Tis a wet old day in Bagan and I wanted to eat some good old fashioned western food and so I went for Pizza, freshly made at the wood fired pizza restaurant and it was so good I ate it in one sitting. 

I was considering a doggy bag so that I could have some later but alas I succumbed to temptation and scoffed the lot. 

It’ll soon be the year of the Dog,

And I’ll hopefully emerge from this fog,

To decide what to do for the coming year,

Maybe I’ll just travel and drink more beer,

But hey I’m doing that now so never fear,

But what if reality gets checked and then I’ll rebel,

But it’a OK as long as I stay away from the rat race hell,

Then life will be good and I hope it is for you,

So Happy New Year and the let party ensue,

I got my trusty E-bike today and went around looking at a few of the many temples of Bagan. There are hundreds,  maybe thousands of all shapes and sizes.  I didn’t leave until 11am so there were many people already on the move and the tour buses were pouring in and so many temples were bulging at the seams.  I must admit I prefer the old ones that are no longer used on a regular basis because they seem to have more character and less people as well. 

There are too many to name so all I’ll say is that the first one was very big and shiny. The second one I went to was a little bit worse for wear but you know I like this kind of structure.  They’re all over the place so you can’t really visit every one that you see and they are much the same, but sometimes when you see them all together they look stunning.

When you arrive someone will approach you and ask “Where are you from? ” It’s hard to get rid of them at times because they want to try and sell you something and you don’t want to be rude but after the umpteenth time it’s difficult. 

I climbed this temple up to the bottom of the dome and it have you a great view across the plain.

It was very hot today but I went out well covered up. Hat and helmet, long sleeves, long trousers, scarf and gloves and you know even although it was around 30c or so it was very pleasant. Being on the bike and wandering about only for a short time I never really got the chance to break into a sweat.

That’s right the big Jessie one!!!!!!!

Up before dawn,  up even before the dawn prayers from the Mosque nearby the hotel so that I could get the slow boat to Bagan. 10 hours down the sand bar infested waters of the Irrawaddy. The time went quickly but I was surprised at how cold it felt throughout the journey. 

This was the scene when we arrived, it was bath night. 

Day 2 in Mandalay and I woke up feeling a whole lot better. I went for breakfast and loaded up on toast and banana to get my stomach back into a better state. I thought I’d load up on white food and fruit to get the body back into balance. Yesterday I had virtually no energy, when I was walking back to the hotel in the afternoon I was almost dragging my feet but today I went out on the bike and almost cycled to the top of Mandalay Hill although I was beaten by the tight bends and to be honest the bike was not really that good. Now I know that you think that is an excuse but if I had been on my own bike I would have had enough gears to use to get me up the hill no problem, plus the fact this bike is too small. It’s seems a common theme here in Asia, the bikes are just that wee bit too small.

I stumbled across this small pagoda, which was more like a grotto, at the bottom of the hill and it seemed to be deserted which is just the way I like them. I walked round to the side of the building and there was an old guy there that ushered me to come into the building but only after I removed my shoes, but I could keep my socks on which I thought was cool. This small white building didn’t look like much from the outside but inside it was absolutely amazing. The decoration all over the columns and ceilings were great. Basically it was white but with the gold reliefs standing out making it look really beautiful.

The reclining Buddha was the highlight and the focus of this space and it was very tastefully done along with the music playing it was a place where you could lose yourself for hours and be at one with the universe. It was great that I was the only person here too. Most of the tourists pass right by it and head up to the Pagoda on the hill, I too was heading that way but when I reached the summit I decided to give it a miss. Too many people and I don’t think it would have been anywhere as impressive as the intimate space I had just visited about 30 minutes before.

I came across this place which holds many tablets with inscriptions of the teachings of Buddha.

On the way back I stopped at a western style place near the city moat and had tuna sandwiches and coffee, I’m still not feeling confident enough to eat the local food again and tonight it will be more fruit and bread me thinks. Last night I walked quite a few blocks and I came across about 3 places that looked safe to eat in. I normally eat food from the roadside stalls and have done this in many countries and I did in Rangoon but here in Mandalay they just don’t look clean.

Tomorrow it’s up bright and early so that I can catch the boat to Bagan…………………….

I went to see the famous Moustache Brothers last night but actually there is only one left. They are famous for ridiculing the Burmese Government and they ended up in jail for a while. 

It’s awkward to watch at times and he repeats himself many times and I’m not sure how the non native English speakers went because I found it a little difficult at times to understand what he was on about. 

It’s a moment in time that’s been captured but in many ways is still relevant. Mind you no mention of the genocide that’s taking place in his country as we speak. So I guess it’s ok to talk about the past atrocities but maybe a bit too soon to discuss the current situation.

The show, if you can call it that went for about 40 mins and I’m not really sure what I witnessed.  Someone once described it as Vaudeville and I think that would suffice. 

There was dancing from his wife and a few other members of his family and it was very good,  however I was struggling to see where it all fitted in.  But it was something different and I would say that if you are in Mandalay then spend the $10 to come and see a slice of history. 

I arrived here yesterday and by the time I got to my hotel I didn’t  venture too far. I walked for about 2 hours looking for somewhere to eat but all I could find were really small places and they didn’t look very clean. I went to a shopping mall and all they sold was clothes,  there was no food hall or maybe they were closed due the time of year. 

I eventually went to the small Indian place nearby the hotel and I may add that the mutton and dal curry and roti was great although I did feel that I ate too much. 

After this mornings ablutions, which were far from being solid, my stomach still felt like an alien was trying to escape, something was clawing away at my inards. Now normally I have a cast iron constitution however I have been defeated slightly by Myanmar cuisine.

After showering I went out to find a laundry which took a bit longer then expected. By this time I’m hungry once more but my guts are not keen in eating anything local and again I never saw many places. This neighbourhood has an abundance of phone shops but no food.  I bought some fruit and then I came across the Kipling Cafe where I ordered a beef burger which I  think had been sitting for some time but I thought this might be the lesser of two evils.

On the walk back to the hotel I was offered many things. A guided tour. A lift to somewhere and even a young girl for as little as $8. You’ll be pleased to know I did not accept any one of these things. 

I’m exausted because I haven’t eaten much and a siesta was in order. I have just got up and had a coffee to try and wake up.  I need food so I’ll head out soon. 

Tonight I want to go to the world famous Moustache Brothers, their place is not far from my hotel and hopefully there will be some food that agrees with me guts.

I was told to get the taxi to pick me up at least one hour before I needed to be at the airport, I thought really?  It’s only 20kms away but the traffic can be really bad apparently and yes it was and so was my taxi driver. 

He was driving a small Toyota no bigger than a dodgem. My suitcase filled the boot. He looked like a very quiet guy, he was about 60 something I would say and he smiled and said “Good morning ”

Well looks can be deceiving because he was a fucking lunatic. I’m not easily scared but this guy was reckless, he was not a smooth quick driver but he was irratic. He’s changing lane and getting know where fast, blasting the horn and flooring the wee Toyota till it screamed for mercy and then we were back on the brakes once more nearly putting us through window. 
I’m in the back seat and there’s no seat belts and so I’m bracing myself against the front seat hoping that we don’t make contact with anything. Not a good way to start the day. 

Well we do arrive safely at the airport and in one piece and as I hand him the fare, he gives me this big smile and just laughs. What a fucking nutter……

There’s an old train that takes 3 hours to go round a circular track which passes through the city centre and out to the outskirts. It’s one of the main things tourists will do here because it gives you a city tour and it also takes you out to the very edge of where country meets the city.
Like a lot of old cities in South East Asia there is poverty and I don’t think I’ve seen so much rubbish polluting the rivers and it’s just about everywhere.  On the edge of the railway there are small villages and because no one comes to collect the rubbish they just set fire to it. The toxic smoke is really dreadful.

The train doesn’t go that fast because the rails are twisted and so it shoogles quite violently at times in parts.
It’s well used and there are people moving their produce from one stop to another. Sometimes it takes longer than a normal stop takes to load everything. In fact I was on the steps and I got stuck there for about 40 mins because they had brought on board so many bags of fresh fruit and vegetables.

I was beginning to get cooked here in the doorway, hence the reason for looking so happy………………….

At many stops someone will jump on and sell fruit or drinks so you will never go hungry.

Where there is a river they have a toilet sitting over the water and so the shit goes straight into the water where the fish will recycle it for you and even better than that there are vege patches being irrigated by the very same water.

It’s a great shame to see the country side and also seeing that many people living in poverty such as this.  I have of course seen this before but I feel that the amount of folk living in squalor here is greater, but it’s not as bad as India of course because that’s on a level of its own.

Tomorrow I move on to Mandalay and I’m hoping that I will enjoy that city more. Although the food here has been great and I did enjoy the shoogly train…………