Thursday 23rd April April 2015
On Thursday morning, we enjoyed an excellent breakfast at the Cinderella Hotel before setting off by car to return to Yangon. The Doctor had allowed for more sightseeing on the way so we first stopped at the Win Sein Taw Ya Pagoda which houses the ‘World’s Largest Reclining Buddha’. This was my third visit to the site - I'd first visited in 2012 (described in the post South of Mawlamyine, Burma). The following year, Doctor Hla Tun had carried out distributions to children from Mudon Township at the Win Sein Taw Ya Pagoda and this is reported in the post Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project in Myanmar. During my Burma trip in 2014, the Doctor and I made another visit (briefly described in the post South from Mawlamyine by Car).
The straight road leading to the pagoda has an impressive line of full-size painted concrete statues of monks, each carrying an offering bowl. As you get nearer to the reclining Buddha, the line of statues traverses an arch over the approach road and continues into the monastery grounds.
The line of full-size painted concrete statues of monks.
Jan at the at the Win Sein Taw Ya Pagoda in on this trip.
After the necessary photographs had been taken, we continued north. The Doctor had intended that we would visit the famous 'Golden Rock' at Kyaikto, but Fate intervened.
I had dozed off as we drove north when it happened. There was a loud explosion and I thought "That's not a dream!" I opened my eyes in time to see both front air bags inflating. Our driver held the car in a straight line whilst braking as an acrid smell and clouds of dust filled the cabin. I had no idea what had happened but, as soon as we came to a stop, I deemed it prudent to exit the car promptly. Nobody seemed hurt although we were all rather shaken. Looking at the vehicle, the left front wheel had twisted 90 degrees from its usual fore-and-aft position and the tyre was shredded so the car had slumped down at an unusual angle.
Our car was severely damaged.
I was told that a car travelling in the opposite direction had 'side-swiped' our car then continued along the road before turning on its side and coming to a stop, after which the driver ran off. We'd stopped in a village near a roadside shelter where Emily and I waited while the others came up with a plan. Of course, all the local people came to inspect the damage. After a while, a policeman arrived on a small motor bike.
"... all the local people came to inspect the damage ..."
We were invited to wait in the house of a local resident just opposite. Emily and I were made comfortable and electric fans were brought, since the day was very hot. I'd been asleep before the accident and, perhaps because of the shock, I found it difficult to take much notice of what was going on around me but eventually I understood that a car had been summoned from Yangon to rescue us but it would be at least four hours before it arrived. Doctor Hla Tun decided that we would take lunch while we waited, so a three-wheel motor cycle taxi was summoned and we all piled aboard for a journey of a mile or two back the way we had come to a roadside cafe. We were shown to a private dining room attached to the cafe where we enjoyed a relaxing, leisurely lunch. I felt much revived after the meal. Eventually, the motor cycle taxi took us back to our sorry-looking car which still held our heavy luggage and our 'relief car' arrived from Yangon.
Our sorry-looking Toyota after the accident.
Luggage was transferred to the 'relief car' and we set off for Yangon, with two of our party remaining behind to arrange the 'ferrying' of the badly-damaged car to Yangon for repairs. Our trip to the 'Golden Rock' was, of course, cancelled and we drove through Kyaikto on the main road without stopping. It was dark by the time we arrived at the junction with the dual carriageway near Bago and it was decided to stop for a snack before the final 'leg' of our journey back to Yangon, where Emily and I were to stay at Doctor Hla Tun's house.
It was my first visit to the Services here. Although there were a number of long-distance buses in the car park, the large cafe wasn't very busy.
The bright, airy cafe at the Services.
The Services were very 'western' in style and the only reminder that we were in Myanmar came when I visited the toilets. Western-style toilets had been provided, rather than the ground-level 'squat' toilets more common in Asia. A simple graphic was displayed reminding users that attempting to 'squat' on western-style toilet bowls may lead to injury.
A graphic reminder of the pitfalls of misunderstanding the use of 'western' toilets.
Late evening, tired but fortunately unhurt, we arrived at Doctor Hla Tun's house. I was keen to get to bed because, the following morning, we were to catch the 07:20 domestic flight from Yangon to Nyaung Oo where we would transfer by road to the Bagan Medical Clinic.
Go to next post.
All my posts on the 2015 trip to Myanmar can be found here.
My pictures
The World's Largest Reclining Buddha, Myanmar
(includes pictures from 2012 and 2015).
By road to and from Mon State.
[Actually first posted 9th June 2015, but timestamp amended to place posts in event order]
