LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Myanmarvels & The Outright Odd
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Some aspects of Myanmar are a little ‘unusual’ – and certainly make for some of the more memorable experiences.
In Myingyan prized Buddha relics are housed in a remarkably unchanged British-colonial bank safe, while the remains of a famous monk have been in open view since 1951.
Snake temples are another thing. Three pythons in Paleik are lovingly fed at 11am daily, and pose with frightened kids for photos. Another python in Bago is supposedly the reincarnation of the former head of a monastery. At Minbu , just across the Ayeyarwady from Magwe, you can dip your toe in a ‘volcano’ made of bubbling butane gas; and, hey, there’s a couple of snakes at the pagoda.
You can pick up a water buffalo for mum at the twice-weekly market in Kengtung; a cheapie costs US$200. Just north, near the Chinese border, Mong La is a casino town with transvestites and Chinese yuan for local currency. Near India, Kalaymyo is a half-Chin, half-Bamar town you can fly to, but don’t wander out of town.
The spectacled Buddha of Shwemyetman Paya sits in a temple in Shwedaung, outside of Pyay. Any nat-related festival may evolve into people falling into trances and being possessed by spirits, sometimes led by men dressed as nat wives.
Feast on still-wriggling larva fare at night markets.
The wonder of Myanmar, however, is the Golden Rock at Kyaiktiyo, a gravity-defying boulder rocking atop a mountain. Supposedly the rock is shaped like a hermit’s head and was moved here from the bottom of the sea in the 11th century. Now that’s odd.
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