And...... This is Austria.

At the Austrian Destination Summit  October 2014

I attended the Austrian Destination Summit  this past October held between Salzburg and Vienna and learnt a  new word...The Pissoir .. this was a first for me..and then I go to China and discover another first as shown below

Female urinals as found at the convention hall in Salzburg

This....... is China?

Talk about having preconceived ideas and misconceptions! Mea Culpa,   but when I try to figure out what my pre-conceived ideas and expectations were  I realize they were a mélange of  concepts that created an impression far from the truth.

Unlike almost all international visitors, my first port of call into China was Kunming, (the gateway to mystical, alluring Yunnan Provence)  not the usual Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong arrivals. The relatively small airport that I was expecting to transit  had no less than 28 security lanes, each with at least 20 people deep.  As with the USA, one clears customs and immigration at the first port of entrance, then it was onto Beijing.

I was dreading coping with the air pollution..... but.... skies were blue and traffic almost non existent. I'd arrived during APEC week.  Factories had been closed for 3 weeks to clear the air,  offices were closed for the week of the meetings,  even numbered car license tags were only allowed to drive on even numbered days and the roads were eerily quiet.

Flush panel to modern day toilet.

I get to my room at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, walk into the bathroom and the toilet lid automatically raises. Take a closer look at the panel on the wall and find I have the option  rear cleanse, front cleanse, pulsating cleanse, dryer and even a heated seat.
    
.....Then ... I decided it was time to stretch my legs  before  retiring to bed and walked off down the street to find more Coco Chanel choices  than I have ever seen in Paris.

Chanel window shopping

More Chanel fashions

 It didn't take long to discover just how much the Chinese love Coco Chanel fashions and they bewitched me too. 

Gotta love the shoes

The colors

The Style

By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea, There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks of me. ..Rudyard Kipling

When Kipling wrote those words could he have known the love and affection the Burmese population of Myanmar would show their pro democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi? I found everyone held her in high esteem. Five  million people have signed a petition asking for the consititution to be changed so that she can run for president in next year's elections..  but it doesn't look hopeful.

I set off on my journey to Myanmar with  excitement, I was visiting a land where time had almost stood still, little did I realize just how much it had stood still, and little did I realize the depth of my concern at how quickly all  that may change.

I knew I'd see temples, pagodas, stupas, meandering rivers, monks,  dusty cities, rural villages, thought I'd even see an elephant, but nothing had prepared me for the gentleness of the people, the innocence of the children's  faces, the beauty of the land, nor the talent of the artisans.

Nun's wear pink, Monks,  orange.

Ananda Retreat sailing the Ayeyarwardy

A few local words sure helped.
The following are my own phonetic spellings which seemed to work well.
Mingalaba - Welcome/Good morning/Hello
Jaysobay  - Thank you
Whare peepee - I have already bought.  

Golden stupas everywhere

Dragon fruit

captivating expressions

Economy based on natural gas, rice, teak and gemstones.
8 majority tribes, 135 minority tribes, 100 dialects and languages spoken
Schools teach English and Burmese.

Gold leaf artisans at work

How soon will change happen? 

Taxi's don't have meters, negotiate price prior to embarking your journey.
New US dollar bills after the year 2006 are accepted .
Credit cards are almost not accepted anywhere except in hotels.
ATM machines are few  but do work.
Longhi (not sarongs) are worn everywhere by men and women
Only need to pack flip flops as constantly removing shoes to enter pagodas.  

Internet works well in most  upscale  hotels otherwise, for now, consider it non existent.

Try a Burmese massage over a Thai massage. 

Take a horse-drawn cart ride. 

Eat a morning glory salad and wonder how soon you can return. 

Mahamuni Pagoda

On the outskirts of Mandalay  is perhaps one of Myanmar's most religious monuments. The Buddha  is said to have been sculpted directly in the presence of Gautama Buddha  during a visit to the kingdom of  Arakan. Gold leaf offerings are applied in homage to the  Buddha with so many layers that his body is now quite out of proportion with a truly large heart and enormous hand.    Here, members of the public purchase their small square inch of gold leaf and wait in turn to apply it . It's a truly moving experience. 

The Kuthodaw Pagoda referred to by some as the biggest book in the world as 729 marble slabs inscribed with the Tripitaka texts surround it.

Kuthodaw Pagoda built by King Mindon 1857, in effect a copy of  Shwezigon Pagoda in Bagan .

Nomadic Ayeyarwady River Life .

Approach to Mandalay Hill as seen from the River.

Approach to Mandalay Hill as seen from the river.

Local barges navigating the sand banks. 

Nomadic villages along the banks of the Ayeyarwady

U Bein Bridge

Sunset at this bridge will surely rank as one of the most  bucolic, romantic locations in the world.  That is once the word gets out, for now it's still relatively unknown.
A long hand constructed teak bridge snakes across the Taungthaman Lake  constructed in 1847.  As the sun sets the light on this wooden pedestrian bridge is breathtaking.

Mandalay - The Cultural City

The talent of the local artisan craftsmen in Mandalay never stopped .
If I wasn't watching  gold leaf being made, it was a demonstration on making bamboo paper where the fibers are soaked for three years, or silver being beaten into an ornate goblet, creative puppeteers,  weaving,  embroidery, woodworking to the dust of marble carving.

Intricate wood carvings

wood carving.

Most artesans seems to prefer working on the floor

Young girls display their talent at embroidery

Puppetry

ceramics

More detailed embroidery

Carving a Buddhas face out of marble

Knife painting

Hand made paper umbrellas

Weaving

The dust of marble carving

Silversmith artesan

People versus Pagodas, Scenery versus Stupas, Lifestyles versus Loving

The boat man who rowed me out to the U Bein Bridge  

I found everything in Myanmar integrated into an essence of  serenity. It didn't matter where I was, what I was looking at,  how strange  the circumstances, there was always  a peace  that indeed,  passeth all understanding.  These amazing people have not let the changes of their political past destroy their values.
A visit to Myanmar is not just  for the beauty of  the pagodas, temples, monuments  but for the admiration of an amazing nation  that is overcoming  much adversity.  Get there soon before it changes too fast. 

Our amazing chef, who produced the best meals through out my three weeks in Myanmar and China 

Gracious Thiri  who showed us how to make and apply  thanaka

My adorable Manadalay guide.

On the steps of the Mahamuni Pagoda