The train took me slowly
south to the old British capital of Burma, Moulmein made famous by
Kipling
"By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the Temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Mandalay by Kipling
I also stood at the top of that pagoda and had a wonderful view...
The train there was a wonderful experience - British pre-war narrow gauge tracks and Chinese carriages make for unhappy bed fellows - top speed 15mph and the carriage wobble was amazing - gave plenty time to enjoy the countryside and for people to hop on and off selling snacks
"By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the Temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Mandalay by Kipling
I also stood at the top of that pagoda and had a wonderful view...
The train there was a wonderful experience - British pre-war narrow gauge tracks and Chinese carriages make for unhappy bed fellows - top speed 15mph and the carriage wobble was amazing - gave plenty time to enjoy the countryside and for people to hop on and off selling snacks
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| Beautiful South Myanmar countryside |
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| Villages seen from the train |
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| Snack seller on the train |
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| Thanaka on the cheeks of a kid on the train a form of traditional make up worn by most women and young kids |
In Mawlamyine (the new name) there was a more relaxed air - I
hired a moped and whizzed down the empty roads to take in exotic temples and huge reclining Buddha's You could walk inside this one!
One thing that is reaslly noticeable is the ever present smiles on the people here. With what they have had to put it with for the last 50 years you could have excused them for being grumpy but not a bit of it - they are very honest people with a desire to help the traveler get the most out if their trip - so refreshing!
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| Fortune Teller at the temple |
The town also had it's fair share of colonial buildings and churches
After a few days I headed North on a very uncomfortable overnight bus - I
still haven't mastered the art of sleeping in one of those things - not
helped by the fact that overnight buses in Myanmar arrive at their
destinations at the oddest hours - generally around 4 in the morning!
Check in to your hotel at 4am? - not a problem sir - told you they like
to help here - try doing that in the UK!
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| Shan State - land of monasteries! |
I was in Shan State towards the north of Myanmar You can really see what 50 years of poor government
isolationism has done here
The people of Shan State
There is a huge lake here called Inle - a popular tourist destination - I think you can see why!!
Life on Inle lake - note the unusual way the fishermen have of rowing - with their feet! It's so they can keep an eye on the bottom of the lake which is very shallow in places
Another long and windy overnight bus took me further north into Shan State to Hsipaw - trekking country- this area is not long reopened to foreigners. Myanmar has it's share of ethnic conflict and there are still many areas that you either need a permit to go to or are excluded from completely
It was straight off the bus and straight on the trek - luckily it was fairly easy going...
The way of life is very basic here - mud floors and bamboo houses no running water or electricity - all while the ruling generals were salting away millions on their overseas bank accounts They were always manipulating the currency bringing out new denomination notes at the drop of a hat - one general had a favourite number of 9 so notes had to be divisible by this number hence the very strange 45 kyat note! They also took it upon themselves to suddenly take notes out of circulation - overnight - leaving people with bundles if useless currency - which they couldn't swap for new notes!
Thankfully those crazy days are behind them but this is still a country with a constitution that says that 25% of MPs must be military and that anyone with a foreign spouse or even kids born in another country can't be president - now who could that apply to I wonder?!!
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| River houses on stilts |
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| Cutting Cane |
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| Which Way? |
The people of Shan State
There is a huge lake here called Inle - a popular tourist destination - I think you can see why!!
Life on Inle lake - note the unusual way the fishermen have of rowing - with their feet! It's so they can keep an eye on the bottom of the lake which is very shallow in places
Another long and windy overnight bus took me further north into Shan State to Hsipaw - trekking country- this area is not long reopened to foreigners. Myanmar has it's share of ethnic conflict and there are still many areas that you either need a permit to go to or are excluded from completely
It was straight off the bus and straight on the trek - luckily it was fairly easy going...
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| Myanmar spends 3 times at much on the military as health and education combined...this is a school |
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| Ancient Banyan tree |
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| Late afternoon on the trek Myanmar is famed for this golden light |
The way of life is very basic here - mud floors and bamboo houses no running water or electricity - all while the ruling generals were salting away millions on their overseas bank accounts They were always manipulating the currency bringing out new denomination notes at the drop of a hat - one general had a favourite number of 9 so notes had to be divisible by this number hence the very strange 45 kyat note! They also took it upon themselves to suddenly take notes out of circulation - overnight - leaving people with bundles if useless currency - which they couldn't swap for new notes!
Thankfully those crazy days are behind them but this is still a country with a constitution that says that 25% of MPs must be military and that anyone with a foreign spouse or even kids born in another country can't be president - now who could that apply to I wonder?!!
Elections are taking place here in November - people would
love to see Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party
get in but as you can see the constitution isn't helping - the people
really want a government that doesn't spend 3 times the amount on
defence as it does on health and education combined!
Anyway I digress...! Back from my trek I hopped on another train and wound my way slowly make that very slowly to the old British Hall Station of Maymyo now unhelpfully renamed Pyin Oo Lwin
This was probably my favourite little town here. The little town here The British use to like to escape the punishing heat of Moulmein and Rangoon - the temperature here is a good 10 degrees cooler
They came and built mock Tudor houses many if which stand today One of them was the old British "club" - the centre of the colonial ex-pat social scene - now being redeveloped into an hotel of course
After my R&R at the Hill Station if was time to hit...
The Road to Mandalay!
Anyway I digress...! Back from my trek I hopped on another train and wound my way slowly make that very slowly to the old British Hall Station of Maymyo now unhelpfully renamed Pyin Oo Lwin
This was probably my favourite little town here. The little town here The British use to like to escape the punishing heat of Moulmein and Rangoon - the temperature here is a good 10 degrees cooler
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| The old British Club |
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| It could be Surrey!! |
They came and built mock Tudor houses many if which stand today One of them was the old British "club" - the centre of the colonial ex-pat social scene - now being redeveloped into an hotel of course
After my R&R at the Hill Station if was time to hit...
The Road to Mandalay!
