SEA Trip 2009 (Part 3)

Day 7

After our breakfast we packed up and entrusted our guide to get us train tickets to Bagan/Pagan before we went to Pyin Oo Lwin in a taxi. There are "taxi" services between Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin which are faster than the trains, but more expensive as well. Pyin Oo Lwin was called Maymyo in the past, Myo meaning "town" while May referring to a certain Colonel May during the British area. It was higher up in the mountains and also famous for producing strawberries, its colonial architecture and gardens. So I guess it shares a lot in common with Cameron Highlands of Malaysia.

Our taxi getting some water to drink...

We stayed at Grace 1 Hotel. The family managing it are Sikhs. Managed to cut the cost down from US$10 to US$7/night. We refused the return journey offered by the taxi driver. We first washed our clothes before going out for lunch near the market area. Seemed to be run by Chinese but not sure if they can still speak it.

A "safe" lunch as I call it. Fried rice.

Walked to Purcell Tower which is a clock tower located along the main street. Walked down the main street known as Mandalay-Lashio road. Kinda got confused at one point as to where we were, and a friendly Indian Myanmar guy from Bravo Hotel voluntarily helped us. Spoke very good English! Actually so far I've been pretty impressed with many Burmese who spoke English to me because their pronunciation and diction could put many Malaysians or even Singaporeans to shame. If I hadn't mention before, Burmese is not a race but a nationality. The majority are Bamar people but there are many other people and intermarriage is quite common I believe. There seemed to be more Indian/dark-skinned people here compared to elsewhere we've travelled in Myanamr.

Purcell Tower

Along the road I saw a building that was labelled 廣東會館 so I couldn't resist going over to try talking to the people over there. There were lots of Chinese things, like 春聯 and such. Talked to some people sitting outside. They said they were Cantonese but they can't speak it. Oh well.

廣東會館

We then walked towards a higher-class-looking café called Golden Triangle Café and Bakery. Along the way we saw pick-up trucks so we guessed that this was where we could take a truck back to Mandalay the next day. There was a friendly-looking, cheerful middle-aged man there who had the most 慈祥-expression ("benevolent-expression"... if such an expression exists his is the epitome of it) I've ever seen. Felt strangely joyful in his presence. Lol. Anyway the prices at the café were quite steep considering that we were in Myanmar, but we had some cakes and drinks there anyway. Spent much of the afternoon there (til 5pm) reading (I was reading Steve Pavlina) and decompressing.

We continued walking around after that and managed to find the train station. Nearby were some interesting religious structures. Anyway we later went back to the main street and I bought corn from a roadside seller. It was quite bland. Had dinner, bought some bread a sweets from a shop. Near our hotel there was some festival going on so we went to check it out. Went back, bathed, watched TV and slept.

A colourful Indian temple

Religious structures

Remnants of the colonial era. Would be great as a guesthouse etc. if Myanmar was more developed and if there were more awareness of preservation

Pyin Oo Lwin railway station

Day 8

I woke up around 6am, ate some bread and wore my longyi out for a walk at the hotel's garden then went back to sleep again. At 10am everyone woke up, packed and checked out, leaving our luggage at the hotel first.

Our hotel

We walked to the outside of Kawdawgyi Gardens which is supposedly a must-see for tourists here. Nearby there seemed to be some other attraction and I went to check it out. It was an amusement park... wonder who would go there though. Anyway we didn't go in to the Gardens because the entrance fee was quite expensive and we didn't have much time left at Pyin Oo Lwin.

Outside Kawdawgyi Gardens (sleeves rolled up to get tanned)

Entrance to Kawdawgyi Gardens

We had lunch at a random place on the way back. All 3 of us had "rice salad" which was rice with some peanuts and other stuff mixed together. It was actually quite tasty (despite there being flies everywhere and even on the ingredients)! I also got a strawberry milk shake which was nice but too sweet and I got a strawberry overload soon after.

"Rice salad" as the owner called it. Lighted candle to chase away flies.

The strawberry milk shake and add-ons for the rice salad

At the premises was also a small shop selling local delights. We bought 2 bottles of strawberry wine after sampling some different brands. If you like fruit wine you should like it. We sampled strawberry jam as well but didn't buy any (although it tasted nice) because we couldn't imagine bringing it with us for the next few weeks. Then we went back to collect our luggage from the hotel.

As we walked towards the pick-up truck pick-up point (or "terminal"... there are actually no pick-up points. You just wave your hand if you want to board the truck anywhere between Pyin Oo Lwin and Mandalay), we met a random guy on the street who talked to us. I was a bit wary of talking to strangers but he was quite interesting because he worked in Malaysia for 3 years before! In fact he told me he worked at Ampang Point and earned RM30/day (so little!).

At the pick up point the 慈祥 guy saw us and beckoned us to the truck, but we first took a photo with him. Unfortunately he did not smile wide enough in the photo so you can't really see his 慈祥-ness. The pick-up truck didn't leave immediately because they try to wait for more passengers to board before leaving (more economical for them). After some time another guy saw us reading books in the pick-up truck and asked where we were from. I said I was from Malaysia and he then told me he worked somewhere in Penang for 2.5 years, earning only RM18/day. Told him about the guy I met earlier who earned more. He said he still earns more in Malaysia than in Myanmar and was thinking of going back again.

Mr Benevolent-looking guy!

By the time we were back in Mandalay it was evening time. We went back to ET hotel to collect our train tickets from our previous guide. He told us the train jumped the tracks the previous day (*gulp*). Went to have some more ice cream at Nylon Ice Cream. On the way a trishaw driver said 안녕하새요 (Annyeonghaseyo) and 감사합니다 (Kamsahamnida) to us. No surprise they know these because Korean dramas are also a big hit in Myanmar! But do we look Korean? Haha. We then had our dinner and Myanmar beer at a shop near the train station. The beer was the first properly chilled drink I've had since I came to Myanmar.

Did not see this part of Mandalay previously. Despite US-led sanctions, Myanmar is more developed than what many would think it is. "TMW tower" here has Sony and OTO bodycare amongst its tenants.

It was a bit confusing at the train station but there were a lot of friendly people who helped directed us. One of the friendly guys seemed super excited to speak English with me and shook my hand afterwards.

Anyway after getting on board there were people selling stuff from outside the train windows and also in the train. Some people sell snacks on a tray on their head. As they pass by they are just within reach of our hands so I think it's not very advisable to carry them that way. Haha. We did buy 2 traditionally weaved fans from a young girl as it was pretty hot inside the train.

The train was in a rather dilapidated state. We were sitting on 2 long seats facing each other with a wooden table in between. The frame of the seats were wood as well but were cushioned. Unfortunately the cushion was in tatters at some parts and the sponge inside exposed. There were an option of 2 "windows" (it's a bit hard to explain), one which was solid wood (i.e. can't see outside) and one which was glass supported by a wooden frame. Oh, did I mention this was first class? Tourists who wish to travel by train in Myanmar are only allowed to buy first class tickets. The only source of light in the train were miniature LED lights.

The train conductor came later and couldn't guess where we were from (well he did ask "Chinese?" but as a Malaysian I would say I'm not Chinese when I'm overseas because to me that means China Chinese). We boarded a bit early because the train didn't leave until... maybe more than 1 hour later? At a point of time a poor boy came in and knelt down in front of me begging for money. So heart-wrenching. Sorry to say I did not give him money because a flood of them might have entered thereafter. Opposite the aisle to us was a sickly skinny man with an inflated belly which reminded me of the Kwashiorkor disease.

View from Hannah's seat

Anyway the journey started off fine... it was kinda like an amusement park ride because apart from the usual jerking you might get making a left turn or right turn or braking, the train also moved up and down so we were bouncing in our chairs. It was quite fun! Haha. I'm sure kids would enjoy it even more.

However the journey soon turned out quite horrible. The lights above started attracting insects, and believe me, there were LOTS of them. It's OK if they just want to fly about but it's not OK when different varieties of bugs start climbing into your clothes, clinging on to your hair and flying straight into your face. I was already having a sore throat and mouth ulcers so all this really really made me very uncomfortable. I tried my best to defend myself from the menacing insects and make myself more comfortable by wearing a cap, covering my body as much as I can with my jacket, listening to music on my handphone and sleeping on an inflatable pillow.

I have to say I was very wearied and was near breakpoint at this part of the trip.

Day 9

Can't say I had a good night's rest, but by the onset of dawn things were much much better. There were fewer people in the train by now and the insects flew off. The smells of chicken, dampness of wood etc reminded me of Sekinchan once more. The scenery outside was pretty nice in my opinion, and it changed quite drastically from time to time. For example:

Drying up river

Desert-like scenery

Paddy field scenery

I was reminded of Eucalyptus trees when I saw trees with peeling barks. Could be of the same family I guess. There were also some colourful birds (never really notice the birds in Singapore so can't say if they're not present in Singapore as well). Obviously I couldn't identify them... one I saw was a small green bird with a copper red head. I think the weaved nests (made with twigs, leaves and spider-webs like webs) could be theirs. There was also a blue and black bird that had blue feathers on the trailing edge of the wings and tail.

I'm sorry if you can't see it clearly, but the sign says "Palin"

I was fluctuating between sleep and awareness for some time. Even after a whole night's journey we hadn't reached Bagan yet. Finally when we were approaching the final station on this stretch of railroad, a guy boarded and asked us if we needed transportation to Bagan (as it was still a distance away).

We took a pickup truck again. There were some other people with us, including a friendly guy and some girls. At one point we had to alight and pay a US$10 entrance fee. Our temperature was also checked by ear... but there was no disposable nozzle attached at the end. Eww. Wonder how many ears have been poked by that  ear thermometer before me.

Anyway Eden Motel was suggested so we went there. There was another tourist there called Dahlia. I think she could be from the French region of Canada. As we were quite tired, we bathed and slept for a while. We went to a restaurant opposite for lunch. Rather standard food similar to Chinese fare.

We later rented bicycles from the shop beside the motel and cycled to Shwezigon pagoda, which supposedly was used as the model for building the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. We were greeted by some souvenir sellers who said we could park our bicycles there and we proceeded to walk around the pagoda.

Shwezigon Pagoda

Showcase of different designs of stupas, probably in the different eras in Myanmar's history

Cheroot-smoking old ladies who invited me to take a photo of them, but asked me to pay up later. I did not.

All was well until we went back to get our bicycles and we were harassed by the aforementioned sellers. Very jialat. In our whole trip they were the worst of all sellers. I was really really pissed by them. They actually gave us some small souvenirs before we visited the pagoda and then when you come back they ask you to buy stuff, and if you said no they said they gave you a souvenir why you don't buy something (playing on our "guilt"!). They forcefully pull on your arms and beckon you to sit down on wooden stools and stare at their wares. Unbelievable. I think it is times like this I wish I had a gun to threaten them and shout "get the f*** away from me!". Still, Xuwen was coerced to buy and she gave in in the end. Hannah was pretty calm, good for her.

View outside Shwezigon pagoda.

We then cycled to the "tower". Myanmar decided to build a tower (if I'm not mistaken, it comes complete with MICE facilities. There's definitely a hotel and restaurant there) in the midst of the old monasteries and temples that litter the landscape of Bagan. For those who've heard about the fiasco in Penang about building tall buildings within the heritage zone, you'd know that UNESCO wasn't happy about it. Probably that's why until now Myanmar still hasn't gotten any of its many old historical sties in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Another reason would be that Myanmar constantly repairs its historical sites without following UNESCO guidelines (maybe things such as rebuilding using the original material etc). I wonder if the US$10 I paid is being used for restoration work (I doubt if much of it is).

Restoration being done, likely improperly

Figuring out how to get to the tower

A typical pick-up truck with its typical passengers

The "eye-sore" tower than earned the wrath of UNESCO

Elephant carving outside the tower (would have to pay to go in and go up, to dine in etc)

It was about to rain so we quickly cycled back. Took out our strawberry wine and had some. I changed into my longyi. Dahlia came back (from somewhere) and suggested we go to the sand bank to view the sunset. Old Bagan where the heritage buildings is actually a distance away from the nearest town, Nyaung U. Both places are located on the eastern banks of the Ayeryarwady/Irrawaddy river.

Anyway, the sand bank was wide. It took quite some time for us to walk from proper land to the edge of the sand bank (i.e. edge of the Ayeryarwady), so we talked a lot along the way. To me, it's quite scary to talk to overtly extroverted people, and Dahlia is one of them. But it was ok. Haha. At the edge of the sand bank was a family staying in a makeshift type of house, and there were sampan boats tied to the shore. The sunset was nice... not that it was extraordinary or anything, but I guess it was nice because I had not bother looking at sunsets for a long time.

Sand bank. The human figures near the background are me, Hannah and Dahlia

First time wearing longyi in public

Sunset

We went back as it got dark and Dahlia had to go elsewhere so we split and went for dinner. It was a rather nicely decorated restaurant and the food was rather pricey for Myanmar. The interesting thing was that it tasted healthy. Haha. We also had Mandalay beer here because we didn't get to try it in Mandalay. It's quite interesting because it has the usual beer colour (yellowish), but it tasted more like a malt drink (like Nutrimalt I usually drink back in Malaysia). Behind the restaurant was a mini-internet cafe. We used the internet for a while, went back and slept.

Mandalay beer

Next to come: More of Bagan and back to Yangon