Myanmar 3: The road From Mandalay


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March 19th 2011
Published: March 19th 2011
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Myanmar Part 3




This 'blog' is the third describing our time in Myanmar (Burma to some).

If you missed the first one, you can find it #1 here . And, the second one can be found #2 here .


We've previously described the horrors of trying to use modern technology at 'dial-up' speed in Myanmar. We initially wrote this 'blog' while in Myanmar, and published it without pictures. Since our return to Australia, we've uploaded pictures to show aspects of our adventure.



As always, if you want to 'see' more detail in an accompanying picture, Left Hand 'click' on it to enlarge.








Tuesday 8th March 2011.



...departure from Mandalay

We wrote at the conclusion of part 2 when departing Mandalay: "At the dusty hole that is the bus station, we first saw what would turn out to be the start of a hellish experience".

We'd had a great day to end our time in Mandalay, and were amazed that everything seemed to be going swimmingly. At the bus station, instead of the 'luxury' bus depicted at the CBD office, we were confronted with a very old, very tatty, and very dirty bus. Surely this is a mistake we thought. Flashing our tickets to a seemingly authoritative person in the hope of being redirected to elsewhere, his smile and sweep of hand to the bus door confirmed our fears. On board, the television noise was blaring through damaged speakers, the closed windows were sliders (ie no aircon), and our 'seats' were at best decrepit. And, this would be our 'sleep cocoon' for the forthcoming 12 hour night-trip!

Resigned to our fate, we opened some windows and settled in and wondered how much worse it could get.

Eventually, after people and luggage were squeezed into nearly every corner, the 'conductor' came and closed all the windows! As a trade-off, we asked that the noise be turned down. If there was ever any aircon, it had long ago 'died' as the trickle of air from the vents was ambient. We just HAD to open the windows.

We'd assumed the bus driver would take the new 4 lane highway to Thazi and then turn east. Fraid not! We headed down the quite bumpy, narrow, and dusty Highway 1. At times, the road was not sufficiently wide enough to take two vehicles so our driver was veering markedly off the decomposing bitumen in order to
Highway 4Highway 4Highway 4

As a 'highway', this is a reasonable section as it is not on the 'face' of a mountain range.
avoid oncoming heavy vehicles. How people stayed in their seats as the bus jerked and bounced around was intriguing. Passing the wreckage and dead bodies of a highway crash merely instilled more fear for our destiny.

About 3 hours after we'd departed, and our bladders telling us that those beers we'd enjoyed may not have been the best idea, the bus driver pulled into a 'rest' stop. Squat toilets in public areas are rarely the choicest of places, but these confronted all health measures! For half an hour while the locals ate and smoked, we tried as best we could to gain some winks. Eventually we were back on the bumpy tarmac. Just before Thazi, the driver moved off Highway 1, and onto what we assumed was Highway 4 (that travels eastwards). Not so, it was a shortcut and the bitumen was not even wide enough for the wheels of the bus. Each oncoming vehicle necessitated the driver to move right and come to a stop. Mmmmm, what's next after this????

Eventually the bus bounced onto Highway 4. If Highway 1 was rough and narrow, 'Highway' 4 is a misnomer. The narrow bitumen 'road' long ago lost any
Highway 'traffic'!Highway 'traffic'!Highway 'traffic'!

While 'our' bus was ancient, this example of a local 'bus' suggests we were not too badly off after all.
claim to a level 'table top' surface, now comprising a patchwork of bitumen and gravel filled potholes. While we'd lamented the bumpy ride of Highway 1, the ride on 'highway' 4 was like sitting on a bucking steer!

We both agreed that our best solution were our sleeping tablets. After the half hour that it takes for the tabs to work, we now found ourselves in a half-sleep stupor still riding the steer. As the road met the mountain range, switchback after switchback meant we were either leaning against each other and the window, or fighting not to fall into the aisle. Eventually, the bus ground to a halt - Ah, bliss!!! But, the clanking and banging needed to change the burst tyre challenged any temptation to fall into a proper sleep. Two more of these 'tyre' episodes completely disoriented us. In a perverse way, the monotony of the bucking steer and our overwhelming tiredness became more sleep inducing than the noisy stillness.

Still in the drug induced stupor, we sensed another 'stop' but this time it was we who were tapped on the shoulder "Kalaw, you get off". Off we tumbled into the 5am darkness. Holy Moses,
Kalaw - 1st lightKalaw - 1st lightKalaw - 1st light

Attractive, but COLD!
it's COLD here. With no sign of life, we walked towards a nearby concrete block hotel (of Chinese style) and hoped we'd get some protection in the doorway. Not so! Noting the door was a little ajar, we pushed quietly and peered inside. Immediately someone sleeping in the foyer jumped up from their mattress and inquired as to how they could help us. We told them we'd been dropped off and just needed to get out of the cold till dawn. We sat on the chairs in the foyer, and even 'pinched' their now discarded blanket for warmth.










Wednesday.



...recovery

As the sun arose, we made our way into Kalaw and headed to a place for breakfast. We found a Tibetan cafe that welcomed us and even provided miniature hot water bottles to help us allay our cold. After a Tibetan-style soup breakfast, we ventured back onto the street to seek accommodation.

We came across a line of Buddhist nuns seeking alms, as their 'brothers' do each morning. It's the first time we'd encountered nuns seeking alms.

With a comfortable bed secured, we tried to recover some sleep. We later learnt that the morning temp had been 10C - a huge contrast to the scorching heat of Yangon & Mandalay. After the 'hellish' bus ride, our bodies were not really in that 'space' needed for sleep. We spent the remainder of the day becoming acquainted with Kalaw, and waiting for nightfall and a decent sleep.

That night we learned that the floorboards at our choice of accommodation loudly telegraphed every noise - by way of the passionate 'adventures' of a couple in the room above. They certainly had more energy than us, and kept us awake till the wee small hours. An eventual knock on the door had him protesting and her embarrassed!










Thursday.



...walking

After a room change to upstairs, we considered the various 'tourist' options of Kalaw. Most come here for the hiking. We looked at the countryside and figured that any semblance of a forest had long gone. We asked about the treks, and were told that at best there is a 30%!f(MISSING)orest cover and that the guide charged US$15 pp per day. We agreed that hiking in deforested hills didn't sound much fun, so we chose to wander around in the nearby area on our own. We're glad we chose that option as we stumbled across some great scenery, engaged with many locals (as best we could), and enjoyed the area at our own pace.

We planned to head further east to NyuangShwe the next day, had read that the train trip was scenically great, so inquired at the local train station. The Station Master told us there were two trains - 10am and 11:30am - and the trip took 3 hours. The train would only go to ShweNyuang, and we'd have to get transport to NyuangShwe - some 10 minutes by taxi south of the station.









Friday.



...the train to no-where

As Friday was 'market day', we took a wander through the town to gawk at what was for sale before heading to the station. Kalaw is in the Shan State _the Shan being the largest minority group in Myanmar). In the Shan region, each town has its 'regular' market, but is 'supplemented' by the influx of hill living people every 5
Kalaw marketKalaw marketKalaw market

No shortage of food here.
days. These hill living people grow the vegetables, make artifacts, etc., for sale, and come to buy their own needs. So, for Kalaw (or any other town), locals know in advance when the 5th day market will be held. On this day, the streets had been overtaken by people selling anything and everything. It was both instructive of the local culture, and most colourful.

By 9:30 we'd found our way to the station, to be told the train was one hour 30 minutes late. We found a place on a wooden bench, made ourselves comfortable, and watched the very very slow parade of locals doing their thing.

By 12:15 a train eventually arrived, but the Station Master's assistant informed us that we could not board it as it was to be a reduced service (ie not going to ShweNyuang). Eventually, the 11:30 train arrived at 1:20pm. Noting that there was a mad scramble to board the 10am train (even though it remained at the station for about 3/4 hour, we headed for the '1st class' carriage (for which the assistant had told us we were to board). The inside looked much like the street market we'd earlier visited
Railway food vendorRailway food vendorRailway food vendor

Anyone for curried Chilli Crab?
- except there were also some old, dirty seats. Having left Thazi many hours earlier, there were no vacant seats. To our amazement - and embarrassment - the assistant followed us in and ordered people to vacate an area of seats to make way for us (and another westerner). While we made protestations against the 'order', it fell on deaf ears. We stood there dumbfounded as people and their goods were re-arranged with much effort. We eventually sat down, only to find the seats broken and on permanent incline.

Knowing that the train would be station-bound for some time, we were somewhat relieved when the 10am train returned. Ah we thought, now we would eventually be heading off! By 2:30pm we'd had enough. We knew that we'd have to negotiate transport at ShweNyuang, and really didn't want to be arriving at NyuangShwe at around 6pm to look for accommodation. We hopped off, went to the Station Master and asked for our money back. To our surprise, it didn't take much to sway his mind. We returned to the accommodation and stayed another night.

In hindsight, the decision to leave the train was good. With an hour, we were
On the road to NyuangShweOn the road to NyuangShweOn the road to NyuangShwe

The road really did follow the train route.
both racing to the toilet to 'address' the previous nights dinner. And, as the 'flu that had emerged in Bruce after the night bus ride was taking a turn for the worse, it wasn't the best evening, but at least we were in a reasonable place to cope.








Friday.



...the bus to ShweNyuang

With our failed attempt on the train, we figured it would be smarter to take the bus. We arranged a ticket for the 8:30am bus and duly headed off on time - sorry, near time, it was five minutes late leaving. The road route - still the bumpy Highway 4 - largely followed the same route as the train so we comforted ourselves that we'd not lost out by much.

We'd read that taxi drivers at ShweNyuang charge rip-off fares, but we were able to secure a seat for 1000Kyats each. And, to our amazement, dropped us off at the door at our preferred hotel and told us he'd wait in case we wanted to look at more options. Was this really an omen that our fortunes had turned for the better?.

NuangShwe is
NyuangShwe & Inle LakeNyuangShwe & Inle LakeNyuangShwe & Inle Lake

From the 'entry' mountain range lies a vista of NyuangShwe & Inle Lake.
the town that 'services' the Inle Lake. Inle Lake is the largest one of a series of connected lakes along a valley. We never found out what 'barred' the end of the valley to spawn a 30km lake bed. In the wet, the lakes increase in size immensely as the water rises some 5 to 8 metres. We were here in the dry, and while the core of the lake remained, the 'outer' flanks had become either pasture or marshy wetlands. The lake area supports a large population (of Intha people) and has itself become a major tourist destination.

We settled into our accommodation, and ventured around searching for options to go look at Inle Lake. We also spent the remainder of the day settling into NuangShwe.

As it transpired, we ventured onto Inle Lake the next day, but we'll keep that till our next blog.




Assuming you want to read what we had to say, you can find the fourth 'episode' #4 here .






Cheers




😱








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