Following a late (yet thankfully uneventful) flight from Myanmar, I hitched a bus from Penang airport and arrived at just on 5am at the port town of Kuala Besut, gateway to the Perhentian Islands (pronounced “Per-hen-tee-an”, not shee-an).
Continue reading Perhentian Islands – dive right in!All posts by iainc
Penang – dang! Day 1 – Georgetown
Wow, Penang! All throughout my little journey; from stepping out of the bus in central Georgetown, winding my way through Little India at 7am, perusing the temple of the Goddess of Mercy and sauntering down Love Lane onto Muntri street (I was aiming for the Ryokan Muntri Guest House), I couldn’t help but stare at the colourful shutters, dusty porches and shiny steel street-food stalls that make up Georgetown. I knew from the first few moments that I would love this island. I was in such awe, I didn’t take any pictures!
Continue reading Penang – dang! Day 1 – Georgetown
Yangoing – going – gon!
It’s incredible how your perspective on a place changes with a) time, and b) the weather! The first time I landed in Yangon, I had no idea what to expect from Myanmar. How much do things cost? How far is the airport from the city centre? Where can I stay overnight, and where can’t I? Also, I was terrified as it was tipping it down and I had no idea how far anything is from anything else. The first time, I paid too much to take a slow way into the city from the airport.
But this time, as I witnessed the sun rise to signal the start of a scorching day in Burma’s second city, I was prepared.
Continue reading Yangoing – going – gon!
Biking Hsipaw – So Much Waterfall
Waking up to perfect blue skies (30degC and rising at 8am) I planned to get out and make the most of my last few hours in Hsipaw. However, due to the slow connection it took me ALL MORNING to book my flight to Malaysia. They say here that “www” stands for “wait…….wait…….wait” – which is fair enough, as Wi-Fi since Yangon has been reliably, dependably, awful. The people here use telephones, snail mail (usually passed hand-to-hand by bus), word of mouth and a funny network of questionably accurate timetables embedded in the memories of the local “bus gurus” to get information and people from A to B, and whilst it works great when you’re within the country, it makes it very hard to leave.
Following the flight-booking fiasco and with a couple of hours to kill before our buses (I’m outta here, Clara’s got more to do in Myanmar) we figured we’d hire a motorbike and get to a nearby waterfall for a cool-off dip in the now comically-intense sunshine. The hostel advised we leave the motorbike near a monastery and hike 45 minutes to the falls, but we really didn’t have time for that, so decided to take the motorbike along the hiking path. Technically allowed, but to cut it short – more near-death experiences to add to the list:
As with most of the sprawling municipalities in Myanmar, there’s a big stinking rubbish heap just outside the town. The people here have spent their entire lives comfortably throwing all waste out of the back window and letting it degrade, but unfortunately that doesn’t work with plastic, metal and glass and the whole country is choking under the mix of old habits and new materials:
Some time around the 39th near-death experience, a cloud of butterflies exploded in front of us, making the whole thing so much less stressful. In fact, in reflection, it was all great.
Besides, we did make it to the waterfall in great time, and what a fall it was:
By now we were pretty clued in on what to do – GET IN!
It was definitely the most intense of the waterfalls I’ve seen here. In the rainy season, the cascades take no prisoners, the volume of water is utterly staggering:
Still, some spots make for an awesome shoulder massage:
We also found a rainbow having a swim in the fall with us!
Reluctantly leaving the cool waters, we descended the muddy steps, jumped back onto the bike and took a deep breath in preparation for the return journey.
Despite a couple of issues with the bike’s brakes (apparently when the front brake jams on it makes riding a bike pretty tricky) we did get back to Hsipaw in time for Roti, pineapple, and our booked bus transfers:
In case you’re wondering, this is what an “official bus station” looks like in Myanmar:
I’d booked the bus back to Yangon to take my flight out of Myanmar – to Penang. Although she suggested that she’d be coming to Malaysia at some point, saying goodbye to Clara in Hsipaw was saddening – it’s the people you meet that make travelling experiences unique.
We’d had a great few days exploring Myanmar and trekking together. Asia is a melting pot of wide-eyed adventure seekers from all over the planet… so whilst you’re sure to genuinely get along with almost everyone you meet, you’re unlikely to see them again, for a long time, if ever…
Trekking – Hsipaw
Hsipaw is one of the towns in Myanmar which people come to specifically for trekking. We signed up with the group at the Mr Charles hotel, which is pretty cheap and definitely well organised. As Thijs had to fly out the next day, he signed up for a one day trek whilst Clara and I signed up for a two day. We had to say goodbye. When you’ve met someone at 4am to watch the sunrise, climbed waterfalls and toured half the country on 10 types of death-defying vehicle, saying goodbye isn’t easy. I’ll have to drop by Amsterdam sometime.
Day 1
So, Clara and I found ourselves with an Israeli couple and a pair of British lads, our companions for the next two days. Our guide for this trek was called Tun Tun – when guiding he adopts the name Tom Tom, which is damned reassuring when you’re walking in an area which is partially occupied by insurgent militants, and still addled with landmines. Let’s hope Tom Tom downloaded the latest map updates.
After about 15 minutes, one of the Brits turned back, as we were walking through rice paddies, and he felt at risk of Japanese Encephalitis. The real risks are practically zero, as the mosquitoes that carry it only come out at night (and by then we’d be way up into the mountains) but once it was in his head, he was convinced the only way was home.
Plodding on, the rain on the first day was torrential. Now, I have pretty good gear. Rain jacket, waterproof boots, rain cover for the rucksack, dry bags for everything in it, and heck I even put silica gel in the dry bags, just in case.
Still. I. Was. Soaked. Water ran under my hood, down the inside of my raincoat, around the back of my rucksack, through my trousers and into my comically squelchy waterproof boots, which seemed to be doing a frustratingly good job of keeping the water IN. I’d never even SEEN this volume of rainfall before, never mind going outside during it, never mind going on a two-day trek through it. I’d have been better off with shorts and a snorkel.
I did honestly try to capture some of the unique, wonderful views (and the nutters motorbiking their way down the sodden mud paths with streaming ponchos and pillion passengers balancing their mountain vegetables) but my “waterproof” phone misted up as if it hadn’t seen a dry day since May.
A quick stop at a hilltop café for eggs and biscuits did practically nothing for our soaked gear or morale, and the faff of having to take our shoes off probably just made things worse. Still, views of clouds pouring over the mountains as locals manually work the fields in the driving storms were incredible – they really added to the intensity of the experience.
Less than an hour’s climb later, with a couple of minor gaps in the rain, we found ourselves at the homestay village. We (totally vainly) hung everything up to dry, and changed into longyis, generously lent to us by the villagers. I remark this is the first time I’ve mentioned a longyi – the traditional leg garment of Myanmar! It’s basically a large tubular sheet, which you wrap and fold around yourself like a quick-release skirt. Very comfortable, quick to dry… and airy.
Sitting by the fire, a hot lunch of rice and locally grown vegetables was provided, and we gobbled this down with tea before, shattered, we piled into the sleeping quarters and napped for a couple of hours.
Rising for a quick explore, I discovered the home owner preparing dinner. She told me that all the food she cooks comes from her back garden, or the village market. The cucumber, onion, garlic and rice she was preparing all smelled brilliant from fresh, to bubbling, to ready.
They eat very little meat here, taking their protein from insects and nuts instead, and admittedly the food here was easily the best I’ve had in Myanmar. The adorable granddaughter of the homeowner also graced us with her presence – Clara’s clearly good with kids, so I just left her to it!:
Somebody at this point suggested that playing a game of Ring of Fire by firelight was a good idea.
Two beers and a bottle of Myanmar rum (very tasty alone, or with coke) later and I drew the final King – landing myself with a half pint of beer, rice wine and rum as a nightcap.
Still, the rain drove relentlessly on, lulling us to sleep with white noise as it pounded the metal roof of the bamboo hut.
As I dozed off, I decided I’m going to Malaysia next. I miss the sea.
Day 2
It must be the fresh air, or the water, or something, but I felt great this morning. Really, no sarcasm, absolutely great. We ate a warm rice breakfast with scrambled eggs and tea, and squidged into our wet gear, which admittedly wasn’t so great.
However, stepping outside, it wasn’t raining. So far, so good.
Shortly, there were enough breaks in the cloud for me to actually get my camera out!
As the morning went on, to our relief (and astonishment), the sun actually came out! We were at that point walking through a bamboo forest, up a path which appeared to be a redirected route for the river…
Breaking free of the forest and river paths, we were offered pleasant trekking through acres of corn fields. SO many corn fields. I have no idea what they do with all this corn. Tom Tom said it was fed to their animals, but I genuinely haven’t seen enough animals in Myanmar to warrant this amount of corn. Perhaps they export a lot to China…
Early afternoon I took some time to stop and capture a few shots of the butterflies and other interesting insects on the walk. I’ll combine these with a few shots from Inle Lake and put them all in a Feature on Burmese Critters. Mainly butterflies, because they actually sit still occasionally. I’ll update this post when it’s ready!
At one point we also stumbled across a lady knocking nectarine-like fruit from a tree outside her garden. We couldn’t resist a taste, and even Tom Tom enjoyed a couple!:
The sun had really started to come out by this point, and our gear was so wet it was essentially steaming us slowly, rather than drying out. We baked as we our way through more corn fields (seriously, where does all this corn GO?!):
It was around the two hour mark when we all decided that we’d just about managed as much as we could. We were on the verge of evaporating on the spot, when all of a sudden… we found this:
It looked even better up close!
This was exactly what we needed at this point, and we all gleefully stripped to our swimming shorts (I’d learned by now that you ALWAYS carry swimming shorts!) and dived in. It doesn’t look like much, but that water really stings the shoulders! Totally worth it:
And would you believe it, there was even a noodle stand at the waterfall. My day couldn’t really get any better from there.
With the sun out, totally refreshed and feeling great, we wandered down the hill a few minutes to our lift down the highway; a tuk-tuk chicken bus!
Upon returning to Hsipaw, Clara and I spent a little time trying to find a reputed nearby natural hot spring. After a couple of hours of running into dead ends, we heard from a local that the hot spring only arises in the dry season when the water table is low.
Oh well!
There’s always tomorrow to find new waterfalls, springs and jungle adventures. But until then… there’s always Myanmar rum and cards at the hostel.
Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw – the Colonial Train
Bright and early at 7.20am we took a bike-tuk-tuk to the station in Pyin Oo Lwin. Like many buildings in the town, it’s of colonial build, and it seems it hasn’t really been updated since:
With only two trains a day and costing <$3 for an upper-class ticket along the popular stretch to Hsipaw, the posh carriage of this train is practically entirely filled with tourists. In fact, there were more tourists in this carriage than I’d seen in the whole of Burma, and I was slightly concerned it was all a big trap to pile us off a bridge and get rid of us all in one go. They even had to add an extra carriage to contain us all:
The train leaves daily at 8am (having departed Mandalay at 4am!) and moves at less than 20km/h, taking the best part of a day to get from Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw. Be prepared for a slightly bumpy ride, as you deal with the combination of ancient, rock-riddled track and worn-out suspension that seems most effective when maxed out to the left. One person we spoke to reported totally derailing, which must have been fun. The views from the window (left side is best in that direction) keep you entertained the whole way, and the frequent village stops are great for a quick stretch of the legs and some impulse buying of cold noodles, chicken feet and my personal favourite roadside snack; a whole pineapple. Impractical, but incredibly juicy and tasty.
There was one stop which we believe was made entirely to enable people to observe this view:
Undoubtedly the highlight, the train crosses the Goteik bridge – the tallest viaduct in Myanmar. At the time of completion, it was also the longest railway bridge in the world! First the wooden one, now this! Nice one Myanmar.
Trundling over this huge steel framework in a carriage which felt unstable at 20km/h on solid earth really brings a terrifying and inspiring perspective to the already incredible valley:
I set up my action cam and took a little timelapse to show you too!:
Aside from being a really chilled out and relaxing experience with surprisingly comfortable seats, the bridge is one of the main reasons tourists take the train on this stretch. Here’s proof:
Following the bridge, there are a few entertaining moments where the train brushes past fast-growing, unkempt hedgerows at “speed”, landing a free mixed salad on your lap. Don’t eat it.
Finally, after nearly six hours of rattling, sightseeing and snoozing, the carriage rolled into Hsipaw, and the heavens opened above us. There are plenty of guides at the train station advertising the various guesthouses in town, though easily the best are the ones in the Mr Charles chain and the Red Dragon Hotel. Thijs, Clara and I jumped into a free shuttle, checked into Red Dragon, grabbed some food at the corner cafe, signed up to a 2-day trek starting the next morning and ploughed through a bottle of Myanmar whisky.
Er. I mean, sleep. We got some sleep. Best be feeling good in the morning!
Plans and routes
Travelling is funny – you make plans, you get going, you meet people, you see things, you hear things and the plans change.
I’ve been hearing a lot about how Laos isn’t a great place to go to at this time of year, mainly because the rain prevents you from enjoying a lot of outdoor activities, and that’s what I wanted to go to Laos for.
I’m just about to start a 3 day trek through the North of Myanmar and in honesty, the rain and the clouds are wearing me down.
Having spent some time sailing before leaving the UK, I’m also missing the sea quite a lot now, and Laos is landlocked. That’s a whole COUNTRY away from the beach!
My plans are evolving, and at this rate, following some tip-offs and my itchy boots, I’m going to end up signing up to a monastery for a few days in Myanmar, and then heading to Malaysia, to get some diving lessons and explore the coast. Hopefully the weather is a bit better down there too.
Let’s see how it goes from here!
Pyin Oo Lwin – The Flower City
I thought I’d share a quick photo of the Victorian colonial-style building we stayed in:
Thijs never made it to the hostel last night, but said he’d come today, so Clara and I decided to wait a day for him, passing the time by grabbing free bicycles from the hotel and spending a morning at the market. This highlighted two things for me, firstly; just how much history the British military left, and secondly, just how much rice really is produced and used in Myanmar:
After we’d finished looking at vegetables we whiled away the entire afternoon wandering the British-built formal gardens, known as the Kandawgyi gardens. They are a unique area of national park status in Myanmar. As the sun peeked out now and then I took a few photos, including one of the first set of nuns I’d seen in Myanmar. They shave their heads like the monks, though you can tell they’re nuns from the pink robes they wear, rather than the orange monkish robes:
The park in general was really rather pleasant, and certainly kept me smiling all day, especially the quietly creaking giant bamboo forest. Imagine a thousand 40-foot wind chimes clinking in loose rhythm:
There was also a petrified wood museum, a swamp, and quite an impressive “orchard” growing a large range of native and domesticated fruits:
The walk-in aviary had a couple of interesting characters:
The park has a nice treetop walk-around, where you can explore a jungle-like setting at mid-canopy height. Some locals scared off most of the wildlife with a combination of Myanmar rum and a guitar though:
We spent a little time exploring the Orchid and Butterfly museum, but there weren’t many orchids, and all the butterflies were pinned. So I concentrated on taking a couple of shots of live ones instead!
There’s also a pretty tall watchtower, visible from a way away, but free to climb from inside the park. It’s not hard to appreciate the view (and the breeze) at the top:
I feel the Teak plantations are a great thing. Teak takes a long time to go, 20-30 years before it’s at all useful, so plantations of such a scale really show the country intends to stick to its traditional methods for a while, and is really thinking ahead.
On the way back we indulged in an Indian curry at “The Taj” for dinner. Whilst admittedly not very authentic, it was actually brilliant, and being the only people in the restaurant (thanks, off-season!) we were well attended to and the food was all cooked super-fresh:
At the hostel we bumped into Thijs (finally!) and shared a small bottle of one of Myanmar’s local-made damson wines, and then a small bottle of the Grand Royal whisky. Considering the price, at <$3 each, both were really good, but I’m grateful for the early night following that – train to catch tomorrow!!
Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin – a Hitch-Hiking Waterfall Adventure
So, the plan created over Jungle Juice and beer last night was that Thijs would jump onto a scooter and go explore “some waterfall” with Amanda from Canada, whilst Clara and I would attempt to hitchhike to Pyin Oo Lwin, via the Mandalay palace and Anesakhan waterfalls.
Stepping out of the hotel, we extended our arms like zombies and hopped onto a “chicken bus” – so called because you’re all stuffed into a cage-like tuk-tuk like chickens, and easily got to the palace. Good start:
We didn’t go in, as it costs $10, and we wanted to get to the waterfall that day, so instead we hailed a local and asked him to take us to the highway, where there’s only one way to go. Apparently, Western logic is nothing like Myanmar logic, and it took us ages to explain that we were hitchhiking, and didn’t want to go to the bus stop. We employed the Anglophonic Communication Protocol – if he doesn’t understand, shout louder and slower. At least the car was air conditioned:
Eventually we arrived at the highway, where we spotted a tractor approaching. He was going the right way, so we hopped on. Why the heck not, eh?
Sitting on the rear wheel guards we got to see Myanmar up close, as pieces of it were kicked up into our faces. I also thought at one point that my spine had popped out the top of my head from the shaking and juddering, but it turns out it’s OK. The driver took us as far as the toll gate, then hilariously asked to took a selfie with us.
We flagged down the next chicken bus, knowing that there’s only one road from there, and coincidence of all coincidences, we found on-board Corinne and Yan, who we’d met in the hostel in Mandalay – seems we were to share a chicken bus all the way!
As we left, I felt like I hadn’t really seen much of Mandalay itself, but after walking around a bit and seeing a fair chunk from the chicken busses, I also felt like I wasn’t missing much. Plus the view from the top of the chicken bus as we ascended into the mountains was incredible:
As we shared a couple of beers and played cards with the local travellers on top of the bus, it made the whole trip over awesome.
In surprisingly good time, we found ourselves in Anisakhan and set about finding a stop for a toilet break and somewhere to leave our bags. Noting that there weren’t any hotels for >20 minutes’ walk, we opted for an ice-cream shop instead. Purchasing a chocolate ice cream each, we were entitled to use the toilets and leave our bags all afternoon, bargain! We got directions to the waterfall, started walking, found some people heading the same way on a bike, nearly died with 3 of us on the back of the moped, and arrived at the top of the waterfall road to find (to our amazement) Thijs, with Amanda from the hostel in Mandalay! They’d hired scooters and made it to “some waterfall” at exactly the same time as us, so we got walking together. Whilst the views are amazing, the 45 minute descent to the waterfall is a bit of a grind down a zig-zagging road, but we decided to spice it up by taking risky jungle shortcuts:
We were thoroughly rewarded in the end:
The waterfall is really incredible. We enjoyed a good 30 minutes ignoring the “no swimming” signs, finding dragonflies, little pools, natural slides, giant spider webs and mountain crabs. Really, mountain crabs!!
Highlights included getting a free foot massage, including annoying “wish you were here” voice over:
And jumping into plunge pools, which you should also really try sometime!
Just as we were getting out, I overheard a local saying something about how this was the first of three waterfalls, and that it was possible to climb to the other two, including a jungle-trek shortcut to the top. It didn’t take much to persuade the others to get on board with this idea, and this is where things got really special.
We followed the guide up a nearly-invisible path to the top of the first fall, and I climbed a tree that hung over the top of the waterfall, getting a real kick from my precarious vantage point:
A brief explore of this plunge pool and the guide started wandering up the centre of the next fall, saying “follow follow!”:
We all laughed. Oh, how we chucked… But he wasn’t joking. Gulping, then dumping bags and shoes, we waded the pool and scrambled after him. I grabbed my Muvi. Here goes nothing…
It was quite a challenging ascent up through the torrential water, slippery rocks and plunge pools of unfathomable depth, but we had an absolute blast, scrambling the next two falls to reach the top:
From here, barefoot and soaking wet, we slid down a nearby narrow jungle path to our bags, still waiting safely at the second plunge pool, invisible to the oblivious tourists below. I had a brief moment of panic when I was bitten unexpectedly by a big, angry red ant, but the stinging went pretty quickly and I laughed it off to experience. Bitten by red ant – check!
The guide led us up a steep jungle path for a good 20 minutes, intersecting the zig-zag road near the top. It was steeper and tougher than the trekking at Inle, and definitely a more interesting way to get back!
Waving a quick goodbye to Amanda and Thijs (who said he would catch us at the hostel later), Clara and I grabbed our bags from the ice-cream shop (adventure win) and hitched a quick chicken bus from Anisakhan to our hostel in Pyin Oo Lwin, sharing with a local couple who invited us to try some local fruits and snacks!:
Speaking to people at the hostel later, and at other moments during my subsequent days, I realise now that the Anisakhan waterfall ascent was one of those special experiences that very few tourists get to enjoy. That pretty much maxed-out the Adventurometer, and damn did I sleep well.
Mingun – The World’s Largest Pile of Bricks
This morning, Clara, another couple of girls we met at the hostel, and I, jumped out of the hostel into (surprise surprise) pouring rain, to hitch a lift to the ferry port. We were headed to Mingun, a site famous for a few monuments well worth seeing. We aimed to catch a taxi, but were told by a friendly local that it’s nearly impossible to hail a cab in Mandalay, and as it was raining he offered us a lift instead! What a nice guy. We didn’t have a lot of time to get to the port, so we were grateful. Even when he stopped to ask for directions (we knew the way, but couldn’t seem to communicate this) and when he stopped to get Betel nut chew (really? Is it that urgent?) and when he decided to drive right past the port, taking 5 minutes to do a U-turn to bring us 10m closer to the boat. Nice, but… *sigh*. This sort of run-around is very common in Myanmar when hitchhiking, or even taking a cab. Still, free ride, can’t complain, right?
Arriving just in time to get a ticket and hop onto the boat, we enjoyed an hour-long trip across the river, through mild drizzle. We could see our destination long before arriving:
Started in 1790, Mingun pagoda was designed to be the world’s tallest pagoda, and stand over 152m tall. Here’s a model of what it was supposed to end up like:
Amongst much superstition, the king who commissioned its building died before it was completed, and the giant red-brick monolith was abandoned at just 50m tall. An earthquake in the 1830’s seriously damaged the temple, leaving it in a ruined state that would make Lara Croft proud to explore its crumbling platforms:
We were told it was 100 steps to the top, but we weren’t told that the steps get bigger as you climb, which is mildly frustrating. In any case, the rain subsided as we reached the fair haul to the top, rewarding us with a breathtaking view of the surroundings:
Descending and nabbing a quick photo of me, and the colourful local markets:
We walked 5 minutes from the Pagoda to take a quick look at the world’s largest working bell. Apparently there’s a larger one in Russia, but they broke it. This one sounds amazing when struck, using a big wooden stick:
Next up was the Princess “White Elephant” pagoda, built in memory of the consort of the King, who died during childbirth. It’s unique in its rounded, tiered approach, and loads of fun to explore! Climbing to the top provides a brilliant perspective on the Mingun pagoda, which is truly goliath:
Finishing up there we made our way back to the boat and hid from the now-pounding rain below deck.
I basically spent the rest of the afternoon traipsing around Mandalay trying to find an electronics shop which would sell me a laptop charger. Clearly, I found one, else this blog would have died a death long ago!
Arriving at the hostel, we found Thijs! Upcoming plans soon started to form over Jungle Juice and Myanmar beer (not sure if that sort of planning is good or bad) and we agreed on an 8am breakfast to make an early start on moving on. We each had different ideas on how to get to Pyin Oo Lwin, but we knew it would be an adventure from the start.