U Bein Bridge, Amarapura, Myanmar

Video #1 - Sunrise on the U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

Video #2 - Early morning on the U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

Video #3 - Sunset on the U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

 Sunrise on the U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

 Schoolboys at sunrise on the U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

 Morning on the U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

Fishing boats in the channel, U Bein Bridge, Amarapura

U Bein Bridge at sunset, Amarapura

U Bein Bridge at sunset, Amarapura

IT WAS STILL DARK, when i stumbled down the stairs at the Zegyo Hotel. Following a day on motorcycle taxis, the driver waiting for me on the street in his old white Toyota Corolla, felt, was a welcoming start. Today's program would include the ancient capitals of Amarapura and Ava (Inla) as well as the pagoda strewn Sagaing Hills. We would not be going too far out of Mandalay and it would be along a route so very popular with many tourists. That said, the U Bein bridge would be the first stop, before i came back for breakfast.

As night ended, we drove towards Taungthaman Lake. Our destination was the start of the U Bein Bridge, 11 kilometres south of Mandalay. Here in the sprawling township of Amarapura, the driver waited by near the shore in an empty parking area. Behind the beach was an untidy fringe of closed restaurants. The legendary foot bridge of salvaged teak wood from nearby palaces, was made in the 19th Century. Along the 1.2 km stretch, market woman with produce approached, as well as groups of monks, and a sprinkling of school children. Apart from the odd tourist, left behind near the buildings, i was on my own demographically speaking.  Beneath the bridge, fields gave way to a wide channel before i could see the ground below again. On the walk, the loud clatter of feet on loose planks, dominated the soundscape. Soon enough i was in Taungthaman Village. On my return the calls and quacks of crows and ducks swelled as the sun rose in the  pastel tinged sky. Fisherman cast nets from little slender boats, out in the channel, and the foot traffic increased too as the beach drew closer. Once back at the car, i returned to the hotel for breakfast, before resuming the tour. 

During the day the tour continued to other places mentioned at the beginning of this post. Late in the afternoon we were back at the U Bein bridge. It was the driver's suggestion to return and not me being obsessive, this time. There was an underlying theme to the double visit. Dawn's first light turned everything to magic, in this sweeping vista of water and low lands, so when evening came around, another sublime process unfolded. My viewing angle was different and the light was now out of the west. It played across water and fields turning the bridge and the people on it, into a silhouette like diorama. Compared to the early morning visit, there were now lots of tourists, and chatter filled the evening air. A flotilla of them were in boats out on the water too. None of this took away too much from the dramatically beautiful sunset.

A beautiful four minute video from a someone on the internet:
Life around U Bein bridge - YouTube