Mandalay to Bagan

06/03/2012 7:27 AM

So its another beautiful morning in Myanmar. I awoke early for sunrise this morning. Seeing it come up from the top of my hotel over Mandalay was quite the site. Things in this country seem to start early, really early. By 6 AM local pick-ups (the local busses) were full of locals going to and from market with their produce, monks wandering the streets picking up their day’s food and children in the semi-clean uniforms going to school. It was magnificent.

Today, I am off to Bagan by boat. While they call this a cruise ship, it is more of a giant steel ship with some airline style seats installed. It’s not all the bad really, as is probably as close to luxury as one comes in this country without getting involved with the government. I’ve got an assigned seat with lots of legroom and am free to roam the other decks which have bamboo style reclining chairs. I am somewhat at a lose. I almost wish I had opted to take the bus to Bagan and mingle with all the locals; this boat is full of retired Americans on packaged tours of Myanmar. They are nice, but I cant help the feeling that they ruin the experience with their SLR Nikons, socks and sandals, and their floppy hats. Nonetheless, it should be a beautiful and relaxing journey – one that I should not soon forget. 

The journey itself is to take between six and eight hours depending on currents. I believe it will be more like eight given that it is the dry season and the river is relatively calm. However, I am very much looking forward to the next eight hours as it will give me some much needed time to catch up on some writing and reading that I have either been too busy or too tired to do in the last few days. 

I am not going to lie, I am beginning to stress about money. Prices seemed to have doubled if not tripled for all transportation and hotels from all the guide books and research I have done. For example, my hotel in Mandalay was going to supposed to originally cost $8 a night, it has now nearly tripped and I ended up paying $20 a night... the same goes for Bagan. As with the massive influx of tourism, supply has not caught up to demand and there is huge inflation on everything tourist related. This boat alone for example was supposed to cost $25, even after massive research to ensure that my hotel was not taking a huge commission, it cost me $40. I am stressed about money and it will leave me with only a day or two max back in Yangon before I will be forced to fly out. There are alternative ways of getting money, but most revolve around luxury hotels that will give cash advances on credit cards with anywhere between 10-25% commission... so while this is an option in a worse case scenario, it is not something I am planning on. Either way, I fell like by the time I get to Yangon I will be ready to head back to Thailand for some relaxation and rest in some ultra cheap luxury hotel in either Bangkok or Chang Mai.

At this point, I am planning to fly from Bagan to Inle lake as it is known as possible the worst bus route in the country. This will also save me a day in transit but will cost me about $65. Like I said above, I am stressed about money, but if I can keep my day-to-day costs down… I should not have much problem unless I encounter some unknowns. The reason I am talking about taking the bus to Inle Lake is partly because it would save me some money, but it would also provide me an opportunity to mix with the locals. However, perhaps a 12 hour ride in the back of a pick-up over dirt roads is not the best opportunity. I will think about it. Most likely however, I will choose to fly, simply to save time. 

Something I have been meaning to write about and a question that has been in my mind for the past week now, is the food in Myanmar and more importantly, why has Tony Bourdain not been here? Well I think there are obvious logistical reasons, but to put it blantly, the food here is not something really worthy of mention. It mostly consists of oily curries, fishy tasting sauces and a culmination of mushy-textured dishes. Tofu pure served with a fish based chile…. Not all that great really. Another interesting fact: in most of the rest of SE Asia it is cheaper to eat out then it is to cook at home and I am talking about the locals. In places like Thailand and Vietnam, you will see small local eateries everywhere with dirt cheap food for about 50 cents. Here, on the other hand, restaurants seem to be expensive. One generally does not leave without spending about $5 for a small bowl of curry and some rice. So most of what I have been surviving off of is the free breakfast in my hotel, which I have come to love.. more on this later, and snacks from the local supermarkets. My breakfast at the hotel consists of eggs and toast. But the bread they use is soooooo good. Its almost like Chala bread, yet better and without as much egg wash. It is served with fresh butter… I mean like really fresh butter. Like butter that was churmed the morning of. It is also served with some sort of Pineable jam or Marmalade which has become my favority thing. It’s a sweet, sticky, pineapple tasting think marmalade. It is wonderful. The coffe here is crap as it is a tea-drinking culture. But they do give you an individual pot which gives about 8 cups so I guess quantity makes up for quality. Most of the coffee they serve comes from a generic product known as 3 in 1. Instant coffee, powdered milkand sugar. But it works and definitely has some caffeine. 

Its 7:50 AM and my boat has not left port yet. I’ve got eight hours ahead of me and am going to try and save some power on my laptop for some writing later in the journey. 

All for now