towards the final leg of our journey in myanmar, on the day of myanmar's independence day, january 4th, we drove from mandalay to nay pyi taw, myanmar’s new capital, and after a night’s halt we headed back to yangon. the trip to the cemetery for the wwII soldiers near yangon, in the next post will be the final of the myanmar portion of the blog! phew!!
… the city is growing in a very planned manner in the middle of undulating scrubland in the heart of myanmar, unlike yangon which lies in the southern coast. The construction started nearly a decade ago… entirely with local effort and resources, we were told, and it still going on…
the newly constructed 6-lane highway, yet to receive finishing touches, that links yangon to mandalay via naypyitaw is nearly 700 km long, and is indeed something worth marvelling about… the portion between mandalay and nay pyi taw cuts across wilderness.. in three and a half hours we just came across one village...
… there must be millions of plants along the highway divider.. the entire length with all sorts of tree saplings and bougainvillea… can imagine how colourful it will be in a few years’ time when all these trees and shrubs thrive and flower under the tropical sun...
… some of the scarce traffic in the newly opened portion of the highway still riding on wooden wheels…
…more than three hours’ drive from mandalay we reached the capital… and expanding oasis in the midst of brown scrubland...
…with zones for residential areas financial areas, recreation, markets, diplomatic core, even hotels… this one reminded me of our durbar squares!
we spent the night in a sprawling resort.. the thingaha
… we were accorded a special welcome… with jasmine garlands…… refreshing towels… the works!!
… one of a kind.. three nepali u.n. reps.. bhairaja pandey of unhcr, ramesh shrestha of unicef and bishow parajuli, un resident coordinator
that evening we went for a spin... first the glitzy new mall that is still growing…
… with well stocked departmental store... the day we were there, it was filled with wide-eyed local visitors...
…next morning, of course we also went to buy fruits from the city market… vibrant colours…
.. and paan…
…in the evening, a well as the morning, we visited the golden pagoda that tries to match the schwedegon of yangon in height and grandeur… it’s obviously not frequented as the latter.. but promises to attract a lot.. beautiful place…
… our hansa bird, whose wings had to be propped up!
… and zillions of insects swarming in the floodlights…
… and getting martyred in the process in the place epitomising ahimsa!!!
… to the east of the temple are two ‘white’ (albino) elephants, supposed to provide good luck and long life to the reign…
.. the uppatasanti pagoda (peace pagoda) at night…
… and in daylight.. magnificent from the outside…
.. as well as its cavernous interior…
… with exquisite gold filigree work..
… marble relief work panels depicting the life and times of buddha, from.. the conception of buddha, with mayadebi dreaming of an elephant…
... to the birth of lord buddha…
... and on towards parinirvana…
... when prince siddhartha left a sleeping wife and child…
... to his starving penance in the forest…
... deep in meditation…
... to the enlightened one…
...beautiful peace...
... near our hotel was an artificial small lake next to which was a path that some of the thousands of labourers trouped back and forth from construction sites…
…it is their labour that is transforming this growing city into a thing of beauty… I was transfixed by the beautiful fountains in the traffic islands
… as beautiful at night with the lights…
… and in the daytime…
…water to the city has been supplied through dams to form artificial lakes... once the trees mature the place will surely look cool and green too.. and once infrastructure like schools and clinics and the like come up, the government officials might bring their families too.. to make the city looked more ‘lived in’…
... on the business side of the city…the international convention centre….
... and a fleeting glimpse of the many apartment complexes in the residential zones.. the fruits and other trees just beginning to spread skywards...
.. and the parade road, just near the parliament house (had to tuck away our cameras after this point!) that looks like a runway... as our car sped along the middle of the road.. it really did feel like we were going to take off!!!
… the city is growing in a very planned manner in the middle of undulating scrubland in the heart of myanmar, unlike yangon which lies in the southern coast. The construction started nearly a decade ago… entirely with local effort and resources, we were told, and it still going on…
the newly constructed 6-lane highway, yet to receive finishing touches, that links yangon to mandalay via naypyitaw is nearly 700 km long, and is indeed something worth marvelling about… the portion between mandalay and nay pyi taw cuts across wilderness.. in three and a half hours we just came across one village...
… there must be millions of plants along the highway divider.. the entire length with all sorts of tree saplings and bougainvillea… can imagine how colourful it will be in a few years’ time when all these trees and shrubs thrive and flower under the tropical sun...
… some of the scarce traffic in the newly opened portion of the highway still riding on wooden wheels…
…more than three hours’ drive from mandalay we reached the capital… and expanding oasis in the midst of brown scrubland...
…with zones for residential areas financial areas, recreation, markets, diplomatic core, even hotels… this one reminded me of our durbar squares!
we spent the night in a sprawling resort.. the thingaha
… we were accorded a special welcome… with jasmine garlands…… refreshing towels… the works!!
… one of a kind.. three nepali u.n. reps.. bhairaja pandey of unhcr, ramesh shrestha of unicef and bishow parajuli, un resident coordinator
that evening we went for a spin... first the glitzy new mall that is still growing…
… with well stocked departmental store... the day we were there, it was filled with wide-eyed local visitors...
…next morning, of course we also went to buy fruits from the city market… vibrant colours…
.. and paan…
…in the evening, a well as the morning, we visited the golden pagoda that tries to match the schwedegon of yangon in height and grandeur… it’s obviously not frequented as the latter.. but promises to attract a lot.. beautiful place…
… our hansa bird, whose wings had to be propped up!
… and zillions of insects swarming in the floodlights…
… and getting martyred in the process in the place epitomising ahimsa!!!
… to the east of the temple are two ‘white’ (albino) elephants, supposed to provide good luck and long life to the reign…
.. the uppatasanti pagoda (peace pagoda) at night…
… and in daylight.. magnificent from the outside…
.. as well as its cavernous interior…
… with exquisite gold filigree work..
… marble relief work panels depicting the life and times of buddha, from.. the conception of buddha, with mayadebi dreaming of an elephant…
... to the birth of lord buddha…
... and on towards parinirvana…
... when prince siddhartha left a sleeping wife and child…
... to his starving penance in the forest…
... deep in meditation…
... to the enlightened one…
...beautiful peace...
... near our hotel was an artificial small lake next to which was a path that some of the thousands of labourers trouped back and forth from construction sites…
…it is their labour that is transforming this growing city into a thing of beauty… I was transfixed by the beautiful fountains in the traffic islands
… as beautiful at night with the lights…
… and in the daytime…
…water to the city has been supplied through dams to form artificial lakes... once the trees mature the place will surely look cool and green too.. and once infrastructure like schools and clinics and the like come up, the government officials might bring their families too.. to make the city looked more ‘lived in’…
... on the business side of the city…the international convention centre….
... and a fleeting glimpse of the many apartment complexes in the residential zones.. the fruits and other trees just beginning to spread skywards...
.. and the parade road, just near the parliament house (had to tuck away our cameras after this point!) that looks like a runway... as our car sped along the middle of the road.. it really did feel like we were going to take off!!!
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