Mandalay
I only had short time to visit Mandalay, the second biggest city in Myanmar. I am still traveling with my trekking buddies . We took the over-night bus and we arrived in Mandalay at 4.30 in the morning. We took a taxi to the hill for sunrise. We took a little nap, tired from the long bus ride.
I the afternoon we took a trip by local transportation to the U Bein's
Bridge, the world's longest teak bridge, for the sunset. We barely made
it , running the last 15 min under the cheering of locals, with kids
joining us for part of it. The sunset was colorful and memorable for
sure.
I spent the morning walking around the market near my hotel. I am
leaving in the afternoon for Hsipaw, little mountain town Northeast of
here, saying good-bye to my friends.
Birds anyone?
Pyin Oo Lwin
Yesterday was all about the six hours train ride, described as the most exciting and scenic in Lonely Planet .I was enjoying the views from my upper class section of the very, very bouncy train.
I joined a group of older French travelers to take the pony-led miniature wagon to our hotel.
Good dinner and early night. Traveling makes one tired.
I met Guy ( British guy whose name is Guy, from the train yesterday) at a cafe in the morning. We both felt lazy, but decided to go to the local waterfall. Hotel arranged for a motorcycle and a driver and soon we left the town behind. We hiked on a steep downhill trail until we reached the falls.... Amazing! We were pleasantly surprise to see it was huge, with turquoise clean water and pools that just called our names to jump in. The water was breathtakingly cold and very refreshing. We were happy we came there, even after we had to climb the steep hill up to our motorcycles.
We tried one of the local spots for lunch, eating the local Shan noodles for the last time. They are my favorite food here.
Pyin Oo Lwin was the most westernized and modern from all the towns I visited. Most locals are wearing western clothes. I miss men in skirts!
I am taking a over-night bus to Yangon tonight. I only have 1 full day left of my stay in Myanmar.
Myanmar.
I had such high expectations and I must say I am little disappointed by Myanmar. There isn't much nature beauty here. Most of the country is still off limits for tourists, with the mountains up north and beaches down south where you are not allowed to go. Distances here are just so big, it takes hours and hours on the bus to get from places to places.
Bagan was my favorite place and I did enjoy biking around the pagodas, staying away from the main tourists spots.
Myanmar is changing every day and watching the change is what made this trip special. It was cash only economy when I got here 25 days ago, and now there are ATMs in major cities.
The hotels are overpriced with so many tourists coming to visit, you have to actually plan your trip and call few days in advance to book the less expensive hotels . It was free to call from the hotels at the beginning of the trip, but as we got to more touristy places, they would charge for phone calls. Sometimes you would have to call 10 hotels just to find one room. You are often paying 15-20 for ugly room with outside toilet and cold shower. The cheapest room I stayed was for $7 in Hispaw and the room was little bigger than closet, but with amazing hot shower outside.
What I love about Myanmar are the people. They are friendly and still very welcoming and helpful to tourists. You get so much attention just walking on the street. Everybody smiles and says hello, or hi or bye-bye. My favorite were markets in small villages. So many colors and smells.
Most of the tourists here are over 50, not many young backpackers visiting here. I was lucky to have the best crew for the trekking trip and I hope to meet them all in the future.
I had a good time exploring this country, but Nepal is still on the top of my list so far. I am excited to be in Thailand soon.
I only had short time to visit Mandalay, the second biggest city in Myanmar. I am still traveling with my trekking buddies . We took the over-night bus and we arrived in Mandalay at 4.30 in the morning. We took a taxi to the hill for sunrise. We took a little nap, tired from the long bus ride.
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| flower made out of money for donations |
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| Liver, heart or brain anyone? |
Hispaw,
Little village in the mountains. I got very excited in the morning when I saw the mountains from the balcony of the hotel. It was raining most of the morning and everything looked green and lush.
I decided to stay few extra nights. Not that it was so special, but the cheep room, amazing hot shower and library made me want to stay and enjoy the comforts.
I spent the days walking around, checking out the little market, old pagodas and Mrs Popcorn garden, where Mrs Popcorn ( old, cute grandma) would make smoothies from fresh local fruit. How little I need to be happy!
Little village in the mountains. I got very excited in the morning when I saw the mountains from the balcony of the hotel. It was raining most of the morning and everything looked green and lush.
I decided to stay few extra nights. Not that it was so special, but the cheep room, amazing hot shower and library made me want to stay and enjoy the comforts.
I spent the days walking around, checking out the little market, old pagodas and Mrs Popcorn garden, where Mrs Popcorn ( old, cute grandma) would make smoothies from fresh local fruit. How little I need to be happy!
 | |
| noodles factory... |
Pyin Oo Lwin
Yesterday was all about the six hours train ride, described as the most exciting and scenic in Lonely Planet .I was enjoying the views from my upper class section of the very, very bouncy train.
I joined a group of older French travelers to take the pony-led miniature wagon to our hotel.
Good dinner and early night. Traveling makes one tired.
I met Guy ( British guy whose name is Guy, from the train yesterday) at a cafe in the morning. We both felt lazy, but decided to go to the local waterfall. Hotel arranged for a motorcycle and a driver and soon we left the town behind. We hiked on a steep downhill trail until we reached the falls.... Amazing! We were pleasantly surprise to see it was huge, with turquoise clean water and pools that just called our names to jump in. The water was breathtakingly cold and very refreshing. We were happy we came there, even after we had to climb the steep hill up to our motorcycles.
We tried one of the local spots for lunch, eating the local Shan noodles for the last time. They are my favorite food here.
Pyin Oo Lwin was the most westernized and modern from all the towns I visited. Most locals are wearing western clothes. I miss men in skirts!
I am taking a over-night bus to Yangon tonight. I only have 1 full day left of my stay in Myanmar.
Myanmar.
I had such high expectations and I must say I am little disappointed by Myanmar. There isn't much nature beauty here. Most of the country is still off limits for tourists, with the mountains up north and beaches down south where you are not allowed to go. Distances here are just so big, it takes hours and hours on the bus to get from places to places.
Bagan was my favorite place and I did enjoy biking around the pagodas, staying away from the main tourists spots.
Myanmar is changing every day and watching the change is what made this trip special. It was cash only economy when I got here 25 days ago, and now there are ATMs in major cities.
The hotels are overpriced with so many tourists coming to visit, you have to actually plan your trip and call few days in advance to book the less expensive hotels . It was free to call from the hotels at the beginning of the trip, but as we got to more touristy places, they would charge for phone calls. Sometimes you would have to call 10 hotels just to find one room. You are often paying 15-20 for ugly room with outside toilet and cold shower. The cheapest room I stayed was for $7 in Hispaw and the room was little bigger than closet, but with amazing hot shower outside.
What I love about Myanmar are the people. They are friendly and still very welcoming and helpful to tourists. You get so much attention just walking on the street. Everybody smiles and says hello, or hi or bye-bye. My favorite were markets in small villages. So many colors and smells.
Most of the tourists here are over 50, not many young backpackers visiting here. I was lucky to have the best crew for the trekking trip and I hope to meet them all in the future.
I had a good time exploring this country, but Nepal is still on the top of my list so far. I am excited to be in Thailand soon.
