Back to the Heat

Wednesday, Sept. 14, Maymyo to Bagan

It's a long travel day. AFter having breakfast with Tatiana and Klaus and saying good-bye to the friendly staff of the hotel (who begged me to stay another night), I caught a 9 a.m. truck to Mandalay. I immediately switched to a truck going south of town toward the bus station. There I changed to a trisaw to get from the highway to the bus station. I arrived at 11:30, and I have a reserved seat on a mini-bus leavingt at 2 p.m. I won't be in Bagan until 9 or 10 tonight. I'll be glad to get there, since traveling is an uncomfortable and long affair here in Myanmar.
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It's 10 p.m. I just arrived at the hotel and have showered. I was so filthy from the open windows on the bus. My hair is still dirty; I'll wait until tomorrow to wash it.

The trip to Bagan was exhausting. The bus was the size of a school us, and it's quality (upholstery, suspension, etc.) was about the same. I was luck in one respect. When I entered to take my seat (Number 5), the guy loading the luggage said, "Close." I didn't know what he meant. I thought maybe he didn't know how to close the handle on the suitcase and followed him to the back of the bus. He pointed to the back row of seats and said, "More room." He was right. Seat 5 had only about 8 inches (20 cm) between the front of the seat and the back of the seat before it. The back row had about 18 inches (45 cm). That helped a lot. But the upholstery was thin and the suspension was shot. We bounced they whole way here but especially the last four (of the 7 1/2) hours that were on a poor quality one-lane road.

I thought I had already been to remote Myanmar, but the places we passed on that one-lane road were as remote as any place I've been. We went about 2 1/2 hours without there being a town. At the most there would be a cluster of thatched houses--sometimes with one light bulb burning, but often with no lights or candles. It was like going back 75-100 years in times.

We stopped at 5:30 for a roadside pee. Then we stopped at 7:15 for a quick dinner. I had curry beef. The sides included a wonderfully spicy green chili sauce, some nice chunks of zucchini (or something like it), some delicioud yellow lentils, and other small items along with a big bowl of soup. It was nice to have the break.

We were passed on the road by two big gunner machines (like tanks except with tires) and a truckload of soldiers. I wonder if they had been involved in or were headed for some kind of skirmish. There are a couple of groups in opposition to the military government here. It wasn't possible to go much further into Shan State than were I was this past week, because the opposition by the Shan Liberation Army has caused the goverment to put much of the northeast off timits to tourists.

I have either allergies or a cold. My nose is stuffy, especiall on the right side. I sneezed several times on the bus today. I hope it passes soon and doesn't make me feel too bad.

I have a nice room here in Bagan. The floors are dark wood. It's a large room with an a/c and a newly remoldeled bathroom. There's a tiled private porch to the room that has lounge chairs and a table. It should be comfortable staying here. I'm glad, becase I'll dread the trip back out of here.

Hotel (1 Night) $5.00
Archiological Zone Fee $10.00
Trucks, buses and trishaw 6200 kyat
Toilet 20
Dinner 2100
Map 1000
Total = $ 23.96