11/24: Nyaung Shwe: Monk's Quarters & Flaming Balloon Festival

We had had a really great time in Mandalay and I was sad to bid the city 'adieu' but I knew we had exciting things planned in our next port of call, Nyaung Shwe on Inle Lake. 

On arrival at the tiny airport in Heho, it appeared we were the only passengers who had not made prior arrangements to be picked up so we were caught off guard having to pay the hefty flat rate of $25 for the hour long drive to Nyaung Shwe, the gateway town to Inle Lake, and our destination for the next few days. We had thought we'd be able to get a shared taxi with other people on the flight but twas not the case.

Photos en route to Nyaung Shwe:

After checking into our hotel, located in the town center and only steps from the jetty, we talked with several travel agents about arranging a day long tour on the lake for tomorrow. We compared prices and itineraries and settled on one who told us we needed to be back no later than 6:45 the next morning in order to see everything we told him we wanted to see.

Inle Lake is 900 m above sea level and one of the main tourist attractions in Myanmar. The lake is 22km long and 10km wide and over 160,000 people call the lake their home with many people living on floating islands of vegetation.

We only had about 90 minutes then to walk around Nyaung Shwe before having to be back at the hotel at 5:30 to go with 2 other guests to see the Flaming Balloon Festival in the city of Taunggyi that we'd just heard about.

Photos of Nyaung Shwe:

The jetty at the end of our street.

There were travel agencies up and down the main streets of Nyaung Shwe as it's such a tourist destination and jumping off point for the region.

We saw lots of parents using their motorcycles to pick up their children from school. We walked to Shwe Gu Kyaung, i.e. monastery. Photos of it:

A family from Lawrence, Kansas donated the building above at the monastery.

We heard novice monks chanting together and followed their synchronized voices up the stairs to the large central hall, below.

The Basic Education High School.

We stopped next at Kan Gyi Kyaung that was just down the street from the high school. Photos from Kan Gyi Kyaung:

Kan Gyi Kyaung is the largest monastery in Nyaung Shwe.

We could hear some of the 250 monks of all ages reciting Buddhist scriptures in the building, above, from a distance away.

Kimono House: Unlike other monasteries we’d seen elsewhere in Myanmar, those in Nyaung Shwe opened their doors to male visitors or travelers. I have been heartened at how every monastery or pagoda that we've seen has been different enough from each other in some respect so that the prospect of seeing yet another one is still enticing and does fill us with despair as you might have thought!

These 2 young girls kept riding their bikes around us at the pagoda asking us if we were ‘happy’ and what our names were, etc – so cute.

Monks' quarters at the monastery.

We walked up the street next to Hlaing Gu Kyaung.

I read that the monastery has about 100 resident monks but we missed viewing their collection of antique Buddha images.

Young monks at Hlaing Gu Kyaung.

The monk, above, came up to us and, after chatting with us, invited us to visit the monks’ quarters. We were nonplussed and thrilled at the opportunity to see what the monastery was like inside and be able to talk with him about his life as a monk. 

He told us he had been studying Buddhist scriptures for 13 years and English with a private tutor that he had paid 5,000 kyat (about $4) monthly since 2007. He said his siblings had helped him pay the tutor and also support him financially since he entered the monastery. We were surprised to learn that he was also able to keep for his personal use some of the money he earns during begging ceremonies. 

The young men in the background listened while the monk chatted with us. They were staying at the monastery but were not monks. Janina, I thought of you as the monk liked to smoke and use his smartphone.

He said his hope is to leave the monastery and teach English; now he tutors students in English and motivates them to read a lot. Speaking to him had been fascinating and an insight into his life but unfortunately we had to leave before sharing tea with him as we needed to be back at the hotel a few minutes’ later to go to a Balloon Festival in Taunggyi.

The monk's quarters were spartan but we expected that certainly.

En route to the Flaming Balloon Festival in Taunggyi:

We had heard a few days beforehand from a fellow traveler about the famous Flaming Balloon Festival that takes place over the course of several days in Taunggyi, a city located about an hour's drive from Nyaung Shwe. It sounded like a lot of fun so, when we checked into the hotel and found that 2 other guests were going that night, we decided to go too. 

I loved seeing all the 'Please Q' signs in Myanmar!

Photos from the Flaming Balloon Festival:

Andreas, a 50 something German journalist, and Nicole, a youngish woman from Australia, were the other 2 hotel guests. The four of us spent some time together wandering around the festival grounds before it got too crazy in the huge crowds. We had agreed to meet up at 10:30 as we had an early start planned for tomorrow on the lake and luckily neither Andreas or Nicole wanted to stay later.

Steven and I watched at a safe distance while the balloon was brought in a large truck, unpacked and eventually inflated. The lights on the outside of the balloon were individual candles.

Myanmar's national flag.

Above, the candle lit tail of the balloon.

It was really exciting seeing the balloon take off into the night sky.

We watched it stay aloft for a good 10 minutes til it disappeared from sight.

The barrier between being able to see really well, i.e. going inside the fence, and exercising caution, i.e. staying outside the fence. What do you think I/we chose?

In so many aspects of our relationship, I am the cautious and careful one while Steven is generally the devil may care type. But I think those 'roles' have changed over the years and perhaps most markedly on our overseas trips. I am the one who likes, indeed relishes, a new challenge especially if there is a hint of danger to it. Steven has been the one to worry about the 'what ifs' and always feels he has to play the safety card. 

I thought it would be so much fun getting close to the 'action' and seeing the balloons up close but I know Steven had some valid safety concerns about our going into the fray so to speak. He had read online about an accident at last year's festival that killed 2 onlookers and injured others who had been trampled when they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That was scary to know. 

As you can tell from the pictures, we did end up going inside the barrier fence but Steven especially always kept a close eye out for the crowds of people around us as no one could tell which direction the crowd might move in an instant if danger threatened.

A view of the carnival rides located in another area of the massive festival that was part carnival, balloon competition, concert and food fair. We were surprised that entrance to the festival had been free; the concert though required tickets.

The individual candle holders that were awaiting being attached to the balloon.

Think I was just a little excited?!

It's called the Flaming Balloon Festival as there were indeed huge flaming torches that we'd seen carried and inserted into the balloon that caused it to lift off.

While we had been watching one balloon take off, another group had been busy nearby getting theirs off the ground.

I so wish I had been able to take videos of the ecstatic and very exuberant crowd when they realized that their balloon had taken off. It was so much fun being part of the process and seeing it from the beginning, when the truck of wildly enthusiastic supporters from a FM station brought their balloon in on the truck, to the end, about 40 minutes later, when the balloon took off.

The crowd of supporters and fans sang and danced for ages. It felt like a part religious revival meeting and part rock concert!

I was surprised that we saw so many monks at the festival too. I should have known that I needed to revamp ages ago my 'expectations' as to what monks do and how they act in this modern world.

It was reassuring seeing the fire truck,let me tell you!

Having watched 2 balloons launch, we decided to head over to the carnival part of the fair/festival for a bit.

What a hoot watching a middle aged monk try his skill at throwing darts at balloons! He was pretty good as I sure heard a number of balloons pop.

Was pretty turned off by the lack of garbage cans which meant people just tossed their trash down on the dirt.

I felt a little better when both Steven and I agreed that the safer place to be was actually inside the fenced areas watching the balloons take off as the crowd of so many people pushing and shoving in very tight quarters over by the rides was quite terrifying.

There was actually quite a bit of space to maneuver in the balloon staging area which was very welcome after the scrum by the food and rides. We decided to watch another balloon take flight.

More revelry ensued by the joyous team who had worked so hard to get their balloon aloft.

We had just enough time to watch one more balloon take off before we needed to meet up with Andreas, Nicole and our driver.

The soon-to-be Flaming Torches.

Flaming torches that were run just past us toward the balloon.

Unfortunately the Chinese temple-like trailer's fireworks went off prematurely on this balloon and rained down into the crowd underneath. Guess who might have been just there? Yup, us and guess which one of us got hit in the leg by the fireworks? Yup, me. It hurt like the dickens for a bit but at least I only had a small scar the next day. One more to add to my battle scarred body! AND, what a story I had to tell about it!

What an exciting day we had on our first day in Nyaung Shwe although even I would admit that I could have done without the exploding fireworks!

Posted on 12/6 from Kathmandu, Nepal.