Into India

It's a hard place to leave Pokhara but the lure of some proper XC flying in Bir eventually pulled me away. I wanted to get there ASAP but still opted for the long, overland route: bus to the border, hopefully an overnight train to Delhi (I only recently discovered how booked up Indian trains are), an overnight bus to Dharamsala, then a final bus or taxi to Bir itself. No small undertaking. 

The bus from Pokhara to Sonauli, on the border, took nearly 9 hours to cover the 200 odd km but the border crossing was easy (almost too easy - passport control on the Indian side is a small office on the busy street about 100m from the actual border and pretty easy to miss) and I found myself in India.

India was immediately busier and more hectic than Nepal, with the main street teeming with people and traffic and a long queue of lorries backed up on the Indian side, not going anywhere - the only  sign of any border troubles I could see. 

It was then a wild, rollicking 2. 5 hour jeep ride, squeezed into the boot, horn constantly blaring as we weaved in and out of the oncoming traffic and bounced over the potholes and unpaved sections of the road. 

People are everywhere and the area outside the train station in Gorakhpur seems a particularly popular spot for sleeping, hanging out, waiting (maybe). With nearly everything in Hindu, it was a pretty confusing place the train station. There was a special ticket booth for foreigners however and once I'd found it, I set about trying to get a ticket. 

No 'upper' class tickets were available but the clerk was delighted to get me a ticket to Delhi for only 420 rupees (about £4 for a 13 hour journey): 6 hours in sleeper class (the most basic sleeper class), a change at 3 am, then the rest of the journey in 2nd class seating. 

It was a lengthy bureaucratic process involving forms, computers, printouts, lots of scribbled notes in different places and finally logged in a ledger. Just as well I had a photocopy of my passport or I may not have got past the starting post. It must have taken at least 20 mins to get my ticket. He said something about the train been at the other end of the platform and I went to grab some dinner before the ride. 

I was waiting patiently at the platform under an LCD sign that had my train number on it, a train rumbled by on a different track, with a different train company to mine labelled on it, there were no announcements in English (there are announcements in English, but I didnt hear one for my train), the time came... and passed and I remembered the somewhat strange comment at the time of the sales clerk... 'it's at the other end of the platform'.

I wandered a little further down the platform to see a train at the distant end of the platform just pulling away. Oops. 

Back at the ticket booth, the clerk seemed only slightly surprised to see me. Luckily, there was another train, direct and in 3rd class AC sleeper in a few hours time. Much more expensive this one at 1050 rupees. 

I think it was a blessing in disguise, especially when it dawned on me that 2nd class seating is basically a free for all, competing for what space there is on the bench seats. It would have been an experience for sure but maybe not an altogether enjoyable one. My train rolled in 2 hrs late so I didn't leave until about 2 am. Its quite comfortable though. Just 2 bunks on my side but 6 opposite in stacks of 3. Managed to get a few hours sleep.

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.

Mandalay

My third pre-dawn start in a row was a bit of a killer, but needs must and I was up early again to get the train to Mandalay. 

Bagan train station

Burmese trains have a reputation for bumpiness but this route was fairly mellow, probably just because we never picked up enough speed to get the train rattling. The route took us through rural farmland and seeing the rudimentary farming methods in use gives a good impression of how little development there has been in the last 60 years. A group of women sat next to me must have thought I looked hungry as they kept feeding me their fare of greens and something similar to fried broad beans. Not actually that tasty - salty and slightly bitter. 

Cautiously saving the lives on the Rail Road

The train got into Mandalay at 2 and I had a hot, sweaty but enjoyable walk through the city to find my hostel. Mandalay is quite a new city so there's no grand colonial architecture around. It's got a great vibe though and the people seem particularly friendly. Out for a bike ride in the late afternoon, and taking the more scenic back roads, I seemed to get a shouted hello or a wave from every other scooter that passed me. I got multiple cheers from a pickup full of women.

Boats on the Ayeyarwady

Street life

I followed the magnificent river Ayeyarwady south and then headed to the famous Ubein bridge for sunset, passing through lively festive street stalls, before entering a maze of small streets and alleys in the town near the bridge. I would never have been able to navigate that confusing spaghetti mess of streets myself but everyone knew where I was going and a shouted "Ubein?" unerringly got a point in the right direction. Weaving machines are everywhere and the sound of them thrashing away filled the streets as I picked my way through the neighbourhood.

The Ubein bridge stretches across the lagoon in the background

 I found my way to the bridge just in time for sunset and although I knew it's one of Myanmar's top tourist attractions I still wasn't quite prepared for the throng of people stretching across the full length of the bridge to the other side of the lagoon. Given the stream of people leaving I thought the sun must have disappeared behind cloud but no, the fiery red ball was setting on cue, reflected prettily in the lakes water.

The teak planks of the Ubein bridge

Tourist boats vie for the best photo spot

My cycle home proved to be a bit of an adventure. A nice quiet route down the back roads proved a little too quiet and someone eventually had to lead me out of what, I think, was a sprawling monastery complex I'd somehow ended up in.

It was truly an excellent afternoon and a lot of fun. The vibrancy of the city, the sight of the mighty river, and the open friendliness of the locals made it one of my favourite experiences in Myanmar so far.

What I'd really been looking forward to all day however was the opportunity to finally remove my stitches. They smoothly slid out and my little hole had healed nicely.

I got treated to a birthday meal that night by a couple of guys from my hostel. Myanmar isn't exactly renowned for its wild nightlife but there's certainly some unique experiences to be found; dining at the Unique restaurant for example. It's a modern, sharp restaurant with great food but when 9 pm strikes, the blinds are lowered, the lights dimmed and then the DJ (yes the DJ, spinning vinyl in his DJ booth) starts pumping out high tempo techno to accompany your meal. And then there's the lasers and flourescent AK47 shishas. Definitely got a unique thing going on.