One hour out of Yangon on the number 43 bus is the Yangon main bus station; It's more like a small town populated by buses. The amount of people that smile and wave is incredible. Everyone offers to help carry my bag and ask to see my ticket, then ushering me deeper into muddy bus town; how anyone knows where anything is here is beyond me! Directed by countless people I arrive at a concrete room housing the bus company I'm travelling with. Once checked on I grab some noodles and watch the world go by for an hour. There's no other tourists to be seen anywhere.
The bus is described as a sleeper but only as in you might be able to sleep, sitting up, while the bus bounces and judders, all night. The tilt on my seat doesn't seem to work too well, but the lady in front tilts hers back fine. I use this setup to my advantage and wedge my head between the back of her headrest and my bag, which is now on my lap. The bus stops so many times, all through the night; after a few times I don't even bother getting off the bus. You can see the rest stops from about 4km away as they have lasers, neon signs, flashing full-size palm trees and loud music from a giant Samsung TV.
I'm woken up abruptly and told this is my stop. I blearily look at my watch (5am) and get off the bus. I now have to go 15km to Nyaung Shwe and the only option (short of waiting hours for a bus in the rain) is to get a taxi. As I'm alone I reluctantly stump up 7,000 Kyat (locals can apparently take this journey for 500) and pay a $5 entrance fee to the lake area, as it's a national park. I feel like I've been fleeced!
I get a room at the Nandawunn for $11 a night (down from $16). Nyaung Shwe is said to be the the most touristic place in Myanmar and the prices reflect this. The focus of the tourism is a beautiful lake surrounded by misty mountains peppered with hundreds of Pagodas. The lake is 22km long but you can't stroll around it as there's no paths. People get about on boats, and the houses and businesses around the lake and rivers are all stilted. I join 3 Chinese people and hire a boat and driver for the day (3,000 Kyat each). The boats are long and fast; we shoot down the river and into the lake past a huge welcome sign. We approach traditional fishermen who row using their right foot in a figure-eight motion, while standing. It looks extremely difficult but leaves their hands free to collect or distribute the nets. We leave the south side of the lake and enter a network of muddy fast flowing rivers. The driver skillfully manouvers the long boat around tight corners and through narrow stilted villages. The trip is well worth the money, here's what we saw;
- Cigar making
- Cotton weaving
- Silk weaving
- Boat making
- Lotus weaving
- Silversmith
- Food market
- Paper making
- Various temples
- Jumping cat monastery
Yep, Monks, in their spare time, have taught the cats to jump through hoops, for treats. There must be 10 or 11 cats of varying sizes and skills in jumping. One in particular is obviously the king and gracefully flies through hoop after hoop. When the cats aren't jumping they sleep and wash amongst the many Buddhas. At the end of the day we dart north across the lake smoking some hand-rolled cigars and back up the river into Nyaung Shwe. Me and a Chinese girl on the boat learn we share the same birthday and perform the "birthday twin" hug, then part company.
It rains a lot in the rainy season. I didn't see blue sky once. This does however mean fewer tourists; there's barely anyone here. Umbrella's are essential, as is ducking into a cafe when a particularly heaviy downpour appears. One of these cafe's was Indra; a tiny little Indian with four tables and a warm welcome from Miss Indra, her daughters and brother. The first time here I ate a mutton curry with chapathi and chilli and mango side dishes, the second time I had a tandoori; both delicious. Speaking with Miss Indra's brother he talks about how he had drawn plans for a website, but doesn't know how to put one together. As the food's so good I offer the services of Bishshat to build the site and get some free chai ;)
Waiting for the bus out I managed to catch some of the Olympics in a little cafe. It was women's cycling. Despite the rain I had a deep hankering to be back in London; I've cycled those exact streets many times. The Brazilian leader was causing much merriment among the Burmese men I was sitting with!
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| Women's cycling - good spectator sport |
You can see all of my photos here
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