Lashio, Myanmar

4am at Mandalay station. I feel exhausted. The first-class carriage has covers on the wooden benches! This was to be my home for the next 18 hours (320km), but at least I have a whole bench to myself. The train is quite empty, there's no other tourists here. As soon as the train whistles out of the station I curl up on the bench and grab three hours sleep. I'm woken up by hot beams of sunlight and general noise as the train pulls into a station. I get off the train and blunder about amongst the chaos looking for something to feed my western caffeine habit. There's school kids everywhere, laughing and running about. Food and drink sellers push away hungry dogs.

The long journey to school

One stop wasn't a station stop. I leaned out of the window to see what was happening and heard clunking and scraping noises. Shortly afterwards we started going backwards, and uphill. I noticed that we were leaving the other line we'd arrived on. Assuming this was a one-off I sat back down, but 10 minutes later we stopped, clunked and groaned and started going backwards (forwards), and again steep uphill. This zig-zag continued up the side of quite a large, steep hill! An hour later we plateaued and the view down the valley we'd climbed was magnificent! We continued on through countless villages with amazing names, dropping kids off as we went.

Me taking a picture of Chris taking a picture

My favourite station name, containing my favourite Burmese character

Monks and horse-cart taxis at Pyin Oo Lwin

The workhorse train - this thing is noisy

The train slowed right down to a crawl for ages. We were in a carved valley, barely wide enough for the train to fit through. Out of the window in the distance I could see two men down by the side of the tracks. As we got closer I could see that they were inspecting the tracks, as the train went over a ditch. I can only assume the old tracks were replaced and they were using us as a guinea pig! The train creaked and rocked safely over and the view opened up revealing an enormous gorge, spanned by the even more enormous Gokteik viaduct (the largest in the British empire when it was built in 1901). As we rounded the corner we passed a soldier (who refused to smile or wave) in a bunker, guarding the strategically important viaduct with a large fixed machine gun! The train once again slowed. Over the bridge everyone leaned out of the windows for a glimpse into the chasm! Far below is another track, possibly the old line before the viaduct was build - or a secret military line to somewhere unknown :)

Crossing a huge canyon

Zzz

Cutting through the bushes

We past many villages and got further and further east. The train was now cutting through jungle, if no train were to come I'm sure the tracks would be covered in weeks. Most of the foliage was coming into the car and landing at my feet. The train was also now rocking and jumping a LOT. At times you could leave your seat or get thrown into the wall - a couple of times I was convinced the train had left the track! We cruised into Lashio at 10pm and a tuk-tuk driver took us to Thi Da Aye (Cool water). The room was dirt cheap at $5 each. It was a tiny, dim room, in the basement of a posh business hotel. It was right next to a squat toilet! Completely tired we took the room and crashed.

Next day we wanted to hire motorbikes. Asking around it was clear that there was no tourist rental places (or indeed tourists). We asked some locals but they were reluctant to lend us their bikes. We were told that we would attract a lot of attention on bikes, and we wouldn't be able to go far as there were military checkpoints to the east on the road to China. We bailed that idea and went for a walk instead. Possibly every person we passed said hello and wanted to talk, or just looked on like we were two aliens fresh from Mars! There's not exactly much in the way of tourist attractions in Lashio, and we  noticed a sign for an amusement park!  Entering the park kids scattered into groups and laugh-whispered about us. There's was a tiny pirate ship, a large statue (which we climbed), an amusement arcade with some seriously old games in and a roller-skating rink!! We popped on some boots and prepared to break our legs, or arms, or both. The local kids were highly amused and raced us, winning every time of course. My boots were so old and worn that the wheels each wanted to go different directions, which meant I did also! Battered and bruised and extremely sweaty we got talking to a local student called Wai Yan Moe Tain (English name: Terry), who wanted to practice English and show us around his town. That afternoon he took us to some of his favourite food haunts.

My second travel mascot, Woody, was abducted by a little girl from a wedding - I didn't have the heart to take it back from her, she liked him so much.

The girl on the left - Woodys new owner

Next day I woke early - Chris wasn't in bed. I went to reception to see if he was there and the receptionist said he'd come in the middle of the night and wanted a room with toilet, the only one they had was a $30 room and he took it! I went up to see him. He was violently sick in the night, and had spent hours in the small dirty squat toilet next to our room before deciding to get an en-suite! He was still feeling rough so I got him some water and salt-powders. He slept most of the day, checking out of the $30 room at the last minute - any longer and he would've been charged another night. 

Conqueror

English name "Terry"

Lasho rollerskating park

Yan time Aung Pagoda

Hanoi, Vietnam

(We're in Hanoi three times, using it as a base to go to Ha Long bay then Sapa then to the south. I'll put all three times in this post to keep it together)

1st time (14th April 2012)

New country! The third country on my trip (not counting the brief scout into Bangkok). The only option from the airport to Hanoi old quarter seems to be a taxi. Very nicely they tell us that another (Australian) couple are also going that way and we should share a cab with them. We will see this couple at many random intervals in Vietnam! The cab journey was extremely serene. The driver was very cautious. I thought it was just because my last reference was India, where nothing's serene, but the Australians thought to too. On arrival at the Hanoi old quarter we split from the Australians and walk about the main street looking for some cheap accommodation. Things are a lot easier here, everything feels a lot more western. Language is a bigger barrier here; English is not as widely spoken as in India, but it's extremely easy to pick up and recognise certain words. The main street in the French old quarter is bustling with people chatting, eating and drinking on tiny little bright blue or red plastic chairs. Motorbikes buzz about constantly with two, three, four and five people (and sometimes animals) on-board. We come across a hotel called the Queen palace. It's $15 a night for a twin room. Nothing special, just functional. As it's late and we're shattered from travelling for what seems like an eternity we take it and, after a quick local beer, pass out.

Next day we grab the free breakfast of baguette, fried egg and a cheese triangle then head out. The roads are infinitely busier now but still no-where near as crazy as India. The coffee here is extremely surprising at first. It tastes strong, almost like liquorish, and is very sweet when mixed with condensed milk. I assumed I would gain a kick from the caffeine but there was almost nothing. Is this because of my new mountain dew addiction? (which you can't get in Vietnam). What happened to the caffeine? Vietnam is the number two coffee exporter in the world (after Brazil), exporting double the amount of Colombia, so maybe they sell all the good stuff elsewhere, like Sri Lanka does with tea. I was a little disappointed, but still love the unique flavour.

You want buy hat?

Over the next two days we mostly say no thank you to people trying to sell you everything and anything. The variety of things to buy is mind-boggling. Wanting to ditch the stained, sweaty t-shirts I've been wearing for the last two months, and with Talitha threatening not to travel any further with me, I searched high and low for something with NO logo on it (to no avail). I don't need a t-shirt with Vietnamese beer logos and I definitely do not want one with "iPHO" emblazoned on the front. Just a nice, plain t-shirt would be lovely.

The food is just delicious. PHO (noodles) and COM (rice) with either GA (chicken) or BO (beef), and a side order of spring rolls and washed down with a BIA or CA PHE (I'll let you work those two out). The food is most delicious from the tiniest little street cafe's, where they might also serve BIA HOI: home-brewed, un-licenced, super-cheap and refreshing beer (quality does vary mind!) I learned last night, from a Dutch / Vietnamese girl, that the little accents that look like question marks mean you pronounce the word like a question, with an upwards inflection - even though it might not be a question.

For the second night we find a dorm in a hostel called May de Ville. It's $6 a night so not particularly cheap but it was amazing in every way. They booked our open bus ticket, booked the Ha Long and booked the Sapa tour, all with phone support if we needed it (thanks to ......). They had a free breakfast on the lovely rooftop cafe, the beds were big and comfortable and the shower was amazing. The only issue was the wi-fi in the rooms. It was shockingly bad to non-existent, despite the constant badgering (from everyone) of the technical guy. It was fine in reception though. For your information May de Ville also have a hotel in Hanoi, which I assume is severely more expensive! Next stop Ha Long bay

2nd time (18th April 2012)

The second time in Hanoi we literally arrive back from Ha Long bay in the afternoon. We go back to the May de Ville hostel who very kindly let us rest and use the internet until our bus arrived. We're recommended some pho by the doorman at the hostel. The cafe is tiny (maybe 8 seats) and is tucked down a back alley. This turns out to be the best pho I'll have in Vietnam. Cue the night bus to Sapa!

3rd time (23rd April 2012)

Arriving at 6am from Sapa on a night bus. Broken sleep and the after-effects of Nytol are never good for your head together. Swamped by people wanting to take us to the old quarter we jump in a taxi. After all this time on the bus and now in a taxi I desperately need to walk, so jump out as soon as we reach the town.

The sleeper bus. Complete with FREEZING A/C.

We only have a day here and May de Ville very kindly let us have a private room for a shower and a sleep for a few hours, with free breakfast! (I cannot recommend this hostel enough). In the afternoon I go for a walk around the lake and meet a Vietnamese student lawyer who wishes to better his English. I spend two hours with him. His English was good, but pronunciation bad, except when he sang, when it was amazing! Sitting by a lake with a Vietnamese student singing Beatles songs to you is a surreal experience. Once done with the lake I find a Korean restaurant and grab some food. I have a new found love of Korean food.

Yummmmm