I was awake early not surprisingly but didn't feel so great so had a lie in until close to 8 when I got up for breakfast. Sat at a table on my own but was soon joined by other people including a Spanish guy who'd been around Dawei and recommended 2 places which were $10 a night instead of the $26 I'd found so far on Agoda which made me want to get a night bus to Dawei. There was also an Aussie, a Canadian, a Dutch girl and finally a Kiwi called Craig. I was talking to Craig about things and we just carried on talking after breakfast for over an hour about world politics and the Mauri in his Country. After that we made plans to walk around but I had to pack my case away and shower etc so when I met him it was too hot outside so he just wanted to chill and so I headed out on my own and phoned one of the places in Dawei that the guy had stayed in but they didn't have any single rooms so it was $18 for a double and then I'd have to work out how to travel to Bangkok from there so I decided to skip some hassle and just head back to Thailand and better wifi. I picked up my suitcase and walked to the bus place and I was on the 12.30 bus so I had some time before and the guy who sold me the ticket helped me get a fish curry for 1,000 before putting my big suitcase in the truck and insisting that I didn't need to pay extra for it. I got to sit in the front for the short journey and then transitioned to the proper bus to Hpa an where I fell asleep for quite a bit of the journey.
Arrived near to the bus station but it was a few hundred metres away which was confusing but I walked that way deciding not to go to a supermarket for fruit as I wanted the bus sorted first. I got to the right area but the bookmark was in the middle of a block and then I realised that was the bookmark for the city and I'd missed bookmarking the bus station for some reason. I had a quick look at a temple nearby which wasn't worth it and then made my way back to the bus station and asked at the first place if the woman there had a bus to Mywaddy. She told me to wait while she phoned around and I looked at the poster she had and Mywaddy was not listed but she hung up and said yes for 8,000 there was the 3.30 bus which was good as I wouldn't have to wait long. Of course the bus was late so I sat for a while in the shelter while some guys chatted what seemed rubbish to me, spat a lot and didn't really seem to be doing anything in particular. Anyway the bus came and the woman asked me for my ticket as I made my way across the road to where the bus stopped in front of another ticket office. The woman spoke to the guy loading the bags so mine was put on and then to the driver and I asked for my ticket back and she said no ticket so I think she'd just done some dodgy deal and overcharged me for another companies bus especially when I saw the condition, but at least it was daytime so I could read until the sun set and then I had a couple of hours in the dark listening to music. We got to Myawaddy later than I expected, after 8pm and I didn't have any Thai Bhat so I was worried I'd get across and then not be able to get the taxi, but when I got to the border it was shut so I had dinner at a place showing the football. Myawaddy was a lot different from the last time I was here just because most of the shops and places were open this time and its actually quite a big place. My sim card had run out of credit which was annoying as I expected more but I think the one phone call I did used quite a bit. So I topped up my sim card so I could check for hotels in the area and none were nearby but I'd walked past one so I went back there and stayed at the Mywaddy hotel. It was $30 for the night so after all that messing around trying to avoid expensive places I'd been stung at the last place. I also noticed they had the same list of room prices written in Burmese but they paid 30,000 instead of 39,000 which is one of the things I didn't like about Myanmar was the constant extra charges for being a foreigner and its not like they really check its just if you look foreign. The room was ok and had a tv so I watched the next football match and went to sleep.
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We all got woken up around 4am as promised by the monks prayers over the tannoy which was really loud but still we all stayed in bed until about 5.30 when we got up to see the sunrise which was not really there until 6am. I said to the girls that maybe they could swap their bike with Leo as they were planning to go to the cave and maybe bike the whole day whereas he was planning to go back to Hpa an to book a bus before heading out. We went to have breakfast and Renata asked Leo and he said it was ok and joked that they would rather he dies instead. Jacqueline said she was probably heading to Dawei so I said she probably wants to go to Mawlamyine which is where I'm going and maybe I could help carry her bag down as she had carried all of her stuff up the hill and although down is easier she's most likely still tired but she didn't want to or didn't think it was a real offer or something. Leo who looks a lot like Brendan Fraser but with a big beard was talking about the Anapona trek in Nepal and as interesting as he is he was repeating things also said the night before and he could probably keep going for a long time which may be why he missed sunset yesterday. So deciding that the group would slow me down too much I headed off and made good pace in the cool morning, going for a long while without a stop. The mountains still looked really cool a bit like the islands off Thailand in the beach film or the floating islands in Avatar they kind of rise out of flat land. I was saying I don't really know how they were formed but now they look a bit like a ridge so maybe where two plates met a long time ago before they stopped moving. I kept walking towards the Saddan cave and I kept looking back expecting to see the girls on their motorbike catching me up as they planned to go to the cave but they didn't come so I guess maybe they went back to town first.
I was close to the cave but the temperature had really hotted up and there wasn't much shade as the sun was pretty much overhead and I was looking for more water when a guy on a motorbike offered me a lift which really helped and then I bought some water and went to the Saddan cave which was on a great big rock of a hill/mountain. It only cost 1000 and a monk gave me some minerals from the cave which look like mud. The cave entrance area is really big snd they had Buddhas all around but further in the cave gets darker, wetter and harder to walk around especially with no footwear. I got to the other side and was sitting to watch people take the boats and get a feel for them when Jacqueline came up not wearing glasses so that I didn't recognise her. She had a motorbike so had driven there with her backpack so we decided to share a boat and found one with 2 others so that the 6,000 fee was split to 1,500 each. The boat goes through a cave and I was considering swimming it but its a bit dangerous. After we sat down at a cafe for a bit before she offered me a ride back with her and maps.me recommended a different route from where I'd been so we went that way and I hot off at the junction since Hpa an was 20km in the wrong direction and my legs were hurting from the position on the bike, but I hoped to meet up again in Dawei only I wasn't sure I could get cheap enough accommodation there. I was in a little town so I wandered through looking for a bus or a travel type shop and eventually I googled how to ask for the bus to Mawlamyine and asked a person who actually spoke good English and told me where to wait and what kind of bus it would be (a pickup). So I waited for 1 hour 30 minutes or so until the bus car came and jumped on and then had some boxes thrown on so it was a bit cramped, the car had little suspension and the road was terrible although they were doing work to improve it. Sometimes the road less traveled is just not good for travelling. But it was good to see some different areas and we got back into town around 5.30pm so I couldn't see the sunset but I got to walk past a few temples while my phone battery was pretty dead and it was hard to use my remaining power bank charge as I'd brought the wrong cable but I made it to the guest house around 7pm.. 3 consecutive days of walking in flip flops had blended away some of my sock line ran but had given me a tan where the strap goes and also done damage to my toes so that combined with being tired it was a tough last few km walk back. After I got back I washed my feet had some food and read a book before getting an early night. Up a bit later than planned 6.30, didn't feel 100% and had some flem. Packed things and left luggage with hotel, walked to bus and arrived 7.58 but 8pm bus had gone, I found out that it was because they drive you to the bus station so my pickup left 8.25 to get the 8.30 bus.
Sat on wrong side with the sun, also a guy sat next to me as women are probably not allowed to sit with foreigners. Managed to get off the bus at the junction so I could walk the 3km to the bat cave assuming the bridge was cross able on foot. Got near the bridge and a snake jumped out in front of me into the road chasing after a frog which managed to get away and the snake went back into the bushes just in front of me. It wasn't a massive snake but it was about 1.5 metres long. Walked across bridge with nice weather, soldiers on the first side said it was ok to cross and it did look like it was used for walking. Got the other side and the soldier told me no walking but then he did let me go. I walked on and checked the map and there were stairs on the other side close to the bridge so I crossed and decided not to go to close to the soldier so I would cut across on the dirt but the soldier shouted at me "hey my friend " and pointed to the steps so I took them. Walked along a covered area to where the cave is and there were Buddhas in the wall and then a pagoda so I took my shoes off but then I had to climb a metal staircase which was too hot so the footwear went back on. I climbed up and there wasa pagoda and a nicely view of the river but no cave and no obvious paths so I went back down and looked around and some man in his house told me to take my shoes off, so I did which wasn't great for climbing over rocks but I found a locked door where I could hear bats behind. The man was making noises at me so I talked to him and he said it opens at 6pm which didn't make much sense until I googled it which I should have done yesterday as all you do at this cave is wait for sunset and see the bats leave. I left and went back to the bridge but this time the soldier would not let me walk so he hailed a pickup who drove me to the main road but no further. I looked at the map and there wasn't too much around but the monastery was a few km so I decided to get there early maybe have lunch there. I started walking in the right direction although it wasn't listed as a road on maps.me, I had alreay done trail walking and there were a lot of places you can walk that are not actual paths. I got to a small pagoda and then came to water. I looked around and could see a better path so I doubled back a bit and went that way but again came to the water. So I doubled back again for another more prmising path but again that ended at water. I did think about swimming or walking but I decided not to take the tisk as there was definitely a path so I went back stopping at a building where they let me have some water. It looks like yhe area was being developed as a resort or something. Heading back and round I was on a further out path but there was still some water next to me so I was worried that even though I would make it to where I ws considering swimming to it might not be enough so I went one path out and carried on and walked past people fishing but still the path turned at water. Thankfully it was just a couple of minutes walk and there was a path out of the area and I followed the path in the general direction of the mountain. Made it to the main road and kept going but the mountain wasn't climbable from this side so I had to go further and stopped at a shop and then weny through a garden monestary where I could get more water. The climb was pretty hard in the heat so I did 5 minutes climbing and 2 minutes resting in the shade. Going was ok and I ignored the shop selling water for 1,000 and saw 2 monkeys fighting which I thought was cool. Soon I made it to the top around 4pm so had plenty of time to freshen up relax and see all of the monkeys that were here and there were loads. I wandered around and a monkey tried to steal my backpack. Around 4.45 2 girls Renata from Holland and Carly from Essex turned up and I missed some of the sunset as the monk had told me it was at 6pm so I had phoned my Mum. But I still got to see a lot of it and take pictures which along with the monkeys makes a lot for the day and the girls told me they had problems with their bike getting there as the gas had not turned off. They'd had someone fix it but couldn't be sure it was going to stay ok. Another couple turned up as we were going for dinner but they were from Myanmar and had a separate room and ate food separately as well. We had almost finished out food when Leo from Argentina turned up and then afterwards a french couple also made dinner before we were rushed out. Dinner was 2000 and the bed was 5000 donation for the night. We went back to the room for card games and a Swiss girl Jaqueline turned up and we played a few rounds of killer before going to sleep quite late after 10.30. There was as usual a lot of faffing before the lights went out but then after Leo kept talking with the girls and his voice was really load and since he has the one who said to go to sleep after about 15-20 minutes and the French saying goodnight subtly 3 times I went over to ask him to be quiet or talk outside. Probably got to sleep around 11pm. Middle picture below of the monkey also has in the background the water area with the pagoda and hotel where I got lost/stuck. Arrived at 4.20am and the taxi driver told me the hostel is 24 hour so would be open but when I got to Breeze Guest House it was shut so I waited outside until a bit after 6am when I could check in and got a room straight away which was good as it made it easy to shower, change etc. Had breakfast and a Norwegian man who'd tried to hitchhike to India in the 70s showed me a walking route from the lonely planet for the area. I noted down some places and when I was ready headed out along the river front which was difficult as people used the pavement for all kinds of things. Was coming to the point when I should turn and I saw a big bridge so I went to have a look at it turned out it could be walked across which is what I did. Thankfully there was some shade as it was a hot day and I made it across and decided to visit 2 of the several pagodas I could see along the hills, get a view and then go back.
The map gave me a road to get to a pagoda and there was a small hindu temple, but the pagoda turned out to be different from the ones I'd seen both of which were not on the map. I continued through a small village as there was more shade. I said mingalabar (hello in Burmese) to several people who smiled, giggled or waved, and I found another religious building before I decided to try for the train station as if it run it could get me back across the bridge into the main town. I bought some water and stuck to the shade as much as possible to deal with the heat and made the 1.6km to the train station to find it completely disused. It wasn't completely unexpected as I hadn't seen any trains but I thought there might be a couple a day and the tracks next to me on the bridge had looked clean. I rested a bit at the station then headed back but taking a detour to see dome more pagodas on different hill which had better views. Stopped for lunch somewhere yhry didn't speak much English but got by and I headed bsck to the bridge. When I'd come down the steps earlier there gad been 2 guys sleeping on the steps and they were still there but this time one of them tried to stop me and maybe make me get a taxi but I ignored him and walked the bridge listening to music but not having as much shade as in the morning. Back in town I found the bus to Hpa an is easy to get for tomorrow but leaves later than I wanted. I carried on past thd markets and went to a pagoda on a hill which had great views no doubt a busy spot at sunrise snd sunset. I made my way down along some roads to a nicely manicured park, through a monestary and a pagoda and then made my way to another viewing spot up skne stairs which were not included in the map. I had hoped to walk through the hospital and find some way up as otherwise it was quite a way round. There were a couple of pagodas and a temple at the top and some good views so I waited for sunset. There were a few others sitting down for sunset which was not bad and afterwards I headed back down the same stairs through town to the waterfront which was nice as the sky was red. Looked for somewhere to eat but decided to do a few things at the hostel then went back out, surprisingly nobody was sitting at the breakfast area which has a nice view of the river but then maybe we're not supposed to sit there. Considering I'd slept on buses the last 2 nights I was doing ok and made over 40,000 steps for the day. In South America I had a friend who did back to back buses and was tired from it but I don't think they had the free day in the middle like I did. Rest of the evening was pretty boring as dinner was uneventful and they close the hostel doors at 10pm. Arrived at the bus station at 4.30am unfortunately it was a bit outside the city and not useful but I hadn't got off the stop before as I thought the bus would go closer to the hotels as the conductor had asked me which hotel but there was only one other foreigner on the bus so there was probably nobody going to a hotel. So I went back into the city (for those that don't know this is the capital city) and grabbed some super moon pictures which with my camera won't be great. The bus station area was pretty dead so I couldn't find out about buses to my next place. Instead I found a hotel to leave my suitcase and went wandering. Unlike other cities in Myanmar Nay pyi taw really does have pavements, unobstructed ones and in both sides of the road. The problem is that it's a modern designed for car city and there is rarely anything next to the pavement, no shops, houses or hotels. The hotels for example are all resorts and have a road or driveway up to them, it really does make it very different to other places and the shops and buildings mostly open at a set time like 8, 9 or 10am unlike other towns /cities where shopkeepers open up early. If you only visited this place then you really wouldn't know what theers Country was like. I carried on walking and by 10.30 had done about 22,000 steps without really seeing anything. I went to a museum marked on the map and they wouldn't let me in because I'm a foreigner. Now I've been to a lot of museums and they are usually a good way to get others to understand your Country, history and culture so I'm not sure what kind of museum they have.
Went a different way and was lucky there was a good deal of shade as it was boiling hot, I almost burnt my hand touching a fence. Came to city hall which was also on the map but was very gated so I didn't expect to get in and no surprise when I couldn't although their English was not good enough to explain why. Carried on the same road and came to a water fountain park. 700 entry so I had a look and it was nice although incomplete and more disappointingly none of the fountains were on. I thought maybe it could be like in St Petersburg where the fountains turned on when people stepped on a certain place and then got wet. They did have a pool with some kids swimming so I went for a dip and all 3 pools were really shallow which is a shame. After I went to the bus station and considered various places to go and settled on Mawlamyine as it meant I could arrive at a good time (fingers crossed). It was getting on for 3pm so I headed back to thr hotel to pick up my bag and was walking along barefoot as my feet were starting to and a youngster offered me a lift on his bike which I accepted and then worried that I had no shoes on so if I gad to get off at speed I'd rip my feet to shreds. Still I managed to hold on and it was kind of him which is something there is a lot of in Myanmar. I heard a lot years ago about how nice and friendly people in Thailand were but then never really saw it myself so I wonder if progress will lead to the same happening here and if so it's worth asking if it's really progress. to be fair some people in England can be helpful like there was a time I ran out of petrol and someone turned around to pick me up and drive me to the petrol ststion and back to my car but really it's rare that I need help in my Country these days on the other hand there are also people who take advantage so you can't be too careful, there was a woman I worked with who fell and broke her arm and instead of helping someone grabbed her purse and ran off. anyway I got my stuff together and managed not to fall asleep at the bus stop, thd bus was a bit empty to start and really nice with a plug socket and neck cushions for everyone. I was awake at 7am and decided to have breakfast so that I could get served quicker and then go back to sleep without worrying about missing breakfast. After though I decided to stay up and went to book a bus ticket and after go to the hot springs, I was expecting my bus to leave around 11am so I didn't have too much time and the hotel checkout was 12 anyway . I found a pretty good bike and went to the only place that seemed open where they told me that the buses were all full. Went back to the hostel to look at other options like going to Pyu and tried to book somewhere to stay there and in Nya pyi taw but there was not much that was cheap. So I headed out again and after a few places I finally found somewhere that had a bus ticket for that evening which could arrive at a really bad time like 2am but I decided to chance getting accommodation like I managed in Kalaw. There was a couple there buying a ticket as well who wanted a map for the area and I also saw that map at the hostel so I think a lot of tourists cycle to the same places. I now had the whole day free I went back to the hostel to pack, shower and get my laundry done and I locked the bike and took the key but when I went to pick up the bike it had disappeared and there was a man moving and checking bike so I went to see if he could help but he just checked all of the bikes that were there which was no help. So I took another bike which was not as good, made my way through the busy streets and took the road out towards the hot springs. Was quite a distance before the junction and after that I saw kids waving and saying hello to trucks passing which threw out paper for them to pick up. Didn't look like money but I'm not sure. Stopped at a free library for done shade and wrote this and a kid decided to just stand there next to me which was disconcerting, he then got bored and sat opposite. The library had some English books but most was in Burmese and there were magazines and newspapers as well.
As I left the kid finally said hello to me before asking for money. On the road there were lots more kids and I could hear them asking passing cars for money now which I think Hannah mentioned on the tour that children come here to ask for money so that they can afford to go to school. The bike was slow and I thought about changing it but decided it probably wasn't that far to go. Was I wrong. Got to a viewpoint hill which I think was the first thing on the map and there were some other tourists. View was ok but mostly just flat land and on the way down I stopped at the hot air place where some volcanic activity meant there was warm, I'd say maybe 40 degree air came up next to a tree which had changed colour from the fumes. Then I got attacked by loads of mosquitos at once and probably killed about 5 so I left quickly Next stop after the view was the hot springs. I was stopped as I was going to the women's pool so went to the men's but the water there was really hot so nobody was bathing. Must've been about 60 or 70 degrees. After that there were a few pagodas and a town before I came to a walled off area with nice gardens and a hill. Had some nice views of the lake and at the top of the hill were loads of people and a small market. As it was lunch time I looked for some food and found a kind of churro for 200 which I thought might be banana but was just pastry. Two girls served me the food and it was ok so I went back for 2 samosas and the girl gave me a cheeky grin before quickly stuffing a 3rd samosa in my bag while her dad was not watching. I went back down the hill and carried on biking to the last place marked on my map a pagoda which was underwhelming so I headed back towards town and as my phone had stopped working either because I'd used to much data or because I hadn't registered I decided to buy a Ooredoo phone sim at the little stand they had. The people there didn't speak much English so I waited for someone else to come but it turned out they didn't have sims loaded with credit like I needed so I was told to go back the way I had come to a beauty shop turns out it is also a mobile phone shop but it was shut , maybe just for lunch. Went back to the hot spring place and had a good lunch for not much, then met Lotte and Iris as I left, they were going to catch a boat across with bikes included. I rode all the way back to town which was ok but there was too much traffic and also lots of the kids asking for money, when I took a small dirt path it was nuch nicer and I could appreciate the blue sky and great weather. In town I found a shop that sold top up cards but not sim cards, seems they are much easier to get so I should have bought the sim when I had the chance. I did eventually find a place to buy a sim card and was back up and running but in a rush to get to the swimming place as it was getting late and it is quite a ride. Headed out and about halfway I met Lotte and Iris again at the side of the road where they were playing with some orphaned puppies. They said they were going to an Indian restaurant later so I said I would see if I could get there. I made it to the pool around 4.45 so stayed there until 5 as it was getting dark. There were quite a few locals including sone washing. Went back the same dirt path as last time which again had the stream crossing, mud and this time there was a man sleeping on the path. The sunset was looking nice so I decided to go to the lake to see and went into the Inle princess resort which was very nice but didn't check if I belonged or not. The sunset spot was really nice but I was 10 minutes late and the couples there left as I arrived. Rode back largely in the dark then found the Indian restaurant and headed there. The Dutch girls weren't there so I got a table for myself and ordered as I didn't have much time. Food came slowly for Myanmar but it was nice having a curry and reminded me of home. I rushed back on the bike afterwards and was 10 minutes late for when I was supposed to be there but normally things run late in Myanmar. Saw a pickup truck outside the hotel which I thought might be for me especially as he was going to the bus station, but the driver said no Bagan and not JJ so I got my stuff together and waited and asked the woman who works there if she had seen the pickup and she said it hadn't come yet. Then I remembered I had laundry to pick up so I collected it and it was lucky the pickup was late or I would have left it behind. Its good being lucky but organised is better so I'll try to do reminder lists for what I need to do in future. When it got to 7.45 and still nothing I got worried I would miss the bus as I was supposed to be at the bus station at 8.00 which is when the bus leaves. So I decided to walk which was ok it was 1km but there was not much traffic and the road surface was ok. Then I asked dome people if I was at thr right place and yhey said yes so I sat on my suitcase and waited. There was no one else waiting and there was also nobody working there so it was just me at a bus stop waiting and I got worried at the time so I found the number on yhe bus ticket and phoned up and after a few tries I got through but they couldn't speak good English and we got disconnected. Soon after my phone rang and they called me back so we had another difficult conversation and I was still on the phone when someone from a travel shop across the road told me it was ok the bus would come soon. Next a pickup came but only took me a short distance before I moved to a car driven by a Mr Lin who had his wife in the back who gave me a t-shirt as a present. He was interested in tourism so we talked as he drove me to where the bus was and was very helpful and friendly and I'm still not sure why he took me there or what happened with the normal bus service but it's good how the people in the Country can make up for things not always working how they should. I expect nobody else took the bus from Nyaung Shwe and they filled it in Taunggyi and the festival probably delayed things. My seat was an aisle one next to someone so I took 2 empty seats to start with. |
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January 2017
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