Day 5 - Mandalay to Hsipaw with a stop in Pyin Oo Lwin

I woke up early in on day 5 in Mandalay, had a quick bite ad went a few blocks away to a corner intersection where I was to pick up transport north to Pyin Oo Lwin. Pyin Oo Lwin is a former British "rest and relaxation" town, very peaceful with gorgeous gardens, various fruit wineries and somehow it's able to escape the heat of Myanmar and stay cool while every other city is on fire.  

i was to ride on the back of a pickup truck to get there and I had a few minutes before we took off (first you wait for the truck to get near full, then you leave) so I went out and bought a small pillow to sit on as those hard wooden or metal benches don't feel so good on your ass after an hour or more.  When I came back, there was still time to wait so I went to a local semi-posh hotel and asked for the wifi password, which they gave me. Nice to check in every few days if I can to let loved ones know I'm alive.  

The ride was scenic and fun, the locals not so used to big white people riding with them this way but didn't seem to really care.  I had planned to stay in Pyin Oo Lwin but I soon found out that I could spend a few hours there, do the highlights and then head north to Hsipaw. So I went off to the Chinese Temple as it's on the list of to see places. Why, I'm not sure.  It's a weird modern day take on a chinese temple with everything made in cement and horrible off-colors.  But there were a monkey and baboon in the back which I really liked to see.  One of the burmese offered the monkey some betel nut and the monkey took it and ate the tobacco leaf with it.  Shortly after he went a little mental.

From there I headed to the Shan market, another specialty of the area. When I got there, I couldn't figure out what was the big deal. It was a typical market, not offering anything special or different. Maybe I was there on an off day.  I headed back to my bus area and stopped on the way to pick up some fresh mangosteens and also a local beef jerky of some sort for the ride. I passed a few of the horse drawn carriages, a common form of transportation in smaller Burmese cities. At the waiting area I bought some local damson wine (it turned out to be pretty tasty) and grabbed lunch (Which didn't turn out to be so tasty.) Eventually my bus came and I headed up to Hsipaw to see what was around that area.

Day 4 - Around Mandalay: Saigang and Amarapura

My 4th day was a very long and unexpected day, but one full of greatness.  I arrived early morning to Mandalay and didn't really have a plan or know what to do/where to go. I left my hotel to get some breakfast and think the day over when I ran into Jacinta on the street.  I met Jacinta a few days prior in Yangon as we both stayed at the same guesthouse.  I asked her what her plan for the day was and when she told me I asked if it was cool if I tagged along.  It was, so we headed off to get some breakfast and head out for the day to go to Saigang. Saigang is a not as visited area of Burma and even though it is very small in geographic area it is home to over 6000 monks.  A famed spiritual place in the country, it's beautiful to visit as the land is draped in stupa's stretching from every eye's corner.   We took a tuk-tuk type truck there for 200kyat (about 25cents) and got to spend a lot of time mingling with local people as this is how they travel.  Once at Saigang we just hopped off and started walking around. It's hard to know where to start as there are so many stupas and temples and you don't want to miss the important ones.  But in places like this, you just have to know that you will miss things… and that's ok.  As we ampler our way up to one of the bigger hill top stupas, a small 3 wheeled tuk-tuk stopped to give us a ride. When we asked how much he said, "no charge, I am going that way."  We kept waiting for the catch, but there wasn't any. Even when we got off at the temple we were wondering what the deal was. This would never happen in Laos or Thailand and certainly not in Vietnam.  We ended up having a lot of experiences like this during the day, people being nice and generous because it was in their nature. Not looking at us like walking ATM's but as people.  It was really nice to feel this way, and both of us kept marveling in the generosity of the Burmese people, at least in the rural part of the country. 

After stupa and temple hopping we caught a ride to U-Peine, a famous wooden pathway over a lake in Amarapura. The ride was in the back of a truck transporting large sacks of rice as well as some local farmers carrying bananas and corn to sell up the road. It was rustic and a very enjoyable, albeit bumpy ride. The U-Peine bridge was also charmingly wonderful. Full of Burmese coming to walk across the bridge at sunset, families coming for the cultural history and young couples coming for romance.  Again, few tourists to be seen which meant getting a plethora of "Hello. Where are you from? What's your name?" and other questions like this that you hear over and over and over and over everyday here.   As the sunset it started to lightly rain and we had no way back.  We tried hailing a taxi or truck back but no deal. Eventually, a truck of some fishers drove by and said they could take us back. When asked the price, again they said no cost. free.  What was going on here? We took it and had a nice time not being able to communicate with the people but trying sure as heck too.  They dropped us back in town at a famous temple, the Mahamuni temple, where we ampler around for a bit and then decided to walk home.  The rain was coming down much more but we weren't in the mood to deal with these motorcycle drivers trying to scam us. From being in the country where people were so generous to coming back to the city where cash rules all.  Eventually a motorbike driver stopped and offered to give us a ride for free. But only one could go on so I sent Jacinta home first. I was actually more tired and my feet were cut up from my sandals but I'll be damned if I wasn't going to be a gentleman.  She left and I walked a lot more. Eventually, fed up and tired and wet and sore I tried to hail a cab or two down and nothing. Then out of nowhere this three wheeled wagon stops and offers me a ride for free. Heck yeah!!  I hopped in the back and cruised through the city on top of a cooler behind the driver.  When I got back to my hostel I took one of the most welcomed showers I have ever taken.