I slept well and, at 7.00 a.m., took a light breakfast at Hotel Moe with the Doctor and his wife. The Doctor said that I could continue to work on the internet for a while whilst he arranged for our monastery car to pick us up at the hotel.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: Reception at Hotel Moe, Kalay.
We set off on the long journey back to Bagan at about half past nine, in our repaired Toyota Land Cruiser Prado TZ with our original monastery driver.
At the Monk’s lunch time, we pulled in at a large tea-shop, one of a large number branded ‘DAGON STATION’ (I assume the name is intend to convey a similar meaning to ‘petrol station’), selling the products of Dagon Beverages Co. Ltd which carry the image of a lion. The Monk was very swiftly served and the rest of us agreed to eat a little later in the day.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: The large roadside cafe (a 'Dagon Station') where the monk took lunch.
After continuing south for a while, we made a left turn and were back on unsealed roads of variable quality. A single track railway appeared and our road seemed to be following the railway route. We were headed towards mountains and eventually it became clear that we had some serious climbing ahead of us. But whilst I periodically lost sight of the railway as it made generous detours to ease the ruling gradient, the road (which must date from the ‘internal combustion’ era) tended to attack the climbs more head-on but, in the difficult terrain, lots of twisting and very sharp hairpin bends were still necessary.
Up in the hills, we suddenly came upon a modern petrol station looking, to me, rather out of place. Here, we took fuel.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: A filling station in the mountain area.
We carried on over some difficult hill sections. I was completely disoriented by all the twisting and turning. Abruptly, we pulled up at a tea-shop where the Doctor, his wife and the writer finally took lunch whilst the monk rested. The afternoon was hot and there were flies everywhere. We ate to the accompaniment of banging from builders attaching aluminium-zinc corrugated roof sheeting to the wooden framework of an extension to the building we were in. But I found it a pleasant break from travelling on unsealed roads.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: Tea shop near Diamond Mountain.
As we left the tea shop, I admired a Doosan DISD SD300N loading shovel being carefully cleaned by two men.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: Doosan DISD SD300N loader being cleaned near Diamond Mountain.
Shortly afterwards, we found the way ahead completely blocked by a tipper lorry positioned across the roadway while it tipped earth at the side of the road, perhaps for building up the verges. An impatient 8-wheel lorry travelling the towards us was continuously sounding his horn. Eventually, the tipper lorry managed to back enough to clear a path for the 8-wheeler, then resuming tipping. The 8-wheeler crept forward but then found his path blocked by a motor cycle parked at the edge of the road. This triggered more furious horn blowing. When this produced no effect, the driver’s assistant jumped from the cab and moved the offending machine well clear of the carriageway, carefully replacing it on its stand. After this little drama, we were able to continue.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: Having moved a motor cycle, the 8-wheeler can pass the blue tipper lorry.
Our final stop, as it grew dark, was at the Thiho Shin Pagoda in Pakokku. The spire of the pagoda was covered in the delicate cocoon of interlaced bamboo always used by pagoda builders when carrying out repairs or re-gilding.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: Thiho Shin Pagoda, Pakokku at dusk, showing bamboo scaffolding.
The pagoda houses a massive, intricate wood carving constructed in five sections which took a father and son four years to carve over a century ago. Many pilgrims visit to admire this remarkable work. Nearby, there are old photographs of the father and son craftsman and the elderly couple who donated the work.
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018: Thiho Shin Pagoda, Pakokku showing the famous intricate wood carving.
We then used the lengthy Pakokku road and rail bridge to return to the east bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. From there, it was back to Nyaung Oo and finally, travelling on familiar roads, back to Bagan Medical Clinic where we were greeted by the staff who immediately made preparations for our dinner.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar.
The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports
My pictures
By road to Bagan 3rd May 2018
Hotel Moe, Kalay, Myanmar
All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.
[Pictures linked 10-May-2018, minor edits and pictures embedded 13-Jun-2018]
