We flew from Bagan to Mandalay, checked in to the Sedona Mandalay, (our least favorite hotel on the trip) and immediately headed to a monastery in Amurapura to get a glimpse of monk life.

While there, we were told that we would not be able to visit parts of the monastery, because there was a “Hollywood film crew” on site making a movie. I wondered what kind of a movie would include a Burmese monastery scene? This made me think of a wonderful movie I had seen before featuring footage from exotic places around the globe – Baraka. I asked my guide if he had ever seen this movie, and to my surprise he had! We talked about the film’s beauty for 15 minutes.

Why do I mention this? Well, that’s the subject of a future blog entry!

(By the way, Baraka is a must-see film. Roger Ebert describes the remastered Blu-Ray release as “the finest video disc I have ever viewed or ever imagined.“)

That’s right – we’re only up to day eight of our awesome Burma trip. There are many more pictures to come, so keep checking in!