Today is October 17th, it is 9:09pm. I am laying down on my bed, windows open, and listening to some local kids playing the guitar on the bridge below, as the moon is almost full...i am in Nyaung Shwe, Inle Lake.
Well, Karen back in Yangon was so right...every new stop is only better than the previous so far. Burma IS unique that way.
So after Yangon, I went to Mandalay, only one and a half night, and one full day. But what a fantastic almost 48 hours.
I arrived in town at about 5 in the morning, just as the sun was showing the tip of its first rays. The bus station is located about 40 minutes from the center of town, or at least where I was hoping to find a place to stay. So I quickly negotiate a good price for a scooter ride. And how amazing it was to ride through the town still partially asleep, except for the monks and a few early shop keepers. A magical defile of red robe dressed monks cruising through town to get to their first food gathering chores. And well, when we arrived by the canals surrounding the royal palace, slightly hazy, and the hills in the back...and barely a home on the road...well, that was it, I was under the spell, yet again.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I found Mandalay simply gorgeous...so what!?
I find a good room, with even hot shower and breakfast. Great. I go up, take a quick nap. Well needed after 12 hours in a bus. An am up by 7 am to eat breakfast. Then I book my train ticket for the same night. 12 hours to get to Hsipaw...up north. Then I rent a very basic bike. And off I go, to explore the town and mostly its surroundings like no other tourist dared doing that boiling hot and burning day. I start by looking for the monastery alley. WOW! Oh my god! Magical and so strange at once. Riding through that very long and narrow alley I felt as if traveling back in middle ages times. I was literally saying 'wows' out loud every 2 seconds.
Then after that, I got lost in twisted little dirt path alleys in villages while trying to find the docks and the main slum. More 'wows' yet again...
Finally I find the river shore and the slums along it. Ha! Guess what...more 'wows' I just couldn't believe the beauty of what I was swing, me, the only foreigner around.
Tiny floating bamboo huts spread on the water with narrow bamboo hand made dodgy bridges connecting the whole web together. Then giant bamboo platforms on which the women were washing their clothes and longiis, then spreading all these bright colors all over the platforms, while the kids, bare naked are playing in the chocolate colored river water. And on the shore, flocks of hunch back cows scouting every inch for some sort of grassy substitute while trying to find some shade under the majestic giant centenary baobab looking trees. And in the back ground, a defile of long motorized pirogues zig zagging between the water lilies to go from one side of the shore to the next...anyway, you get the picture...still far from the actual reality! Lol
I spent a good two hours riding through the mud of the slum, and being greeted and smiled at by its so joyful inhabitants. People were were just so welcoming.
Then I headed south, hoping to find somehow the ubber famous U'bein bridge. Probably the second most famous one after the golden gate bridge. Pretty much the longest teak wood bridge in the world. It looked close and easy to find according to the out of proportion to y paper map I had in my sweaty pocket. Oh well...south/south west was the direction, so I check the compass on my watch and went on...pretty much down the river for about two more hours. Ha! Little did I know that I was going way off track. But the road was beautiful. All along the river shore, and under those big trees, there were simple yet comfortable looking two seater bamboo lounge chairs, for couple or potential future couple to come get some shade and further explore their relationship. There were strategically placed umbrellas behind each chair so that it was not possible to see from the road what was happening in the chairs.
So, about 30 to 35 km south of my hotel, I reach a very long bridge, which looks nice and leads to a beautiful mountain with tons of pagodas. So I think I have reached the famous U'bein, at last. Hahahaha!
When I ask a local where U'bein is (hoping he will confirm my assumption and point at the bridge in front of us), to my disappointment, he tells me I have to head back to Mandalay. No wayyyy!!!
It is already late, about 4 pm and the sun will soon set and I won't see a thing. (Oh yes, VERY important to note that in Burma, unless you are in the very heart of downtown of very large cities, such as pretty much only Yangon, there is no street light infrastructure at night.)
So I head back north while asking every minute for directions again just to confirm that I am on the right track this time. At last I am lucky, yet again, and a local on his scooter offers to escort me all the way as he is going in that direction as well. Yesssss!!!!!
During the 30 or so minutes ride, we go through a weavers village, where huge pine tree wooden houses house numerous weaving machines (yes, whenever people tell you in shop that anything is hand woven, please don't be naive and don't believe them. And take their offering price, divide by two and don't budge until their price reaches yours.), threads of all colors are hung drying, a bit like in Marrakesh, but around pagodas, stupas, and in the streets. Such a delightful unexpected and totally unadvertised spectacle. I decided not to stop and let this be a moment just for myself. No photos. :-)
Finally we reach the bridge...ufffff....tons and tons of people, tourists, locals and foreigner. Never mind, I will come back another day, for sunrise and cross that bridge and take all the photos I want. A bit frustrating though, as the bridge was majestic! I walk around for a bit to take photos of the surroundings as they were quite magnificent as well, yet not at all the center of attention of the tourists.
And then I head back to Mandalay, hoping to make it before dark...another hour of bike before getting to my hotel. Faaaaarrrr...
But on the way, I couldn't help but keep on staring at the people bading in the river. It was beautiful. Everyone spread out between the lilies, and the men actually managing to combine bading up to their chin, and fishing at the same time. Multitasking indeed. Hahaha!
Later on, I absolutely have to stop. I see a bit of commotion on the left, at the entrance of a temple. So curious traveler that I am, I approach...and to my surprise...a soccer game. In the dirt. Players bare feet. No jerseys. And the fans spread out all over, even all over the stupas. Wow! I felt like it was a secret forbidden gathering, not for the eye of the white people. But people dont seem to mind that I am entering with my bike, all the way to the side line. On the contrary, they greet and smile at me.
I stay a bit, take some photos, soak the moment in, and take off. Still quite a bit before I get back home and the sun is only getting lower and lower.
I forgot to mention that the surroundings of Mandalay are not paved. So only dry dirt path...which means lots and lots of dirt dust flying all over. So picture this, plus about 8 to 9 hours on this bike under the burning sun, no air, and barely any cool water. I looked like crap. Seriously, I think I had a layer of dirt all over me, as thick as a T-shirt. Not pleasant at all. By now, I couldn't think about anything else than a freezing cold shower...
Finally I make it home...I shower, and head back out for some food. I walk around for quite a bit before finding a few options that look appetizing. One is an international place, filled indoors with white tourists. Seriously, it felt like all the foreigners of town were in there at the same time. Ufff...no thank you!
Across the street is a place, outdoor, under some trees, filled with people, but the majority of which are bold men with a long beard. Obviously Muslims. Hmmm...can't really see the food not the menu, but so many people must be a good thing, right. So when walking by for the second time, I see this big guy giving me the typical Arabic/Muslim hand gesture that means: "what do you want?". So I answer with the hang gesture that means food. And hop, he calls me in with a big smile. I walk up, and seat down. He gives me a menu in English. Yesssss! (I must say, I have been much lazier at learning Burmese than I was with Indonesian).
I order the traditional sweet tee, and then a chicken biryani. Wow!!!!!!soooooooo yummmmmmy! So simple a dish, yet so perfectly well cooked with all the right ingredients. Burmese's are known for always serving a set of various little plates with all sorts of condiments with each dish you order. Here it was a delicious soup, some pickled sliced onions, and some fresh mint...and some strangely pickled mango slices. So I just pour everything (except the soup which i eat apart) in my main plate to eat it all. Ha! You should have seen the faces of everyone around and off the staff. Not sure they are used to seeing people actually eating the mint and even less so a foreigner. So quickly they come get the little plate that had all the mint leaves in it before I finished it up...and after some time they bring me a new plate with a fresh pile of mint in it. To this day, I am convinced that they did this because the first batch of mint I was served was bit washed with purified water. So nice to see how attentive they were. When I am done, the big bearded guy comes back to my table, we start chatting a bit, and he quickly indicates to me another place across the street where they serve his favorite desert: 'kulpi'. OK, why not. Wow! Another territory of flavors I didn't know existed.
So finally, it is 9 pm when I go to sleep...after having packed my bags. My train departs at 4am...so I have yet another short night ahead...
...sweet and few dreams...
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