Off to the Mountains

Friday, Sept. 9, Mandalay to Maymyo/Pyin U Lwin

I have arrived in Maymyo, a hill station two hours from Mandalay. it was so nice feeling the air get cooler and fresher as we climbed the hills. It was a beautiful drive--a two-lane divided highway (the Burma Road to China) with trees in the median and on either side. Rich green rice fields were followed by stone quarries as we began to climb. Eventually, the kinds of trees changed with eucalyptus among them. We passed a coffee plantation and two golf courses.

I haven't seen the town yet. It was the summer residence of the British government when they were the colonial power here. I had the truck drop me off outside of town near the hotel I had selected from the guidebooks. I say "truck" because I came in the back of a modified pickup, a fairly common form of transportation in Asia. A cover is built over the bed of the truck and b enches are built along each side. Luggage and freight are piled on top and people sit inside. When there are extra people, they go on top, too!

A young 23-year-old man was on the bench opposite me. His name was Antonwhe. He identified the right stop for me and got off there, too. I said bood-bye and began walking toward my hotel. Just a short distance away, Antonwhe and a friend pulled up on a motorcycle and insisted that I ride.

The nicer places to stay in this town are away from the town center. Only a couple of cheap, reportedly dirty and noisy, places are in town. I had originally planned to stay at a fancy place ($20 per night), but my alternative guidebook off the Internet highly recommended the Grace Hotel, and that is where I am. It is only $5 per night. It is very clean with yellow, blue and white tile floors and with tile walls up to head high and yellow plaster beyond that. It's a big room with a double window looking out to the back. It has the feel of being in the countryside while being only a 10-minute walk from town. I chose to come here first because the nicer place is twice as far from town. There is hot water 24 hours a day, apparently provided from a wooden fire, since I can see a small house beside the water tower with smoke coming out a central chimney. I may be the only guest; they were happy to see me.
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I've just returned from a 1 1/2 hour walk through town. It's a wonderful place to walk, since it is a flat plateau and has the fresh, but not cool, air. I went down the main road seeing the shops (and a new Grace II Hotel) downtown. I continued to the far edge of town and took the Circular Road back around town. i TURNED BACK TOWARD THE CENTER TO WALK THROUGH THE MARKET, AND THEN i RETURNED TO the hotel.

There are interesting old brick buildings everywhere. Across the road from my hotel is a hospital in what must have been a British military base. Others are schools and government offices of various kinds. The Myanmar School of Surveying is in one and the National Forestry School is in another.

I passed four old churches--Anglican, Catholic, Baptis, and 7th Dayd Adventist. And there are many nice old homes, both grand and small. It would have been interesting to have come here during British rule and seen what life was like. It looks as if all the British left; I thought there might still be some with summer or returement homes, but it doesn't look like it.

The novices (female monks) were out chanting and collecting today. They walk in single file wearing safron orange robes with pink layers over them. Their heads are shaven, and they wear a folded orange cloth that goes from the top of the forehead over the top of the head (sides exposed) and down the neck and center of the back to the tops of the should blades. They balance steel trays on their heads with offering uns on the center of the trays. They chant a song as they move from place to place taking up collections. By the end of the day when I saw them at the market, they had vegetables and herbs on their trays. My guess is that they are givien a shopping list by the monastery and are supposed to use the collections for the purchases.

On the edge of town is a huge military school. I didn't see the buildings, but there are massive entrance gates at more than one location. I don't recall the wording on the signs, but it was something like, "Where we develop the brightest and the best." My guess is that it is the West Point of Myanmar. I'v e read that the military as provided well for itself while in power. This school looks like where a lot of money has been spent.
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As I left the hotel to go to dinner, a young lady was leavidng, too. We began to talk and walked together. Her name is Rachel, and she comes from Switzerland (near Zurich). She bhad left some shoes to be repaired, so I went with her to pick them up. The man used real leather and did a nice job, so I will take my bag to him tomorrow and try again to get it repaired.

We went to diner together at Family Restaurant and had the usual feast. I made the mistake of ordering chicken curry again. Now I will remember that they are scrawny chickens with little meat on them. There were enough evegetables and sauces, so I got full.

Rachel told me about her travels. She started in Beijing, went to Tibet, moved over to Nepal, went down into India, and then came here. She will return to India for 3 more weeks before going hom. We've traveled to some of the same places in India and Nepal.

As I was writing the electricity went off, a common occurrence here in Myanmar. Fortunately, the hotel has a generator which they fired up five minutes later. Just in case, however, I'll stop for the night and prepar for bed.

Mandalay Hotel (2 nights) $16.00
Truck 1000 kyat
Dinner 950
Hotel in Maymyo (1 night) $5.00
Total: $22.87