The Wanderings of busman7

Yangon is a big city of around 5 million so it’s not particularly to my liking as with all cities (Toronto included) you have to constantly be on the watch for rip-off artists. That said it’s pretty tame on the scam side so not bad for a 3 day stay (that seems to be about right on the average for a new place to decide if it requires longer or it’s time to move on).

Must admit that even though Motherland (US$10/night, air-con & TV) is in the city it’s setup very well with outside tables for guests in front of the setback building which were well used with most all getting to know each other & trading experiences. Also noticed that those in Myanmar are a bit more knowledgeable, socially aware & have a more free thinking attitude than your run of the mill traveler!

Purchased my train tickets & the morning of departure was up at 03:15 to get ready & have breakfast, 24 hr service at Motherland (Cool)!! to catch taxi at 04:00 for the train station where te departure was 05:00 for the 16 hour trip on the local (flag) train to Mandalay where we arrived on time which apparently is the exception.

Upon arrival the touts were onboard the upper class car train in milli seconds of stopping but the guy I used to take my bag had his tricycle parked nearby & took me straight to the Royal Guest House ($8/night with fan as hydro is off more than on & generators can’t handle A/C) trip of 4-5 blocks for a total cost of 1000 Kyat ($1 US) so I arranged a city tour with him for today part on his tricycle & part with his brother’s “Blue Taxi” which is a blue Mazda pickup, super cool way to see the town & only 20,000 Kyat ($20) for the day (1/2 the price of Yangon).

Now a trip on a tricycle (pedal bike with sidecar) after dark in Mandalay is better than any midway ride as you are on the low end of the food chain with the trucks, buses, cars, motor bikes & scooters being bigger & driving as every where in Asia is a is a big game of chicken where the bravest go first. Also of course lights are optional!!

So far I have found Myanmar people to be great costs are CHEAP & this is in the cities, heading for a couple smaller towns Hsipaw (pop. 15,000) & Pyin U Lwin an old British colonial town (pop. 80,000) tomorrow. then back to overnight here in Mandalay before catching the twice weekly slow boat to the tourist trap of Bagan with it’s 4400 temples. Myanmar is a Super destination for travelers looking an off the beaten track experience but tourists need not bother!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 22:02 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.