Myanmar:On the Road to Mandalay


It had been a year since I had picked up my backpack and been on my solo trips . Had been to the mountains twice earlier this year,Kashmir in the winter and Ladakh (Mountains and Monasteries) in the summer and wanted to go somewhere quaint and peaceful, walk around and soak up some history from the past. Myanmar came to my mind , since mom had gone there 2yrs back when it had just opened up for visitors.

Did a bit of research on the internet and booked my flight tickets and got an evisa done. I don't have any bookings, when I travel but do read up on places and have a general idea about hostels/hotels and bus/train connections. I linger and wander around a place a bit longer if I like it or move on .  As Dr Suess said in his poem 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!
 
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.  And you know what you know

YANGON
So after early morning tennis on a cloudy Sunday morning, drove down to Chennai to my sisters place.After spending couple of days there, boarded the flight from Chennai->Bangkok->Yangon.I had to switch flights but Air Asia wouldn't check in my backpack all the way till the final destination and when I landed in Bangkok, was told that I had to get a VOA. Another issue is that the VOA is only given in the local currency Thai Bhat, and they wouldn't take USD. Thankfully had a three hour gap ,so first exchanged USD for Thai Bhat and stood in the queue for a Visa. 32$ wasted just to switch flights and collect my baggage. Same on the way back.

My idea about Myanmar or Burma from what I had read and heard was that it was remote and had just opened up two years back but that got a jolt when I landed at Yangong. There was a brand new airport ,with taxi stands outside and when I left the exit door I found a Pajero and Land Cruiser parked. I negotiated and took a taxi into town since buses were not available. As I was driven through the city , I was amazed at the lovely tree lined roads and few buildings around. However , in  a bit got caught up in the morning traffic just like back at home. It took more than an hour to reach the town and find a place (HINSS Bugdet Inn) at Botataung Pagoda Rd.. Another surprise ,WIFI at the hotel ,air conditioning too. The inn was spotless clean and the staff was very helpful too.




  

Yangon was really hot and humid. After a bit of rest , went searching for lunch and then headed to Shwedagon Pagoda. The golden Pagoda is from the 6th Century B.C. and has withstood the test of time. I could have stayed awhile to catch the sunset but was quite tired after all the flight switches at night and hardly any sleep,so decided to skip catching the golden pagoda under lights.

While walking around the city,noticed that most of the shops were either selling mobile phones or food stalls. Traffic was quite dense but there were no motor bikes on the road. Read that it was banned from Yangon.

The next day was spent walking around the city , catching all the various religious places from Gurudwara, Mosque,Church ,Kali Bari, Meenakshi temple to Sule Pagoda.Also walked around to Strand road to catch a glimpse of the river. Various cruise ships were parked there and there were boys playing football on the street.













Something I noticed was that most men and women wear Lungi and women and children apply Thanka(Sandalwood paste) on their faces.

Asked at the hotel about bus tickets for Bagan and booked it for early next morning. Note that people are honest and whether you book at the hotel or outside the rate is same.

BAGAN
I hadn't reset my phone to local time and ended up waking up and hour late but quickly packed up and took a taxi to the bus stand. Taxi is the only way to get to the bus stand that's far away, though my preferred mode of transport is bus usually.

The bus started at 8am and went through new tolled expressways to my surprise again and reached Bagan at 530pm. The bus stand is at a distance from the town and there are various hotel options at Old Bagan,New Bagan or Nyaung U. From my research done earlier , I decided to take a pickup to Nyaung U and search for a place to stay. I was looking for Shwe Na Di Guesthouse or View Point Guesthouse but both were full. So went around few more and put my backpack down at EDEN3. New , spotless and friendly staff. Again there was weak WIFI signal at the lobby.





After a bit of rest ,walked around to find some dinner, ended up ordering the usual fried rice. Woke up only at 8am next morning, I was a bit lazy , maybe it was the heat and humidity ,had breakfast there and decided to venture out to the temples. Bagan had more than 10,000 temples at one point of time , currently there are about 2,200 temples/pagodas scattered a fair distance in the farms/plain and the Ayeyarwady River to the North. One can rent a cycle/ebike/horse cart or take a taxi. I decided to take a cycle in the morning and went around the various ancient temples from 11th century and later. Bagan again has beautifully tree lined streets but the heat was bit too much for me. I came back to the hotel after lunch, rested and then decided to take a horse cart. The horse cart guy could  spoke a bit of English and was very friendly. He was also mentioning that he hardly had any customers since most would take an ebike these days. I went around more pagodas and wanted to catch the mystical sunset from a temple top but alas, it was cloudy and although i did climb up some steps but found a dark misty sight. I was a bit disappointed after having seen some out of the world sunset snaps but then such is life. You gain some and loose some. While coming back it started pouring and there was no electricity all evening/night and I had enough of pagodas at yangon and bagan ,so decided to head out to the next pit stop.

INLE LAKE

The bus picked me up from the hotel at 7am and again went through some beautiful hills/forests and reached Nyaung Shwe in the evening. I took a pickup from there and went looking for accommodation. I had heard about Remember Inn and went there first and thankfully found a place. Really nice spotless clean place at a quiet part of town and very friendly and helpful people. Again found slow wifi at the lobby also..I immediately liked the room overlooking the mountains.

The bus stop is at Nyaung Shwe and its the most convenient place to try and find a night stop.. It was pleasant around 12-15 degrees ,far away from the humidity and heat of Yangon and Bagan and I just rested that evening, walked around and finally found some Indian food -Roti,sabzi.

Had asked at the hotel and got myself the boat trip booked for next day. I had read that one could do it oneself by going to the Jetty, but the price quoted was reasonable and  there were three more people coming along. So post breakfast took the 8am boat across the Lake. This is the country's second largest lake and features floating villages, gardens, various tribes nearby and fishermen who row with their legs,all of which I saw. I also saw silk threads being created out  of lotus plants. The town itself is pleasing too, being quite rustic with a small-town feel, and featuring its own ancient pagodas from the 17th century.




 




The day trip across the lake was at some points a bit touristy but really beautiful and peaceful and took us throw the lives of the inhabitants who lived in those stilt houses.

I had an additional buffer day ,and decided to spend it at Inle. Spent two days lazying around, reading a bunch of books on Burmese History that I had picked up and walking around town.The next and last pit stop was Rangoon and had booked an evening bus ticket.


Mandalay
The bus started at 7pm and was really cold , but they had provided clean blankets. The bus reached Mandalay at 330am and I decided to take a motorbike rickshaw , basically a pillion on a motorbike but costs far less than a taxi. I had a few hotels/guesthouses in mind and asked the guy to take me to AD1 guesthouse. Thankfully, he could speak a bit of English and took me there. I also found a room and took it up immediately.
My expectation from Mandalay was not very high since some travelers I had met and my mom had told me about the chaotic traffic and the pollution.Well, it was 330am and I really didn't catch any of it :) . The motorbike taxi guy then asked if I wanted to visit a few places. I did have a few in my mind but they were at a distance Ubein Bridge, Sagiang Hill and Inwa. Negotiated a rate and after a ten mins rest decided to hit the city in dark.It was 4am .

First stop was at Maha Muni Pagoda , where buddha's face is cleaned every morning in a ceremony. After a few mins there, i was starving without dinner and breakfast and had some food and headed to UBein Bridge to catch the sunrise. I spent a couple of hours there and caught some really nice glimpses of monks walking around, people in cycle and later school kids etc . The sunrise was quite cloudy though and again not as mystical as one would have imagined. After that headed to Inwa (quite a distance and really bumpy journey) but the journey was well worth it. Lovely old pagodas . Next pit stop was Sagiang hill , a monastery town and climbed up a good number of steps at one of them to get a glimpse of the surroundings. Post lunch at a roadside Muslim eatery, the cheapest meal at Burma but the tastiest, headed to old wooden Shwedan Monastery . By then ,I was dead tired , with hardly any sleep all night and then the bumpy dusty journey all day in the heat and humidity. So headed back to the guest house for a snooze and then dinner later in the evening.








Next morning was Diwali and after a good breakfast, walked around a bit . Found a hindu temple and stalls all around selling sweets. Later in the day was considering whether to go up Mandaley hill but somehow had felt and overdose of Pagodas by then , so gave it a skip. Another ride to Ubein Bridge was possible but it would have been an expensive experience so dropped that too and just walked around , had some dinner and packed up for flight back home.


Overall wonderful ten days spent in a country that has its identity and a big growing economy.Before the travel , I had prepared myself for a tough rough ride with no connectivity with friends and folks back home but all of it turned out to be untrue..

Facts about Burma:
  • Honest and friendly local people but language and issue
  • Spotless clean hotel and Wifi available at most hotel lobbies these days
  • New tolled Expressways
  • Veg Food can be an issue , though I found even the non-veg food tough after a day and survived on fried rice/noodles.
  • Very Comfortable air conditioned buses
  • Standard bus rates everywhere
  • Cost -Travel,Food and hotel was little more than most other SE Asian countries I had been to earlier
  • All hotels had provided English or local breakfast included in the room rate.
  • Every hotel and Pagoda had water dispensers available and I could refill my bottle and had to never buy a bottle of water and pollute the environment with all the plastic.
  • Very hot and humid even in Oct.
  • I see child labour prevalent in all hotels and inns.

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