We had a few more days in Mandalay before having to get the night bus back to Yangon. Nev was quite content chilling and continuing with his writing. So, I hired a bike for a couple of days and cycled round. I was quite taken with Mandalay hill, it had a shaded stepped walkway up the top and was a perfect place for a run. Even with the sun pounding down, it was cool in the shade. On both days I’d set off on my Bicycle for the hill and run up and down a couple of times while listening to some pounding techno. I got some funny looks but it didn’t put me off my stride. I also explored the city a bit more, cycling round the monk district and another famous Pagoda. I got involved in a couple of races with some local kids whilst cycling in rush hour traffic, I’d always let them win in the end, it was a bit dangerous, and I didn’t want to risk an injury, well at least that’s what I told myself.
We ate at our favourite Shan restaurant most nights whilst having a few beers. We’d finish off with a night cap listening to The Ricky Gervias radio show with Carl Pilkington, Nev had downloaded. We were definitely back on old man mode.
On our final day we decided to check out U Bein’s Bridge in Amarapura. It’s the longest teak bridge in the world, at 1.2km, and is standing strong after 200 years. We went for sunset, when the bridge is a hive of activity, with hundreds of villagers commuting back and forth across it. It was a very interesting sight, there were lots of people fishing in the shallow Taungthaman lake, using roads and nets. Along with the throngs of toursists arriving for sunset, there were monks walking by, there red robes flapping in the wind. When we crossed the bridge we found a restaurant and sat back with a beer to watch the sunset. It was a perfect picture postcard moment, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sunset was really special. It was very peaceful, we could see the entire span of the bridge whilst the lake was reflecting the last few rays of light from the sun as it dipped behind the hills. After the sunset we went to the bus station to catch our night bus to Yangon.
Yangon
We had one final night in Yangon before leaving Burma for Cambodia. I had booked a hotel which overlooked the Shwedagon for our last night. When we arrived we were shattered after a long bus journey, we went straight to the Hotel to find out that I’d booked it for the wrong day and they were fully booked, oops. After a few hours hunting we finally found somewhere downtown and got some rest.
When we awoke we went to the Kandagwi Lake for a stroll. They have a wooden walk way around the lake which makes for quite a pleasant walk with views of the Shwedagon Pagoda. We had a beer at a lakeside restaurant and took in our last image of the Paya.
We got a taxi back to our Hotel, then went out and about hunting for somewhere to eat. We stumbled upon a curious looking local restaurant and decided to give it a shot. It turned out to be a massive hit, and the favourite eating experience of my travels so far. When we entered a big Burmese women ushered us to a seat. She explained in fairly good English that the food she offered us would be the proper Burmese price. Every now and then the matriarchal figure would disappear into the kitchen to emerge with a large plate of piping hot food. She would announce the name of the dish, barking it out in Burmese, and then serve to anyone who fancied it. The sole Burmese crowd were in high spirits, and knocking back large quantities of rum. The food wasn’t amazing, but the whole experience was captivating. We stayed for a few hours enjoying the rowdiness of the place.
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