December 25 was the last day of my 28 day stay under my visa, but I had been told by the government tourist office in Yangon that I could stay extra days and pay a fee of three dollars a day upon departure, though they recommended staying no longer that five extra days. I had met a couple of other travelers who had stayed longer than five days. I had first thought I might have to fly back to Yangon from Sittwe, though there is a road, previously closed to foreigners, from Mrauk U through the mountains into the long central valley of Burma. When I first arrived in Mrauk U I had asked at a bus office about buses, but was told tickets weren't sold to foreigners. But I had heard that a guy at a hotel could get tickets for foreigners to Magwe, on the Irrawaddy south of Bagan. He charged $50, which he said covered the bus ticket cost of $30, plus his troubles getting permission. Four of us booked the bus that left Christmas Day.
I took a final early morning walk around Mrauk U and was greeted with a "Merry Christmas" from a bald man on the street who came out of his house. After a final good breakfast at our hotel, three of us walked to the hotel where the guy had booked our tickets, He had told us to be there by 10 and that the bus (from Sittwe bound for Mandalay) would pass by before 11. It didn't arrive until almost 2:30 and was a crappy old bus, crowded and cramped and full of cargo. We had watched several other much finer buses pass by.
We boarded and headed southeast passing several very poor looking villages. It looked like all the children and some of the adults had no shoes, not even zorries. One was a Muslim village. For a while we drove along the wide Lemro River and then crossed it via a long bridge. We had had a half hour stop just before crossing the river and met a Burmese army major heading for Ann. He spoke very good English and was very friendly and helpful. We told him our story and he questioned the bus driver, who told him our tickets cost only 15,000 kyat (about $15) and that we would arrive in Magwe not at 8 or 10 p.m., as we had been told by the hotel guy, but the next morning. I had been dubious about the times given us by the guy from the hotel, though he said he had taken the bus. He clearly lied to us about both the price and the time. I wonder how he was able to get us permission to travel the route. It would have been so much nicer to travel on one of the nicer buses.
From Mrauk U to Ann, traveling inland parallel with the coast though often through hilly terrain not more than a few hundred feet in elevation, is about 100 miles, and it got dark about half way there. After the Lemro we crossed two more major rivers, using Bailey Bridges with rickety looking wooden plank floors. We saw rice being reaped in places, at least until it got dark.
About 7:30 we had a dinner stop at Dalet. The major, who told us he was 30, ordered for us and then surprised us by paying for the four of us, also giving us some of the little sweet mandarin oranges that I have seen all over the country. They are the sweetest oranges I have ever eaten. He also bought us all black surgical masks (for the dust we were to encounter crossing the mountains that night), saying "a Christmas present."
We spent almost an hour at our dinner stop and then made our way to Ann, arriving about 9:30 or 10. We stopped at a immigration check point just outside Ann, before the crossing of the mountains, where the officer pointed out the December 25 expiry of my stay in Burma. He seemed satisfied by my explanation.
From Ann it is about 90 miles, I think, to Magwe to the east. The moon was not up as we began our slow climb into the mountains on the dusty road. There was some pavement, but mostly dirt and dust. I did spot the rising moon a little before 1 a.m. We climbed to over 4000 feet and stopped at the summit for the driver and this two assistants to cool the brakes, which they did by pouring water on them from a roadside pond. The steam smelled. The sky was full of stars and it was cold.
The bus headed down at a faster pace than during its ascent and by 3 o'clock it was getting much colder. I was in the seat right behind driver and I got him to shut his window, except when he opened it to spit out betel nut, but the door was tied open, with cold air streaming in. I guess it was tied open because it wouldn't stay closed. One of the driver's assistants gave me a couple of dirty blankets, for which I was very grateful. I was wearing two shirts, my fleece, my windbreaker with a hood, and my new surgical mask. Sleeping was out of the question. My seat was small and didn't recline and I had sacks of something at my feet. A woman back in the bus was sick, vomiting often.
We finally got through the mountains and sped along the valley floor, crossing the wide Irrawaddy by a long bridge in the dark and arriving in Magwe on its east bank about 4:30. The bus dropped us off at the bus station and at 6:30 we were able to board a very comfortable bus, the height of luxury for us, for the trip north to Bagan. It felt wonderful to be in that bus. We left about 7.
The dry countryside between Magwe and Bagan is scenic, with hills, rice fields, and lots of trees, including lots of sugar palms. The Irrawaddy was off to the west, but unseen. We passed through a few towns, including one with quite a few old fashioned oil derricks. I tried to keep awake to enjoy the scenery, but kept falling asleep in that comfortable bus.
We got off at the town of Nyaung U, on the Irrawaddy and one of the towns in the Bagan area. We passed many of Bagan's temples just before arriving in Nyaung U. I had stayed in Nyaung U in 1994 when it was just a quiet village. Now it is an ugly, dusty, noisy, congested town, not particularly appealing. I spent about an hour and a half searching for a hotel, as two of the others had a report of new, cheap hotels that didn't pan out. Eventually, I ended up at a fairly good one, for $20 a night with hot water, only a couple of minutes from where we had got off the bus. I was tired, had lunch, and went to an internet cafe. That evening I enjoyed the hot shower, went to bed at 8, and slept for eleven hours.
I took a final early morning walk around Mrauk U and was greeted with a "Merry Christmas" from a bald man on the street who came out of his house. After a final good breakfast at our hotel, three of us walked to the hotel where the guy had booked our tickets, He had told us to be there by 10 and that the bus (from Sittwe bound for Mandalay) would pass by before 11. It didn't arrive until almost 2:30 and was a crappy old bus, crowded and cramped and full of cargo. We had watched several other much finer buses pass by.
We boarded and headed southeast passing several very poor looking villages. It looked like all the children and some of the adults had no shoes, not even zorries. One was a Muslim village. For a while we drove along the wide Lemro River and then crossed it via a long bridge. We had had a half hour stop just before crossing the river and met a Burmese army major heading for Ann. He spoke very good English and was very friendly and helpful. We told him our story and he questioned the bus driver, who told him our tickets cost only 15,000 kyat (about $15) and that we would arrive in Magwe not at 8 or 10 p.m., as we had been told by the hotel guy, but the next morning. I had been dubious about the times given us by the guy from the hotel, though he said he had taken the bus. He clearly lied to us about both the price and the time. I wonder how he was able to get us permission to travel the route. It would have been so much nicer to travel on one of the nicer buses.
From Mrauk U to Ann, traveling inland parallel with the coast though often through hilly terrain not more than a few hundred feet in elevation, is about 100 miles, and it got dark about half way there. After the Lemro we crossed two more major rivers, using Bailey Bridges with rickety looking wooden plank floors. We saw rice being reaped in places, at least until it got dark.
About 7:30 we had a dinner stop at Dalet. The major, who told us he was 30, ordered for us and then surprised us by paying for the four of us, also giving us some of the little sweet mandarin oranges that I have seen all over the country. They are the sweetest oranges I have ever eaten. He also bought us all black surgical masks (for the dust we were to encounter crossing the mountains that night), saying "a Christmas present."
We spent almost an hour at our dinner stop and then made our way to Ann, arriving about 9:30 or 10. We stopped at a immigration check point just outside Ann, before the crossing of the mountains, where the officer pointed out the December 25 expiry of my stay in Burma. He seemed satisfied by my explanation.
From Ann it is about 90 miles, I think, to Magwe to the east. The moon was not up as we began our slow climb into the mountains on the dusty road. There was some pavement, but mostly dirt and dust. I did spot the rising moon a little before 1 a.m. We climbed to over 4000 feet and stopped at the summit for the driver and this two assistants to cool the brakes, which they did by pouring water on them from a roadside pond. The steam smelled. The sky was full of stars and it was cold.
The bus headed down at a faster pace than during its ascent and by 3 o'clock it was getting much colder. I was in the seat right behind driver and I got him to shut his window, except when he opened it to spit out betel nut, but the door was tied open, with cold air streaming in. I guess it was tied open because it wouldn't stay closed. One of the driver's assistants gave me a couple of dirty blankets, for which I was very grateful. I was wearing two shirts, my fleece, my windbreaker with a hood, and my new surgical mask. Sleeping was out of the question. My seat was small and didn't recline and I had sacks of something at my feet. A woman back in the bus was sick, vomiting often.
We finally got through the mountains and sped along the valley floor, crossing the wide Irrawaddy by a long bridge in the dark and arriving in Magwe on its east bank about 4:30. The bus dropped us off at the bus station and at 6:30 we were able to board a very comfortable bus, the height of luxury for us, for the trip north to Bagan. It felt wonderful to be in that bus. We left about 7.
The dry countryside between Magwe and Bagan is scenic, with hills, rice fields, and lots of trees, including lots of sugar palms. The Irrawaddy was off to the west, but unseen. We passed through a few towns, including one with quite a few old fashioned oil derricks. I tried to keep awake to enjoy the scenery, but kept falling asleep in that comfortable bus.
We got off at the town of Nyaung U, on the Irrawaddy and one of the towns in the Bagan area. We passed many of Bagan's temples just before arriving in Nyaung U. I had stayed in Nyaung U in 1994 when it was just a quiet village. Now it is an ugly, dusty, noisy, congested town, not particularly appealing. I spent about an hour and a half searching for a hotel, as two of the others had a report of new, cheap hotels that didn't pan out. Eventually, I ended up at a fairly good one, for $20 a night with hot water, only a couple of minutes from where we had got off the bus. I was tired, had lunch, and went to an internet cafe. That evening I enjoyed the hot shower, went to bed at 8, and slept for eleven hours.
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