A quick PS on Bangkok, Ian was amused to find this packet on condoms with his name on it whilst was emptying the safe
before we left!
Our flight from Bangkok to Mandalay was delayed but only by about
an hour and the sweet staff in their beautiful turquoise (my favourite colour)
outfits and a nice meal made up for it.
The only downside was being seated next to the fattest person on the
plane; a German businessman aged approx. 35 who took up most of my legroom and
all of my elbow room, actually knocking me off the armrest several times. He also decided to ignore safety aspects such
as switching off his computer and phone for take-off and landing. When asked by cabin crew to remove his
headphones, he briefly complied but, as soon as they moved down the aisle, the
headphones were straight back on. We
were at the end of the runway almost starting the speed up when I said to him “turn
your phone off” but I didn’t bother about the headphones, I was in the aisle
seat so he wouldn't stop me getting out in an emergency.
After the vastness of Bangkok Airport, Mandalay seemed tiny
with just 2 other planes on the tarmac.
The immigration officer was delightfully smiley and seemed really
pleased we’d come. The baggage was
through very speedily and we headed out to the taxi desk. Faced with a choice of a private taxi or a
shared one, Ian’s usually spot on mental calculations failed for a minute so we
opted for the shared one as we couldn’t work out the charges and didn’t want to
get caught for a huge amount. Actually
it cost very little; there are about 1900 kyats to GBP so we’re talking £4.20
for the 35kms/ 1hr journey.
As expected the shared taxi had 3 other drops, all well away
from our hotel, so we got to see a bit of the city. Our hotel is at the foot of Mandalay Hill and
we have a beautiful view from our room. After dumping our bags and showering we went
for a short walk around the hotel and outside.
There isn’t a great deal around; an amusement park for locals with water
slides and foam machines, what looked like a wholesale nursery and a monastery for
lady monks. We did meet a couple of cute
children and these boys having great fun jumping from the trees into piles of
bark chippings. The hotel is lovely but on
the expensive side; US$ 40 for a bottle of white wine – but our luck was in, it
was happy hour (actually happy 2 hours) buy one, get one free.
Our view of Mandalay Hill
One of the iconic images of Burma is U-Bein’s bridge at
Amarapura’s Lake Taungmyo, some 20kms south of Mandalay; spanning the neck of
the lake (1.1 kms wide) this impressive teak walkway - the world’s longest –
rests on wooden piles which stand at least 20ft proud of the waterline in the
dry season but is almost completely submerged during the monsoons. We are due to visit there for sunset on Day 2
of our tour but I’d read that it is more crowded with tourists in the evening
and as we had a day to spare we decided to go for sunrise.
The hotel organised an English speaking taxi driver who
picked us up at 5am, we wanted to be there in time for sunrise but we’re
actually about 40 mins early but we sat in the car until the skies showed a
glimmer of light and then negotiated with a boatman for a trip onto the
lake. For the next hour he manoeuvred us
around to get the best position and light whilst we watched the locals cross
the bridge at the start of their day; monks, people with bicycles (ridden and
pushed), people carrying things on their heads – it was a brilliant sight, just
like the books. I doubt my photos will
do it justice but it’s something we’ve seen and there were only 7 boats out in
all so no jostling for position.
We also saw cattlemen taking their animals through the water
to the day’s feeding area and fishermen.
Our boatman
Then just as we were heading back to shore, our boatman pointed out two monks sitting in a boat having their pictures taken. Of course I had to join in but it was obviously a set up (by an American photographer for his group) as no self-respecting monks would prostitute themselves in this way.
After a short walk along the bridge, we headed back to town
for breakfast followed by an hour's stroll along the roads nearby and then the rest of the day lounging around the pool. Tonight we’ve asked our taxi man to take us
to the night market and after that we’re going to wander around and eat in a
local restaurant (????!!!!!?????) – this is our last bit of adventuring as the tour
starts tomorrow and I can’t say I’m looking forward to being part of a 20
strong group – too unwieldy for my liking.
Still no doubt there we’ll be a few people for Ian to chat to, as well
as the inevitable knob!