Return to Yangon

Here is how life can be different from day to day in Myanmar.

 

Yesterday a blue water and cocktails in a company of United Nations team at the Triumph Hotel Mandalay. 4-5 star facilities with excellent service for a fraction of western price. I chose this hotel because it was built new and I was not disappointed. I got a very spacious room in a short distance from the pool. I loved the addition of tanaka-based cosmetics in the bathroom and a Burmese tea on hand in my room.

 

Open swimming pool at Triumph Hotel in Mandalay.

The next day you will be sleeping in a shag and the best thing ever will be a cold fruit shake served beside the main road with a questionable quality view.

The place captured below is really special and known in the whole town of Hsipaw because it is the only street place that serves ice-cold drinks. They prepare cocktails in front of you from today's fruits selection. You can customize your cocktail or choose one of tens of suggestions posted on the walls around the counter. You can really get your smoothy or shake ice-cold, a true luxury on a hot Burmese day. I had two green shakes in a saw, they were delicious and refreshing (lemon, ginger, mint, pineapple and other deliciousness).



The best cocktail place in whole Hsipaw - Yuan Yuan vel. "Mr Shake".

Risking life in Myanmar, is it really?

Yes and no.

Yes you have to be aware that taking up a bus trip in rural places will expose you to >10 hrs of uneasy road and bus-mates smoking, chewing tobacco or getting travel sick. And that you will have no facilities for a decent toilet break, not unless you fancy sharing it with thousands of beetles and other bugs.

Yes  you need to be prepared for jumping up and down on a rail tracks thy remember English invasion in XIX century. 

Yes, you may consider a life threatening a trip on tip of a truck going though a hilly road that is actually not a road yet. It may become a road in the next 5 years or so. You need to trust the driver as going through these roads ever day with all that carriage of people and things has made them very skilled off road drivers. While in Western world men and women seek adrenaline through competing on inaccessible terrain in Burma every man and women who can drive must have those skills mattered in order to survive. There is no mercy on a convoy of various vehicles verbose must know the drill otherwise it will fail for each of them. So whether a motorbike, a four wheel drive or a truck driver all of them must be well accustomed and at ease with whatever road condition the day is going to bring.

Rural Maynmar proved better than anticipated

Even though completely disconnected from the world and hard to get to, Burmese countryside was warmly welcoming and in a way relaxing. If you allow yourself to spend two days traveling to a place like Indawgyi Lake you will be reworded 100 times. I allowed myself Monday-Friday and I am kicking myself for not giving it more time for the three days were lost in transition and I only got to sped two nights at Lonetoen village by Indawgyi Lake.

Shortage of power and very basic accommodation is nothing in comparison to being able to socialize with the local village community, contribute to local school, attend football matches and many more. You cannot put price tag on these things 

Hopin guest house

Accommodation couldn't get anymore basic than that! Before and after ;)

Squeezing between local truck riders

Myanmar people and some observations

 Let me share with you this. I love Myanma people. They are the most honest and wholehearted people I believe there are in Asia. They are open minded, yet devoted to tradition and family values. They are hard working and smart. They have the internal integrity that is passed from generation to generation and it does not get forgotten or traded for something else.  

 

Local football event between two villages in Kachin state. Everyone supports their teams!

A family resting on the steps of one of the temples at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. 

People share space with much lower tolerance in Myanmar, there are no boundaries of your personal space. For example it is normal to keep leaning on someone on the bus or use their body parts to support yourself. A person can be a total stranger as long as they are the same sex. It is also normal for men and especially teenage boys to walk streets holding hands or shoulders.

Two friends on their way to the village, Rakhine state, Mrauk-U ancient stupas.

People are very supportive of each other, helping one another happens all the time without asking. If your bag needs lift or shifting from place to place, if you need to support yourself better, if you need anything of your convenience Myanma people are very helpful and forward thinking.

Bagan is the most romantic spot




Bagan and its thousands of temples, source: Wikipedia

 

 

Finally I have something to brag about, reaching Bagan was not exactly easy and I hope to share some insights about that later. For now let's just enjoy wonderful ancient city of Bagan! I am booked in an amazing hotel in New Bagan with only one missing thing that this hotel does not offer is a swimming pool. But maybe this is for the better as I would have hard time deciding to go out exploring or not to. Also the weather change is noticeable. Leaving Rhakin state left behind the tropical wet weather with after effects of the current monsoon going on in India. Here is dry hot with the temperature going to low 40 Celsius. It is great news as finally I can do my laundry and dry it!!

 

Arakan, the first flavor of real Myanmar

My first steps were directed to current Rakhaing state. Having done my homework on Burma I knew that this was where some of the oldest traces of its past greatness were to be found. The culmination of Mrauk-U prosperity was around XVI century. What remains today are the ruins of old palace and a fortified wall. In the short cycling distance there are the still standing old pagodas to visit. Their great days are long gone but it is still interesting so see them. It is probably a good prelude to seeing 2000 Bagan's temples.



Mystique Mrauk U from Shwetaung pagoda source: Wikipedia

Andaw- Thein temple complex, The name means 'Tooth Shrine'. It contains a tooth relic of the Buddha coming from Sri Lanka.

It made me upset to look at the ruined remainings of old stupas and temples scattered around the place; some are in between bamboo houses, some are in the middle of farming fields, the only companion being cattle. What a humiliating end of life for a temple that must be.

 

Friendly Asian bloodline cows in tropical conditions. Just outside on of the temples.

Some wise books say that two days are sufficient to fully explore the site, for me it was one day. I did go inside pagodas whenever I could, armed in my headlamp, but I did not see murals or much of reliefs. There is quite a good reading on all the temples widely available so no more history here.

It was most enjoyable to go around and see all of the temples. I even got reminded that shoes are off even when walking inactive ones (shame on me, rules are rules no matter if it makes you walk on dog and cow excrement, they are allowed). I did not realize that inactive pagoda also count as sacred places, silly me.

The highlight of this journey will be the boat trip however which deserves a whole separate post.

Sittwe to Mrauk U - spectacular boat trip

In order to get to Mrauk-U I chose to fly to Sittwe from Yangon, following with planning on staying overnight and catching an early morning ferry. The flight by Air Bagan was quite pleasant, domestic airport organization efficient. Other than lack of information on a display about boarding times and gate statutes everything else was normal. They use hand written boards and when the time comes each airline's ground staff is walking the hall announcing boarding. Upon check-in you get additional sticker which informs which airline you "belong to" today.



Cruising the river from Sittwe to Mrauk U.

Full service on the flight surprised me, it is nice to get t free drink and snack I appreciate this. We were flying a small plane half empty anyway. This time my backpack arrived with me without issues.
There was a couple of other tourists with me on the flight but they were quite absorbed with each other. There was an old man as well which was going to conduct a local school inspection checking how funds are being distributed, he was quite resourceful and I intended to ask his advice on logging in Sittwe. There was this youngish guy also a tourist, but we did not make a contact at first.

Upon arrival in Sittwe and walking into arrival zone guys from passport control are greeting us and we can see already a crowded taxi drivers group outside the door. I feel like a pray all of sudden. One guy makes an approach for a boat trip immediately after clearing customs, his first price 1000$ which makes me laugh hard and walk away. I clear customs and get my backpack and the same guy comes back with the price of 20$. This is great, I don't need to worry for another hotel-hunt and it takes me straight to Mrauk-U where I want to be anyway. Turns out there are two of us on the same mission. Tom is the other guys name and he is on the same mission of getting to Mrauk-U. We also get approached by somebody outside the terminal claiming "entry fee" but we make a laugh at the guy as we don't think it is a genuine tax or something. I am aware of entry fees to Bagan or Mrauk-U but not Sittwe. Mrauk-U there was no entry fee by the way, maybe they claim this in high season only or maybe we are just lucky.

The boat trip was really epic. Worth recommending as one of Myanmar "must-sees".

Fisherman at work.

Bardzo drogi liść

Widok na rzekę z mostu Maha Bandoola

Liść oraz zdjęcie z dedykacją od Onshi. PUTAO, tam gdzie zaczynają się wyprawy w Himalaje. Tym razem zapewne mi się nie uda, ale zdjęcie od Onishi będzie mi przypominać żeby kiedyś wrócić. W tle książek o Myanmar, fauna i flora oraz przepiękne zdjęcia autorstwa Onishi. Przepiękne!
Bardzo żałuję, że Pan Onishi nie publikuje swojego bloga po angielsku. Po tylu latach podróżowania, będą obwołanym ekspertem od turystyki Myanmar, jego wiedza musi być przeogromna. Samo spędzenie jednego popłudnia w jego towarzsytwie było sympatyczne i pouczające. Wyczułam niezwykłą wrażliwość oraz ciekawość, które zapewne pomogły mu w wieloletnich podróżach i dokumentowaniu dziekiej przyrody. Dowiedziałam się od niego, że połów ryb przez ludzi, w symbiozie z delfinami rzecznymi, jest już prawie wygasający. Rzeka staje się zbyt zanieczyszczona dla delifinów, wobec czego można je spotkać tylko w górncyh częściach rzeki obecnie,a nie jak kiedyś na całej długości oraz w delcie.

Poziom zaawansowania w transporcie rzecznym, Yangon.

Rozglądając się dookoła można by pomyśleć, jakie zaniczyszczenie, przecież to jest kraj bardzo zacofany przemysłowo, skąd problem? Zacofanie dotyczy wszystkich aspektów, również ochrony środowiska niestety. Łodzie pływające po rzece nie mają żadnych norm środowiskowych, odpady które są zrzucane do rzeki nie mają konsekwencji również. W prawdzie nie sprawdziłam dokładnych danych (o ile takie istnieją), ale coś mi podopowiada że tak właśnie może być... niestety więc już niedługo fenomen symbiotycznego połowu ryb przez delfiny i ludzi zniknie bezpowrotnie.

Myanmar dzień drugi gościnność w Yangonie

Mieszanka potraw burmensko tajskich, raj dla mięsożerców i nie tylko. Dodatkowo przepyszny sos ostry na bazie sosu rybnego i limonki. Ostro było :)

Dzisiejszy dzień rozpoczęty o 5 rano modlitwą w Shwe Dagon Pagoda, masy ludzi wstają tak samo wcześnie żeby przywitać dzień. Każdy dzień tygodnia ma swój narożnik modlitwy, ale co ciekawe nie obliguje to do modlitwy w danym dniu i danym narożniku. Każdy wybiera sobie intencję i miejsce modlitwy. Niestety żadnych zdjęć nie mogę przeładować ponieważ nie ma możliwości zgrania z aparatów. Jedyne zdjęcia jakie na razie mogę wrzucać są z telefonu.

Wracając do dnia dzisiejszego, przygoda z maluchem nauczyła mnie, że niezależnie od religii "świętych" należy się wystrzegać bo skrupułów nie mają, chociaż ze wszystkich ludzi oni powinni. Traktuję to jako mój datek na rzecz świątyni, oprócz opłaty za wejście oczywiście, 8000 kyats... Ale pozytywnym akcentem kończąc, mam liść z drzewa Buddy, podobno przynosi szczęście..drzewo medytacji lub drzewo Buddy to drzewo pod którym medytując przez 6 godzin Buddy stał się Buddą. Liści się nie zrywa,podnosi się te spadające, co nie jest częste. To drzewo jest bardzo odporne na wszelkie niedogodności i potrafi rosnąć ze ścian budynków. Ten gatunek porasta i rujnuje również Angkor Wat...
A skąd to wszystko wiem? Część od nieszczęsnego mnicha, a część od Shingo Onishi autora książek o Myanmar, z którym spędziłam miłe popołudnie po tym jak zostaliśmy uraczeni urodzinowym obiadem przez rodzinę jednej z pracownic hotelu. Zostałam zaproszona przez tą uroczą dziewczynę na urodziny jej mamy oraz przyjaciółki z Tajlandii, podwójna okazja więc. Gośćmi byliśmy ja i Onishi oraz jeszcze Australijczyk prowadzący interesy w Yangonie, na dokładkę.

Yangon - kto za kto przeciw?

 

Powoli przestawiam się na azjatycki sposób życia w kwestii wymagań i organizacji otoczenia.

Burmese traveling revelations - what to do with all the news?

The plan is quite ambitious although not Crystal clear at this stage. As usual, I will figure out the details step by step. In short here is the window of opportunities to discover Burma:

 

My point of focus for the upcoming trip to Burma October 2014
Google Maps Points of Interests on Myanmar

I found the mostly updated news from Burma from these sources
Irrawaddy on Burma - news from South Asia, you can select Burma specifically as a country of focus.
Mizzima - news from Myanmar/Burma. There is also a Facebook page to follow their new. I am not sure who is behind this media, the mission is interesting though :"To be a leading independent media organisation on Myanmar, playing a vital role in building democracy & informing citizens." In a country of military junta the word "independence" is misinterpreted most commonly.
Bangkok Post (the worlds window on Thailand) has quite a good amount of news from the region, including Myanmar, although sometimes their news are contradicting news from the other sources.
For example the recent news about heavy fighting 5 KM from Mae Sut border crossing between Thailand and Myanmar is giving a very different sense of urgency.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/434611/new-fighting-in-karen-territory compare it with this
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/. Also some new heavy fighting burst out in Shan State http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/heavy-fighting-shan-state-kills-17-govt-soldiers-rebels-claim.html.. HMMMM
You need to be sceptical reading all of them anyway.
My other source of knowledge include books on Myanmar (Letters from Burma, Crime and Punishment around the World 2010 and of course travel guides, my choice being Myanmar / Burma Insight Guides.