The one where we got hospitalized in Thailand

Text written by: Linnea

So Arno had been talking about this paradise island he had visited with his dad years back and I was open to see some more of Thailand than just Bangkok and terrified to enter any super crowded places like Phuket or Krabi. So this little island - called Koh Phangan - sounded pretty nice. It is one of the many islands in the Gulf of Thailand. There are kind of three on a row: Koh Samui, which is the biggest and super popular among the tourist, Koh Tao that is full of divers and backpackers (also some tourist get murdered yearly) and then Koh Phangan that has the full moon party, but is pretty quiet otherwise.

Getting there took us some time. We rode a taxi to the Yangon airport, catched an early morning flight from to Bangkok and transferred into one from Bangkok to Surat Thani. There we got in a bus that took us to the harbour and a 3 hour ferry to Koh Phangan. We arrived pretty late and got a taxi to take us to our hotel. Except that the taxi left us on the corner of the street and we had to finish by foot. We got to our cosy bungalow after 10 pm.

The next morning we really saw where we had come to and daaaaamn the place was nice. First of all the whole resort was pretty empty – us and another couple who stayed by the pool I guess. We had an amazing view from our balcony that had a hammock we spent a lot of time in. The beach next to us had swings hanging from the palm trees and there it was always so quiet. Oh how we had missed the island life!

If anyone is wondering about that scar on my right leg, it's the one I got in the scooter accident in Bali.
And the other one on my left knee is from running with my friends in a forest in Zimbabwe and falling on my face (and knee).

But there was this other thing tho... We both had had pretty bad (sorry for TMI) diarrea for several days now. Arno's stomach had gotten ill already in Mandalay and I'd joined with my cramps in the night bus from Bagan to Inle. And it is not that we aren't used to stomach bugs - as said they are pretty common while travelling, we've had plenty and usually you go through at least one on a long trip – but they shouldn't last longer than 5 to 7 days after which you should seek for some medical help. And we were on the edge of 7 in this point. We had waited with it to cross over to Thailand for some better health care than in Myanmar and had treated ourselves with all the possible ways you can (bananas, whole grains, dairy products, seeds, oils, Western food, rice, green tea, probiotics, more fibber, more protein, extra vitamins, even Immodium). Yeah. My parents are big time lovers of natural/herbal medication and have taught me a lot. It gets pretty tiring when you can't leave the toilet or keep any foods or liquids in and soon your body can't function normally anymore. And with the Southeast Asian heat it is critical to have some nutrition in your system.

We didn't want to spend our first day in the paradise hanging inside a doctors office, so we decided to have breakfast and just wish wish wish something would stay in. I had the best acai bowl ever but poor Arno couldn't even finish his banana pancake and was getting very pale. So we decided to rent a scooter and drive to a hospital in town. Arno tho insisted that we would stop by the beach we passed since it was low tide and so beautiful. But after half an hour of walking in the heat both of us felt so weak that it was time to keep on going.

We have both been hospitalized in several countries so we are familiar with the healthcare systems abroad. We picked a good Western hospital and checked Arno in because he was the one that was feeling worse, besides the fact that I couldn't keep nutrition in, I was still fit to sit and didn't have as severe cramps.

In that point it was still news and I was so hyped to start to study paramedic nursing after returning to Finland (medicine has always been close to my heart) but even without any education I could tell Arno's test results were pretty bad. His poulse was sky high and blood preassure higher than normally – his heart was raising like a marathon runner's when we just sat in the waiting room. And as we waited for more results he started to get very very pale and sweaty. The nurse took us to the ER and told him to lay down on a hospital bed. And then they ordered an iv for him – I am used to those things but it was his first time and well, this guy has never been that excited about long needles squeezed into blood veins but I mean, who is.

After seeing several nurses, doctors and insurance people who took very good care of us, they moved him to the ward. I sat next to him on the bed as the iv pumped liquid and medication in. He didn't have fever when we checked into the hospital but I felt his body heat up as it had occationaly done during the last few days. The nurse took his body temperature and he actually had high fever that had come up in like 30 minutes. They brought ice bag to cool him down and some meds that blurred his vision as a side effect (and I mean he has a pilot's vision so we really hoped it would be temporary, you never know what you get abroad, even in good hospitals).

Then started the insurance war. Luckily the hospital had people who were hired just for that and they helped filing the papers – plain tickets, visa stamps, passports, insurance cards... We called to several numbers in our insurance companies and talked with multiple departments to finally get the checks flow from the hospital to the companies. (We both have the European travel insurance – Eurooppalainen - and could not be more happy so in case you are hoping for some honest recommendations...)

As it seemed that Arno would have to stay in pretty late - if not over night - they gave me a choice of a ride to the hotel - if I don't want to sleep in the hospital - or one there and back if I just wanna pick up some stuff. I chose the second and said I would sleep on the couch next to him. And as Arno felt a little better already I dared to leave him for an hour to go with this private driver the hospital had assigned for me. He took me to our bungalow and I threw in my bag everything we could possibly need – not knowing what they would diagnose and how long this stay would last – books, laptop, clothes, wallets, hygienics, underwear because I was only wearing my bikinis under my clothes... The driver who sat waiting on the balcony pointed our view and told that the sunset on this side of the island would be pretty. We would be missing that again, but yeah probably, I murmured. By the time we were driving back I was already about to split in half since we had been gone for like 30 minutes, which by far had been the longest on this trip I had been separated from my boyfriend, who now was so sick that I had never seen him like that.

When I got back he was still feeling okay and his vision had started to come back. But he was tired, needed some rest and told me that it would be dinner time for me already. Yep, we had had breakfast around 9 AM and it was already five o'clock. I had been so pulled into the whole worry rumba that I had forgot how hungry I was. So I let him sleep and left the hospital to find some food. I passed a few restaurants since all the smells I otherwise so deeply loved made me gag and decided to roam around a market area on one parking lot. I collected a bag of pineapple, a few spring rolls and shish kebabs and poured half a liter of water down my throat. I realized that I was hungrier than I had thought and after one shish kebab, half the pineapple and one spring roll also very full. My tummy wasn't used to eating, so stuffing myself didn't really work out. I decided to save some food for Arno and after enjoying some fresh air outside the hospital, started to head back.

I wanted to take the long way back to go around a little but the more I walked, the worse my stomach started to feel - twisting and turning. And the last 50 meters I ran back into the hospital, pass the nurses station, Arno's bed and straight to the toilet. When I returned to Arno's bedside and lied down next to him I realized that eating wasn't such a great idea and also that I would need to check myself in too – I was still sick. So off I went. I got admitted to the hospital and started to do the same insurance battle, got to see a doctor and then finally the nurses put an iv in my hand and started to push some meds in.

So there we lied in bed, the sun had set and it was raining so hard I thought the roof couldn't take it soon. Lightning and thunder right above us. Then I started to smell something burning. I thought it was just me and some side effects of meds but when a guy (who's son on a bed across from us was suffering some tropical illness) stood up and pointed outside saying “fire!” I knew it wasn't just in my head. I jumped out of the bed and ran to the end of the room where there was a balcony. I opened the door and saw this tree next to the hospital really in fire after it had gotten hit by a lightning. All the nurses ran up to us and started to wow. The flames were high and cracking hard but no one came to kill the fire. The hard rain finally put an end for it after the tree had burned into little pieces.

We calmed down to wait for doctors and more info by watching Netflix on the computer. It was kind of cozy laying next to each other on a narrow hospital bed, holding hands (that had iv in them) and enjoying some Orange is the new black listening to the rain under dimmed lights. And after a few episodes we got hungry, so we got ourselves some pancakes and nutella bread – even tho we couldn't finish them. But it felt good to eat with the medications holding things in.

The doctor came in around 10 PM to tell us that we would have to spend the night so they can run some more tests on us and we have to give them a... sample of... well you know. Too bad you cannnot force nature, especially after you have gotten some meds to stop everything from falling through. So we then decided to hit the hay so to say.

I woke up around 8 AM to some weird noises and once Arno was up too, we ordered breakfast from a nearby restaurant that got brought in to the hospital. After the breakfast the doctor wanted to see me. He had found a paracite from my sample and it would needed to be killed with antibiotics. They wanted to keep me for another day for iv, but were ready to reliese Arno since he had “only” a virus. We both agreed we don't want to spend any more time in this hospital while we are paying for a nice bugalow and missing out on the island life. Besides I was a big enough girl to drink my own fluids and take my meds now that they stayed in. We knew that in Europe we would have been releazed already. So we talked to the incurance ladies and agreed on writing a denying medical treatment forms. There was really no other reason for us to stay than getting more fluids into our bodies so we made a deal with the doctors that if it gets worse, we'll come back. So they gave us antibiotics and so many other tablets for pain, cramps, nausea... The incurance company payed for our stay that came to cost around 1000 euros. And then we were out to explore again with more strength. As we walked to our scooter and put on our helmets to ride to get some lunch, I felt some preassure in my throat. But I decided to ignore it under the warm Sun.

Here are our medicines.. :D

We had some amazing lunch at Haad Yao beach, which is this very quiet, white beach area with the perfect ocean view. We sat and enjoyed some food (and medicine) that stayed in our tummies and decided to go for a swim. Arno had a little bug bite (or something) on his lower abdomen so he couldn't really dive in but came to hang out just chilling and standing.

The next day we decided to head for the hidden waterfall in the central of the island. Needless to say Google maps was very helpful – after all it was a hidden waterfall. We hiked up, took some pictures and enjoyed the small waterfall. I went swimming in the gem and did some rope swinging. Once again Arno could not join because of the bug bite but he was happy to keep me company. After that we headed to walk in the woods but didn't make too far before the sky turned grey. It was best to head back to the town quickly and then to the bungalow. Because when it rains in the tropics it really rains.

That evening Arno started to get very pale again. I told him to lay down and took his fever with a termometer we had bought from the town on our way back. It told us that he had a little bit of fever. I still insisted that he would eat something salty because you cannot go around in 30 degrees without any salt in your body. So I pulled him up on the deck where the bungalow owners had a restaurant. After dinner I let him take a nap and went to shower. Just during that shower (and trust me there is not that much hot water to take a long one) his fever started to rise. It was now so high that if it were to rise half a degree more I would need to call the hospital to come pick us up. I tried to cool him down without any medication. Just giving fluids and keeping cold bottles on his forehead. He slept a lot and was very fuzzy but finally towards midnight I got to measure lower numbers. We decided to head to the hospital the first thing if the fever goes up again.

I look like I had just peed my pants but trust me it's just my bikini being wet under my pants after the swim :D

But it didn't. Not on him at least. I can't remember much from the next day. Only that I sat up on the deck drinking ginger tea with honey and my head hurted terribly. Arno didn't have fever anymore but my thorat was swollen and nose stuffed. And then the fever broke. I was dizzy, nauseas and my body was burning hot. But after laying down for a few hours I insisted to go shell picking on our beach just 10 to 50 meters away from the bungalow. We climbed on the rocks and swang on the swing hanging down from two palm trees. But after that my fever jumped so high I slept the rest of the evening. Now it was his task to measure my fever and bring me water.

Yep, sounds a lot like Dengue fever or Malaria - except not. I've had the Dengue, much more horrifying pain - it is not called the "breakbone fever" for no reason. And as I have had it once already, I would have been in much worse shape in case I got it again – and that was the risk we took when going on a trip like this (we didn't either eat Malaria pills in any point, even in Inle lake, since I get so sick from them). And when the fever went down so “easy” we knew nothing was badly wrong (not that we would still know, what virus or what parasites we had) and we finally got to drive around the island, eat in cool restaurants, walk on beaches and swim during Sunset. And I have to say, Koh Phangang was incredible. Just as Arno always talked about it.

We had lengthened our stay there because the whole hospital case but didn't wanna stay during the full moon party that always fills up the little paradise island with loud and messy tourist drinking and not respecting the island rules (sorry co-travelers, but one must behave on another's backyard). So one morning we decided to look through our options. We wanted to continue down to Malasia and make our way to Sumatra from there. And we really wanted to see Kuala Lumpur. But we didn't have the money to fly all the time. So we went through several people who helped us with different options. Except that there really was no options. We thought our heads through what could be done. There was a train connection with switching trains somewhere in the middle of Thailand like 3 o'clock in the morning (if the train runs on schedule). The other option would take us to Kuala Lumpur by several buses and mini buses but last 23 hours. And I wasn't going to sit in a metal can for a whole day and night.

We found a travel agent who helped us with different options and used her precious Wifi and phone to make some calls asking for more detailed schedules. She had an idea of us taking first two ferries to make it down to the harbour, then jumping on a bus that would take us to a minibus in another city. And then the minibus would drive us over the boarder of Thailand into Malesia where we could take yet another bus from this town called Penang to Kuala Lumpur. And as she was explaingin this combo, my eyes travelled down a map on her wall. So I asked what if we would fly to Sumatra from Penang and visit Kuala Lumpur on our way back from Indonesia. This seemed like a good plan so we bought the bus tickets. Then I sneaked a Wifi password from a nearby restaurant we had had lunch in and sat on the curb of the road. We googled plane tickets on our phones and booked a Sriwijaya airlines flight from Penang (Malaysia) to Medan (Sumatra) that costed about 30 euros. Then we even found a nice hotel online for like 6 euros/night by randomly searching and decided to spend a day in Georgetown just because it sounded so funny and American. We had no idea what this rest stop city would be like and didn't expect much but oh boy when we got there this little accident trip of ours turned into something pretty cool. But more about that later!

And we finally got to see the sunset!

Here I listed some tips about healthcare while travelling:
(these tips are based on my own experiences)

• Prepare: 
• Check your vaccinations and the vaccinations needed in your destination. 
• Take with you the basic first aid stuff like bandaids, disinfectant, gauze, painkillers etc. Especially in tropics even little wounds can get infected very fast. Clean them often. In the evenings check your body for ticks, coral scratches, bug bites, mosquito bites, weird marks, burns etc.
• Note if you are travelling to an area with a lot of dengue, malaria, cholera or other easily spreading diseases. Malaria and dengue spread by mosquitoes, there is no preventive medication for dengue and malaria meds are also pretty expensive and have bad side effects so long sleeves and bug spray are my number one! I buy my bug spray from a pharmacy and it is made to keep especially the tropical mosquitoes away! There are also some other natural ways of getting mosquitoes to stay away but I do recommend strong bug spray on the side.
• Get a good travel insurance! I cannot underline how important this is! And then if you have one and need some medical attention, contact your insurance company or check their websites for the hospitals around the world which work directly with your insurance company. They may even pay the expensive bills before you get out of the hospital
• Always keep someone up to date about your plans! This applies for all traveling, not just traveling while you are sick! Have an emergency contact and a person who knows where you are and what are your next plans. We always tell our parents when we switch countries so they know where we are if accidents happen. Parents are also good if you need some info about your medical history or just advice in general.
• Act wisely while travelling!
• This includes things like use a helmet, don't get bitten by a stray dog or any kind of wild animal, don't drink and scooter or do other stupid stuff like that. Don't take alcohol from strangers, leave your drinks behind your back or buy alcohol products from shady shops (can make you blind or kill). It is always good (but not necessary) sign if you see someone make your drinks (same applies for food).
• Don't take ice with your drinks (at least in the third world countries). I don't recommend drinking water from taps in all countries either. And when buying bottled water, check that the cap hasn't been opened. Some restaurants refill the bottles and melt the plastic of the cap so it looks like it has never been opened. And hey, drink enough water but not just water! In very hot places the liquids kind of just diffuse through your skin like during sweating, except that you don't feel it. I have fainted in Las Vegas because I had only water in my system. So have a coconut water, soda, juice, sport drink or smthg. And have some salt every now and then. We had a rule in Zimbabwe that if you haven't used the restroom for a few hours you haven't been drinking enough.
• Be careful with raw food like veggies, meats, fish (yes, sushi), eggs etc. Check where you buy food from, check the best befores, how long the food has stood in the warm air or sun etc.
• Wash hands or disinfect but don't go crazy. It's good to get used to the different bacteria abroad. My dad had also a rule for not touching your eyes, ears, nose or mouth too much during the days.
• If taking meds abroad, check the labels and side effect. We were once handed a medicine which label we checked at the hotel before using and the side effect started with "can cause seizures, strokes and death". You may guess we didn't use that medicine and looked for something more natural.
• If you start feeling weird and are travelling alone, write down some facts about your health: If you have a disease or allergy that is critical info for someone taking care of you, put it on a note. It's also good for you to keep some diary about when your fever started or when you had the first stomach cramps. I myself have been in a situation when I was too sick to really talk about my situation so it's also nice for you to have some info down if no one around you knows about your history, understands your speech or you are not able to answer questions. 
• Keep identification, passports, visa stamps and insurance card with you when going to a hospital or health care center. Some hospitals refuse to treat you without needed info, insurance card or some kind of evidence that you will be able to pay for the treatment. In Finland we get cheap healthcare but around the world it can be  v e r y  expensive if you have to pay for it by yourself.
• Pick out a good hospital. We tend to also check in witch country we go to in case of an emergency. Google knows a lot, so if you have time before you have to rush, check where you can get the best health care and where you have minimum risks for returning from the hospital with more infections!
• And remember! No matter how well you prepare, there is always the chance of getting sick or having an accident. So don't freak out. And don't be scared. There are good hospitals and well educated professionals around the world - even in "poor" countries.

Hope you made it down here! Be safe while traveling!

Hugs,
Linnea

Waiter, waiter! There's a rat in my soup!

Hey! Arno here again! Long time of radio silence and some travel stories to catch up with so let's get into business...

The bus ride from Bagan to lake Inle wasn't really that comfy. First we got picked up by this Bumese style combination of a van and a pick-up which drove faster than 100 km/h down this bumpy road. We really had to hold on the walls of the car. To make it even worse it was dark and the street lights barely lit up anything. We did suffer with some nice people there we just met which made the ride a little more bearable. After half an hour of fearing for our lives we finally made it to the bus. It was a rather luxurious bus with huge reclining seats, pillows and blankets. Adding to our luck there was also a toilet onboard. You see we'd been suffering from our stomachs the past day so it was very comforting knowing that we could just run to the toilet when we needed to and not having to stop the entire bus in the middle of the night since our stomachs tell us to. But enough about that.

The ride was not even half as good as it sounded like. The roads were bumpy for the entire night and every half an hour or so the driver just decided it would be fun to turn on all the cabin lights inside and wake up the passengers.

Our initial plan was to stay in Inle for the day and catch the next night bus directly to Yangon. Luckily we didn't end up doing that. Arriving in Inle at 5am we were dead tired and wanted to get a room to sleep in. One of the Americans we had met on board had a local sim card so we borrowed her phone and looked for a cheap hotel room (thank you Emily!). We found one, booked it online and walked over. The gate was closed and we tried nocking but no answer. I mean no one could no we had just booked online five minutes ago.

As wewere making a plan B an older lady walked out to open the gate in her pyjamas. She said there was a room that we could go in to catch some sleep. Talking about an early check-in! After a few hours of napping (and countless trips to the toilet) we decided it was time to go out and explore the little town. Immediately after breakfast we rented two bikes and started cycling around. The town was just a little entry point to the lake itself so there wasn't too much to see around. We were planning to cycle towards the lake but we ended up cycling to the wrong direction. It was a lucky incident since we ran into this little local agency that organized boats to the village on the lake. It only cost us about 12 euros for a half day trip on a private boat so we just took the offer. The nice local man even booked us seats on this local bus no one had earlier recommended - we had just heard of the expencive night busses.

Sitting in a fishing boat for hours with the diarrhea of your life isn't really a good combination but we were stubborn to see the Inle lake itself as we had made it all the way there. No matter how many stops we would need to ask the driver to do. What a great choice it was! After blasting through the lake at full speed for about half an hour we arrived in the first village. There were tomatoes planted as far as the eye could see and a few houses built on stilts here and there. The sight was amazing, nothing like you'd ever seen before. After going in between the plantations for a while we arrived I guess "downtown". It was like you arrived in any Asian village except this one was on a lake, built on stilts and the roads were waterways. Pretty impressive!

There were plenty of villages in the area, it was amazing how widespread the total area was. I think we visited at least three villages and I wouldn't be surprised if there were even more of them. On the tour we stopped at a temple, a silk factory, a tobacco factory and a big market. Obviously it was set up for tourists to go and buy stuff but we still rather enjoyed the experience. At the market I found this little stall selling beautiful handmade kitchen knives (yes, I love cooking) and I went to ask for the price. They were so cheap I eventually bought three nice knives for a mere nine euros. What a bargain!

Our tour was coming to an end so it was time to head back so we would still arrive in daylight time. Again another 30 minutes blasting through the lake at full speed to get back to Nyaung Shwe. Time at the lake just flies by since you get stuck staring at the amazing mountains surrounding it and the fishermen who are trying to catch some supper and maybe a fish or two to sell on the market.

Our trip to Yangon was a rather interesting experience. We've heard a lot of bad things about the night buses and already haven taken one we decided to try a day bus instead. Thinking about it afterwards I doubt the night bus would have been any worse. We decided to take a local bus since it was a lot cheaper than the VIP-buses for tourists. The bus itself wasn't too bad after all since we got nice big seats which reclined more than your average bus seat. So far so good. It all started going wrong when the bus started climbing into the mountains. One by one many locals around us started vomiting and you could smell the stench all around the bus. The driver was just going on full speed on the narrow roads overtaking basically everything in its way. He really drove on the endge of the road, there was just a 2 km drop inches away from the wheels and no fence protecting us from a fall down the mountain.

I think within the hour around eight passengers had vomited. Luckily there was a "steward" onboard whose primary job apparently was to collect the vomit bags and throw them outside of the window. Sometimes I should complain less about my own job...

Poor Linnea started also feel her stomach twisting. After all the climb up and down tha winding mountain roads lasted for like 4 or 5 hours. And that was just the mountains. The whole ride itself was going to last the whole damn day. And for our pleasure there was also no toilets. So no food for our still upset stomachs that couldn't hould anything in.

There was also a moment onboard when we thought this little 5-year old kid would literally die. They served everyone on board a can of "speed" (no, not the drug), which is a local brand of energy drink. In about 10 minutes the kid drank his own, his mothers and the neighbouring passengers cans empty. I mean even for an adult it's a proportionally high dosis of caffeine, not to mention a 5-year old. You could clearly see the kid going hyper and jumping around on the chair and scraming like crazy. You'd think the mother would react somehow but apparently her Facebook status was more important. Interesting way of raising your kid. Anyhow after about an hour of fearing for a heart attack we arrived in Yangon. After a 13-hour bus ride you would wish being at your destination already but the bus stopped somewhere far outside of town. Luckily we were able to catch a cab right out front. And if you have ever taken a taxi i Asia you know it can be a crazy ride. Now, tripple that speed and crazines. Never ever have we been in a car that drives so furiously around the dark aand wet roads of the city center. Just insain and barely avoidin any crashes.

In the morning we decided to head out and look around the city a bit. To begin with Yangon wasn't our favourite city. The night before the only thing we saw were huge cat sised rats running all around and an awful smell drilling straight into your brains. I mean the sidewalks had been so full of rats the locals rather walked on the crazy roads. 

We decided to take a bit of an easy day out in here since there wasn't too much to keep yourself busy with. We walked around the city but it was hard to get around since it was raining most of the day. Most of the time we spent at restaurants and also ended up making the lease agreement on our new apartment (we had never seen) back in Finland! What a tough job it ended up to be with burmese internet connection. In the evening we met a few traveller guys with whom we ended up talking and then going out to have some food at the local market. We had just eaten as much us our still upset tummies allowed us to so only the guys were having food. As a side they got some kind of meat broth. We were joking around that there could be anything in the soup. That they could put rat meat instead of chicken and we would have no idea. And as we lifted out of the broth a piece that for sure was the scull of an animal I swear it really looked exactly like a rats head! As far as we remembered chickens have a peak instead of two long teeth.

We left to the airport very early, around 5am. The taxi we took didn't have any seatbelts and the driver was a real nutjob (used of having these around already). Anyways we made it alive to the airport and headed off to our next adventure! Koh Phangan, Thailand.

Cheers,
Arno

Trains & temples

Linnea: I swipe my loose curls behind my ear, lean back and cross my legs on the wooden bench that bounces following the movements of the old train. Arno sleeps across from me like almost all the other passengers. Our Hungarian friends have made themselves comfortable – other one writing her diary while her boyfriend rests his eyes from the afternoon sun that shines through the open window. I glaze outside and wave to a farmer leading a pack of cows across a field. The breeze of fresh air feels nice but I can't hang my head outside without watching that the palm trees growing by the old railroad won't slap me when passing. The view changes from winding dirt roads and little villages to forests and green rice fields and then back again. I see mountains in the far horizon and inhale deep. It feels like the time has stopped running for just a second, to make this memory last just a little while longer.

Arno: It's 5.15am. as our alarm clock goes off. It was time to get up and catch a train that was maybe going to Bagan this morning. We went downstairs to find everybody on the night shift sleeping on the couches. Quickly they woke up after hearing us talk a bit and we got to check-out. It was still dark outside.

We were lucky enough to find the restaurant next to us being already open. I got us a few samosa (little fried vegetable thing) look a like things and we got our stomachs filled. A taxi took us down to the train station by 6am and we were still not sure if a train would be coming. We were asking around about where the train departs and some locals guided us to a track. No train to be seen here. Only a lot of locals starting their day after another night at the station. 

Linnea: The railway station looks just like a well made scene from an old Bollywood movie. People crossing the empty tracks that are populated by dozens of pigeons that rush to fight over every single piece of noodle or rice some local lady drops from her baskets she carries on top of her head. Someone selling freshly cut fruits from a big tray, other one trying to hand over portions of fried rice wrapped in banana leaves. The air seems still foggy from the night and feels hotter as the sun climbs up the flue sky. The station smells like this weird mix of old wood, dirt and fried food.

The super sweet local guy we ended up having a long chat with!

Arno: We sat down and waited for the train which eventually came! I was in line waiting to buy a ticket while Linnea was already directed into the train I met two Hungarians who were also making the same trip. Some travel company, how nice! After waiting for 10 minutes as the ticket salesmen was filling out the entire ticket by hand I finally paid for the ride and got onboard. 2200 Kyat~1,5€ for two people. Not bad.

The train wasn't really equipped with anything, there were no windows but just a window like hole which you could close in the event of rain. The seats were just wooden benches and the toilet - just a hole in the floor like in the good old days. 

Linnea: As Arno finally finds me from the train and sits down, a well dressed local guy makes himself comfortable next to us. He introduces himself and starts to ask the normal “where you from” “where you going?” “is it different here than in your country?”. He seems nice, has an understandable English, works as a taxi driver in Mandalay and wanted to just come to talk with us before heading back to work so Arno ends ups having a long conversation about the American presidents with him. Wise guy, eager to learn everything Arno had to teach him. I offered him and the other locals circling us some berries we had bought from the night market. And when the train finally shows some signs of leaving, he jumps up, shakes our hands and wishes us well before exiting the train. The Hungarians came to sit with us as the train finally pushes off the platform.  

Arno: After moving for maybe two minutes we realized it was going to be a long and bumpy ride. The train tracks in Myanmar are very old and not too smooth which makes the train jump up and down and from left to right. Almost like an amusement park ride. It was also a local train so it stoppped at every single station. There was a station every few kilometres so it was gonna take a long time.

Linnea: None of us really wanted to use the bathroom but on a 10 hour trip there is really no choice. After an hour or two our bladders started to fill and we had to go. And as you can maybe guess based on the condition of the old train, the toilets were pretty simple and (how to put it pretty) not probably cleaned since WW II. The ritual of peeing in a train like that could be a sport in the Olympics. There is one hole on the floor of the shaky train bouncing up and down so that you fly against the not so clean walls. There is no lock so with your one hand you have to hold the door from slamming open and the other is better used as a toilet paper holder since you don't want to put anything on the sticky floor. Not so fun and I think even more difficult from us ladies but after a few times you have created a system to make it work. I have been using the hole-on-the-floor -bathrooms since I was little – there aren't always options while travelling – and to all of you who think it's dirty compared to the comfortable Western sitting toilets I'm gonna remind you of something my mom always told me when I was complaining as a kid: At least you don't really have to touch any lids, flush buttons or other germ paradises.  

Arno: A few hours in we were really enjoying ourselves. We couldn't care less about the fact that it was gonna take ten hours, the train was jumping all around and we all could have cycled to Bagan faster. One of the best things on the train were the missing windows which made it possible to hang outside and really enjoy the views. Hence being the only tourists on board the locals were having a lot of fun looking at us and waving from both inside and outside of the train. Some of them tried to talk with us but usuall they lacked any English skills and we don't speak Burmese.

We had packed a lot of snacks since we thought there would be no food on board. We couldn't have been more wrong. At every station some locals jumped in and sold noodles, rice, veggies, fruit, samosa look a likes from big trays they carried on top of their heads. Basically every kind of food you can ever imagine. 

Linnea: From one of the basket carrying ladies we bought some lychees and pineapple. On one station there was a man selling buns filled with shredded coconut so we took one for everyone. The guy threw them in through the windows and we had to catch – fast food like literally. We shared our snacks among all the four of us and Arno sliced mangoes with a pocket knife. We offered some snacks for the locals sitting on the other booths – sharing is caring, right?  

A typical Myanmar tractor

Around the hottest time of the day the train made a stop on a tiny station in the middle of nothing and then just - I guess - didn't start again. The air stood still with no breeze and sitting inside started to feel unbearable. We followed the locals outside to find out what's going on. Because of course no one spoke a word of English we just assumed they were trying to fix something. And without having a clue of how long it would actually take (like would we be stuck until tomorrow) we started to circle around the station and our cart. Standing outside under the burning midday sun wasn't an option and sitting inside the not moving piece of iron didn't feel that nice either. Arno found some cold water and as some of the locals returned to the train to hide form the sun we came to hang out with them. I gave a little easter egg puzzle for the little boys to play with and some lychees to eat. The moms had fun watching their sons taking selfies, building puzzles and playing peek-a-boo with us.

As the train had stood still for an hour or something we had been killing time sitting both in and outside – which ever felt more comfortable. Restlessly we had wandered around the station. I was sitting inside sipping water as the Hungarians standing outside the window asked “Where is your boyfriend going?” I jumped up and walked to them as they pointed out Arno's figure 100 meters away. I shrug my shoulders and taught he was going to get another bottle of water from the kiosk on the track but he passed it and disappeared behind the corner. 

And then all the sudden the conductor started to wave people in and the engine turned on. The locals jumped back in and we realized that the train was about to leave. “Arno!” I yelled without a response. The Hungarians tried to get the conductor to understand that we had to wait but he didn't understand and no one in the train spoke English. “Arno!” I repeated and told the others to jump in so that they wouldn't be left on the platform. “AAARNOO!” I screamed as loud as I could and stated to bang my hand against the wall of the train. The Hungarians yelled with me. No response. We couldn't see him and had no idea how far he had gotten in this point. I tried calling his phone but there was no signal. 

Arno: I walked all the way to the end of the train and there was this little resaurant. I was craving for some noodles so I decided to order. Big mistake. All of the sudden I look up front and see Linnea and the others waving at me and it hit me that the train was leaving. I tried to get my noodles and was telling the lady that I have to go but she wouldn't let me before she mixed the noodles with chicken and the sauce. 

Linnea: And then the train started to move. We all screamed as loud as we could. All the passengers stuck their heads outside the windows. Some locals realized something was wrong and they started to scream too. One man jumped out and was going to run after Arno. And then we saw Arno running among the platform, raising to the cart with two bags of fresh noodles in his hand. Everyone burst into laughing as he sprinted and jumped into the train. And then the train pushed of the platform. “I tried to leave but the lady didn't let me go without the sauce and the chicken!” he gasps.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. We got our tummies a little more full with the noodles. The heat forced the guys to nap a little and I laid back listening to music. We arrived to the Bagan railway station after 10 and half hours of traveling in the train and the sun hadn't even set yet. We said goodbyes at the station and connected on Facebook before our ways separated. Me and Arno took a car (or like you know sat on the back of a pick up truck but who counts) to our hotel, left our bags and headed down for dinner – to celebrate me getting into my dream school (I will start studying paramedics!)!  

Arno: It's 4 am and time to wake up. The sun will be up in about an hour and we want to witness the sunrise. It's usually the best thing around these kind of temple areas. We jumped on the E-scooter and drove off towards the temples. All the streets were empty except for the occasional passer by. It's really nice to sometimes just wake up very early (even though the waking up part is usually hard) to get out of the hotel and see the city waking up. You don't have the usual traffic jams or anything but just a few people going around, some restaurants starting to prepare breakfast and so on. But anyways we arrived at the temple maybe half an hour later and started climbing to the top. As always the stairs were steep and dangerous but that didn't hold us back. To our luck there weren't many early birds around so we could enjoy the sunrise and take pictures in peace. It was a beautiful sight. The valley slowly lights up while the fog starts to disappear and the mountains come in sight. If you've never seen a sunrise at a temple, you should definitively put on your to do list! 

Linnea: In the dark you couldn't see that much but as we had climbed up on one of the biggest temples and the sun finally started to rise, we began to see the thousands (2500) of temples around us, everywhere we looked. Never_seen_anything_like_it! I mean I have been to Angkor Wat, Borobudur and other magnificent places but Bagan is just something else... And since Myanmar is yet so undiscovered and not overcrowded, it was so quiet. We cruised around a bit before returning to our hotel for a big breakfast and a little nap.

Arno: The area itself is kind of hard to explain. It's like an ancient city which is full of temples on a massive area. We had rented an electric scooter (normal ones not allowed due to the noise) and after our nap decided to drive around the area to see some more. We could have driven all day and still not have covered all of it. That's how huge it is. The fun part of discovering the city is that you have total freedom to go anywhere. Temples are just sitting there while you drive and you can stop anywhere. Some temples even have stairs to the top and you can just freely climb them. Cool but very dangerous. The views from the top are amazing though, nothing like you've ever seen before. You see mountains surrounding the area with temples and trees as far as the eye can reach. If you really want to see some living history, this is the place to be.  

Heeelp! The bike got stuck!

These guys were best friends! Playing together like crazy!

After the quite long afternoon we returned to have some dinner and headed towards our next adventure; Lake Inle! More about that later tho!

Greetings:

Arno & Linnea