Happy Wanderers: travel

Saturday, 13 June 2015

Myanmar: Bagan

Once we boarded the train to Bagan, we were greeted by some young girls who were going through the carriages trying to sell snacks to people before we set off. They were all fascinated by us and asked endless questions about Sam's blonde hair, our country and why we were in Myanmar. When the train finally left after a 30 minute wait at the station, we were all surprisingly comfortable in the spacious cabin that we had all to ourselves. It had two bunk beds on either side of the cabin, with plenty of room underneath to stow our rucksacks away, so we all sat back and enjoyed the views of the Myanmar countryside as the sunset. A few hours into the trip and after many rounds of ' Would You Rather', Sam and Rebecca decided to hunt down some hot water to make a cup of tea (how British!). They soon arrived with news of an Australian guy called Samuel who they found in the lower class carriage who they invited to join us. Apparently he had been squished on a bench with his legs hanging out of the window where they could have been ripped off by a lamppost, because he was too tall to get comfy any other way! Soon after, he came staggering into our cabin and it didn't take us long to realised how drunk and hilarious he was. Little did we know, we would bump into Samuel a few more times during our time in Asia and Australia. After telling us many stories about his travels and hitch-hiking experiences around the world, the conductor came demanding that he leave and go back to his seat, but he soon left after we lied and said he was our family and begged him to let Samuel stay, haha! It wasn't long before we were all exhausted and decided to go to bed. However, in the middle of the night, Sarah had to ask Rebecca to sleep on the top bunk instead because she woke up having a bit of a panic attack due to the lack of space up there and how bumpy the ride had become was making her feel ill!

After 17 hours of being stuck on the train, we finally arrived at Bagan and were picked up by someone from our hostel which was the Eden Motel. However, upon arrival we were told that we had to pay for the pick-up service although when we booked, they said it was complimentary, so after a brief argument with the taxi driver, he finally accepted that he wasn't going to win haha.. Wanderers 1 - 0 Taxi Driver! Once we settled into our room and had a quick freshen up, we headed out into the town for a walk and find somewhere to have dinner that evening where we were swiftly directed to Restaurant Row, anything you wanted, they had it! Italian, Indian, Burmese, Chinese, they even had a small cafe called 'Wetherspoons' that sold a lot of British meals which entertained us. Eventually, we split way with half of us going for Italian and half going for Indian.. both were really, really tasty with Rebecca even keeping some of her curry and rotis for breakfast, well done Bagan!

The next day Rebecca, Sophie and Sarah decided to head to Mount Popa which is an extinct volcano with the Popa Taungkalat Monastery (meaning 'Pedestal Hill) built at the base. They were picked up from the motel and put into the back of a pick up truck with lots of cushions and a roof as extra comfort for the hour long drive. The monastery is famous for being home to 37 nats (spirits), which are represented by statues at the base of the volcano. To get to the top, they had to climb the 777 steps and battle with the Macaque monkeys where they were greeted by a 360 degree panorama, many shrines and fantastic views of Mount Popa. The monastery is often confused with Mount Popa, which looms over it and is sometimes called Taung Ma Gyi (Burmese for 'Mother Hill').

Sam wasn't interested in going to Mount Popa and the monastery, and found a day trip to do instead where 3 local boys take a group of tourists on their boat to show them their favourite places in their local area. She was taken to a secluded beach, a village and a local children's school where she met some of the sweetest kids! She managed to book this through the motel we stayed at as an American man who lives in Bagan came up with the idea, and gathered the boys together to give them work. However they're currently struggling to get enough publicity to get a page on TripAdvisor and other tourism websites which is a shame as Sam only had amazing things to say about her day!

On our final day Rebecca, Sam and Sophie decided to hire some bicycles and ride to the many pagodas that surround the grounds of Bagan. Sarah decided to wait at the motel because Myanmar has soooo many pagodas that she felt they all start to look the same after a while, plus she was coming to the end of the Hunger Games book and couldn't get her head out of it! After a few hours, the girls were back from their bike ride and our pick up had arrived to take us to the bus station where we would move onto Kalaw. We weren't too keen to arrive there though as it's high up in the mountains and we heard it gets VERY cold!

Here are some photos from our time in Bagan:

Sarah on the train to Bagan!

Thoroughly enjoying the views :)

Local children playing football and waving to us

The amazing sunset on the way to Bagan

On the way to Mount Popa

The view from Taung Kalat (Pedestal Hill)

The steps to the top

Mount Popa

Plaques to honour the people who give donations to the monastery

Taung Kalat from a distance

The typical tourist shot haha!

Pagoda opposite Taung Kalat

Action shot of Sarah and Rebecca skipping around haha!

Rebecca joining the monastery LOL!

Peek-a-boo!

The Happy Wanderers

♥

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Myanmar: Yangon

Once we finally got our Myanmar visas granted after a few days wait in Bangkok, we decided to take the 8 hour sleeper bus to the Mae Sot border. Luckily they have a foreigner queue so we didn't have to wait hours in line with the locals just to get our stamp into the country! However, before we arrived in the country we had heard many warnings about Myanmar using the US dollar as their currency and only accepting pristine notes for payment. So whilst we were in Bangkok, we exchanged all our money into new US dollar notes only to be told at the border that they use their own currency, not the dollar. This made it more difficult to be able to purchase a bus ticket to get us from the border to Yangon but thankfully, a member of staff exchanged our dollars into the local currency (Burmese kyat) and helped us finally book our bus.

En route to Yangon, we had to board a local bus which drove us up through the mountains that had dirt, single-lane roads. This may not sound so bad but it was extremely nail biting when you're on a big coach and a foot away from a 50 ft drop off the cliffs! We were very grateful that these roads were only an hours worth of the 8 hour bus journey and felt relieved to get back onto smooth tarmac until we arrived in Yangon early hours of the morning. We stayed at the Four Rivers Hostel which was quite pricey for our budget because hostels aren't 'a thing' in Burma yet but it was definitely worth the extra few pounds! The dorm room had the most amazing bunkbeds with the softest, fluffiest blanket and pillow we've experienced since we'd left home. It also came with breakfast included which was unlimited toast and hot drinks.

For our first evening, we decided to visit the local lake which we were told had great views of the pagoda at sunset as it reflected in the water and the sun shone off of it's golden roof. We were slightly disappointed by the view that we got as it was mostly blocked by trees and the sky was too cloudy for an amazing sunset that we had envisioned, but the park itself was still a very pretty and peaceful place to end the day. On our way back to the hostel, we decided to stop at a Thai restaurant for dinner but were shocked at the prices on the menu. They were reasonable for people on their holidays but not cheap enough for our standards, but Sam managed to find unlimited boiled rice for 50p which we all ordered. The waiter looked at us stupid when we said that was all we wanted, and when the food was brought to us, they all gathered around to watch the poor people feast on rice, haha! It wasn't as bad as it sounds because luckily they gave us nuts, chillies, soy sauce etc to add into the dish to make it less bland but it was still a hilarious situation to find ourselves in!

However, the fun didn't end there as when we got back to the hostel, Sarah decided to allow Rebecca to give her a haircut even though she is definitely not qualified to do so but desperate times call for desperate measures! It was decided that Rebecca would only cut about an inch off but soon, she lost concentration and somehow, managed to cut off around 3 inches 'on accident'. Luckily, Sam was there to guide Rebecca and ensure that she was cutting straight so it didn't turn out bad in the end. Good job ladies!

The main attraction in Yangon is the Shwedagon Pagoda as it is one of the most famous in the world. It sits atop of a hill and is 99 metres high which means it can be seen from most places in Yangon during the day and night. It's gold-plated dome is topped by a stupa containing over 7,000 diamonds, rubies, topaz and sapphires with a huge emerald positioned to reflect the sunlight which is why it can be referred to as "the crown of Burma". The pagoda itself is said to contain eight hair of the Buddha which adds to it's prestige and is why Buddhists feel compelled to visit the site at least once in their lifetime.

We decided it was time to leave for Bagan by train so set off to find the ticket office which apparently doesn't exist. After asking multiple people for directions who didn't speak English and being sent on a wild goose chase for over an hour around the city, we found the station only to be told we couldn't buy the tickets until the day of departure. Ideal! Next morning, we got up really early to make sure we got our tickets for the dreaded train (see next post for details) .. Onto Bagan!