MANDALAY, JULY 19 20, 2015
Transports
Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Mandalay (46 Eu)
A small step back. The previous two days, 17 and 18 July, have been spent in Bangkok, because Qatar Milan / Bangkok + Air Asia to was much cheaper option than flying to Myanmar directly from Milan
I spent last night in the Thai capital in a hostel near the Hualamphong Station, Cozy Bangkok Place, recommended by my Chinese friend Aileen. Soon I will write something on the Amphawa floating market, visited in the previous days. I left with the 7 am express train (cost 20 baht), which left me at Don Muang after some stops and about an hour’s rattle. This is the cheapest way to get there. Don Muang is in fact located on the route of the northern railway lines (Chiang Mai final destination).
No problems at the immigration, in Mandalay. I made the so-called on-line visa application and everything goes smoothly. I change 400 Euros at the airport, rate is 1316:1.
Air Asia offers a free bus from the airport to the city center
When it comes the day to leave the city in the direction of Hsipaw, I stupidly think it is simply a matter to go to the terminal and get my butt on a bus without getting any info before. . Here’s how things go
Sleep
During the free transfer from the airport I know José, a Spanish skipper and globetrotter, and Rebeca and Natalia, two girls from Costa Rica who are now studying in China. The bus let us near the royal palace, on a hot and partly sunny day
José has a vague idea of where he can find cheap hotels in the area, we all agree in spending as little as possible, so we head to the Nylon Hotel. We stop for an inspection also at the Royal Guesthouse, very close to it, and which would be even better, but unfortunately they do not have enough free rooms. At the Nylon, a single and rather bare room costs USD 14. However, it has hot water, ceiling fan, and air conditioning. Very poor breakfast
Eating
On the first night, with the guys, we have dinner at a restaurant almost opposite the Royal GH (2650 MMK), cheap and delicious. The following evening, being this one already closed, I go right at the corner between 83th and 26th, where they cook in the street, among a large crowd sitting at low plastic tables, cockroaches running at their feet. Everybody sits down wherever a free chair is. I invite to sit next to me a young lady who will turn out to be a journalist, with a couple of friends. I was occupying alone a table for 4 people; being a foreigner, I saw that they were a bit hesitant, but with a smile I solved everything. Interesting conversation on the Shan state. Dinner is great, 2000 MMK for a chicken byriani.
Impressions
Much more charming and less torrid than expected. I think the degree of appeal depends on the fact whether it is or not the point of arrival in Myanmar. The impact with the heat maybe can depend on the city of origin. Being in my case Bangkok, I felt even relieved.
EXCURSIONS
I was given myself an extra day of stay, according to my plans, but I happily change my mind after meeting José, Natalia and Rebeca who, having only a few days to visit all of Myanmar, and being able to spend only one day and a half in Mandalay, ask me to join them and share costs of private transport.
After having left the luggage in the rooms, and without even have a rest or lunch, we all go together in the street looking for a tuk tuk that takes us around the city (2500 MMK my share of costs, so 10 thousand in total).
The first stop is the Mahamuni Paya, one of the most important pagodas of the city, very popular
later the pagodas at the base of Mandalay Hill
and finally the Mandalay Hill,
on top of which dozens of students are waiting for us, to practice English. A storm of biblical proportions arrives
The next morning, a concentrate of the beauties that the city’s surroundings have to offer is waiting for us. Sagaing, Mingun, Inwa, Ubein. My friends leave tonight, I actually could afford to travel less quickly, but I’m afraid not to find others to share a taxi with, and doing everything by public transport would take too long. My amount of the share is 11500 MMK.
SAGAING
The visit to the U Min Thonze Cave leaves me a bit indifferent. Quite embarrassing to admit, but I’m much more interested in the souvenirs than to the long sequence of Buddha statues
Remarkable the Sagaing Hill, and the view from the temple of Y Ponya Soon Shin: hills dotted with golden temples, and the great Irrawaddy River in the background. I breath something particular in the air. I sense that this is the first taste of what the country has to offer me
MINGUN
Nothing special to remark. The large unfinished pagoda, that was supposed to become the largest ever built, is a not particularly attractive pile of bricks, in my humble opinion. Here I buy the Oredoo sim, 2500 MMK
INWA
Definitely the best of the 4, it deserves a deeper visit. Drawn carriage horses wait for the foreigners on the river bank. They take on board only two people, and the starting price is about 15-20 USD, but I have heard people complain that at halfway they ask more money, or go where they want. It is not true that the sites are distant tens of kilometers, as the coachmen say us to make us desist, however, since there are no indications, it is good to arrive here well prepared. I think the bicycles would be ideal. The area is too vast to explore on foot in 60/90 minutes, so, we limit ourselves to the nearest site, and another nearby. The good news is that we came across a village where there are no tourist
It’s very pleasant to walk through the fields, trying to see in the distance, over the treetops, the spire of spiers and golden stupa
Climbing over the fence of a side entrance, we do not pay the 10 USD tourist ticket. We do not feel guilty about it, because the money go to the Government, which shamelessly claimed they do not want to invest it in the maintenance of the sites. The Maha Aung Mye Bon Zan Monastery is beautifully almost deserted early in the afternoon, but I read that in the morning can be very crowded when hordes of cameras try to capture queues of monk with their bowls
U BEIN BRIDGE
Foreigners arrive on this teak bridge one kilometer long especially to take pictures of sunsets. Being there on Sunday, we meet a lot of locals, in a pleasant atmosphere of village festival. Many college students and monks gather here to meet tourists, and, again, practice English