Joe Louis crosses the longest teakwood bridge
The more I travel, the more I became desensitized to superlatives. When I was a kid I would read The Guinness Book of World Records and get excited at the world’s tallest man and the biggest skyscraper on the planet. But while on the road it seems every tourist destination has a pamphlet describing “The best” of something or other. The world’s deepest swimming pool (San Alfonso del Mar, Chile). The world’s largest shoe (Hauenstein, Germany). I can’t help but ask, “So what?!!”
While traveling near the Manadalay area, I stopped just outside of Amarapura. Not being a teakwood afficianado, but having a general interest in bridges, I visited the U Bein Bridge, famous (in some circles at least) as the longest teakwood bridge in the world. Some bridges have iconic appearances, like the Sydney Harbor Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge. Some are clear feats of engineering like the many long stretches in China. U Bein didn’t really fit either of these molds.
In fact, the bridge is actually in mild disrepair in a few spots. But despite this it does have an old world charm to it. It looks simple in its construction and speaks not to modernity or advances in architecture, but straight to the point of its structure.
The true beauty of the U Bein Bridge is its picturesque surroundings. The bridge spans across Tuangthaman Lake and looks like it belongs in a painting. The scene is especially pretty at sunset, and it is common practice for tourists to rent a boat to get the best possible view for that postcard photograph. This is why U Bein has become a destination on the map, not for its teakwood makeup or its record length, but for its photogenic qualities.
See what other blogs are saying about the U Bein Bridge:
“Seven miles north of Mandalay is U Bein’s Bridge, which spans 1300 yards across Amarapura’s Taungthaman Lake. Exercise caution as you traverse it – some of the planks are decidedly rickety. Contemporary artwork can be bought at a small shop on the bridge, while the nearby stalls sell stunning wood carvings at a fraction of the price you’d pay in Yangon.”
–Jessica Mudditt’s Blog
“Made almost entirely out of teakwood reclaimed from a former Ava Kingdom palace (allegedly) by the mayor who lent the bridge his name, the three-quarter-mile walkway zigzags 15 feet above mud flats and is resplendent at sunset. Today it remains an important passageway over Taungthaman Lake and is often populated with monks, fishermen, and the ever-more-common Western tourist.”
–Travel and Leisure
