Myanmar Stories part 4 (Monkey Children, Fish and Busses)

5/1/06

Happy new year. Wow a week has just rushed by. We are now in Nyaungshwe which is a touristy town on the northern end of Inle Lake. So far it seems like nice town, pretty clean (I guess that’s the tourists influence) The only dirty part so far is unfortunately around an old stupa complex ruin with children playing in a tree doing their best probocis monkey impression leaping arms and legs spread from one branch to another. Today is for relaxing and tomorrow is for the boat trip.

Before I forget, I have to mention the Shan fish dinner we had last night. It pays to ask the waiter what the best dish is. We were recommended the hot steamed fish. He said it was steamed over a fire, we thought he meant in the kitchen. We had vegetables and stuffed tofu (very nice) first and then the waiter brought out a wooden board with an oval pot filled with hot coals and resting on top was a dish filled with a whole fish covered in ginger, garlic, and other fragrant vegetables in a simmering stock. The fish was a bottom dwelling type but didn’t taste muddy at all. The meat slid off the bones it was just magic.



Now back to my last entry. We left excitement filled Kinpun for Mawlamyang (moulmien), a quiet river/seaside town which was pretty clean and it didn’t smell bad. We stayed in a Chinese guest house in a nice old building on the riverfront. We didn’t really do much except wander around the temples on the hill and through the back streets of town, where we met millions of smiling children all, wanting their picture taken, who proceeded to follow us around for a short while. The kids always make a town so much better than it otherwise would be. While hanging around on the terrace of the guest house we had a couple of long conversations with a Finnish man who has been traveling in South East Asia for about 20 years in short trips every year. He (we are so bad at not exchanging names with people) is a retired teacher who travels and is making a 1 Ha formal garden. What a life hey.

Typical transort for cargo and people Mawlamyaing (photo by Katie)


A Tobbaco Free School Mawlamyaing


Sunset Mawlamyaing


From Mawlamyaing we took the overnight bus to Bago and arrived at 3:30am. Luckily we got a room in a hotel straight away so we got a little sleep. We woke, booked tickets to Inle Lake for that afternoon and went for a walk around town. All we found was rubbish and beggars. We took refuge in a tea shop where we took pictures of the little tea shop princess in her formal Chinese dress while she strutted around and told the men what to do. She was all of 5 years old.

We got our 2pm bus at about 3 pm and found that we were on an ok bus for a premium bus price. We appeared to be making good time until we hit the mountains some time in the early hours. These roads are not made for busses let alone busses with worn out suspension. We rocked and occasionally crunched our way and arrived at 7:30 which was on time if you factored in the initial delay. The early morning ride in the mountain was bitterly cold. There was even frost on the ground. I managed to fashon my sarong into a warm hat and wear a t-shirt on the outside of my shirt to keep warm.