So this was it, the whole point of the 3-day plus detour from Mandalay, the "Journey as Destination", culminated in this 20h boat ride down south on the Ayerwaddy from Katha. I had originally planned to take an even longer detour, starting from further north in Myitkina, and making several more stops along the way. However, I'd run out of time, as I'd already arranged to exit Myanmar on 10 Jul, so I could only take a truncated detour to Katha. It turned out for the better though, as I found out long-distance Myanmar government train rides and me don't mesh. Moreover, I met Chris & Marie in Katha, a German-French couple who did in fact take the 24h train ride to Myitkyina, only to find out the road and riverway onwards to Sinbu/ Bhamo (the ... read more

A longer-than-expected gruelling 8h overnight bus ride later, and I'd finally arrived in Mandalay. Not a moment too soon either, alighting at the bus terminal at 4 a.m. 11km outside of town, before being shuttled by motorbike taxi to ET Hotel, only to be greeted by a surly receptionist who was obviously displeased about being awoken from his slumber. I asked to see the rooms and quickly settled on a tiny, almost cell-like single on the roof (yes, roof!), which turned out to be an absolute oven under Mandalay's searing afternoon sun! But I forgive the place because of its laundry service and free wifi (YES!) The bus ride to Mandalay threw up an unexpected surprise though, as I believe en route we passed through Nay Pyi Daw, the new capital which is supposedly officially out-of-bounds ... read more

So finally left the beautiful countryside of Hpa An and Southeastern Myanmar, and made my way back west towards Yangon. I wasn't be going back there though, instead I stopped at Bago and will turn north towards Mandalay. I remember telling myself to travel slower since I'm in no hurry anyway, so I'll be making a couple of overnight stops (starting with Bago) in South/ Central Myanmar en route to Mandalay, instead of doing a straight 10-12h bus ride that I don't have particularly fond memories of from 2006. Bago turned out to have quite a lot to see, and I must really chastise LP for getting the scale on its Bago map all wrong! What appeared to be 600m for the stretch of temples on the map was in reality much, much further! The cycle-taxi ... read more

I never thought it could rain this much! Mawlamyine must set a new record, as it rained pretty much almost continuously for over 30h. And when I say rain, I don't mean a persistent drizzle, but unending cats and dogs! The K1000 I paid for a poncho back in Kinpun really came in useful here. When they said it was the rainy season now here in Myanmar, they must have had Mawlamyine in mind, cos it was almost unreal that thunderstorms could last so long! Anyway, Mawlamyine (aka Moulmein the Anglocised name) is supposedly the third largest in Myanmar, but despite its obvious size, the streets seemed pretty quiet most of the time. And the shops were pretty much almost all closed once night fell. What a contrast to Pathein, which though seemingly smaller and more ... read more

And I'm back to Yangon, this time with YK from Jogja days, and we spent two nights in the sweltering capital exploring more of its sights. I'd warned YK about Myanmar's fastidiousness with clean, crisp, unmarked dollar bills, and he didn't quite believe it until he encountered it himself, and he saw some of my not-quite-perfect notes being rejected. At least YK gamely brought some extra USD for my emergency use, hopefully it'll be enough to last till the end of my time here (two more weeks). It was definitely eye-opening being back in Yangon again after six years, and at a time when the country is politically and (presumably) economically opening up. I would imagine things being very different another six years from now, if all goes well with the country's developments.... read more