氣的Manuha寺中像在坐牢的坐佛, 而名字最厲害的自然是黑道大哥古彪基了, 你們又最有興趣哪一個呢?

Afterward we went back to the hotel for breakfast and packed up to leave Bagan. Including the above two, we had visited almost all of the well known pagodas and temples in Bagan. My favorite outlook was the Dhammayangyi Temple above or the Sulamani Temple similar to it. The most impressive interior was the Ananda Temple with the four standing Buddhas, the most interesting one was definitely the most unpopular Manuha Temple which looked like an undersize jail for the Buddhas, which one are you most interested in?

由這裏回曼德勒要差不多4個小時, 再前往機場坐飛機回仰光的話, 要花上整天時間而且要各種手續上落搬運行李等, 所以我們索性在這裏包車前往仰光, 車程大約八個小時, 但點對點直達, 能省去各種麻煩, 於是我們整天便在車上度過, 除了司機外, 就只見到牛群。這裏的公路路況十分良好, 沿路也不顛簸, 反倒是進入仰光市內, 交通混亂, 空氣也差。

It would take about 4 hours to go back to Mandalay from here. Adding the time to get to the airport, wait and take a plane to Yangon, it would take a whole day, plus a lot of trouble in between etc, so we simply chartered a car here to go to Yangon, it would take around eight hours, probably wouldn't save many hours, but its point-to-point so we could save all the hassles. So we spent the day in the car, cattle and cows were the only things we saw. The highway were well paved so the journey was smooth until we enter Yangon. In Yangon the traffic was poor and air pollution was very serious.

Tips: An even better way would be going to Bago directly from here, as Bago is sort of on the way. It would save some time today and save the back and forth from Yangon to Bago. Then we could spend the night in Bago, visit Bago next day and head to Yangon after.

到達仰光後, 因為吃了幾頓緬甸菜, 突然想試一下這裏的中菜, 於是便找到一個尚算有名的中菜館。緬甸華人多, 對中菜的掌握還是非常的到位。有點南北混雜, 但對於我來說, 這樣更好, 值得一提的是, 這餐廳在一個公園內湖畔的小丘上, 要經過一條長階梯, 沿路燈籠滿路, 美輪美奐。

Arriving in Yangon, after having several Burmese meals in last couple of days, we suddenly crave for Chinese food so we found a fairly well-known Chinese restaurant. There were a lot of Chinese in Myanmar, so the mastery of Chinese cuisine was decent. It was a bit of a mix of northern and southern Chinese, but for me, this was even better. It was worth mentioning that the restaurant was on a hill by the lake in a park. We had to go through a long staircase to get to the restaurant, and the path was full of lanterns, making it looked really grand.

Day 4 Yangon - Chaukhtatgyi臥佛 - 昂山素姬住處 - Kaba Aye Pagoda - 玉佛寺 - 市內觀光

我們在仰光的第一站是Chaukhtatgyi寺, 裏面有國內最著名的臥佛之一名, 該臥佛長66m, 建於超過 100年前. 但時的身體比例並不合理正確, 因此後來被更換。佛像的玻璃眼睛看起來十分靈動, 佛腳印上刻有佛陀的108個吉祥物。

Our first stop in Yangon was the Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple. It was well known for housing one of the most revered reclining Buddha images in the country, which was 66m long. It was built some 100 years ago, but was was not proportioned correctly so was replaced later. The large glass eyes looked really lively, and the Buddha footprint contained the108 auspicious signs of the Buddha.

下一站是昂山素姬的住處, 從前在電視新聞上常常看到她站在這閘後演講, 這次終於親臨此處, 感覺走入了電視機, 不過世事變幻, 不管是緬甸政局還是昂山素姬本人, 早已物事人非。

The next stop is Aung San Suu Kyi's residence. I used to see her standing behind this gate giving speeches on TV news, so I felt like I entered the TV. However the world changed rapidly, and those days she spoke behind the gate were long gone.

Kaba Aye佛塔由緬甸第一任總理的U Nu建造, 是為了1950 年代舉行的第六屆佛教會議而建造的。佛塔周圍的五個特長門廊都有裝飾華麗的拱頂, 每個門廊都通向一個入口, 每個入口都正對著一尊佛像。大多數其他佛塔都有四個面向四方的入口, 所以這個設計與別不同。佛塔內有一個房間裡放著一尊銀身佛像, 並保存著佛陀舍利。銀色的佛像也十分罕見, 所以整體來說, 這座佛塔處處都是與別不同。對著入口的五尊佛像頭上都有LED閃燈, 使神聖的佛像變得十分庸俗。

Kaba Aye Pagoda was built by U Nu, was the first Prime Minister of then Burma. It was built to hold the Sixth Buddhist Council in the 1950s. The five porches surrounding the pagoda were heavily decorated with colorful arched pediments, and each led to an entrance featuring a great Buddha. It was quite special as most other pagoda had 4 entrances facing each direction instead. A room inside the pagoda housed a large silver statue of Buddha and kept the Buddha relics. Silver was also rare for Buddha, so overall this pagoda was very different from the others I have seen in Myanmar these days. The five Buddha images facing the entrances all had LED flashing lights around their heads, making the sacred statues very vulgar.

在佛塔附近的 Maha Pasana Guha 是印度 Satta Panni 洞穴的複製品, 第一次佛教大會就是在這裏召開的。會場有六個入口, 象徵著第六屆大會, 我心想一屆一個入口的話, 到了第三十屆大會時, 那會場差不多要建成開放式了。

The Maha Pasana Guha, built right next to it simultaneously, was a replica of the Satta Panni cave of India, where the first Buddhist Synod was convened. There were six entrances, which symbolize the Sixth Great Synod. I was thinking if they kept this one entrance per council concept, by the thirtieth Great Synod, they probably need like a covered patio.

在Kaba Aye往北不到十公里, 有一座玉佛寺叫Kyauktawgyi寺, 在曼德勒有座同名的佛寺, 另外在仰光有另一座寺廟叫Three Kyaukdawgyi, 所以千萬別搞錯, 否則便會去錯地方, 我不太明白他們是想不出別的名字了麼。這座寺廟沒有甚麼歷史, 所以一些的士司機甚至都不知道。這尊 7.5米 高的佛像是用在曼德勒開采的一塊白色大理石雕刻而成的, 展示著abhayamudra(無所畏懼)的手勢。兩邊的門廊極長, 直通山腳, 在那裏我們看到了守著入口的老朋友chinthes。

Less than 10 km north of Kaba Aye Temple, there was a temple housed a white marble Buddha, name Kyauktawgyi Temple, a Buddhist temple of the same name could be found in Mandalay, there was a also a Three Kyaukdawgyi Pagodas in Yangon, so don't get confused, otherwise you would end up be in the wrong place, I didn't get it though, do they run out of names for pagodas or what? This temple didn't have a long history, so some taxi driver didn't even know it. The 7.5m tall Buddha image was carved out of a single piece of white marble quarried in Mandalay. It was in the gesture of abhayamudra (means fearlessness). Long porches from both sides led to the temple, and at the front of the porches we saw the old friends chinthes guarding the entrance.

Tips: Ask for the white marble Buddha, in the other temples or pagodas of the same name, the Buddha were in white but not really in marble. Also it should be in the same direction of Kaba Aye, north of Yangon, if the taxi driver started going south or east, you know you are heading to the wrong one... well that's if you can tell the direction in the dust of Yangon.

玉佛寺山腳對面有個白象園, 因為白象十分罕見, 所以成了景點。兩隻白象的其中一隻腳被鎖上一條一米不到的鎖鏈, 所以牠們只能在那裏來回踱步, 在我短短的逗留中, 兩隻白象不斷走動, 但每走三步便要回頭, 我覺得這簡直是虐待動物, 園子這麼大, 為甚麼要鎖上鎖鏈, 鎖鏈為甚麼不能長一點? 簡直莫名其妙, 極不人道。

There is a White Elephant Garden opposite the foot of the hill where Kyauktawgyi Temple was. Since white elephants were very rare, this became a tourist spot of locals or foreigners. Each of the two white elephants had one of their legs locked to a chain of less than one meter long, so they could only step back and forth, how they treat animals look ridiculously cruel to me, the garden was huge, why did the elephants need to be chained? Why couldn't the chain be longer? It just looked extremely inhumane to me.

我們回到市區後, 特別找到一家叫999連鎖麵店吃撣族麵條, 撣族麵條在當地是十分尋常的地道菜式, 當中包括了緬甸米線, 米線起源自雲南, 經緬甸東部地區的撣族人本土化後, 傳遍全緬, 許多當地人以它為早餐。可點湯麵和拌麵, 附以辣醬, 非常好吃。

After we returned to the city, we found a noodle restaurant named 999 to eat Shan noodles. Shan noodles were a very common local dish, Burmese rice noodles were also served. Rice noodles originated in Yunnan and got spread to the eastern part of Myanmar. After the localization by the Shan people, it then spread throughout Myanmar, and many locals ate it for breakfast. It came in soup or oil flavouring, with spicy sauce, and was very delicious.

下午的節目是市內觀光。Sule塔位於仰光市中心, 在兩條大路交匯的巨型迴旋處中央, 它融合了佛塔起源的印度結構, 建於 2600 多年前, 自那時起便一直是仰光和緬甸政治的重心。旁邊就是Maha Bandula公園, 這里聳立著紀念緬甸獨立的獨立紀念碑, 在緬甸獨立後後取代了曾經聳立的維多利亞女王雕像。

We walked around the city in the afternoon. The Sule Pagoda was located in the heart of downtown Yangon, in a huge round about where two big road crossed each other. It incorporated the original Indian structure of the stupa, it was built more than 2600 years ago, had been the focal point of both Yangon and Burmese politics since. Right next to it was the Maha Bandula Park, the Independence Monument in commemoration of Burmese independence was installed here to replace the statue of Queen Victoria since Myanmar Independence.

之後我們又經過緬甸唯一一間外資報館緬甸時報, 由一個澳洲人和一個緬甸人合資創辦, 不過緬甸的創辦人沒多久便因政治原因並逮捕。我們又到了當地人聚集的寶玉市場, 裏面售賣各種玉製佛像, 琳琅滿目。 在這個佛教興盛的國家, 沒想到還有西式教堂, 我們也進去參觀, 和西方的教堂無異。

Afterwards, we passed the Myanmar Times, the only foreign-invested newspaper in Myanmar, which was jointly founded by an Australian and a Burmese, but the local founder was arrested for political reasons soon after. We also went to the Bogyoke Aung San Market where the locals gathered. There were various kind of Buddha statues being sold here. As a Buddhism country, there was actually a Western-style church built in the city center, so we went in for visit. It was no different from the Western churches, except it was empty.

最後我們還看到了中式觀音廟, 是來是粵省人士的聯誼聚集之地, 還有奉祀海神媽祖的慶福宮。 該廟有百多年歷史, 信眾為沿海地區福建裔的華人。你能以它們的英文名輕易分辦出那一座是福建人起的。

Finally, we also saw the Chinese-style Guanyin Gumiao Temple, which was a gathering place for people from Guangdong Province, and Kheng Hock Keong, which was a temple dedicated to Mazu, the god of the sea. The temple had a history of more than 100 years, and the believers were mostly Chinese of Fujian descent from the coastal areas. You could tell from their English name that one was Chinese and one was Hokkien.

由於下午吃的撣族麵條相當不錯, 而這一帶附近都是一些當地小餐館, 所以我們晚飯再次吃了撣族麵條。這間麵店人特別多, 當中有不少是本地人。我們也點了湯麵和拌麵, 和早上的一樣好吃。

Since the Shan noodles in the afternoon were quite good and the restaurant nearby were all local, so we decided to have Shan noodles again for dinner. This noodle place was very crowded, and many of the customers were locals. We ordered noodle soup and flour noodles, and they were as good as those from lunch.

晚飯後我們回到酒店, 我們住的是美國品牌Best Western酒店, 房間乾淨整齊, 和歐美比較不遑多讓。從房間的落地玻璃窗看出去, 可以看到仰光最雄偉的大金塔, 大金塔晚上會有大燈映照金身, 照得閃閃生光, 在夜色中璀璨奪目。

After dinner, we went back to the hotel. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel, an American brand. The room was clean and tidy, and it was comparable to those in Europe and American. Looking out from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the room, I saw the most majestic Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. Lights reflected on its golden body, shining brightly and dazzling in the night.

Day 5 Yangon - 大金塔

這天的主要景點是大金塔, 大金塔應該是緬甸的第一大旅遊景點, 裏面存有前劫(時間, 目前處於賢刧)四佛的遺物, 包括Kakusandha的法杖, Koṇagamana的濾水器, Kassapa的一件長袍,以及釋迦牟尼的頭髮, 因此也被認為是最神聖的佛塔。它位於 Singuttara 山上, 高 112 m, 基本上從城市的任何高點都能看到它。大金塔建於 2500 多年前, 由舖滿金箔的磚砌成, 金片由全國人民和君主捐贈。有四個入口，每個入口都由一對巨大的 chinthes (leogryphs) 守衛, 這對守衛比我們見過的任何一對都更大更高。每個入口都有長廊通向Singuttara Hill的平台。兩邊都有小販在賣金箔給你捐給佛塔, 還有蠟燭和香給你祈禱時用, 還有書籍, 吉祥物, 佛像等紀念品。

The main attraction of the day was Shwedagon Pagoda. It was probably the top tourist attraction in Myanmar. It was believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa, including the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama. Therefore it was also considered as the most sacred Buddhist pagoda. It was located on the Singuttara Hill, and it stood 112 m tall. You could see it from any high point of the city. The Shwedagon Pagoda was constructed more than 2,500 years ago, made of bricks covered with gold plates. People all over the country and monarchs donated gold to the pagoda to maintain it. There were four entrances, each of them guarding by a pair of giant chinthes (leogryphs), taller than any of those we had seen. Each entrance led up a flight of steps to the platform on Singuttara Hill. On each side there were vendors selling gold leaf for you to put on the pagoda, as well as candles, incense sticks for prayers, and books, good luck charms, images of the Buddha as souvenirs.

緬甸星座中一周有八天而不是七天, 星期三分為兩天: 下午 6 點前是星期三, 但下午 6 點到午夜, 則是羅睺日。緬甸佛教徒的行星位是按照他們出生的日子而定, 因此哪天出生非常重要。那八個行星位全部用動物標記: 星期天的大鵬金翅鳥, 星期一的老虎, 星期二的獅子, 星期三下午6點之前的雙牙象, 星期三下午6點之後的無牙象, 星期四的老鼠, 星期五的豚鼠和星期六的蛇神那伽。我們在曼德勒山的第一天就看到了它們。在大金塔這裏, 圍繞著寶塔的八個方位各有一個佛像, 各代表一個行星位, 奉獻者獻上鮮花和經幡, 並在佛像上澆水祈禱。我也找到了自己的行星位照做, 你們知道自己的行星位嗎?

Burmese astrology recognized an eight-day week instead of seven, with Wednesday being split into two days: Wednesday up to 6pm, but from 6pm to midnight, its Rahu's day. The planetary post of Burmese Buddhists were determined by which day of the week they were born so it was very important. There are eight planetary posts, all marked by animals: garuda for Sunday, tiger for Monday, lion for Tuesday, tusked elephant for Wednesday before 6pm, tuskless elephant for Wednesday afte 6pm, mouse for Thursday, guinea pig for Friday and nāga for Saturday. We have seen it on our first day on Mandalay hill. In Shwedagon here, each planetary post had a Buddha image surrounding the pagoda, devotees offered flowers and prayer flags and pour water on the image with a prayer. I did the same. Do you know yours?

Tips: It is customary to circumnavigate the pagoda in a clockwise direction, otherwise it will be like reading a book from the bottom cover.

逛大金塔基本上要預留三小時至半天, 逛完已經過了午飯時間, 於是我們便去午飯。我們下山後走了好大段路, 找到一間樣子不錯的本地餐館, 繼續吃緬甸咖哩。

It would take at least three hours, if not half a day, to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda. After we came out from the pagoda, it was already past lunch time, so we headed to lunch. After we went down the other side of the mountain, we walked quite a long way to find a good local restaurant to continue eating Burmese curry for lunch.

午飯後, 我們逛了一些小店, 對比之下, 發現寶玉市場的玉石並不是特別貴, 質量感覺更好, 所以我們回到了寶玉市場, 買了玉佛作為紀念品和手信。

After lunch, we shopped around some small stores. After comparison, we found that the jades in Bogyoke Aung San Market were not particularly expensive, and the quality seemed better, so we went back to Bogyoke Market and bought some souvenirs.

我們在火車站裏看到由日本進口的車廂, 連上面的日文也沒有刷去, 發達國家的東西用舊了之後, 還能賣去第三世界國家賺一筆, 這樣也不錯。說到緬甸的交通, 在英國殖民時跟隨英國使用右軚在左線向前, 獨立後一夜之間改成右線向前, 但不是人人有錢買新車, 於是仍有大量右軚的車在路上, 當中便包括了殘舊的巴士, 於是乘客便要在路中心下車, 結果就是交通一片混亂。

In the train station, I saw some Japan Railway coaches, the Japanese written on them were not eve erased. After things in developed countries were worn out, they could still sell them to third world countries to make some money, which was not bad. When it came to the traffic in Myanmar, during the British colonized period, they followed the British to use right hand drive on left hand traffic. After independence, they changed to the right hand traffic overnight, but not everyone had the cash to buy new cars, so there were still a large number of right-hand cars on the road, including public buses, so passengers had to get off at the center of the road, which resulted in traffic chaos.

我們一直走到了仰光河畔, 還參觀了仰光市內最著名的Strand 酒店。Strand 是一家維多利亞風格的酒店, 由一位英國企業家於 1901 年建造。該酒店被列入仰光市遺產名錄, 並被列入世界最著名酒店的精選成員名單。我不知道有生之年是否會再次來到仰光, 如果我再來, 你可以去在這家酒店找我。

We walked all the way to reach Yangon river, which was where the most famous Strand Hotel stood. The Strand Hotel was a Victorian-style hotel opened in 1901, built by a British entrepreneur. The hotel was listed on the Yangon City Heritage List and also listed among the Select Members of The Most Famous Hotels in the World. Not sure if I will come to Yangon again in the rest of my life, if I do, I will be in this hotel.

我們在一家西化了的緬甸餐廳Rangoon Tea House晚飯, 餐廳的裝潢就如一間西式酒吧。它們的招牌菜是印度烤飯, 把肉和蔬菜混到米中, 加上香料, 以很薄的薄餅封著瓦煲烤制, 焗好後, 把頂部的薄餅切開, 然後把肉和飯拿出來, 放到薄餅上包著吃, 當然也可直接在瓦煲裏吃, 十分特別。有雞和羊兩種選擇, 我們選了羊, 行了一整天, 在酒吧樣子的地方, 當然要加上一杯雞尾酒。

We had dinner at Rangoon Tea House, a westernized Burmese restaurant decorated like a western bar. Their signature dish was Biryani, originating among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. Meat and vegetables were mixed into rice with spices, then was put in a clay pot, covered with very thin spice of roti, to bake. Then roti on top was cut open, and the meat and rice were taken out and placed on top of the roti to serve. There were options of chicken and mutton, of course we tried both. After walking all day, now sitting in a bar-like place, we also ordered some cocktail to go with the rice.

Day 6 Bago - 大金石

這天我們五時許便出發, 包了車前往200公里以外的大金石。在緬甸佛教聖地中, Kyaiktiyo 塔位居第三, 僅次於昨天去的大金塔和第一天在曼德勒去過的Mahamuni塔。也有人稱之為大金石, 因為那是一座7m多一點的小寶塔, 但卻是建在半懸在懸崖上的花崗岩巨石上, 此塔亦因此而聞名於世。除了上面的佛塔外, 下面的巨石上也舖了由男性信徒粘貼的金箔。岩石似乎隨時能掉下懸崖, 但實則紋風不動地留在山上。這塊岩石位於Kyaiktiyo山的頂部,佛塔亦因此得名。有人說巨石是佛祖的一根頭髮上, 岌岌可危，有人說佛教僧侶以苦行打動了天王, 天王用神通將石頭放這個位置, 而石頭看起來就像那僧侶的頭。看你信不信了。

We headed out 5ish today, got on a private car to head to the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda which was 200km away. Kyaiktiyo Pagoda ranked no.3 among the Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Myanmar after the Shwedagon Pagoda that we visited yesterda and the Mahamuni Pagoda that we visited on the first day in Mandalay. It was commonly known as the Golden Rock. It was a tiny pagoda of a little over 7m but as it was built on the top of a granite boulder hanging on a cliff, it became very well known. Beside the pagoda on top, the boulder was also covered with gold leaves, pasted on by its male devotees. The rock appeared to be on the verge of rolling down, but it was well balanced such that it remained on the hill. The rock was at the top of Mount Kyaiktiyo, where the pagoda got its name. Some said the Golden Rock itself was precariously perched on a strand of the Buddha's hair, some said a Buddhist priest impressed the celestial king with his asceticism and the celestial king used his supernatural powers to carry the rock to its current place, and the rock resemblance to the monk's head. Believe it or not.

我們到了山腳下的車站, 他們讓我們坐上大卡車敞開的後備箱上,卡車把我們送到了山頂。下了卡車後, 我們走了一小段路, 就到達了大門。看到兩個巨大的chinthes在歡迎我們, 我們在這處脫掉鞋子, 繼續徒步行走, 很快就從遠處看到懸崖邊上掛著的金色岩石。從這個角度看，這塊石頭似乎隨時都可能滾下去。很多信徒走過一座鐵橋, 到崖邊將金色的葉子貼在金岩的表面, 這動作看起來就似要把岩石往下推。婦女卻不得觸摸岩石或過橋, 只能在裏面等。這些遊客大多是當地人。我們沿著山邊走到岩石後面, 從這個角度我們居然看到了岩石底部和山之間有條縫隙, 半塊石頭幾乎懸空, 但又牢牢地固定在山上, 實在是難以置信了。

We arrived at the foot of the mountain, where the base station was. They put us on the open trunk of big trucks which took us to the top of the mountain. It took a short hike after getting off the truck to reach the gates where two gigantic chinthes welcomed us. We had to take off our shoes at the point and the hike continued until we saw the golden rock hanging on the verge of the cliff from far. From this angle, it just appeared that the rock could roll down any moment. Many devotees crossed over a bridge across an abyss to affix golden leaves on the surface of the Golden Rock, the motion looked as if they were to push the rock down. Women were not allowed to touch the rock nor to cross the bridge. Most of these tourist were locals. We walked along the edge of the mountain to get behind the rock, from this angle we actually saw a gap between the bottom of the rock and the mountain, it was absolutely ridiculous to see the rock remained firmly on the mountain.

大金石後面是一個條小村, 有餐館和旅館, 還有幾個觀景台和寺廟, 我們在附近逛了一個小時, 才又坐大卡車下山。

Behind the Golden Rock is a small village with restaurants and hotels, as well as several viewpoints and temples. We walked around for an hour before taking the truck to return.

當時還是早上10時, 我們找到司機, 起程前往勃固。勃固曾是勃固王朝的首都達200年, 現在是勃固省的首府, 在仰光東北不到100公里。我們在勃固的第一站是 kyaly khat wai 修道院, 這座修道院的歷史或建築都沒有甚麼特別之處, 但卻因午餐的場景而聞名。每天上午11點, 500 名僧侶會走過長廊, 接受捐助者的饋贈(飯或金錢), 然後進入午餐室吃午飯。捐贈者多是當地人。 我們12點才到達, 所以便錯過了, 只餘下空的長廊, 如果你想看這場景, 請在 10:30到達那裏。

It was just 10am at that point, and we headed to Bago. Bago, formerly known as Hanthawaddy, was the capital of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom for 200years. Now the capital of the Bago Region, located less than 100 km north-east of Yangon. Our first stop in Bago was kyaly khat wai monsastery. There was nothing special about the history or architecture of this monastery. But it was famous for the lunch scene. Everyday at 11am, 500 monks would walk down the hallway to be bestowed by donors (rice or money), mostly locals, then got into the lunch room for lunch. We only arrived at noon so we missed that and only saw the empty hallway, so if you want to see the scene, get there at 10:30am instead.

然後便是我們的吃飯時間, 司機推薦了一間看上去比較高級的海鮮餐館, 老闆推薦海參, 我們便要了一碟, 另外點了個酸辣湯, 傳統的緬甸咖哩和炒飯。那海參並不是驚天動地, 但基本上是滿意的。

Then it was our turn to get lunch. The driver recommended a seafood restaurant that looked quite high end, the owner recommended sea cucumber so we ordered one, in addition to a hot and sour soup, traditional Burmese curry and fried rice. That sea cucumber was not out of the world, but basically satisfying.

Kanbawzathadi宮是1556年由Bayinnaung國王建造的宮殿, 展示了Toungoo王朝的輝煌和財富,但被燒毀後至1990年代才重建。它是按照圖積而重建的, 甚至把原來的遺骸放在重建的樑柱旁邊。然而, 重建後的宮殿並沒有太多皇家使用的家具和個人物品, 因為大部分都被燒光了, 只有一些複製品, 包括國王金馬車, 上面裝飾著兩隻孔雀和 Pyattha風格的車頂, 還有國王的王座。

Kanbawzathadi Palace is a palace originally built for King Bayinnaung in 1556, demonstrating the splendor and wealth of the Toungoo dynasty, but was burnt down and reconstructed in the 1990s. It was rebuilt following the original design, they even put the original remains next to the reconstructed structure. However, the reconstructed palace did not contain much of the original furniture and personal items used by the Royals, as most of them was lost in the fire. There were a few reproductions on display, including a replica of the King’s golden coach, decorated with two peacocks and a Pyatthat style roof, as well as the golden throne.

下一站是勃固最出名的景點Shwemawdaw塔, 它是另一座看起來像金鐘的寶塔。 它高114米, 實際上是全國最高的寶塔, 但仰光98米的大金塔經常因為建在山上而偷走這一稱號。 Shwemadaw,大金塔和大金石三者是著名的孟族寶塔。一年一度的寶塔節是個為期 10 天的盛大節日, 在緬甸的 Tagu 月(緬甸日曆中的新年)期間在此舉行。

Next stop was the most famous tourist spot in Bago. The Shwemawdaw Pagoda was yet another pagoda that look like a golden bell. Stood 114 m, the Shwemadaw was actually the tallest pagoda in the country, although the 98m Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon often stole that credit with the help of the hill underneath. Shwemadaw, along with the Shwedagon and Kyaiktiyo, were famous Mon pagodas. The annual pagoda festival was a huge 10-days affair that took place during the Burmese month of Tagu (new year in Burmese calendar).

下一站是Shwethalyaung 寺。 Shwethalyaung大佛是一尊臥佛像, 長55米, 高16米, 在1000多年前在孟族國王Migadepa統治時期建造。有趣的是, 這樣的龐然大物竟然在勃固失陷被掠奪時失踪了。大約在 100 年後, 又在叢林中被重新發現。距今100多年前, 它被恢復了, 增加了馬賽克枕頭。佛像背後的壁畫, 記載了Shwethalyaung的故事。

Next stop was the Shwethalyaung Temple. The Shwethalyaung Buddha was a reclining Buddha statue with a length of 55m and a height of 16m. It was believed to be built more than 1000 years ago, during the reign of Mon King Migadepa. Funny enough that as huge as the statue was, it went missing in 1757 when Pago was pillaged. Some 100 years later it was rediscovered under a cover of jungle growth. Then it was restored more than 100 years ago, and Buddha's mosaic pillows were added subsequently. The fresco behind the Buddha statue recorded the story of Shwethalyaung.

在Shwethalyaung 寺南邊不到一百米外, 有另一座露天巨型臥佛 Naungdawgyi Myathalyaung, 它似乎比Shwethalyaung還要大上一點, 但不知道為甚麼卻完全沒有名氣。若不是露天而剛好經過, 便會錯過了。

Less than 100m to the south of Shwethalyaung Temple, there was another open-air giant reclining Buddha, Naungdawgyi Myathalyaung, which seemed to be a little bigger than Shwethalyaung, but was completely unknown for some reason. If it wasn't in open-air and was on the way to Shwethalyaung we would have missed it.

Kyaikpun Pagoda 是勃固 4個最著名的景點中的最後一個, 因為有座四坐佛雕而聞名, 四坐佛雕高 27米, 由四尊佛像組成, 分別是角散, 金剛摩那, 迦葉和釋迦牟尼, 與阿難達寺中的四尊佛像相同, 面向四個方向。它們由勃固的Migadippa國王在7年紀建造, 並在15世紀後期由Dhammazedi國王進行了翻新。

Kyaikpun Pagoda was the last of the 4 most famous attractions in Bago. It was famous for housing the Four Seated Buddha shrine, a 27m statue depicting the four Buddhas namely Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa, and Gautama (same as the four in Ananda Temple) seated in four positions, facing the four directions. They were built by King Migadippa of Bago in 600s and were renovated by King Dhammazedi in the late 1400s.

我們開始返回仰光, 在暮色中, 我們經過了Taukkyan戰爭公墓, 是二戰期間在緬甸戰死的英聯邦盟軍士兵的墓地。它頗為有名, 但因位於仰光以北約 25 公里, 若不是順路經過, 便不會前來。

We started to head back to Yangon, when the darkness covered the land, we passed by the Taukkyan War Cemetery. It was a cemetery for Allied soldiers from the British Commonwealth who died in battle in Burma during the Second World War. It was located about 25 km north of Yangon so we only dropped by because it was on the way.

回到仰光後, 我們在一間極為熱鬧的餐廳晚飯, 餐廳十分講究, 甚至連米飯也是以藤編的筒子盛載, 當然價錢也相對講究, 飯有許多種, 我們點了masala, 扁豆和椰子三種飯, 我們一碟Masamarn咖哩牛, 一碟燴羊, 和一碗湯, 味道不錯, 但還真的沒有比路邊的小店更好, 反倒是傳統緬甸甜品Mont lone yay baw (大概是椰絲湯圓)卻十分好吃。

After returning to Yangon, we had dinner at a very busy restaurant. The restaurant was quite fancy as in even the rice was served in rattan bobbins, and of course the price was relatively fancy as well. There were many rice options, we ordered a masala rice, a lentil rice and a coconut rice. We ordered a Masamarn curry beef, a mutton kebab, and a soup. They all tasted good, but were not really better than the local restaurants on our way. The traditional Burmese dessert Mont lone yay baw (round boiled rice balls filled with pieces of palm sugar, and garnished with fresh coconut shavings) was very delicious, though.

晚飯後, 我們回到酒店, 收拾行李, 準備第二天一早前往機場, 離開緬甸。

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, packed our luggage and prepared to head to the airport the next morning to go home.

緬甸之旅至此完滿結束, 如果喜歡本站或有任何問題, 請subscribe本站!

This concludes the Myanmar trip, if you like this page or have any questions, place subscribe this page!