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

My My Myanmar

Hey guys, Linnea again. Continuing the story of our trip from Bangkok to Myanmar.

We had a flight to catch from Bangkok to Mandaley, Myanmar at 10.50 in the morning of 27.6. so down to a taxi we headed after our early breakfast – we had left 3h before the flight, just to be sure.

We have travelled a lot and are quite used to be “the white tourists everyone thinks have pockets full of money and are easy to trick” so we meet a lot of cheaters and know basically every trick that could be pulled on us. And because Bangkok is full of cheating taxi and tuktuk drivers trying to cash out way more money than you should pay for a trip to the airport we asked the first guy if he was going to use a meter. He said no, he wants a 500 bath deal (really should cost about 300bath)! We told that we want a meter on and he refused again so I told Arno that we should just walk away. The next driver seemed so sweet. He was just sitting in the cab, not trying to sell us anything. We asked if he knew where the airport was and if he was about to use the meter and he said of course, so in we jumped. He talked some nice low key stuff and offered us his peanuts. To us he was the best driver ever...

...Until Arno looked at the navigator (you should always follow google maps when in a taxi in a place like Bangkok) and realized the guy was driving loops and going wrong way to get some more kilometres. Arno told him that hey, we really need to make this flight, what's about the bullshit. He had no explanation what-so-ever for why he was driving the highway wrong way, he just said that it's the way to the airport (witch was in an opposite direction).

And then we hit the traffic. And there we stood, not moving. And the clock was ticking, the check-in was about to close soon. The ride that was supposed to take 25 – 30 mins had now lasted 1 h 15mins. So we made quite sure that if we were going to miss the flight because he tried to pull some trick on us, he wasn't gonna get a penny from this ride. And that's when he hit the gas. He pulled to the curb of the highway and started passing the cars. When we got pass the traffic he took an exit to the right highway and drove the rest of the way 160km/h on a 80 zone. I smelled the levels of testosterones rising and the motor of the little taxi smoking.

When we finally made it to the airport we crabbed our bags, paid the driver and ran through the airport with all immigrations and security checks. And made it!

Myanmar (earlier Burma) used to be closed for a long time. Until 2011 it was under military regime and almost as closed as North Korea. It used to be hard to travel there, you needed all kinds of permits and a guide to be with you. Nowadays it's easier to travel by applying for a visa online and entering the country. Some parts of Myanmar still require a permit to enter and some parts are totally closed from foreigners due to the high amount of opium being grown in the mountain regions.

Walking to the immigration with our visas and forms we filled in the plane we weren't sure if we would get into the country. You see, if they would ask for our returning tickets, we had not booked any. Just one way. We hadn't decided weather we wanted to take a bus or a plane over the boarder back to Thailand. Luckily no one questioned us, we got out quite fast and headed to a little shuttle bus.

After a few hours in the bus we had made it to our hostel, left our stuff and walked out of the door to the closest restaurant we could find. Nothing was in English really and no one spoke English. Yet people were so sweet. We ordered some noodles and got huge portions for 70 euro cents. And those included quail eggs that cost like tons in Finland but are a big thing in Myanmar.

After the late lunch we hired a scooter from the hostel. Arno was going to be the one to drive. I mean I have driven cars abroad in places like Zimbabwe, USA... and scooter in Bali. But seeing the way they drive in Myanmar I wouldn't have survived. It's really the craziest I've seen since Nepal and India. Would not recommend for others – I trust Arno's skills. We did not see one Western driving a scooter during our stay (when in other countries sometimes like half the traffic is Westerners), completely understand why. In some points I just held my eyes closed and wished for the best when driving through an intersection. But once we got the hang of it, the whole concept got less scary. You have to honk always when passing someone. In Finland honking means “get out of my way you slow ass looser” but in Myanmar it more like saying “dude, I'm coming from behind, don't get scared” or in an intersection “hey guys, I'm the first one to cross”.

The locals had fun with us. They don't speak much English – seems like everyone knows one sentence: “Hellooo, where you gooo?” and they always drove next to us, smile and ask that. Bet they don't see a lot of Westerners, especially on a scooter.

We decided to go to this old wooden bridge for sunset. Driving there we got a little lost and drove through some areas where they made silk. Kling klong kling klong the machines made noise. And then through some poor areas where we met a lot of kids who all ran to give us high fives. And everyone smiled. I bet that's a thing somewhere where tourism hasn't taken over yet. Usually the locals have nothing against foreigners if they don't go around wasted, trashing, creating noise and acting disrespectfully towards the culture.

We walked around the bridge area, bought a wood art piece, enjoyed some drinks and then carefully made our way over the shaky bridge. And the sunset looked prettyyy neaaaat!

Then we hit the road again to drive to a temple the locals in our hostel had recommended to go see when it's dark. And now I know why. The whole temple was made out of jade! I mean, just incredible, shining in the dark night. We parked the scooter, left our flip flops and went in the temple area bare feet and amazed. Being the only foreigners there we got to pose in so many pictures with the locals, haha! I think my favourite one was this Monk who wanted one with us and his whole family.

We bought some quail egg thingies from this nice lady with a food stand and then bumped into the locals from the hostel. They asked where we were headed and we agreed to go together to the night market. I just think they drove a little faster than us because we totally lost them to the dark night and saw them again the next day. But the night market was still fun!

Waking up at 3:30 for these crazy sunrises we so love doing is never easy. This time we headed to Mandalay hill. The sunrise looked pretty as it always does but it was hard to find a nice spot. There we sat until we took our scooter back down for a breakfast (that was barely a breakfast) back in our Hotel. A few hour nap before lunch was so needed.

In this point we had actually no idea what next or how we would like to continue our trip so we decided to extend our scooter rent and take it to the train station to go ask for train tickets to Bagan. We had heard that there's a night train with sleeper vans but oh it was hard to find someone who knew about it. People took us from one ticket office to another and after talking with maybe 8 people one officer told us about the night train and just mentioned to morning train. We were all ears since we thought it'd be nice to travel in the daylight. The officer wasn't that sure whether the train would run at all but it should leave around seven am or so if we want to try our luck but added that usually it's just locals who take it and we would be much better of with the buses that have air con and wifi. So we decided to return to the station in the morning in case the train would come against all the odds.

I always do haircuts abroad because I have such a long bunch of hair that all the hairdressers back home charge me honey and strawberries to cut it. This time we found a local hair salon from a local shopping mall and I decided to go for a 7 euro cut. No one spoke English really but they put so much time and effort into me that the whole process took like 2 hours with all the massages, oil treatments and brushing. They cut out the dry ends so carefully and nice, three girls working together - and my hair has never been that silky smooth in my life. Totally worth the cut and the tips.

We decided to lift some money from the ATM before leaving the mall and as we stood there we started hearing sirens loud and clear. Everyone started running outside to see what's happening and I followed. Fire trucks were rushing through the midday traffic and people were running around not knowing what to do. I tried asking what was happening but no one spoke English. As Arno came out and we headed to our scooter some lady said that a hospital is in fire. We jumped on our scooter and started heading back to the hotel. All the sudden there are local men in front of us waving their hand and trying to lead the traffic to the side of the road. A few fire trucks rush by as we pull to the curb. The roads were jammed. It was so busy and burning hot as we tried to make our way back to the hostel through the bad bad traffic. A big smoke cloud rose over the city of Mandalay.

The next post will be about our train to Bagan – one of the coolest experiences of our lives.