Traveling

REALLY traveling

Ok, so after doing nothing in Hsipaw for a couple of days, I found people willing to go up north with me- a place not many travelers go to, mainly bc it's so out of the way and difficult to get to.
I had been waffling between going up north on my own and just hanging out around Hsipaw and/or Mandalay... thank goodness I went up North.
We left Hsipaw in the morning and got to Mandalay around 2- luckliy the train was leaving around 6 so we had plenty of time.
The train: definitely the highlight of my trip- well I guess one of them- it lasted 29.5 hours. It was on this leg of the trip that the whole "it's in the journey, not the destination" clicked. I relaxed on the bench, stuck my feet out the windows (there was no glass or anything, just open windows) and let the scenery fly by. Have I told you Burma makes me think of the scenery in Apocalypse Now? Not in a bad way, it's just so jungle out here...
So I lay back and listened to the tocktock.... tocktock.... tocktock.... of the train as it (very slowly) rode along. It's such a beautiful sound and we were swinging back and forth a bit and bouncing a little.
The people behind us , some sort of Christian group, were singing Christmas carols in burmese so that was ok to listent o for a bit. Finally, Henry took the guitar away from them and started playing some bluesy stuff- now that was great!
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I tucked my pants into my socks so the mice on the train woudln't run up my jeans
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Henry got coffee at ne of the stops from a little boy running along the side of the train- he brought it in a bag with a straw
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I run off the train to buy my lunch in a plastic bag and as we swing off clockclockclockclock I look back and the whole stand is standing there smiling and waving. Amazing.

We got to Mytkyina at 1130pm and were brought to 'the cheapest guest house available'. Turned out it was only for Burmese and we werent actually allowed to stay there, but at least we only found that out in the morning! It cost 1$ each. Cheapest accommodation so far.

We wanted to take the boat from Mytkina to Bhamo to Katha and continue all the way to Mandalay which should have taken 2 days 1 night. Once we got to Mytkyina we asked right away about getting to Bhamo by boat. Everyone told us it was impossible... but we persisted- to the point that Soo Jin and I were on the beach at 10pm with flashlights going up to random boats and asking them to take us. Now who said there was no adventure? (no one really but i digress)
So we found a couple of boats who were willing to smuggle us aboard (i'm not kidding) but they were asking far too much money so we refused.
Took the bus the next morning. I use the term 'bus' loosely. It was an open air pickup with seats high up and cargo below- my feet were dangling most of the ride... Check out the photos- theres one of the contraption and one of me with my head scarf and hat and sweater covering my entire being head to toe- sand was a lot to handle. The scenery was amazing between Mytkyina and Bhamo- jungle mountains and dirt roads. And our driver was insane, so I obviously fell in love. ;)
Got to bhamo at 5 and had planned on sticking around but the boat left the next morning and I really wanted to get to Bangkok for xmas so I decided to leave. Soo Jin and Henry did too, but they decided to stop in Katha. I bought a ticket for a cabin (54$) and they got deck tickets (4$).
We went out that nite in Bhamo and played pool which was fun for me. I love playing pool. Only one game tho bc well, we werent all that great.
Next morning took the boat- I met my roomie- a gorgeous and friendly woman who had just gotten a promotion to Yangon with the Health Dept. She was alab technician in a hos[ital.
Now the boat should have taken 2days and a night but it ended up taking 3days 2 nites, which was not bad at all really. I loved my roommate to death- she was feeding me half the time and teaching me Burmese and she was just always happy. Also, she would really only eat and sleep and read. Just like me!
So after getting into Manadalay I booked a ticket out of Yangon to Bangkok for the 24th, and a bus to Yangon.
So thats it. From Thurs 6am to Fri 7am (181 hrs) I was in transit for 112 hrs. And all of it was great. If I were to return to Burma I would head up north immediately- it's just so untouched and beautiful.
So that's Burma for you. If any of you have any questions about it, or are planning on heading there pls let me know bc there is so much more than this- I just can't get everything up...

posted by jjoollee @ 6:54 AM