skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Wednesday, 15th May 2019
I slept well at the Hotel Myat Nan Taw and enjoyed breakfast with my friends in the restaurant. In Myanmar, accommodation is often on a bed-and-breakfast basis and, in built-up areas like Taung Gyi, hotels are often five stories tall or more with the restaurant on the top floor. Our Hotel followed this layout and, with my room on the same floor, this was convenient provided the lift continued to work (which it did but with an ominous throbbing for much of the time suggesting that we were running from a standby generator, rather than mains). Both my room and the restaurant provided interesting views of the rather modern city whose population is well over 400,000.
View of Taung Gyi from my hotel room.
After breakfast, we set off by car, travelling east through Hopong to our first visit of the day which, I discovered, was to be another natural cave pagoda, this time Myittar Kham Tan Caves, known as Hathtipala Dhammacakka - 'the light of Buddha's Sasana cave' (although Google Maps show it as Htem Sann Cave). This was clearly an important pilgrimage site and there were lots of Myanmar visitors. At many of the more important religious sites, foreign visitors are required to pay an admission fee and the charge here for me was 20 U.S. Dollars.
The entrance to Myittar Kham Tan Caves.
Once inside the caves, it was cool and quite wet but a decent tiled floor had been provided and we made our way through a series of huge caverns, some well over 30 feet in height with fantastic rock effects hanging above us, some cone-like stalactites, others vertical sheets of rock.
Inside Myittar Kham Tan Caves.
We walked past numerous gilded Buddha images before pausing for the compulsory 'group picture'.
Our Group inside Myittar Kham Tan Caves.
Emerging from the cave complex, Doctor Hla Tun pointed out the large, covered eating area where free meals are available to pilgrims throughout the day, provided by the Abbott responsible for the caves.
Myittar Kham Tan Caves - distribution of Free Lunch.
The popularity of Myittar Kham Tan Caves was made clear by the long row of vendors offering food and gifts to the pilgrims. The Doctor purchased strawberries which were later turned into 'strawberry smoothies'.
Myittar Kham Tan Caves - area for vendors.
We re-traced our route to Taung Gyi, stopping to visit the modern pagoda whose design is based on the Ananda Pagoda at Bagan.
Taung Gyi modern pagoda (design based on the Ananda Pagoda at Bagan)
Internally, the circulating passages with rows of niches mimicked the appearance of the Ananda Pagoda.
Taung Gyi modern pagoda
Electricians were installing plastic trunking in the circulating passages and, as I passed, they were testing a long string of LED lights prior to installation. The urge to adorn pagodas with all sorts of lighting effects seems irresistible to Myanmar people.
Electricians testing LED lighting prior to installation: Taung Gyi modern pagoda.
Near our hotel, we stopped at a suitable tea shop to take lunch, before checking out from the hotel finally.
The Monk and our driver take lunch in Taung Gyi
It was a few minutes before all formalities has been completed so, waiting at the entrance to our hotel, I became fascinated watching the operation of a small drilling rig in use at the hotel immediately opposite. The objective appeared to be to drill a vertical hole, two or three inches diameter and perhaps a few feet deep in the concrete outside the other hotel but I couldn't discern for what purpose.
Drilling a Hole, Taung Gyi
We left Taung Gyi and this time headed west, passing through Shwe Naung and continuing to Heho, where we turned right onto a minor road heading north. For a time, I could see the control tower at Heho Airport, from where I've flown a number of times. Then the country roads were unfamiliar to me.
Eventually. we emerged at the main road from Kalaw to Lawksawk at the town of Pindaya. West of the town, situated on a limestone ridge, we arrived at the Pindaya Caves. There's a Wikipedia article about these famous caves here. The caves are approached by a rising road flanked by vendors' shops. Originally, it was necessary to climb one of the flights of covered steps to reach the actual cave entrance, high on the cliff face but two massive electric elevators now take visitors without effort.
Approach to Pindaya Caves (Shwe Oo Min Natural Cave Pagoda).
A rather odd-looking giant spider faces visitors as you approach the elevators. This is a representation of a legend that seven princesses bathing in a lake were captured and held the cave by a spider until released by Prince Kummabhaya of Yawnghwe.
Approach to Pindaya Caves (Shwe Oo Min Natural Cave Pagoda). The old legend is represented by the Prince (left, with bow), spider and (behind) seven princesses.
On leaving the elevator, splendid views of the surrounding area are provided.
Pindaya and Pone Taloke Lake, viewed from Pindaya Caves Elevators.
Whereas Myittar Kham Tan Caves had been spacious allowing the geology of the caves to be studied, by contrast, every available space within Pindaya Caves is filled with gilded Buddha images, with only narrow passageways and cramped steps allowing pilgrims to move around. The effect is impressive, if somewhat claustrophobic.
Shwe Oo Min Natural Cave Pagoda
Our group at Pindaya Caves.
Incidentally, back in 2016 I visited a cave pagoda in Kalaw which I believe also shares the name 'Shwe Oo Min'. My pictures of the Kalaw cave pagoda are in the album here.
We then set off south on Highway 41 to cover the 50 kilometres through Aungban to Kalaw. We made one stop in the hills above Kalaw at a Sunrise/Sunset Viewpoint but visibility was not very good. A group of young people were amusing themselves by letting off small rockets. This appeared to be particularly hazardous as the small firework charge came without a 'stick' which the user had to supply and tie to the firework before launch! Although these fireworks were for entertainment, the Doctor explained that, traditionally, fireworks were let off to induce rain. Perhaps it works because that night it rained.
Sunset at a viewpoint overlooking Kalaw.
In Kalaw the Doctor arranged accommodation at the Ramonar Hotel which is situated in the hills above Kalaw and constructed as a series of semi-detached villas. As usual, after the exertions of the day, I was keen to retire to my room and collapse. When it was realised that my room had no air conditioning, it was suggested that I might prefer to re-locate to a room with that facility but I guessed (fortunately correctly) that in Kalaw I'd be comfortable without A/C so stayed where I was.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays 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 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports.
My pictures
Burma 2019.
Taung Gyi, 2019.
Myittar Kham Tan Caves.
Pindaya Caves (Shwe Oo Min Natural Cave Pagoda).
All my pictures on this trip are in the collection Burma 2019.
Tuesday, 14th May 2019
Despite the title of this post, we spent Monday night and much of Tuesday in Myanmar's smallest state, Kayah, before re-entering Shan State. A good sleep at the Thingaha Hotel in Loikaw left me restored on Tuesday morning. I didn't appreciate the hotel's charming location until I met my companions for breakfast. Although within a few hundred yards of the main features of Loikaw, the hotel is situated on a quiet stretch of the northern bank of the Balu Chaung River and the open-sided pavilion on the terrace where breakfast was served overlooked the river. Both the proprietor and his wife made a point of personally welcoming me to their hotel.
I'd enjoyed a brief visit to Kayah State previously in 2017 (reports here).
After breakfast, our first visit was to Taung Gwe Zedi, the improbable group of pagodas built on a series of rock pinnacles overlooking the city. I'm afraid that, on this visit, I was content to use the elevator both to ascend and return to ground level.
Visiting Taung Gwe Zedi, Loikaw (Burma 2019).
The 'group shot' Taung Gwe Zedi
We drove south out of Loikaw, passing the display of strange white-painted Kutopoe Pillars I'd first seen two years earlier. Although Buddhism and Christianity are both widely practiced in Kayah State, I'd learned that Animism still exists and the Kutopoe Pillars form part of this tradition. There's an album of pictures of the Loikaw Kutopoe Pillars, taken in 2017, here.
Kutopoe Pillars, Loikaw (Burma 2019)
We continued on Highway 5 (which eventually leads to Taungoo, in Bago Region) for about twelve kilometres, pausing at Ngwe Taung lake and dam which supplies water for irrigation.
Ngwe Taung lake and dam, Kayah State (Burma 2019)
Two elephants were attracting a lot of interest and rides were being offered on the older elephant, in a simple 'howdah'. These were almost certainly the same pair I'd seen two years previously. After the compulsory 'group picture' we toured nearby Ngwe Taung Market. The Doctor's mother is a discerning and determined market shopper.
Our group at Ngwe Taung lake and dam, Kayah State (Burma 2019)
Shopping at Ngwe Taung Market, Kayah State (Burma 2019)
Returning to Loikaw, we checked out of the Thingaha Hotel and drove through Loikaw selecting a suitable tea shop for lunch. The Doctor is always careful in his choice of tea shops, understanding that any 'Western' digestion (not just mine) is far more easily upset by typical kitchen hygeine practices in Myanmar than a resident's would be.
Typical Kitchen of a Loikaw Teashop (Burma 2019)
View of Balu Chaung River from the Loikaw tea shop where we took lunch (Burma 2019)
After lunch, we headed out of Loikaw again to a country area south-east of Ngwe Taung where Seven Steps Lake is located. This is a series of lakes interconnected by streams and it is a favourite destination for Myanmar people. In 2017, I'd visited Seven Steps Lake in a rainstorm and that visit is described in the post here.
Seven Steps Lake
Not too far way, we reached the intriguing Umbrella lake where venting gas from geothermal activity periodically lifts the mud of a small lake into one (or sometimes more) visible domes thought to resemble umbrellas. This is another location I'd visited in 2017, described here. On that trip, I took a picture of an archway being built on the approach to Umbrella Lake. In 2019, that archway appeared to have been dismantled but an impressive, painted archway had been completed near the lake.
The approach to Umbrella Lake in 2017.
The approach to Umbrella Lake in 2019.
Our group at Umbrella Lake.
We returned to Loikaw where we visited a tourist initiative called a 'Kayan Traditional Village' - a large area of beaten earth with two rows of stalls made of bamboo and thatched. There were a number of the traditional Long-Necked Padaung women (and children) manning the various stalls, plus additional heavy, brass neck rings, carefully sliced in two and provided with tapes to allow visitors to create their own 'Long-Neck' pictures. I had visited the Padaung village of Pan-Pet in 2017 (report here), so I'll not re-iterate my distaste regarding the Long-Neck tradition which I believe is tending to die out.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, male Padaung fashion involves no heavy or permanent adaptations and our driver was happy to appear in male traditional attire.
Our driver in traditional dress at the Kayan Craft Village.
We then left Loikaw for the last time, heading north on the NH5. At the junction with the road from Phe Khong (the road we'd arrived by the previous day), we stayed on the NH5, heading north on the road which would eventually lead to Taung Gyi. We turned right off this road to reach a well-known series of waterfalls and place of pilgrimage, a beautiful spot which remained tranquil despite quite a few visitors from Myanmar.
The Waterfalls.
The various falls were interconnected by ornamental bridges, there were bathing places and inflated lorry inner tubes could be hired for young people to swim.
Burma 2019: Waterfalls showing swimming place with inflated lorry tyres.
There was also a large shrine with a huge gong outside which I was told commemorated the deaths of a large number of soldiers but I'm afraid I didn't get the details.
Burma 2019: Waterfalls, showing main shrine and huge gong.
We re-traced our route to the main road after a fascinating visit to the waterfalls and continued north, re-entering Shan State and passing through Hsihseng. After pausing at a tea shop in Loisawn for a cup of hot, sweet tea, we turned left onto the minor road which would take us to Kakku with its 2,478 Myanmar-style pagodas.
I first visited Kakku during my second visit to Myanmar in September, 2008, described here, not long after foreign tourists had been allowed to travel to what were still called 'The Long-lost pagodas of Kakku'. I thought the area very special then, as I did on my second visit in 2017 (described here), when I was able to watch a ceremony dedicating replacement 'Hti'. The 'Hti' is the delicate metal 'umbrella' which crowns the tapering spire of the pagoda. By the time we arrived at Kakku for my third visit, the sky had turned dark and the late afternoon sun produced dramatic lighting effects so that I was no less impressed than on my earlier visits.
Kakku Pagodas, Shan State.
There is one large, modern pagoda at which my friends paid their respects. Internally, there are four decorated niches with Buddha images. I was fascinated watching three work people (two men, one woman) re-gilding one of the niches.
Burma 2019: Re-gilding one of the four niches with Buddha images at the large, modern pagoda at Kakku.
I still enjoy wandering through the serried ranks of small pagodas at Kakku, with their stucco now a kaleidoscopic array of colours - various browns, white, pink - as the damage of centuries has been repaired by donors.
Burma 2019: Rows of pagodas at Kakku, Shan State.
But after a long and fairly active day, with the weather still hot compared with what I'm used to, I was tiring. We still had a drive of 46 kilometres to reach Taung Gyi, the Shan state capital, where we stayed the night. It took a little while for the Doctor to select suitable accommodation but his final choice, the Hotel Myat Nan Taw was excellent.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays 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 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports.
My pictures
I've uploaded lots of pictures to 'Flickr' but they're not all sorted and titled. I'll get onto it as soon as I can.
Burma 2019
[Pictures added 17-May-2019: Edits and pictures embedded 6-Jun-2019: Further edits, pictures added 14/15-Jun-2019]
Monday, 13th May 2019
The Bagan Medical Clinic was strangely quiet on Monday morning. When the clinic is open (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), there are usually hundreds of patients waiting their turn to be seen but, as I took breakfast with Doctor Hla Tun in the staff area of the original clinic building, only a few of the staff and monastery people remained.
The Doctor had promised to take me on a few day's tour of his country, in a repetition of the format in 2018 when we visited Chin State but the programme for 2019 was something of a 'mystery tour', although Shan State had been mentioned. On Monday morning five of us set off in the monastery's Toyota 'Prado' for our adventure - the monk who manages the clinic, one of the clinic staff as driver, the Doctor's mother (who had stayed at the clinic the previous night), the Doctor and Jan. Two miniature Buddhist flags were on display through the windscreen, indicating the presence of the monk and this meant that we passed through the various road toll stations without paying the fee.
Two miniature Buddhist flags on display through the windscreen of the monastery car.
We crossed the Bagan Plain, surrounded by the pagodas of ancient kingdoms which I always find magical. That led us to the town of New Bagan, Nyaung Oo, an unashamedly commercial area covered with tourist hotels with a number of new resort-type hotels still under construction. We turned onto the road east which I’ve travelled many times to Mount Popa or the school at Htee Pu but after a while, I recognized that we had turned onto a road I think I’d travelled only once before, in 2016 when the monastery car drove me to Thazi to travel by train to Kalaw (that road journey is described in the post On to Thazi. So I concluded, correctly, that we were heading for Shan State, via Meiktila, Thazi and Kalaw.
Meiktila Lake Pagoda in 2016.
Thazi Level Crossing, looking east, view from a train leaving Thazi in 2016.
We continued east, climbing into the mountains, for almost 100 km, crossing into Shan State shortly before arriving in Kalaw. Thazi-Kalaw by road is certainly quicker than my railway journey in 2016 (technical report starts here, concludes here). Like the Mandalay-Pyin-Oo-Lwin road, the road from Thazi to Kalaw forms part of an important trading route and has been widened and improved but still cannot avoid tight curves and steep gradients. Like Pyin Oo Lwin (often called 'Maymyo' after the British Colonel May), the elevation of Kalaw made it a cooler 'Hill Station' for the British and the architecture still reflects the British involvement.
We stopped at the Bamboo Temple, just outside Kalaw, situated in the hills overlooking the town, where my companions paid their respects.
Bamboo Temple, Kalaw.
Then, we continued on dusty roads across the hills to a series of viewpoints. We stopped at the modern-sounding 'Viewpoint@Kalaw'.
Group picture at Viewpoint@Kalaw.
A further drive took us to a set of natural caves which have become a Buddhist place of pilgrimage.
Entrance to Caves we visited in Shan State.
Jan, Doctor Hla Tun and his Mother tour the Natural Cave Pagoda, Shan State (Burma 2019)
We continued south on main road 54 which I knew would lead to Loikaw, the state capital of Kayah State, which I'd visited once before in 2017 (reports on that trip are here). Still in Shan State, at Phe Khong (sometimes spelt 'Pekon'), the road runs close to the western shore of the lake south of Inle. This lake is dammed at its southern end and then discharges into the Balu Chaung River which continues into Kayah State and flows through Loikaw. We stopped for a 'group picture' at a viewpoint overlooking the lake, where I also recorded the railway line to Loikaw running, unfenced, adjacent to the road.
On our way to Loikaw.
Burma 2019: Phe Khong, showing railway to Loikaw (view in Aungban direction). Note concrete sleepers, check rail and 'informal' road crossing.
By the time we arrived at Loikaw, it was dark and I was quite tired from the travelling. Doctor Hla Tun arranged accommodation at the Thingaha Hotel and I was provided with a well-equipped room which gave me an excellent night's sleep.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays 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 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports.
My pictures
I've uploaded lots of pictures to 'Flickr' but they're not all sorted and titled. I'll get onto it as soon as I can.
Bagan Medical Clinic, May 2019
Around Bagan Clinic 2019
Burma 2019
[Pictures added 17-May-2019: Notes added 21-May-2019: Edits and pictures embedded 3/5-Jun-2019]
Saturday, 11th and Sunday, 12th May 2019
I was ready to leave the Doctor's house at 6.30 a.m. as requested but it was nearer 5.45 a.m. as we set off for the airport with the Doctor driving at high speed and his younger son trying to sleep on the back seat prior to returning the car to the family home. At the still fairly new Domestic Terminal of Mingalardon Airport, security checks were friendly, check-in for the Mann Yadanarpon Airlines 07:00 flight to Nyaung Oo was simple and, after a short wait, we joined the transfer bus. Our aircraft was not at a stand near the terminal building. Instead, we drove just past the end of the runway, crossed via a cutting below the level of the runway and emerged at more recently constructed aircraft stands where a group of ATR72 turbo-prop aircraft for various domestic airlines were waiting..
Our journey to Nyaung Oo took about 75 minutes and it was hot on our arrival. A police sergeant greeted the Doctor and, with his help, we quickly secured our baggage and met Hla Win Ko who was to drive us to the Clinic at Bagan.
The original clinic building at Bagan Medical Clinic, May 2019: Patients register at the now-glazed window on the left. The writing on the window is "Mingale Ba" - the all-purpose Burmese greeting. After treatment, any prescribed medication is issued at the right-hand window.
At the Clinic there were so many old friends to greet; it was a real homecoming for me.
The Dispensary Area at Bagan Medical Clinic 2019
Of course, Doctor Hla Tun immediately started doing consultations and I sat-in for a time.
Doctor Hla Tun and three assistants in his Consulting Room: Bagan Medical Clinic, May 2019.
I think 213 patients had registered for Saturday's clinic and they were shared between Doctor Hla Tun and two other doctors, with Doctor Hla Tun dealing with the more complex cases.
The Doctor invited me into a separate treatment room to observe the administration of a spinal injection for pain relief and at the same time, Captain Myo Lwin and his wife arrived, having flown from Yangon on a later flight operated by KBZ Airlines. After a career on a variety of ships including large container vessels, the Captain's last command was the 'Road to Mandalay' River Cruise ship which was where I first met him in 2008 and we've remained good friends ever since. After hunting round the site for the Captain, I discovered that he and his wife had left to check in at their hotel, after which they'd return to see me.
I was sitting-in with Doctor Hla Tun at 11.30 a.m. when the public address announced that the free cooked lunch for patients and their companions was about to be served, so I went to have a look. The Abbott was already handing lunches to a long line of patients but, as soon as he saw me approaching, he gestured for me to take over the distribution and a joyful, if frantic, few minutes resulted as well over two hundred meals were handed out.
Burma 2019: Distribution of free lunch, Saturday 11th May 2019.
The open-sided building from which these meals are distributed is now a properly-constructed wooden structure with a 'tin roof' and computer-printed banners hung on the outside - a far cry from the more modest shelter used when the Clinic first opened in 2011.
When Captain Myo Lwin and his wife came back, we chatted for a while with The Doctor, who did not interrupt his treatments, except for a couple of minutes for formal pictures of the Abbott, Doctor Hla Tun, Captain Myo Lwin and the writer, which the Captain had requested to record those whom he regards as the main instigators of the Bagan Clinic Project.
The Abbott, Doctor Hla Tun, Jan Ford and Captain Myo Lwin: Bagan Medical Clinic, 2019
I sat-in with the Doctor until the early evening. It's always humbling to see how stoical seriously-ill Burmese can be when faced with either lack of local services or inability to pay the costs involved. Whilst the Bagan Clinic makes no charge for consultations, a nominal charge of a few dollars for medication is made although this is cancelled in cases of need.
The intensive schedule of the previous few days together with recovering from my earlier infection meant that I retired hours before the Doctor. Daytime outside temperatures in Bagan of 44 degrees Celsius meant that even local people were complaining of the heat. The main consulting rooms (and the bedroom I use at the Clinic) fortunately have air conditioning and a modern, large diesel standby generator makes up for frequent 'outages' of the external electricity supply.
The following day, Sunday, continued in a similar way. I was surprised to discover that only 80 new patients had registered for Sunday. The Doctor explained that the 12th of May is celebrated as 'Buddha's Birthday' in Myanmar and is a public holiday. This one date celebrates the Birth, Enlightenment and Death of the Buddha. There's a Wikipedia article here. Captain Myo Lwin and his wife returned to the Clinic during Sunday morning and Doctor Hla Tun's mother arrived by car, having flown from Yangon to Nyaung Oo. I'd first met this lady in 2017, when she joined us on a trip to Mon State (described in a series of reports here}.
Slowly, the numbers of waiting patients dwindled as they were seen by the Doctor and then received prescribed medication.
Update on number of treatments
In the earlier post here I reported on the number of treatments carried out up to the end of 2018. I was able to confirm the further treatments in the first four months of 2019 as follows:-
January: 2,709
February: 2,739
March: 3,121
April: 1,257
Note that, because of 'Thingyan', the national water festival in April, the Clinic only opens for two weekends that month so patient treatments are always lower than other months.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays 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 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports.
This blog has a number of articles on Medical Support (mainly in Myanmar). You can display them all (in reverse date-of-posting order) by clicking here or selecting 'Medical Support' in the 'List of Labels to Select a Blog Topic'.
My pictures
I've uploaded lots of pictures to 'Flickr' but they're not all sorted and titled. I'll get onto it as soon as I can.
Bagan Medical Clinic, May 2019
Around Bagan Clinic 2019
Burma 2019
[Text added 13/14-May-2019, 21-May-2019: Edits, pictures embedded 1-Jun-2019]
Friday, 10th May 2019
Thursday night was spent at the private house in Hyauk Yay Twin. I had been given a small room of my own but I found it rather hot (temperatures had been around the low 30s Celsius during the day and didn't seem to drop much during the night)) and I’m not used to sleeping on the floor. Eventually I slept quite soundly but was up again around six a.m. and we took a light breakfast around eight.
Breakfast at our accommodation: Kayin State 2019
We didn’t have to leave the area that early, so they offered another boat ride, re-tracing the route we'd taken up the Gyaing River the previous day but then carrying on beyond Tha Yet Taw to the town of Kyondoe. Shortly after we set off, it started to rain heavily but the simple roof on our boat kept the worst of the rain off. They offered to pull down plastic sheets to protect against sideways rain, but I declined, preferring to study the scenery at the expense of a slightly-wet left arm.
Our boat trip in the rain, view astern: Kayin State, 2019
After about 6 km we passed Kharit, which we'd reached by road the previous day. After another 5 km we forked right into the Haungthayaw River. The left fork is called the Hlaingbwe Stream and it's crossed by an impressive suspension bridge which replaced an earlier pontoon bridge. The bridge carries the Highway from the Kayin State Capital, Hpa An, to Myawaddy on the Myanmar-Thailand Border.
Bridge over Hlaingbwe Stream, Kayin State, 2019.
We continued past Tha Yet Taw (or Krop Kreik) about 3 km to our destination, Kyondoe. The Myawaddy-Hpa An Highway passes through the town on the northern bank of the Haungthayaw River but access for vehicles to the part of the town on the southern bank requires the use of one of a number of fairly-crude looking pontoon vehicle ferries powered by a couple of longtail propellor units.
Our boat trip, Kyondoe in the rain. Note the car ferry across the River Haungthayaw: Kayin State, 2019
Our boat trip, Kyondoe in the rain. This car ferry is docked at another loading ramp, plenty of foot passengers, no vehicles, with two longtail propellor units on the right: Kayin State, 2019
On the south bank of the river (where all the villages we'd visited were located) the road system appeared very incomplete, accounting for the apparent importance of small boats to get around. Because of the rain, our hosts decided to cancel the promised walkabout in the town but we did purchase fuel for the boat before returning. A few minutes before we arrived back, the rain stopped, so we were able to walk back from the jetty to our accommodation without getting a soaking.
At 10.30 a.m., we were given lunch. I’ll never get used to the timing of meals in Myanmar and the prodigious volume of food these generally slim-framed people find normal. Then we loaded up the pick-up with our personal luggage and set off back to Mawlamyine.
I’m afraid the return journey over the incomplete roads was as uncomfortable as our outward trip but, a little after noon, we pulled into the car park of the Kaung Myat Hotel. I then discovered there was more luggage in store at the hotel which was added to the pick-up before we drove to Mawlamyine Long Distance Bus Terminal, which is a slightly less frenetic version of Yangon’s bus terminal.
Only the Doctor and I were catching the 1.00 p.m. bus to Yangon as Aung Ko Latt intended to spend a day at his nearby home village before returning to Yangon where he works but we were accompanied by a generous amount of luggage including gifts and local foodstuffs purchased by the Doctor, some of which was carried in the massive luggage hold of the Chinese-built coach, the balance being carried with us in the cabin. The seating was 2+2 but the Doctor had thoughtfully reserved two seats for me, allowing me more legroom.
As we waited for departure, I was fascinated by the steady stream of motor-bike carriers collecting parcels for local delivery. I particularly noted one who placed one large cardboard carton on his rear carrier, placed a second smaller carton between his legs and, with no securing on the cartons, optimistically set off into Mawlamyine's traffic.
Motor cycle carrier with two cartons at Mawlamyine Bus Terminal
Thaton: Return from Mawlamyine, 10-May-2019
Around six and a half hours are allowed for the journey back to Yangon, including a thirty minute toilet and refreshment stop about halfway through the journey.
When we finally arrived, Yangon’s notorious Bus Terminal was more than living up to its reputation. Gridlock ensued on the approach roads. We inched forward and eventually disembarked not at a ‘stand’ but at the side of an internal road.
I guarded our heap of luggage whilst the Doctor organised a taxi from the Bus Station to his home. That journey, in the dark with the streets full of hard-to-see pedestrians crossing and bicycles without lights was ‘interesting’. Yangon drivers could certainly issue a challenge to London motorists regarding aggressive techniques.
As usual, I was made very welcome at the Doctor's home but after a light meal all I wanted to do was go to bed, having set my alarm for 4.15 a.m. for we were to catch the 7.00 a.m Yadanarpon domestic flight from Yangon to Nyaung Oo.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 14th visit to Myanmar. The post Return to Burma is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays 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 2019 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma 2019 reports.
My pictures
Kayin State, 2019
Mawlamyine, 2019
Burma 2019
Kaung Myat Hoyel, Mawlamyine (most pictures taken on earlier visits).
