Mizzima News

On her last evening in Bagan, Aung San Suu Kyi visited the Nyaungoo Market where residents quickly gathered to offer her good wishes and gifts.

Concerned that the crowd was growing too fast, she bought a longyi and prepared to leave the area, but more people quickly gathered. Pople began shouting slogans such as “May Aunty Suu be Healthy,” and her security staff requested people not to shout greetings. She posed for many videos and photographs. A crowd of several thousand people were soon gathered along the road  north of Nyaung Oo Market.

Suu Kyi appeared to want her trip to Bagan to be low-key affair but wherever she went in the area she quickly attracted large crowds. She was accompanied by her youngest son, Kim Aris, aka Htein Lin. Her entourage will depart Bagan on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. on a flight to Rangoon.

On Thursday, the fourth day of her personal pilgrimage in Bagan, Aung San Suu Kyi visited the Ingyinndaw Natural Reserve in Zee-O-Thit-Hla village in Nyaungoo Township.

The 40-acre reserve is under management of the Natural and Wildlife Reserve Department under the Ministry of Forestry.

There are about 180 houses in Zee-O-Thit-Hla. In response to Suu Kyi’s questions, villagers told her that they sometimes have difficulty accessing clean drinking water, according to Mizzima’s correspondent.

“Villagers including children, elderly women and students came to meet with her. About 300 villagers came. She asked them about their lives in the village. They said they had difficulty accessing clean water about 150 days of a year. They said that they had to drink river water at those times,” the correspondent said.

At around 1:00 p.m., Suu Kyi visited the monastery in the village and donated money to the abbot. Then she had photographs taken in front of a large tamarind tree called “Tamarind Nine Branches” in the monastery compound. The residents believe the tree is 1,000 years old. She arrived back at her hotel at 2:10 p.m.

Wednesday evening Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi went to the U Ba Nyein Lacquerwear Shop in Bagan's Myothit Quarter and bought souvenirs. Then she went to the Bagan House Lacquerwear works before returning to her hotel.

Earlier, she had visited Wataw Monastery near Tharapa Door in Bagan where she donated Buddhist robes to the abbot. She promised the abbot that she would offer a donatation to support four Buddhist novices at the monastery until they become monks.

After Suu Kyi visited the forest area of Popa Mountain Road and a garden owned by a member of the National League for Democracy, she arrived back at her hotel on Wednesday afternoon. She had lunch at a small roadside food shop, which did not have a name, near Tharapa Door in Bagan.

“It's is a small roadside shop where workers have a meal, and it rests under an Albizzia Lebbek tree, up-country style. It's located among the temples and not sophisticated,” a correspondent told Mizzima.

While having lunch, Suu Kyi was greeted and observed by about 200 residents and foreigners. In response to requests, she signed photographs of herself and had photographs taken with people.

“Some girls requested Aunty Suu (Suu Kyi) to sign her autograph for them. Some girls cried. She attracted a large number of supporters,” the correspondent said. 

This four-day pilgrimage to Bagan is Suu Kyi’s first overnight visit. Her previous trip to Bagan was in 1988.  Staff at the hotel where she stays said Suu Kyi praised the beauty of Bagan and its food.

On Aung San Suu Kyi's third day of touring the ancient temple complex of Bagan, she left her hotel in the morning to travel to Ingyinndaw near the foot of Tuyin Mountain in Kyaukpadaung Township. She is being accompanied by her son, Kim Aris of Britain, and a security entourage. During the second day of touring ancient temples, pagodas and stupas, she was enthusiastically welcomed by local residents at each temple site.

Aung San Suu Kyi began her planned visit to pay homage at the ancient Bagan pagodas on Tuesday morning. She first visited the Arnanda temple and then went on to the tallest temple, Thatbyinnyu, which contains the famous Myazedi inscription, and then on to Manuha temple.

Early in the morning, she told reporters that she has been happy with the trip after having been tied up with political party work in Rangoon, and added that she admired the good efforts of the staff at her hotel.

Suu Kyi will not tour the Bagan temple complex on Monday, but will rest in the hotel, according to an NLD member who welcomed Suu Kyi and her entourage.