Due to the length of time i ended up staying in Myanmar i only had 10 days to see the sights of peninsula Malaysia.
Flying back to Bangkok i headed straight for the train station to catch the 23 hour train bound for Butterworth. The train turned out to be pretty comfy and surprisingly enough i managed a few hours kip before entering Malaysia early the next morning. The first greeting was a board saying 'strictly no hippies' and then a list defining what a hippy was. Already liking this place.
From Butterworth its a short hop on the ferry to Penang Island and Georgetown. I teamed up with some guys from Glasgow and some American girls on a visa run. We headed for the nearest hostel and knackered i decided to relax with a few beers. This was spoiled by the fact there is a 200% tax on alcohol in Malaysia which made it very expensive. Instead a shared bottle of vodka was called for and we had a fun evening playing drinking games, before heading out on the town.
I was really worried about how much time i had before I had to be in Singapore but Penang really didn't have much to offer. I spent one day walking around and going to the snake temple but that was really it. The food on the other hand was incredible, the best indian i have had anywhere!! Also cheap 2 quid for half a tandoori chicken with naan and salad. Happy happy days, anything to get away from the fried rice i had been eating for the last month.
I left early the next day for the Cameron highlands to do some walking and get some exercise. The highlands as you might expect are pretty high and were freezing cold. This wasnt helped by the wet weather which turned the trails into mudbaths. I managed one day hiking through lush rain forest and tea plantations before heading back into the middle of another drinking session. My alcohol tolerance since russia has declined rapidly and a few 'down it' cards later meant i was ready to call it a day. The weather deteriorated overnight so i just used the next day to book some flights for the rest of the trip as well as plan my next few days.
I now had four days left two of which i spent in KL and the other two in Malacca. Both were ok but one full day was enough in each. Plus a Christmas spending session in the Petronas towers mall had me spent out. Its really weird building up to Christmas in the warm as everything is so un-christmasy. Listening to carols and slade while sweating buckets does not get you in the mood. Despite this i managed a photo with Santa and his assistant.
I left Malacca after much stress having missed my earlier bus as the guesthouse had neglected to inform me there is no public transport on sundays. Malaysia really is the worst place for public transport. In just the few days i was there i had so many issues. Fortunately there are quite a few buses to Singapore so i jumped aboard and six hours later i was on the island.
Singapore is a very sterile place as everything is illegal and it has very little atmosphere save for the indian and chinese quarters. After dumping my stuff i headed on the metro to raffles hotel for cocktails with beav. It was so odd seeing somebody i actually knew for a change. Anyway Singapore slings down the hatch we had a walk around for the next couple of days as well as blagging a swim in the pool. There are some things its worth having somebody else pay for.
Two days in Singapore was plenty and then it was time to catch my flight to Perth, WA where the fun would really begin.
Monday 20 December 2010
Monday 6 December 2010
Golden lands: part 2
Ok so following on from last time
We left Hopin on the only transport available which was a truck full to the brim with goods and it was on top of these we had to sit crammed in with twenty other misfortunates. It was really really uncomfortable and also incredibly hair raising as we made it closer to the lake and had to cross a mountain road deep with mud and ruts. It got to the point where as we tilted to the side we all had to hang on to each other so no-one fell off the top. We also took it upon ourselves to trade medical insurance details incase one of us survived and could help the other in the event we rolled over. 6 painful hours later we rolled into Lonton and disembark at a gorgeous lakeside chalet. I was so glad we had made the journey plus after much haggling we managed to get the price of the room down to $5 each. Now things in Myanmar don't always go to plan or in accordance with the normal rules of traveling. This is further complicated as most towns have electricity for maximum of two hours a day or none at all. So come 5.30 it is pitch black and a torch is your most prized possession. Just setting the seen for you.
Where there are no other tourists it normally works in your favour as you have the bargaining upperhand but in lonton miles from anywhere this did not happen. We had just finished eating dinner when the guy running the guesthouse runs over and says we have to leave. He doesn't speak much english so someone translates and says one of the army generals wants to stay and therefore we cant. Great we think. Hotels in Myanmar unlike most places have to have a permit for foreigners to stay there, and we are banned from staying anywhere else. Lonton not surprisingly only has one such hotel and so essentially we have just been told we have nowhere to stay and because the way the trucks work we were stuck there for two days. To add to this confused situation, some random woman turns up and says we can sleep on her floor. At this point i am knackered, not feeling great and on a short fuse especially as i was just looking forward to some much needed sleep as i hadnt slept well due to the dreadful room in Hopin. I was so pissed off stood there in the dark, not having a clue what was going on or how to go about doing something about it. To cut it short it turns out an army general (who lived in a mini fortknox overlooking the town dracula esque) wasnt coming to stay but he owned the guesthouse and said we couldnt stay for the price we had haggled for. So an hour later crisis over and we are a little more out of pocket than we would have liked.
Indawgi despite all this turned out to be incredible in the main part as it was completely unspoiled by mass tourism. Its main hope being its not on any tour operators radar. Day one we rented a rowing boat and some extra rowers and went out to the amazing floating Shwemyzu pogada. Although Anya was disappointed as women weren't allowed onto the island. This took pretty much the whole day as it was alot further than i expected and also our hired help took to letting me do all the work when we weren't looking. Second day we were so lucky as Jean a really nice Swiss guy showed up and after finding out we weren't planning on doing a motorboat trip due to the huge expense said we could go with him. So we had a whole day feeling like proper pioneers hitting really small villages that maybe get one or two outside visitors a year. The looks on people faces were amazing and everywhere we went we were greeted after the initial shock by big shouts of 'Mingalabar' my new favourite word. Basically it just means hello in Burmese but everyone loves it when a foreigner speaks in their language and its such a great ice breaker in situations when the locals just didn't know quite what to say or do.
Our time here went so fast and we headed back to Myitkina after just two days. The journey back wasn't so eventful as the road had dried out somewhat and the train being 3 hours late worked in our favour for once allowing us to jump aboard and make the distance without losing another day. Next up came a four day river trip down the Irrawaddy to Mandalay. It was really cool as travelling in this way is such a joy. We took three different types of boats and properly got a taste of local life watching people at work on the riverbanks doing everything from farming to panning for gold. Anything just to scrape a living. In this part of the world the forestry has been relatively minor so for most parts the banks were unbroken jungle with the occasional small wooden village. I would have loved to have gotten off somewhere and explored but there was nowhere for us to stay and we would have probably gotten the locals into trouble with the police.
Most foreigners i met who lived in Myanmar even in Yangon said the secret police was just a fact of life and most days they get followed by someone. Also anyone we spoke to would probably get a visit to make sure nothing subversive was going on. On indawgi when we did the boat trip the generals daughter was sent along to keep tabs on us and as soon as we got back she was straight up the hill to give her report.
Our river plans were messed up a bit when the government boat we planned to take broke down and instead we had to wait an extra day for a private boat which cost 8 times as much. Like most places there was a local price and a foreigner price but here it was ridiculous. $5 for locals and $60 for foreigners. Its not like we got a room or anything just a chair. We made the most of it though and relaxed in the sunshine with rum and cokes for the whole day and also managed to scavenge a row of seats to sleep on that night.
Arriving in Mandalay was a shock and also the only let down for me in the entire month. So far up to now i hadn't been hassled but Mandalay is tourist central and touts were everywhere. The city was also really dirty and crazy as it is one of the few places where people can afford bikes and cars. We did a trip to Sagain hill which is the biggest Buddhism centre in Burma and then went to Arapura bridge for sunset. The bridge is the longest stilt bridge in Burma and was amazingly beautiful. By this point amazing sunsets had become so routine but this was the best of the lot.
Next day we got up at 4am for sunrise on Mandalay hill which was alright but the city was pretty boring other than that so i headed off to Kalaw that night. I only had just over a week left and wanted to get in the three day trek to Inle lake as well as the fire festival i had found out about the day before. It turns out i was really lucky to get a seat on the bus at short notice and after a couple hours sleep i joined a group of people heading to Taunggi. The festival was insane, basically just really drunk men messing around with fireworks and fire in the attempt to get some wacking great balloons off the ground. The evening ones were pretty dangerous as the balloons had crates of fireworks hanging below and the fuses seemed to be random. This resulted on a few occasions in some of the fireworks going off before the balloon was clear of the ground which got everyone running for cover.
Next day I set off with an English couple and an Argentinian couple with our guide on the three day trek to Inle lake. The walking was pretty spectacular taking in forest, rolling hills, farmland, tribal villages and another round of friendly people. First night we slept in a tiny village and had the best food, and the next one in a monastery. Being woken up at 5am by the chanting of the monks was so nice and a real experience, added to by the misty morning over the hills outside. Some of the colours were stunning and at points it felt like walking through a painting. I had never seen anything like it.
Getting to Inle i also lucked out as i got an amazing room for $10. It was by far the nicest i have had to date and plus everyone from the trek was staying at the same place so we shared the cost of a boat trip around the lake. I can see why the lake is so popular and cruising around stilt villages and floating gardens made for a very enjoyable day and another chance to top up the tan. I think i saw a cloud once in my entire trip and every day it was so hot at least 35-40. It made made me feel even better when i got news of the utter misery in England.
Two really good days were spent at the lake but time was pressing and the ancient temples of bagan awaited. On the bus was a girl from hong kong i had met earlier so we shared a horse cart ride around the temples. It was really amazing, the site is so huge and did not feel overcrowded which was the problem at Angkor wat. Most temples were fairly similar but you could climb quite a few of them which due to the really flat terrain resulted in amazing panoramas especially at sunset. There were two main areas and the second day i rented a bike to check out the others which was a bad idea. It was so hot i only made it to five or six before i felt a bit dizzy and went back to lie in the air con.
I managed to watch a few games of football that night which is so surreal when you are surrounded by monks, who once they realise your the only one cheering for villa actually turned around every time arsenal scored pointed and went 'aaaahhh' right in my face. Monks here are really different to the rest of asia.
I then was left with a 15 hour night bus ride on an abysmal bus that kept breaking down, plus every time i fell asleep we reached a checkpoint where i had to get off and show my passport. So annoying. But i did get to see the new capital Napydjaw on the way back to Yangon. Never have i seen such a complete farce or felt utter hatred towards the ridiculous government in Myanmar that grows fat off the hard work of people who have nothing. 5 years ago the Military government consulted astrologers who told them that Myanmar's problems were due to the bad spirits brought by foreigners to Yangon. So the solution was to waste an incredible sum of money building a new capital in the middle of the jungle to which foreigners are banned from visiting. Its the only place in the entire country with 24 hour electricity and driving through it was lit up like Vegas complete with massive shopping centres and hotels but nobody to use them. Even the roundabouts had flashing lights and ridiculous lit up sculptures. There were row upon row of streets that had street lighting but no buildings had even been built yet, it was so maddening and surreal at the same. I could see the Burmese on my bus felt physically sick at what they were seeing but fortunately the huge new boulevards with no traffic allowed us to escape in record time.
This brought an end to my Burma adventure and it was utterly perfect. Honestly it was the only time i have felt sad leaving a country and if it wasnt so much hassle to stay there i would have done. Anyway as soon as the government falls or the restrictions are relaxed i am so back there.
Sorry i forgot to mention about going out clubbing in Yangon on my last night. There is pretty much no nightlife but the only place listed in Lonely Planet turned out to be completely empty. I only found this out after already having payed to go in. They then refused to give me money back instead giving me two free beers which i drank in utter bemusement whilst watching a midget dancing to some hard core house music which apparently passed for entertainment. So so funny and wierd i wasnt even positive that it was actually happening. Lol!
We left Hopin on the only transport available which was a truck full to the brim with goods and it was on top of these we had to sit crammed in with twenty other misfortunates. It was really really uncomfortable and also incredibly hair raising as we made it closer to the lake and had to cross a mountain road deep with mud and ruts. It got to the point where as we tilted to the side we all had to hang on to each other so no-one fell off the top. We also took it upon ourselves to trade medical insurance details incase one of us survived and could help the other in the event we rolled over. 6 painful hours later we rolled into Lonton and disembark at a gorgeous lakeside chalet. I was so glad we had made the journey plus after much haggling we managed to get the price of the room down to $5 each. Now things in Myanmar don't always go to plan or in accordance with the normal rules of traveling. This is further complicated as most towns have electricity for maximum of two hours a day or none at all. So come 5.30 it is pitch black and a torch is your most prized possession. Just setting the seen for you.
Where there are no other tourists it normally works in your favour as you have the bargaining upperhand but in lonton miles from anywhere this did not happen. We had just finished eating dinner when the guy running the guesthouse runs over and says we have to leave. He doesn't speak much english so someone translates and says one of the army generals wants to stay and therefore we cant. Great we think. Hotels in Myanmar unlike most places have to have a permit for foreigners to stay there, and we are banned from staying anywhere else. Lonton not surprisingly only has one such hotel and so essentially we have just been told we have nowhere to stay and because the way the trucks work we were stuck there for two days. To add to this confused situation, some random woman turns up and says we can sleep on her floor. At this point i am knackered, not feeling great and on a short fuse especially as i was just looking forward to some much needed sleep as i hadnt slept well due to the dreadful room in Hopin. I was so pissed off stood there in the dark, not having a clue what was going on or how to go about doing something about it. To cut it short it turns out an army general (who lived in a mini fortknox overlooking the town dracula esque) wasnt coming to stay but he owned the guesthouse and said we couldnt stay for the price we had haggled for. So an hour later crisis over and we are a little more out of pocket than we would have liked.
Indawgi despite all this turned out to be incredible in the main part as it was completely unspoiled by mass tourism. Its main hope being its not on any tour operators radar. Day one we rented a rowing boat and some extra rowers and went out to the amazing floating Shwemyzu pogada. Although Anya was disappointed as women weren't allowed onto the island. This took pretty much the whole day as it was alot further than i expected and also our hired help took to letting me do all the work when we weren't looking. Second day we were so lucky as Jean a really nice Swiss guy showed up and after finding out we weren't planning on doing a motorboat trip due to the huge expense said we could go with him. So we had a whole day feeling like proper pioneers hitting really small villages that maybe get one or two outside visitors a year. The looks on people faces were amazing and everywhere we went we were greeted after the initial shock by big shouts of 'Mingalabar' my new favourite word. Basically it just means hello in Burmese but everyone loves it when a foreigner speaks in their language and its such a great ice breaker in situations when the locals just didn't know quite what to say or do.
Our time here went so fast and we headed back to Myitkina after just two days. The journey back wasn't so eventful as the road had dried out somewhat and the train being 3 hours late worked in our favour for once allowing us to jump aboard and make the distance without losing another day. Next up came a four day river trip down the Irrawaddy to Mandalay. It was really cool as travelling in this way is such a joy. We took three different types of boats and properly got a taste of local life watching people at work on the riverbanks doing everything from farming to panning for gold. Anything just to scrape a living. In this part of the world the forestry has been relatively minor so for most parts the banks were unbroken jungle with the occasional small wooden village. I would have loved to have gotten off somewhere and explored but there was nowhere for us to stay and we would have probably gotten the locals into trouble with the police.
Most foreigners i met who lived in Myanmar even in Yangon said the secret police was just a fact of life and most days they get followed by someone. Also anyone we spoke to would probably get a visit to make sure nothing subversive was going on. On indawgi when we did the boat trip the generals daughter was sent along to keep tabs on us and as soon as we got back she was straight up the hill to give her report.
Our river plans were messed up a bit when the government boat we planned to take broke down and instead we had to wait an extra day for a private boat which cost 8 times as much. Like most places there was a local price and a foreigner price but here it was ridiculous. $5 for locals and $60 for foreigners. Its not like we got a room or anything just a chair. We made the most of it though and relaxed in the sunshine with rum and cokes for the whole day and also managed to scavenge a row of seats to sleep on that night.
Arriving in Mandalay was a shock and also the only let down for me in the entire month. So far up to now i hadn't been hassled but Mandalay is tourist central and touts were everywhere. The city was also really dirty and crazy as it is one of the few places where people can afford bikes and cars. We did a trip to Sagain hill which is the biggest Buddhism centre in Burma and then went to Arapura bridge for sunset. The bridge is the longest stilt bridge in Burma and was amazingly beautiful. By this point amazing sunsets had become so routine but this was the best of the lot.
Next day we got up at 4am for sunrise on Mandalay hill which was alright but the city was pretty boring other than that so i headed off to Kalaw that night. I only had just over a week left and wanted to get in the three day trek to Inle lake as well as the fire festival i had found out about the day before. It turns out i was really lucky to get a seat on the bus at short notice and after a couple hours sleep i joined a group of people heading to Taunggi. The festival was insane, basically just really drunk men messing around with fireworks and fire in the attempt to get some wacking great balloons off the ground. The evening ones were pretty dangerous as the balloons had crates of fireworks hanging below and the fuses seemed to be random. This resulted on a few occasions in some of the fireworks going off before the balloon was clear of the ground which got everyone running for cover.
Next day I set off with an English couple and an Argentinian couple with our guide on the three day trek to Inle lake. The walking was pretty spectacular taking in forest, rolling hills, farmland, tribal villages and another round of friendly people. First night we slept in a tiny village and had the best food, and the next one in a monastery. Being woken up at 5am by the chanting of the monks was so nice and a real experience, added to by the misty morning over the hills outside. Some of the colours were stunning and at points it felt like walking through a painting. I had never seen anything like it.
Getting to Inle i also lucked out as i got an amazing room for $10. It was by far the nicest i have had to date and plus everyone from the trek was staying at the same place so we shared the cost of a boat trip around the lake. I can see why the lake is so popular and cruising around stilt villages and floating gardens made for a very enjoyable day and another chance to top up the tan. I think i saw a cloud once in my entire trip and every day it was so hot at least 35-40. It made made me feel even better when i got news of the utter misery in England.
Two really good days were spent at the lake but time was pressing and the ancient temples of bagan awaited. On the bus was a girl from hong kong i had met earlier so we shared a horse cart ride around the temples. It was really amazing, the site is so huge and did not feel overcrowded which was the problem at Angkor wat. Most temples were fairly similar but you could climb quite a few of them which due to the really flat terrain resulted in amazing panoramas especially at sunset. There were two main areas and the second day i rented a bike to check out the others which was a bad idea. It was so hot i only made it to five or six before i felt a bit dizzy and went back to lie in the air con.
I managed to watch a few games of football that night which is so surreal when you are surrounded by monks, who once they realise your the only one cheering for villa actually turned around every time arsenal scored pointed and went 'aaaahhh' right in my face. Monks here are really different to the rest of asia.
I then was left with a 15 hour night bus ride on an abysmal bus that kept breaking down, plus every time i fell asleep we reached a checkpoint where i had to get off and show my passport. So annoying. But i did get to see the new capital Napydjaw on the way back to Yangon. Never have i seen such a complete farce or felt utter hatred towards the ridiculous government in Myanmar that grows fat off the hard work of people who have nothing. 5 years ago the Military government consulted astrologers who told them that Myanmar's problems were due to the bad spirits brought by foreigners to Yangon. So the solution was to waste an incredible sum of money building a new capital in the middle of the jungle to which foreigners are banned from visiting. Its the only place in the entire country with 24 hour electricity and driving through it was lit up like Vegas complete with massive shopping centres and hotels but nobody to use them. Even the roundabouts had flashing lights and ridiculous lit up sculptures. There were row upon row of streets that had street lighting but no buildings had even been built yet, it was so maddening and surreal at the same. I could see the Burmese on my bus felt physically sick at what they were seeing but fortunately the huge new boulevards with no traffic allowed us to escape in record time.
This brought an end to my Burma adventure and it was utterly perfect. Honestly it was the only time i have felt sad leaving a country and if it wasnt so much hassle to stay there i would have done. Anyway as soon as the government falls or the restrictions are relaxed i am so back there.
Sorry i forgot to mention about going out clubbing in Yangon on my last night. There is pretty much no nightlife but the only place listed in Lonely Planet turned out to be completely empty. I only found this out after already having payed to go in. They then refused to give me money back instead giving me two free beers which i drank in utter bemusement whilst watching a midget dancing to some hard core house music which apparently passed for entertainment. So so funny and wierd i wasnt even positive that it was actually happening. Lol!
Sunday 5 December 2010
The Two Faces of the Golden Lands
There isnt much in the way i can do my trip to myanmar justice as it was purely and simply incredible and i think the best month i have ever had. Considering even up until the day before i was still unsure whether to proceed and actually continue with my plans, im so glad in the end i did.
This is all well and good now and so easy to look back on, but myanmar is one of those places where reliable information is nearly impossible to come accross and nearly everything is hearsay or complete guesswork. So sat in Bangkok airport in an empty departure lounge did nothing to improve my confidence in the decision i had made. Fortunately more people did turn up before the plane took off but the only topic of converstation was a)what do you think if anything will happen and b)what your emergency plan was should the worst come to the worst during the election.
Arriving in Yangon was one of the more unusual aspects of the trip as having taken off from the bright lights of Bangkok i was confronted by a wall of darkness. The taxi ride down town did not reveal much of anything apart from a confusing mess of streets and market stalls and i really did wonder if i had bitten off more than i could chew, which by the looks of the others in the car i wasnt the only one. Yangon is probably the only place that can call itself cosmopolitan in Myanamr and that really is quite a stretch. Basically the infrastructure in the country is archaic or non existent. Anything that does work was built by the british a hundred years ago and so the electricity grid system is unreliable and is turned off anyway at around 9pm which means only those few number of buildings with generators actually provide any light. The matter is not helped by the numerous missing manholes, broken slabs, dogs etc all of which can conspire to spoil your day. It really does take a bit of getting used to which is why i decided to change some money at the hotel rather than take on the money changers on my first day. I think Myanmar is the only country where you have to do your reading thoroughly before you go as well as do your sums as there are no banks, atms etc and the money you have on you is all that you have for your stay. Changing money is a bit of a headache as it has to be done on the blackmarket which everyone does, but at the same time it is still illegal. So when walking around many times someone will whisper at you in there best undercover way 'change money' which if the answer is yes means being led down some winding dark lanes to there 'shop' where the deal can be done. Another complication is that the official exchange rate is 6 kyat to 1 dollar which results in the highest note available being 1000 kyat. The unofficial exchange rate is 900 kyat to the dollar which means that if you change a decent amount of money you end up needing a rucksack to cart it all back to the hotel. Also counting out large numbers of notes in poor light makes for some easy swindling so having been warned about what to look out for i managed to get some changed. Headache over.
I had planned for three days in Yangon. The first one disappeared rapidly as i spent nearly the whole day visiting the Shwedagon pagoda which left me lost for words. There is more gold on the Stupa than in the bank of england and accompanying this is over 3,000 precious stones, with one of the biggest diamonds the world has ever seen to cap it off. I went during the day but made another trip for sunset and to see it lit up at night. It was pretty amazing but unusually the monks who are normally so reserved in the rest of asia were outright demanding money off people which i have never seen before, yet i met a number of people who remarked on how non monkish the monks were here.
The thing with burma is this it has little variance in the type of sites to visit, if you dont like buddhas, pagodas and stupas then there is little else to see which is why i held off in Laos and Thailand knowing i would get a lifetimes fix in the few weeks i was going to be there. As a result after exploring the downtown area the rest of yangon was spent checking out two or three more pagodas as well as the biggest reclining buddha i have ever seen before getting a taste of burmese life and people. This involved going local so for one day i ate at all the street stalls, drank tea in the street cafes and accepted when it came along the chance to chew betel nut. Most people in Burma do this both young and old and it is the main reason why many people have little or no teeth and the fact the pavements are covered in red stains. Anyway when in rome i thought ill try it. It consists of the betel nut itself, wrapped in tobacco leaf with something else included that i have no idea about. Firstly it tastes horrible, disgusting in fact and so after a few seconds of chewing i had to spit it out. Thinking that was it and slightly disappointed i stood to leave before nearly keeling over as the effect of the drug near knocked me out. I then spent the next hour or so in a lazy chair at the side of some nameless street being fanned by a very concerned looking old lady who kept shoving different antidotal remedies down my neck. The feeling was awful and as a result my one dabble into this field laid ruin to my afternoon which i had to spend asleep after somehow stumbling back to the hotel much to everyones amusemet.
I had already decided before i went that the main part of interest for me would be the far north as it is definately comes under the category for roads less travelled, which in burma means you get stared at alot as a complete novelty item. The best thing about this is that the local population havent been corrupted by tourism and the money it brings in. With this in mind i boarded the smallest plane i have ever seen for a slightly nervous two hour flight to Myitkina a small town on the irewaddy river near the chinese border. This is essentially as far north as a foreinger can go without buying a permit as most of the border territories are rebel controlled and strictly off limits. Whether this is actually for our safety as the police continue to insist or to cover up the no doubt attrocities comitted against the tribal people that inhabit these areas remains to be seen.
Fortunately for me i met Anya on the plane up north who had a very similar plan to me. She did however change my plans a little after suggesting a trip to Indawgi lake which would take two days as the transport links serving the area did not link well with each other. The jounrey consisted of a five hour train journey, followed by a stopover in Hopin from where we could take the 6 hour bus the next day. Not bad but considering the lake was only 100 miles away not that great either. Fortunately for us despite Hopin having the worst accomodation known to man, our stroll around the town resulted in us being invited to the house warming party of the daughter of an 80 year old lady called nora who spoke perfect english. I love these chance encounters and despite hopin being a dump i will always remember it fondly for the sheer generosity of the people. Whilst in the town we also ate at the restaurant of a family that refused all payment, gave us gifts galore and took it upon themselves to make sure all of our transport and needs were taken care of. Honestly it is something to behold.
Here i want to make a clarification. I sometimes call it myanmar and other times burma and this reflects on the two faces of the country that any visitor will recognise. On the one hand the modern political and completely corrupt and failing state of myanmar that will make you jump through hoops and try and block your way at every opportunity and on the other hand burma a land of truly amazing and generous people, as well as the most incredible sights and experiences that you will remember for ever. As i spent a month in the country i have alot to write about and will finish off the blog when i next get a chance, plus the suns out here in malaysia and i want to go trekking.
This is all well and good now and so easy to look back on, but myanmar is one of those places where reliable information is nearly impossible to come accross and nearly everything is hearsay or complete guesswork. So sat in Bangkok airport in an empty departure lounge did nothing to improve my confidence in the decision i had made. Fortunately more people did turn up before the plane took off but the only topic of converstation was a)what do you think if anything will happen and b)what your emergency plan was should the worst come to the worst during the election.
Arriving in Yangon was one of the more unusual aspects of the trip as having taken off from the bright lights of Bangkok i was confronted by a wall of darkness. The taxi ride down town did not reveal much of anything apart from a confusing mess of streets and market stalls and i really did wonder if i had bitten off more than i could chew, which by the looks of the others in the car i wasnt the only one. Yangon is probably the only place that can call itself cosmopolitan in Myanamr and that really is quite a stretch. Basically the infrastructure in the country is archaic or non existent. Anything that does work was built by the british a hundred years ago and so the electricity grid system is unreliable and is turned off anyway at around 9pm which means only those few number of buildings with generators actually provide any light. The matter is not helped by the numerous missing manholes, broken slabs, dogs etc all of which can conspire to spoil your day. It really does take a bit of getting used to which is why i decided to change some money at the hotel rather than take on the money changers on my first day. I think Myanmar is the only country where you have to do your reading thoroughly before you go as well as do your sums as there are no banks, atms etc and the money you have on you is all that you have for your stay. Changing money is a bit of a headache as it has to be done on the blackmarket which everyone does, but at the same time it is still illegal. So when walking around many times someone will whisper at you in there best undercover way 'change money' which if the answer is yes means being led down some winding dark lanes to there 'shop' where the deal can be done. Another complication is that the official exchange rate is 6 kyat to 1 dollar which results in the highest note available being 1000 kyat. The unofficial exchange rate is 900 kyat to the dollar which means that if you change a decent amount of money you end up needing a rucksack to cart it all back to the hotel. Also counting out large numbers of notes in poor light makes for some easy swindling so having been warned about what to look out for i managed to get some changed. Headache over.
I had planned for three days in Yangon. The first one disappeared rapidly as i spent nearly the whole day visiting the Shwedagon pagoda which left me lost for words. There is more gold on the Stupa than in the bank of england and accompanying this is over 3,000 precious stones, with one of the biggest diamonds the world has ever seen to cap it off. I went during the day but made another trip for sunset and to see it lit up at night. It was pretty amazing but unusually the monks who are normally so reserved in the rest of asia were outright demanding money off people which i have never seen before, yet i met a number of people who remarked on how non monkish the monks were here.
The thing with burma is this it has little variance in the type of sites to visit, if you dont like buddhas, pagodas and stupas then there is little else to see which is why i held off in Laos and Thailand knowing i would get a lifetimes fix in the few weeks i was going to be there. As a result after exploring the downtown area the rest of yangon was spent checking out two or three more pagodas as well as the biggest reclining buddha i have ever seen before getting a taste of burmese life and people. This involved going local so for one day i ate at all the street stalls, drank tea in the street cafes and accepted when it came along the chance to chew betel nut. Most people in Burma do this both young and old and it is the main reason why many people have little or no teeth and the fact the pavements are covered in red stains. Anyway when in rome i thought ill try it. It consists of the betel nut itself, wrapped in tobacco leaf with something else included that i have no idea about. Firstly it tastes horrible, disgusting in fact and so after a few seconds of chewing i had to spit it out. Thinking that was it and slightly disappointed i stood to leave before nearly keeling over as the effect of the drug near knocked me out. I then spent the next hour or so in a lazy chair at the side of some nameless street being fanned by a very concerned looking old lady who kept shoving different antidotal remedies down my neck. The feeling was awful and as a result my one dabble into this field laid ruin to my afternoon which i had to spend asleep after somehow stumbling back to the hotel much to everyones amusemet.
I had already decided before i went that the main part of interest for me would be the far north as it is definately comes under the category for roads less travelled, which in burma means you get stared at alot as a complete novelty item. The best thing about this is that the local population havent been corrupted by tourism and the money it brings in. With this in mind i boarded the smallest plane i have ever seen for a slightly nervous two hour flight to Myitkina a small town on the irewaddy river near the chinese border. This is essentially as far north as a foreinger can go without buying a permit as most of the border territories are rebel controlled and strictly off limits. Whether this is actually for our safety as the police continue to insist or to cover up the no doubt attrocities comitted against the tribal people that inhabit these areas remains to be seen.
Fortunately for me i met Anya on the plane up north who had a very similar plan to me. She did however change my plans a little after suggesting a trip to Indawgi lake which would take two days as the transport links serving the area did not link well with each other. The jounrey consisted of a five hour train journey, followed by a stopover in Hopin from where we could take the 6 hour bus the next day. Not bad but considering the lake was only 100 miles away not that great either. Fortunately for us despite Hopin having the worst accomodation known to man, our stroll around the town resulted in us being invited to the house warming party of the daughter of an 80 year old lady called nora who spoke perfect english. I love these chance encounters and despite hopin being a dump i will always remember it fondly for the sheer generosity of the people. Whilst in the town we also ate at the restaurant of a family that refused all payment, gave us gifts galore and took it upon themselves to make sure all of our transport and needs were taken care of. Honestly it is something to behold.
Here i want to make a clarification. I sometimes call it myanmar and other times burma and this reflects on the two faces of the country that any visitor will recognise. On the one hand the modern political and completely corrupt and failing state of myanmar that will make you jump through hoops and try and block your way at every opportunity and on the other hand burma a land of truly amazing and generous people, as well as the most incredible sights and experiences that you will remember for ever. As i spent a month in the country i have alot to write about and will finish off the blog when i next get a chance, plus the suns out here in malaysia and i want to go trekking.
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