Myanmar (CNN)We arrive at the
monastery via a pickup truck that doubles as a bus in Amarapura
township of Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, for an unusual
sightseeing activity.
I actually didn't know of the
existence of the monastery here until I overheard a group of fellow
travelers talking about the place over breakfast.
They described it as a place
you went to, ahem, watch the monks eating lunch in the
morning.
Sounded a bit like a "tourist
zoo," but I decided to go along.
I'm pleasantly surprised when
we arrive.
The Mahagandhayon Monastic
Institution is airy and tranquil with beautiful wooden buildings,
arrayed like courtyard houses, set away from the main
road.
As we move further into the
monastery, others tourists and visitors become more
noticeable.
The monks walk around in their
rouge robes, seemingly oblivious to our presence, although I do
detect a slight hint of ambivalence.
Then the "show"
starts.
The monks line up along the street, clutching what
look like urns -- these are actually containers for
food.
The tourists snap away, myself
included.
Snap, snap, click,
click.
Told not to get in the way of
the procession of monks, bystanders crowd the sidewalks, elbowing
and pushing to get the best shot.
As the monks start walking, a
frenzy of flashes from cameras raised aloft becomes
audible.
I notice a slight reluctance
among some visitors -- a few keep their hands off their cameras,
their heads slightly lowered, as if wanting to keep their dignity
by differentiating themselves from the tourist
paparazzi.
A German voices doubts to his
tour guide about how the "spectacle" seems intrusive and
insensitive.
His tour guide says the monks
have gotten used to the commotion, the way dogs are trained to
certain behaviors.
The comment isn't derogatory,
but rather explanatory.
Another visitor on
a blog says: "It is actually
embarrassing, as if we were watching animals being fed."
After the monks have eaten, the
tourists dissipate and the monastery becomes a quiet sanctuary
again.
The whole event is
odd.
Is this an organic local ritual
that's grown into a full-blown attraction?
Or a monastery opening itself
up for the promise of tourist dollars through a contrived
spectacle?
I decide to return the
following day to find out.
Arriving in the afternoon allows me to see the
monastery in another light.
Nary a tourist can be found --
the atmosphere is serene.
Located near the scenic U-Bein
Bridge, reportedly the world's longest teak footbridge, the
monastery is sometimes known as the Maha Ganayon Kyaung.
Founded in 1914, the complex is
home to more than 1,500 monks.
Visitors can walk the grounds
freely and even attend talks and lectures.
As I sit down on a wooden
platform, scribbling in my notebook, a monk approaches to ask what
I'm doing.
His name is Ashin Pannadhaya,
26 years old.
He's lived in the monastery for
six years.
I ask what the monks think of
the tourists.
I'm expecting Buddhist mildness
but his reply is blunt.
"I feel disturbed when I see
unexpected trouble with the tourists," says Pannadhaya, using the
English he's been studying.
"Some tourists very nice, some
very bad. They take photo crazily and extremely."
"Lunchtime very private time,"
he adds. "They take photos, we very disturbed."
The monks wake up at 4 a.m.
every day, have breakfast at 5 a.m. and begin lessons at 6
a.m.
Lunchtime is 10:15 a.m. And
then they're forbidden from eating from noon until breakfast the
next day.
Another monk joins us, Ashin
Zavana, 22 years old.
He says it gives him a shameful
feeling to be photographed during his lunch hour.
Myanmar has been enjoying a well-documented surge in
tourism in recent years.
With an estimated 300,000 to
500,000 monks among a population of 53 million people, Myanmar's
Buddhist culture is one of the biggest draws for
visitors.
Temple and monastery visits are
popular photo ops.
The appearance of tourists
affects the monks' daily life, says Pannadhaya, especially the
groups that come to see them eat.
He says the monastery's
newfound popularity is unexpected and not initiated by the
monastery.
And tourism may not necessarily
be helping the monastery, as some may think.
Pannadhaya explains that the
monastery relies on donations -- currently, most of those come from
local devotees.
Tourists don't usually donate
to the temple after visiting.
Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution is open to
public.
To avoid the crowds, the best
time to visit is in the afternoon.
It's also the time when
spontaneous conversation is most likely to happen.
The information center can help
you make a donation to the monastery. Receipts for donations are
available.
Mahagandhayon
Monastic Institution, 80 meters west of U-Bein Bridge, Amarapura,
Mandalay, Myanmar; no entrance fee