Have you had that experience where you have to wake up really early, say 4 a.m., and you wake at 1 a.m. wide awake, finally get back to sleep, and are wiped out when 4 a.m. actually rolls around? Well that was me Saturday morning (your Friday night). We seemed to wake up the hotel desk person, had to have him call the cab we thought we had already arranged, and set out for the Ayeyarwady River jetty. We had booked the "Express" River Boat from Bagan to Mandalay not knowing whether we had made a mistake by choosing 12 hours on the river vs 4-1/2 hours on the bus. Well we didn't. We left the jetty (the boarding was accomplished by scrambling up a couple of planks) in pitch dark. As we looked around we realized there were only 7 passengers. It was freezing. At least on Myanmar standards. The first thing the crew did was give us a blanket. As we realized how few of us there were, we immediately hit the blanket stash for more warmth. This continued for about 1-1/2 hours until we were greeted by a spectacular sunrise. Everyone's mood picked up, we got some so-so coffee, a bun and a hard boiled egg. From there the trip up the river was such a pleasure. An incredible variety of river vessels, life along the shore, and the calming, constant hum of the engine. The day passed so much quicker than we expected and before we knew it we were in Mandalay.
Mandalay is large city and large cities can be difficult for many reasons. Disorientation at first, not knowing your way around, feeling lost in the confusion. Well that just didn't seem to happen. Because of my reading about the high season and the lack of traveler's
infrastructure here, Cynthia and I decided months ago that it would be best to book our hotels ahead of time. That meant planning the trip. Most people we knew who had gone to Myanmar had gone on pre -planned booked trips. We didn't want to do that. We knew we had 28 days so we got out a calendar and basically laid out our schedule. Not the way I like to travel, but it seemed prudent for the Myanmar part of the journey. Well one of the upsides of doing that is arriving in a strange city and knowing exactly where you are going. Frankly I had never done that before. When one is traveling cheap, as I had always done in the past, everything seemed spontaneous. This trip is certainly more upscale than I have done before and it has its advantages. Like arriving at the hotel after 12 hours on the river and being presented with a wet cold towl and a refreshing glass of juice!! Are you kidding me? After checking out the overpriced rooftop hotel restaurant we crossed the street and had a good meal. Yes!
Our first day in Mandalay was spent going up Mandalay Hill. Seemed like a good place to begin, get a perspective of the city. As we all know the journey itself is oft times more important than the destination. Well this journey took us up 1729 steps!! No, I didn't count them, the book had forwarned us. Made going up to our place in Paxanax (for those of you who don't know we have 146 stair steps, and that is once one gets to our entrance!) seems like a piece of cake. But what a slice of life. Of course there is a temple at the top, and an uncountalbe number of Buddhas on the way up, but it's like a village. People live on these stairs, sell there wares, take care of their kids. It's a total slice. I will say I used one of the scariest toilets I have seen in my life, and believe me that is saying something. Anyway, a leisurely 2-1/2 hours later and we were at the top. The temple stood out because of, well its guaudiness. Lights and mirrors. Some dazzling effects actually. We looked at the overview of the city, did the rounds and found our way down. Not as easy as one might expect as the twists and turns were numerous. Did we come up this way or that way? It might not have mattered except for the fact that one does it barefoot and we had to come out at the right place in order to retrieve our shoes.
Next we checked out the largest book in the world. But that will have to wait for the next entry. We have been here two full days. Today was a trip for sure but that will also have to wait. Know that we are healthy, having fun, and thrilled to be here. JB
Love hearing about your experiences!
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