Not Kipling's Mandalay

Bicycling to a winery in Myanmar – what more can you say?  Maybe that it was somewhat other-worldly, dusty and the wine was not half-bad.  I’ll let the photos say the rest. 

An Oxcart Along the Way

The View from the Winery - Pampas Grass and Inle Lake in Background

 We departed our favorite place so far in this country - Nyaungshwe.  Below is a photo from the roof bar of the sunset and the sunrise on the way to the airport. 

We arrived in Mandalay on our KBZ flight from Heho airport with no problems.  Whew!  After we told a couple we met from Switzerland about our flight, they wished us luck!  Luck was, in this case, on our side I guess!  So far, we have had power outages four times – make that 5 - in Myanmar, including two (3) in Mandalay.  This city is flat and not very attractive.  They also do not believe in stop signs or traffic lights, so intersections are a nightmare.  Add to that the fact that they drive on the right AND the steering wheel is on the right and it’s total chaos! 
The day we arrived, I took a taxi with 3 people from Poland to Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset.  They were interesting and photographers, so I picked up some hints and got a few good shots.  It’s 1700 stairs to the top, but we cheated and were dropped off up there and just walked down, arriving just at dark. 

View from

View From My Room

Today, my friends and I went to U Bein’s Bridge, the longest teak footbridge in the world and it was really cool!  The morning light was beautiful and a little misty.  We hired a boat paddler to take us across and walked back – a really great way to see the bridge from the water!  They paddle standing up and crossing their oars in a very rhythmic way. Our boatman was huffing and puffing by the time we reached the other side.  He told us he was 65 in between gasps for air!  Poor man!  We gave him a workout, but we paid him well. 

 

We also met a young girl who was selling trinkets and while I was being annoyed at her following us everywhere (I don’t like touts) my friends found out all kinds of useful information about the bridge, her, the crops being grown under the bridge during the dry season (peanuts, corn, tomatoes, sunflowers), etc.  I admit I was wrong in this case.  She was a wealth of information, even showing us little roasted mice that “the men eat when they drink beer”.  Sounds yummy! 

Mice - Yuk!

Sea Snacks

 

 

Tonight we go to Super 81, a delicious Chinese restaurant we discovered and then to see the moustache brothers.  These guys do political satire and two of them have spent a number of years in prison as a result.  They are now out, thanks in part to several actors and comedians including Rob Reiner and Bill Maher.  Supposedly, tourists can go with no problems but locals cannot.  Tomorrow, we’re off to Bagan by bus.  There are hundreds of temple ruins in Bagan, rivaling Angkor Wat.  I’m looking forward to it and will report from there.