Experience of a Lifetime – Myanmar – Part 3
Mandalay
MandalayHil
From Kalaw I would move on to Mandalay, where I have the most interesting encounter with a trishaw driver, Mr Win Tin. Mr Win Tin offered to drive me around Mandalay. I told him I would get him to give me a ride down to U Bein Bridge in the afternoon if he was still around when I came back after a walk around the town. I walked away thinking that he would not be waiting at the same spot after a span of a few hours since he could ferry other tourists around. Guess what! Mr Win Tin was still there when I walked back in the afternoon. He had no customer from morning to almost 3 pm in the afternoon. Life certainly is not easy in Myanmar! Anyway I struck adeal with him to bring me to U Bein Bridge to watch the sunset for 3,000 Kyats.
Along the way, I found out that Mr Win Tin was in his forties and rented a trishaw everyday. He could speak English well and was knowledgeable. He appreciated independent travellers as they would contribute directly to the locals’ earnings as compared to tourists who signed up with the government tour agencies. The best sunset that I saw during the trip was at U Bein Bridge and I really thanked Mr Win Tin for bringing me there.
Final Destination
My final leg in Myanmar was to Bagan where I stayed in Nyaung U. I rented a one-speed China made, Hero brand bicycle from the hotel for 500 Kyats. One would immediately start to feel the spirit of Old Bagan .
There are simply too many great pagodas in Bagan. A few magnificent ones are Thanibyinnyu Pahto, Gawdawpalin Pahto and Ananda Paht. It was a pity that the staircases leading up to the second and third levels terraces of these pagodas were barricaded. After two hours of walking and cycling I felt tired and took a rest at a local restaurant. I spent some time sitting and chatting with the restaurant owners. One of their family friends (named Zaw Zaw) was an artist and started to join in the chat. With evening approaching, I left the restaurant to find a good spot to capture the sunset.
With my map I navigated to some unknown pagoda where I did get my shots. Then came the challenging part- cycling in the dark. It was different cycling in the dark. You could feel some insects bumping into your face while you were cycling on the dirt track. The main road was better but there were no lamp posts to light the path. I was cycling slowly and at times vehicles behind shone the path for me with their head lights.
Temple at Old Bagan
The next day I decided to venture further by going to New Bagan which was several kilometres away from Old Bagan. In 1990, the residents in Old Bagan were given one week notice to move from Old Bagan to New Bagan. New Bagan was just plots of peanut fields then. New Bagan was quieter, though there were some guesthouses there. I did more pagoda visiting and in a twist of fate, I saw Zaw Zaw, the artist I met the day before at the restaurant. He was selling his art pieces there and warmly invited me for a cup of tea afterwards.
Something interesting happened that night. There was a stage show going on which was similar to our lunar seventh month Ge-tai show. They have drama, songs and dance. The only difference was that the show can last from 9 pm to 6 am in the morning. In between they just blasted music from the loudspeakers. Obviously I did not sleep a wink that night as I could hear the music from my room loud and clear. Lesson learnt-Bring ear plugs!
When it was time to leave Myanmar, I realised that the beauty of this country is in the people and its beautiful scenery. Never mind the political situation, I would recommend you to visit Myanmar and experience it yourself.
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