On my way to Mandalay

Burmese trains have a bit of a reputation. My train from Bagan to Mandalay was slow but pretty smooth so I was intrigued to see how bad it really was when I made the much longer journey from Myitkyina to Mandalay.

There's a constant roll to the carriages but the train is generally going so slowly you don't really notice the motion - you just see it where the carriages are coupled. There is however the occasional violent shudder that ripples through the carriages and on the odd occasion that the train picks up speed, the carriages really do start to bounce. But it never lasts long and a temporary crawl seems to follow every bout of speed. The train really comes alive in these slow, meandering moments. Every joint, bolt, hinge... whatever, creaking and groaning over the laid back click clack of the wheels on the rails.

There is a constant stream of activity up and down the alleyway with sellers touting their food, drinks, snacks and alms. Each zone seems to have its speciality, so if you something takes your fancy you'd best get it then 'cos the 5 sellers now won't be on the next leg.

I'm sat in the open doorway with a beer and a cigarette. The sun has set and the skies cleared for the stars to shine through the florescent glow from the strip light in the carriage. Fireflies sporadically light up amongst the dark green of the passing trees. We've been crawling along for some time, a beautiful opportunity to enjoy this moment of transitory bliss, but the speed is picking up now and the infamous bounce and roll starting to build...

The scheduled arrival time in Mandalay is, I think, around 04:30 (we left at 07:45 so it should be about 20 hrs). Are we on time? No idea.

First class

Yes... I was slightly disappointed to find! We rolled into Mandalay on time at the ungodly hour of 4.30 am.

Myitkyina

Myitkyina was on Dhe's hit list of places to visit so we met up again on Friday to see what Kachin culture was all about. Not many tourists make it into the north and I'm pretty sure we were the only ones there that weekend. It definitely felt more raw and communicating was a lot more of a challenge!

Kachin cuisine (as dry as it looks) and specially wrapped plates for the tourists

The city is quite new so there are no historical sights as such. The place had a nice atmosphere though and the Ayeyarwady river in all its glory snakes past. 

Tourist attraction #1? The bridge across the river.

Nothing too spectacular as bridges go but you get a commanding view up and down the river. It's a popular sunset spot too. Just park your bike on the bridge and admire the view!

We had a lot of fun running around the area on a scooter. The big (/only?) tourist attraction here is a trip up the valley to see the confluence of the rivers so we headed up there on Sat. A lovely route through villages, trees and up into the hills before you pop out where the rivers meet. We set off a bit late and arrived just as the sun disappeared behind the hill. 

Always a Pagoda 

We enjoyed the changing light, pretty pink clouds and rising mist over the river and then thought we'd best set off to cover some ground before it got really dark.

That's where the adventure began...

I'd actually had the foresight to check the lights before we left. As the night set in however we quickly discovered that although our headlight did work, it didn't work at casting any useful light out in front of us.

Not an uncommon problem in Myanmar it seems though and we managed to cover some good ground in convoy following another light-less bike that was being led home by his fully functional friend.

Luckily I also had my head torch and we eventually nosed our way home safely, only taking a bit longer than the journey out. It was a challenge, but a lot of fun scooting along, peering into the dark with the stars above and fire flies blinking to the side. As less than 50% of the bikes here seem to have lights there wasn't much traffic to worry about at that time. Just had to stay on the road...

Dhe had to head home again and I had a nice afternoon wandering around the town where there was a relaxed Sunday vibe and a colourful street market. Found some tasty walnuts and some fruit, in preparation for the 20 odd hour train ride back to Mandalay I was going to take in the morning.