Our trip to INDIA/THAILAND/MYANMAR/LAOS came about because we reconsidered South America due safety/health issues and we still have places in south east Asia we want to see. In addition, we had a keen interest to visit the Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission in Banbasa India which we had supported in a minor way for a number of years. Meeting a young man called Vishal was also a draw card.
INdia.
Thursday 4th August-
The 2.00am (couldn’t sleep) start to the day for a 4.28am bus/train to Sydney was all good. We flew out of Sydney on Air Asia and the trip to Kuala Lumpur and had a 4 hour layover before another AirAsia flight to Cochin. All uneventful, boring for the most part. However the car pickup at Cochin Airport proved to be just the opposite. Arrived Cochin in time at 10.35pm and got into the car in pouring rain at 11.05pm for the hour long trip into Fort Kochi. We were no further than 500m down the poorly maintained highway when I decided I needed and hand rail to hold onto. There wasn’t one. Apparently our driver doesn’t like main arterial roads. After about 2 klm he decided to turn right and go via the backroads. There was very little or no street lighting, it was teeming down, motorcyclists were a mere hindrance. Flashing red lights meant ‘floor it’; the badge in the middle of the bonnet was used for guidance to keep it in the middle of the road. He was going like a bat out of hell on all sides of the road, honking the horn, flashing lights and generally trying to be Jack Brabham but there was many times I thought we were going to end up like Peter Brock. We got to the Bethany Guesthouse without soiling anything but it meant our sleep that was long overdue, took a lot longer to get. Adrenalin was high, fatigue was setting in and the last thing we needed was a ride from hell.
Our Hosts at the Bethany Guesthouse were there to greet us at midnight. Slept on a mattress that gives the name ‘firm’ a whole new meaning. Charles, Jeen, Aaron and Grandma were our hosts and Jeen turned out to be a magnificent cook.
She provided us with breakfast delights each morning. Charles gave us a list of things we could do daily and we set about on our own walking tour of Forth Kochi on our first day there. Goodmans luck kicked in and two of the places we wanted to see were closed so we just kept on walking thru the streets and alleys of Forth Kochi. Seen the ingenious Chinese fishing nets and umpteen spice shops. But we then decided to take a rust bucket boat over to Ernakulum. We bought tickets to the rust bucket and Wendy went and sat in the women’s waiting area and Allan joined the men’s queue. Ernakulum is apparently the modern part of Cochin and we told about a shopping centre called LuLu’s. So we hired a TukTuk . At Lulus there is the most amazing kids area. Dodgem cars, roller coaster and heaps of things you see in theme parks but not inside a shopping mall on the 3rd floor. After getting back from Ernakulum we did a short TukTuk tour of Fort Kochi. That night we went for a walk looking for a restaurant. Apparently we looked lost and one of the locals decided it was his job to take us to a good restaurant – he led us to the Fort Kochi Hotel. He was right the foods was very good. About $20 for both of us and we found a different curry variation – Kadai.
Saturday 6th August – found out that google map of Ft Kochi bears little resemblance to the actual area. Buildings were sometimes several hundred metres from their supposed location. Jewtown proved to be a tourist mecca and it was a lot cleaner than the rest of Ft Koshi. The Jewish synagogue was opened in 1760.
Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral founded the first European settlement in India at Kochi in 1500.From 1503 to 1663, Fort Kochi (Fort Emmanuel) was ruled by Portugal. This Portuguese period was a harrowing time for the Saint Thomas Christians and the Jews, as the Inquisition was active in Portuguese India. Kochi hosted the grave of Vasco da Gama, the first European explorer to set sail for India, who was buried at St. Francis Church until his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539. The Portuguese rule was followed by that of the Dutch who renamed Fort Immanuel as Fort Stormsburg. In meantime, the Royal Family of Kochi relocated the capital of Kochi Kingdom to Thrissur, leaving nominal authority over Islands of Kochi. The remaining part of Kochi were governed by governors of Kochi Kingdom. By 1773, the Mysore ruler Hyder Ali extended his conquest in the Malabar region to Kochi forcing it to become a tributary of Mysore. The hereditary Prime Ministership of Kochi held by the Paliath Achans ended during this period. – Wikipedia.
Ft Kochi is home to a naval base and many Christian churches.
Had a massage after lunch and ended up with ½ litre of oil over our bodies. Ayruveda message is too gentle and even their deep tissue massage was lame.
That evening we went to a Kathikali performance at a local heritage theatre. It commenced at 5.00pm where the main player comes on stage, lies on his back and a make-up artist proceeds to do his makeup. 80 minutes later the make-up was finished. It was the most boring 80 minutes I’ve spent. After 80 minutes they then tried to explain what the story was going to be about and what physical movements (arms/hands/palms and eyes) meant during the play. The play only lasted about 30 minutes and we were there for 150 minutes. Whilst there were a number of negatives to the play there were several aspects that were tremendous. The detail of the makeup was superb. The movement of the main actors eyes is scary. Not sure how to describe it but the way they rotated and went up and down was stunning.
Apparently the main actor takes 13 years to complete his training.(slow learner I think)
Sunday 7th August we did a backwaters tour. It took an hour to get to the river. The cruise is on a vessel (leaky bamboo flat bottom)
It was powered by an oarsman and a long bamboo pole. So peaceful. The lunch provided was well done.
.After lunch we swapped boats for a smaller uncovered one which took us into the backwater tributaries. This was probably the most pleasant part of the day. Idly making our way around the bends and looking at the local life and the vegetation. Our guide took us on a half hour walk through a spice garden. Outlining all the various spices and where they come from and how they are harvested. It was very interesting.
Monday – Charles had arranged a tuktuk to show us around the southern area of Fort Kochi. Our first port of call was the Kerala Folklore Museum which is a privately owned affair that highlights the history of the Kerala districts. It was well worth the 250R entrance fee. Our guide then took us to the river when a shyster tried to get us on another backwater tour –we didn’t go.
He dropped us back in the heart of Fort Kochi. We paid him off. Had some lunch and decided to walk back to the Guesthouse. Missed seeing the Maritime Museum but did get to take a photo of the Naval Base signage which we were told was taboo. Don’t know, why its nothing special.
Tuesday 9th August – Ft Kochi to Delhi – back to Cochin airport at 5.00am with the same crazy driver. Thankfully it wasn’t raining but none the less he nearly killed us several times. Arrived Delhi 10.55am. Our pick up driver wasn’t there so we grabbed a cab to go to the Tara Palace which was about 1 ½ hours. We were getting close to the Tara Palace in the cab but thee traffic was horrendous. One of the touts offered to carry us and our bags the next 400m. So we got out of the cab and piled ourselves and our luggage into the one man powered rickshaw. He struggle mightily. We were about 100 down the densely trafficked lane when Wendy realised she had left her handbag in the back seat of the taxi.
The bag contained passports, mobile phone, purse with credit card etc and numerous other things you might find in a ladies handbag. By this time the taxi driver had extricated himself from the traffic and headed off back to the airport. We searched the traffic for about 15 minutes but we could not see him. We got to the Tara Palace and explained our issue. They seemed very negative we would have a positive outcome. Valuables left behind in Delhi rarely ever surface again. The staff at The Tara Palace was most helpful in trying to establish which taxi it was and where it might be but they were hamstrung by lack of information because we were in a hurry and didn’t take any notice of the cab and the drivers details. So, we went back to Delhi airport again. Allan went to the cab-booth where we hired the car and Wendy sat patiently with our cabby. After much excellent work by the Meru Cab company staff at the Airport they were able to establish who the driver was. They phoned him and he acknowledged he had the bag in the car. A great start but we were still not confident of getting it back. We think there was some pressure from the cab drivers superiors to establish from him why he didn’t notice something in his cab for over three hours and why he didn’t report it as such. The Tara Palace staff also put pressure on him once they got his phone number, to bring it back in tact to the Hotel. Eventually after about another 2 hours, he turned up at the Tara Palace with the bag. The Tara Palace staff grilled him as to why he didn’t report it earlier, why he hadn’t ensured his cab was clean and they generally made him feel very small. They would not let him leave without us first inspecting the back to ensure all its contents were there. (Which it was). The cabby wanted some money for bringing it back. The hotel staff said no. I indicated he does deserve some recompense (and maybe some encouragement for the future) for bringing it back. In the end I paid him 1000R. We were just so thankful of getting it back. The Hotel staff said that 95% of the time, if something is left in a cab – it is gone forever. We can only thank the staff of Meru Cabs and thee Tara Palace for that.
Allan has decided that, at least when travelling in Asia in cabs, he is going to take a quick photo of the drivers ID for future reference.
With regard to the Tara palace Hotel. It is situated in a side alley in what looks to be a very seedy dodgy area in Old Delhi. Tuktuk drivers warned us about pickpockets. However, yes it looks seedy and maybe in a dodgy area, we found it to be a very good clean and well managed hotel. The room we had was very good with a TV with 99 channels (about 20 were watchable with English content) the bathroom was well equipped. The small fridge worked well and the bed was somewhat comfortable under Asian standards.
The Spice markets
Thursday 11th August 2016 – Delhi to Banbassa
Clifton from the Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission had rang the evening before to see if we were still ok for a 6.00am getaway the next day. After some discussion we agreed on a 4.00am start. Garry was well pleased about this as he would be driving and Delhi traffic is crap no matter what time of day but 4 is better than 6.
The 7 hour trip was uneventful except for the rough roads and a couple of stops for tea and Paratha. Arrived at the mission at about 11.00am to a warm welcome from Rick, Priscilla, John, Aaron and Dillon (Malik was at school). We had a short look around before it was time the smaller kids to come home from school at midday. The daily ritual when coming and going to school someone is there to farewell and greet them with a large dose of love and affection which always includes a hug. We were privileged to join in on this ritual. It was a pleasant surprise to have so many of the children welcome us with a hug and be called Uncle and Aunty. Vishal is performing in a play on Independence day next Monday so was late out of school and we finally got to meet him at about 1.15pm. He is such a sweet kid with a timid nature.
John and Clifton are shown greeting the kids.
The kids have lunch then quiet time until 3.00pm, play time from 3-4 and then tuition from 4-5pm. The kids have supper 6.00pm adult have supper with the family at 7.30pm. The diet on the mission is largely vegetarian but they do have chicken once per week (or more often dependant on price). The meals are always wholesome, plentiful and delicious.
We found the best times were just hanging around with the kids in the play area and corridors. They loved to have a look at our photos in our phones. They always had questions about our family and home.
They start going to bed at about 7.00pm with lights out not later than 10.00pm. They are then up at 6.00am, breakfast at 6.30am then off to school at about 7.00am.
Friday 12th August 2016
Had a late brecky and then Rick gave us the in depth guided tour of the Mission, then the farm of 73 acres which were green and fertile and then the magnificent school they built by hand from scratch.
The efficiency of the farm growing nearly all their vegetable and grain needs means they are very near self-sufficient. They have quite a number of employees at the mission who do many and varied jobs. Be it mechanical, crop growing and harvesting, teaching/tutoring, kids supervision and general housekeeping of the mission.
Here Wendy talks with Aunt Elsie and Aunt Violet before Vishals birthday.
10.00am and 4.00pm are designated every day for tea time. We didn’t miss any of these or we would have missed out on some of Priscilla’s magnificent cooking.
However one day we did have Tim Tams (TT) that we brought from OZ and Clifton (from Launceston) showed everyone how to do the Tim Tam Slam whereby you eat a corner off a Tim Tam end and then another diagonally at the other end, dunk the cut end of the TT into your tea, suck up the tea until it comes through the TT, then you throw the whole TT into your mouth and ‘boom’ – an explosion of chocolatey gooey bliss in your mouth. John, being from US thought this to be a very civilised and refined Aussie practice he would love to adopt as his own but he wouldn’t/couldn’t do 2 Tim Tam Slams in a row. At one stage John was doing all the demonstrating on how to achieve such bliss.
Our evening meals were taken in Ricks bedroom. His bedroom is only his bedroom between 10.00pm and 8.00am. At other times it is open to invasion by the kids, the setting for morning and afternoon tea and supper each evening or just a general meeting room.
Our suppers consisted of delicious curries with chapatti’s, roti, vegetables, chutney and salads. Breakfasts were normally a beautiful wheat porridge with home made breads vegemite treacle tea etc and lunch was always a beaut curry of vegetables or chicken or egg along with rice or bread.
The days are hot and still.
Vishals birthday was on 8th August but because we were coming they delayed his birthday celebrations till Friday so we could be there and give him our gift and the gift from Wests Footy Club. Katie was good enough to organise his party.
It was held for him and the guests were only all the boys in the ‘small boys’ hostel which were 9. Their favourite food is Chicken Chow Mein cooked by the local Chinese shop in Banbassa. (a very poor imitation of what we know as chicken chow mein and they could well have left off the word chicken) but the boys loved it along with ice cream and coke.
The party was an interruption to a very important event for the Friday night at the mission. At about 6.30pm, 30 kids and 5 adults piled into Ricks bedroom (aka movie theatre) to sit down and be enthralled by several episodes of “The Flash”. The kids sat there and oooooed and aaarghed along with every nuance of the very significantly deep plot of each episode. Then at 7.30pm was the break for Vishals birthday party which was held their dorm. The photo’s show one very happy little boy.
Then it was back to “the Flash” – another 4 episodes of wonderment and then to bed at about 10.00pm …(another 10 episodes and I’ll be a convert.)
Saturday 18th August…..
7.30am brekky. The kids have every second Saturday off school but they don’t get away with doing nothing. They are all allocated separate chores for the morning be it cleaning or washing etc and they do them as a normal course of event – no complaining.
The farm is very relaxing. Its hot, quiet and peaceful – and then the kids come back and it mayhem. But mayhem in the best sort of way.
The rest of Saturday is spent lazing around looking for something to do. When the kids get free, they interact with us in a very casual manner as if we had been there for ages.
Allan posing on Vishals new skate board. New world record of 3cm traveled in 30 seconds
It was common to just walk around and a kid will come up and give you a hug or hold your hand. Wendy was often shanghaied to go for a short walk and talk with the girls.
Banbassa Lawnmowers:
John Marshall is one of the best people I’ve ever seen with children. They all love and adore him and he them. His personality and caring nature is ideally suited at the mission. Here he is seen as king of the kids – entertaining a large group with cards, stories and just generally being around. He also hypnotizes them.
Its was Priscilla’s birthday so we enjoyed a beaut birthday cake with her for afternoon tea. Clifton,Malik, Dillon and Aaron were happier than Mum.
Saturday evening was our last day with the Goods Shepherd Agricultural Mission people and we were treated to a meal of Pork, veg etc. Tender and delicious.
Again Ricks bedroom became the venue for a disco.
Our time at Banbasa has been magical. The love and friendship they exude was terrific. Vishal is great kid and the environment in which he is being raised is brilliant.
Sunday 14th August.
Got up early and we left at about 3.50am bound for Delhi. Rick driving, Sunny navigating with his eyes closed and Wendy and I in the back seat of the Scorpion. It was one of the strangest rides we’ve ever had. At daybreak we started encountering 1000s apon 1000s of Hindu water carriers who were carrying water from the Ganges which is about 90k east of Delhi all the way to just past Banbassa -about 200k..
A good trip into Delhi because all truck and heavy duty vehicles were stopped about 150km out of Delhi due the Independence Day celebrations which was due on Monday 15th August. We got there early and Rick suggested we drop in at a church he had been to previously. An interesting service and reminded us of Fr. Peter Ng at the Good Shepherd Kotara with some of his pronunciations.Then onto Nehru Place to look at a new laptop for Rick. Then to pick up Cathy, have lunch at a local mall and then onto the airport.
Allan, Wendy, Sunny, Rick and Cathy.
Sunday 14th August -flight was uneventful. Our taxi driver to The Nest International Hotel Kolkata was a bit hit and miss. He wasn’t sure where to go and when we were nearly there, he did a U turn close to the Hotel but a policeman seen him and fined him. The Nest Hotel International is nothing flash….basic but clean and accommodating. It is in a good area of Ballygunge very near the Quest Mall.
Monday 15th August -A good sleep – outside like a sauna but we needed to walk out some aches and pains. The Ballygunge area is supposedly well to do but of course, like in most Asian countries there is the facade and then there is the street back which shows the true colours. Having said that, the Quest Mall was right up there in the opulence stakes. No Lowes or Katies here, only Rolex, Armani, Burberry etc. Shops where there are more staff than customers. A good food court and a good grocery store in the basement. Meandered around for the rest of the day. Not much to do as it was Independence Day and whilst the bustle of the city went on, a lot of things were closed.
Tuesday 16th August we ventured into the streets. We were able to visit Mother Teresa’s home museum missionary and now where her tomb is. Her room consisted of a small single bed with paper thin mattress, a writing table and a fan. No photo’s allowed. Photo’s of her tomb which is situated in a special room in the mission were allowed but it seemed disrespectful to do so. Then onto the Victoria Memorial Hall which was built as a tribute to Queen Victoria. Very ornate marble. Museum and art gallery in the one building. It was like most things in India – in need of some good maintenance. It looked very dated and drab.(no pictures allowed?)
When we were leaving Wendy with the blonde hair was approached by 5 youths. All they wanted was a photo with her. As a consolation I was also allowed in the photo’s. They took about 8 photo’s and then some selfies and walked away happy.
We then went to St Pauls Cathedral which was close to the QV building. It again was a magnificent building in need of maintenance. Only outside photo’s allowed.
The day was hot and sweaty. We caught a rip-off cab back to the Quest Mall to cool down and have lunch. The afternoon was spent lazing, tagging photos and writing. Found a very good restaurant that sold good healthy food. You get sick of ‘curried this’ and ‘curried that’ after a while.
THailand
Wednesday 17th August – Kolkata to Bangkok – we found the best and safest driver in India to get us to the airport. The young man who ekes out a living driving an UBER cab was excellent. He charge 198 rupee for the journey. The rip off government pre-pay taxi’s at the airport charged us 780 rupee for the same trip 2 days before. Gave him a 100 rupee tip. Flew with Indigo to Bangkok. Indigo are a very budget airline based in India but provided a good cheap service at the right time of day. Into Bangkok without a hitch. Took local Metro train to Massakan station, changed onto the Hua Lamphong line to get to the main Bangkok Railway station to pick up the tickets we had booked on-line a month before. Collected tickets and went for a meal. It was stinking hot so a beer was also in order. Met a young German bloke en-route to Chiang Mai…had a beer and a chat with him.
Train trip to Vientiane was fabulous. A compartment to ourselves. Good clean toilets. Good comfortable trip. (or as comfortable as you can get on a train anywhere in Asia) Unlike some of the trains in Vietnam and China where they are over crowded, smelly and rough. Our train left about 45 minutes late but we made up time over night and arrived into Non Kai on time to do the usual Thai border crossing formalities. It was then onto Thanelong by another local train, over the Fellowship Bridge, to do the Laos border crossing formalities. All good – then a mini bus into Vientiane.
Wendy waiting in Bangkok station for train. Our train to Nong Kai and our first crossing of the Mekong River.
Thursday 18th August
Driver took us to Phonepeseuth Guesthouse. A good backpackers Hostel in the middle of town. A short walk to nearly everywhere of note in the town. Vientiane is a sleepy city where rush hour goes for about 7 minutes. Its smaller than Newcastle and less industry. The President live here and there are numerous Wats to see. (we are all templed/watted out) We visited the Vientiane Museum. That night we went to the night markets on The Mekong. A very repetitive market for all things gadgetry and gimicky. We found a small family cafe where Mamasan and her children were sitting down to watch their version of “Neighbours” on TV. We walked in to a warm welcome, given a BeerLao and then fed a delicious home cooked chicken and vegs and duck and vegs with her own twists.All the time she was cooking she was keeping and eye on “Neighbours” on TV.
Friday 18th – raining – walking with umbrellas past embassies, The Kings Palace but highlight was our visit to the COPE centre. COPE was formed in 1997 by agreement between the Ministry of Health of Lao PDR and a group of non-Government organisations including POWER, World Vision and Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics. COPE opened a Visitor Center in 2008 with the aim to increase awareness about disability in Laos and highlight the amazing work that is being done to help people with disabilities lead full and productive lives. It also presents the unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem in Laos and how it links in with disability.
The unexploded ordnance (UXO) that still exists in Laos is still a problem the the injuries to their people continue. That evening walked along the bank of the Mekong, lots of food stalls and little popup cafes.Had dinner at a typical cafe/restaurant. One of the ladyboys took a shine to Allan.
Saturday 20th August caught the bus from Vientiane to VangVieng – about three hours of rough roads. Got the Lao Haven Hotel. A good clean place with good bed, good shower and good air conditioning. Walked as we normally do and it wasn’t long before we agreed VangVieng was a sleazy backpackers resort town that caters to the young and drunk of every nationality. Pleased to only stay one night.
Sunday 21st August – we were told the day before that the road to Luang Prabang was closed due landslide and water over the road. They were unsure if we would get through. We readied ourselves to go back to Vientiane. Thankfully the rain had stopped and the road was ‘probably’ clear enough to get through. The tour groups decided to ‘give it a go’. We set off at about 9.15am for what was to be about a four hour drive on the ‘new’ road. About two hours into the trip we started to encounter some mud slides and minor flooding over the road but nothing to be alarmed about. Then after another hour we encountered far more substantial mud slides. At one stage we tried to go up hill over mud over the road. We needed more of a run up than we had and we stopped and then started to slide back down on the mud. The mud was taking us to the side of the road and potentially over the edge into the valley below. The driver was able to control the slide and lead us to and dryer part of the road and took us back far enough to get a good run up at the mud slide. This time we got through only to be confronted with more minor slides. Another hour and we came across major land subsidence which potentially was impassable but our thrill seeker driver asked us all to get out and walk whilst he drove over the major subsidence areas.
Locals put bamboo sticks in the slide to alert motorists.
The driver did a great job getting us through the problem areas. Another hour into the trip and we came across the area that was flooded the day before. The river had thankfully subsided.
We booked into the Lam Khang Riverside and found it to be the smallest room we’ve had thus far but it was also the best. The hot water is actually hot. The internet is broadband. The bed is western standard and the best sleeping we have had. Air con excellent. The staff are great and they greet you with a ice cold drink when you arrive each afternoon. Brekky is included and the omelettes are great.
Monday 22nd August – we wanted to have a look at the Kuang Si Waterfall and the Pak Ou Caves but we weren’t able to do this without including an elephant ride in it. So we decided to take the package and see what happens.
We were allocated an old girl called Sheba (or something similar).Sheba is Lao for ‘stubborn old cow’. She was a good old girl when she had the Mahoot showing her the way but there were times when he let her have her head and she went straight into the jungle to find bamboo and vines. She did this with gay abandon and giving no thought to the two poor Aussies on her back that were hanging on for fear of being thrown off. The Mahout tried several times to get get Sheba back out of the jungle but she had a mind of her own and was staying put whilst she had her fill of bamboo and vines. He was eventually able to get her moving by cutting some bamboo and luring her away. He cut some extra bamboo for us to feed her – something she is very used to.
We didn’t originally want to do this elephant ride but it was part of a package we had to buy the get to see some waterfalls and caves that attracted us. It turned out to be a far better ride than the one we had in Thailand in 2012. The Mahout got hold of Wendy’s camera – 400 shots later he gave it back.
Then on to the long boat to take us across the Mekong to the Pak Ou Caves.
The boat is very stable yet very shallow. The upper cave at Pak Ou is 200 steps, all different rises and depths. Hot and humid. The caves contain over 2000 Buddha statues.
The lower caves had only 20 steps but they were very steep. On our way back to Luang Prabang we stopped at was called the Whisky Village. It is basically a backyard distillery where they brewed firewater and sold it as alcohol. They had gimmick bottles of whiskey with baby Cobra’s, scorpions and other things that can kill you, sitting inside the whiskey bottle. We declined. We did actually take a tongue full of one of the whiskeys but it was dreadful. The white wine was worse. Then on to the Kansgui Si WaterfallsP ark. There was a bonus inside the park and that was the Bear Rescue Centre which is home to a large number of Moon Bears that are not only endangered but many have been rescued from the wild with horrific injuries.
We saw one bear with only 3 legs scampering up a tree. They were very well fed and looked after.
Tuesday 23rd August.
Brekky on the Mekong again. Then we walked a few blocks to ‘Big Brother Mouse’which is a small building specifically to help young Lao children learn to speak better English. It was established by a young Buddhist Monk some years ago because he seen the need to help young people learn to read, write and speak (with a reduced Lao accent) English. We both entered the room and said ‘who is here to learn English’ – everyone said ‘me’.
So we sat down with half a dozen kids each and basically just started to converse with them and help them with their pronunciation of words and contexts. We then started reading from their books and explaining words and meanings and proper pronunciation and also the difference in accents. I explained that the mans name John is spelled JOHN and spoken that way but if you hear an American say his name is John, it will sound like JARN. Little things like that are what they needed, also trying to explain words like characteristic and manipulate etc was sometimes difficult. But they were all intelligent young people who just needed some assistance. Their ambitions were to be Monks, Doctors and other specialised fields. One wanted to be a businessman. He was a talented young man and we tried to leave the lasting impression that the main attributes of a businessman are honesty and integrity.
We then walked to the UXO Visitors Centre – middle of day, stinking hot. Found it open thankfully and had a look. It was basically a smaller version of the COPE Centre in Vientiane but not as good. Checked out the Sofitel Luang Prabang to see if we wanted to dine there that evening. Then walked back to the main street to visit the Museum. Paid our 30,000kip each and entered what turned out to be more of a memorial to the Royal Families of Laos. It was not a museum as we know it. However it was well done and worth the visit. Lots of gold and silver as there is in all things Asian. It was short visit….back to the Guest House.
We had dinner at the Sofitel that night, a very large, somewhat tough piece of steak with some very well presented vegetable and 2 racks of lamb on the one plate – very well presented and cooked. We were the only diners that evening so the service was good and that must have thought we needed feeding to give us 2 racks of lamb. All in all a nice meal but not worth the money. Paid half price due Accor membership.
Wednesday 24th August went back to Big Brother Mouse for another session with the young English students. Different kids today but all with similar attitudes. They want to improve themselves but can’t afford it. One young fellow wrote a story for Wendy and he asked her to correct it. This young fellow asked how many meals we had each day. Apparently he couldn’t afford 3. He didn’t have breakfast so he would make do with whatever he could afford for the day. They were all appreciative, well mannered and aspiring. Then to the airport for our flight to Don Muang Bangkok. The Thip Mansion Hotel. Very poorly named. Probably the worst place we’ve stayed. It was an average place with a hard bed. It was raining heavily and there was no decent eateries around so we bought some chicken skewers of a street vendor and took them back to the room. A stopover night before going to Yangon the next day.
Thursday 25th – arrived Yangon at about midday and our scheduled pick up driver was there to meet us. San San Maw was her named (She looked like the chef – Poh)
The Lotus Guesthouse is well situated in Yangon. Close to the main drag and all things modern in Yangon. The room was adequate, good bed, good hot water etc but the internet was rubbish. We had lunch at a small Myanmar Restaurant called Lotus on 42nd Street. It was excellent and cheap. Good clean food. We then set off to the Yangon Railway station to get our tickets to Mandalay on Saturday. Got very near the main entrance when we were shanghaied by a shyster whose job it was to get us to a travel agency and sell us as much as they could. He pointed us to a yellow building across the road and down a bit. We set out. About half way there another shyster picked us up and took us into bowels of a backstreet whereupon we entered a registered travel agency. They soon informed us there were no upper class seats available on Saturday only economy. The economy seats are made out of wood and our arses were not going to spend 14 hours on timber. They then convinced us to go by luxury coach – reclining comfortable seats – for 25,000kip each ($25) Only 9 hours. The first class seats on the train were only 9,000kip so they weren’t going to make any money out of that.
Wandered the streets of inner Yangon, sidewalk markets, backstreet markets and just general mayhem of a bustling Asian city. St Mary’s Cathedral is very impressive in this Buddhist nation. There was an abandoned set of buildings that took up two city blocks long and wide. They had the familiar bamboo scaffolding on some areas but there was no work being done. Had a leisurely meal that evening and went to bed on a lovely inner spring mattress. Our bodies were still trying to recover from last night’s ordeal of sleeping of timber at the Thip Mansion in Bangkok.
Friday 26th August – decided to go on the City Loop Rail Line. It’s a well-known experience apparently. As we neared the station we met another shyster who thought it best he be our guide for the trip. He originally wanted 20,000 for the privilege of being our guide. He would buy our tickets and give us good information about all things Yangon whilst on the train. We said no to the first offer but did agree to 10000kip. So he showed us the way, bought our tickets, chit chatted away for a short time. We then got on the train. There were about a dozen locals on it.
The fellow in the right hand picture was our supposed guide. Absolutely useless.
We were the only foreigners. Half an hour went by and our guide was mute. He pointed to something once but that was about it. 45 minutes went by and he still hadn’t given us any guidance. After 50 minutes Allan had had enough. He sat down next our guide (who moved away from us to get a more comfortable seat) and politely asked him what he thought his job actually was. What was his scope of work? What did he believe he was getting paid for? Some further polite discussion before Allan impolitely told him he thought he was a rogue and a thief and told him to take 5000 for his time and piss off, get off at the next stop and take the next train back to Yangon. He reluctantly did so.
It was at the next stop that all hell broke loose. All of a sudden there was fresh fruit and vegetables in bundles, bags, packages, baskets etc. being thrown everywhere. It was coming in the doors and windows and being placed on the floor, on the seats and nearly on top of us.
The local farmers were taking their produce to the markets and the small amount of time they had to get the produce onto the train meant mayhem. So our carriage went from a peaceful ride with about 10 people riding in silence to a raucous cacophony that was bustling noisy and vibrant. It was magical. The locals embraced us without a problem. We interacted with them as best we could. One lady had her eyes on Allan. She was a lady with an enormous personality. She smiled and chattered away the entire trip. Her son was a handsome you man. We’ve no idea what she was talking to us about but she had a great time doing it. The trip took about 3 hours, 2 of which were tremendous. Not because of the train or the city, but because of the people who work so hard to eke out a living and do so without complaint. They have nothing and expect nothing.
A lesson was also learned that day. Insist on getting your own way with your employee. That is, don’t let them orchestrate the day for you. In the afternoon we gave San San Maw a list of the three things we wanted to do that afternoon and she would also be our guide and driver. The Taukkyan War Cemetery was number one on our list but she had other ideas. She wanted to show us every pagoda in town and them maybe she take us to where we wanted to go. We insisted on no Pagoda’s, temples or other religious buildings and then she took us to Aung San’s home. This is where Aung San, the father of Aung San Su Ki, but more importantly ‘the architect of Burma’s freedom struggle’ grew up. He was the chief negotiator for independence from Britain.
We then went to the National Museum. It was interesting and worthy of a longer look had we had the time. We then asked her to take us to the Taukkyan War Cemetery. She didn’t know where it was. She said she did when first asked earlier in the day but when it was finally established where it was, it would be too long a drive in city traffic to get there. So we decided to get dropped off in China Town. What a mistake. The place is a rat race for traffic congestion, street markets, sidewalk markets and generally the enormous amount of people. We went 200m in 45 minutes. So we got out and walked back to our Guesthouse.
Met an ex-pat Pom at the Guesthouse and he took us to his favourite eating place for a meal that night. Should have known better…ordinary food and expensive. He was interesting company.
Saturday 27th August – the travel agent told us to leave our accommodation by 8.00am to be at the bus terminal for our trip to Mandalay by 9.00am for a 9.30am departure. San San Daw advised us to leave at 7.00am because of the traffic. So we did. We arrived at the bus terminal at 7.35am. Bloody shyster San San Daw. We had to sit in the hot sun for nearly 90 minutes awaiting our coach all because she wanted to do the job early and get onto another job.
The bus terminal was an utter mess. No bitumen. Only rocks, rubble and mud. However the one saving grace was the actual coach itself. It was very comfortable. The air con was over efficient and we had good seats up the front. The shyster at Yangon railway station did us a favour. This was better than even the upper class train seat could have been and about 5 hours shorter. Only one toilet/food stop enroute.
Arrived Mandalay at about 5.30pm after a peaceful pleasant bus ride (if there is such a thing). Haggled with a taxi driver who got us to our Hotel for 5000kip. The Hotel Kuang Myint. What a beauty. We booked it on the net through bookings dot com and you never know until you get there what your booking is going to be like. (The Thip Mansion in Don Muang sounds a million dollars but its not) The Kuang Myint turned out to be our best accommodation yet. For $25US a night we got a small yet functional room on the 3rd floor which was beautifully serviced by a lift. The bed is about 1 ½ king size, pillows good. Bar fridge good and well stocked. Excellent shower and toilet. A great breakfast buffet of eastern and western food. Acceptable wifi. Excellent staff and all for $30AUD.
Our first foray into the heat of Mandalay was on Sunday 28th August when we tried to get into the Royal Palace via the western entrance gate. No Go. Foreigners were only allowed in via the eastern gate. That was 5klm away. Some young locals tried to get us to hire a ride on the back of their motorbike but we aren’t thrill seekers to that extent. We walked for a time but finally succumbed to the heat and got a taxi to the eastern gate. The Palace is impressive but like most buildings in Asia, they need a good ‘kartchering’. Impressive but drab.
It was in the Palace ground we encountered a few monks. Each and every one of them has a smart phone. Normally a Samsung Galaxy or a HTC android and they are very well versed on how to use them. Especially for selfies. We came across about 4 monks who kept looking at us. They at first tried to speak but of course our version of English was different to theirs. In the end they asked for a photo with these two white westerners. We weren’t going to let a chance go by so we one of the monks to take a photo for us as well.
As we were leaving the Palace we were accosted by a Taxi driver who was very persistent. He tried his damnedest to take us to Mandalay Hill and then onto everything he wanted to so he could get a kick back from where we visited. We are traveled enough to understand these people are only trying to eke out living. So we went through the routine of haggling and walking away etc. Our last walk away was to get about 100m down the road before he pulled up in his taxi. We haggled some more and came to an arrangement. Little did he know we would have paid more because it was about 35deg and 90% humidity. So he took us to Mandalay Hill which is a great place to get a good appreciate of the city of Mandalay and how it is set out and why its such a good place to visit.
Our driver turned out to be a very amiable fellow we named Lucky. He had the normal stories of how he supports his family and spends long hours every day driving the taxi and commuting to his home on the outskirts of Mandalay. He also has a good command of English. No formal learning. He can’t read English but he does well speaking it.In the end we liked him very much and of course gave him his original asking price for his efforts.
We thanked Lucky many times because we thought we would walk up Mandalay Hill. Thankfully we took his advice and drove to the top where we then caught an escalator up to another Pagoda. It would have been utterly stupid to walk it. The Pagoda seen below.
Mandalay Hill panorama.
That afternoon we had Lucky take us to a few of the local visitor attractions. The first was The Gold Rose factory where they beat the gold to the thickness if tissue paper and it is then used to cover plates and ornaments.We then went to a wood carving workshop and then to Stone cutters Road. The people who work the stone do so under the most horrendous conditions. No masks or safety equipment. Just their skills. They deserve every cent they get.
Our last stop that afternoon was the U-Bien Bridge. Apparently it is the only bridge in the world made entirely of TEAK. It was a tourist haven. people every where. Touts every where. None the less a worthwhile visit.
We encountered an artist one our way back to the car. He draw on cardboard with oil based paint. He knocked up masterpieces in about 20 minutes. Wendy commissioned him to do a painting of the U-Bien Bridge. He did so without hesitation.
Cost about $3
Monday 29th August. – the computer charging cord had died so we set out to find another one. Walked down several blocks, over several blocks and finally found what we were looking for. A small computer shop who knew exactly what we wanted. Cost $2. Then went looking for a shopping mall that was on the map. Finally found it only to be disappointed. But then again Myanmar is not a rich country and their people struggle.
Tuesday 30th August. _ fly Mandalay to Bangkok. For some unknown reason, they wanted our laptops out of our main luggage and they were to be taken on board with hand luggage? Only happened twice. Every where else in the world wants your laptop in your booked through luggage. Flight to Bangkok was good. The taxi from Don Muang to Kaloang Home Guesthouse on the river was very good. The arterial highways in Bangkok are very good. Kaloang Home is a rickety building on the riverside in an inner suburb of Bangkok. It was old and rustic but clean and pleasant.
Wednesday 31st August – the plan was to do whatever shopping we wanted in one good shopping spree. First the MBK Centre, but this had gone very upmarket since we were last in Bangkok. Got back on the skytrain and went to another market where we found some reasonably priced items and of course a good foot massage.
Thursday 1st September – Hot and humid. Jumped on a river ferry and went downstream toward the city for about half an hour and got off. Found an expensive art and antique shopping mall. Walked around a bit, had lunch and decided to call it quits and went back to our accommodation and do some catch up writing in air conditioning. The food at the Kaloang Home was good and wholesome but in some respects less that their advertising. That night we went to Steve’s Restaurant which is about a 10 minute walk from Kaloang Home and it was a very well presented restaurant. Purely Thai with good clean cooking.
Friday 2nd Sept – our day to go home. In the morning we had breakfast and then went and jumped on a ferry that went upstream for half another before we got off. Walked for a while down the streets and markets before we found roast ducks hanging in a stall. This was lunch. Nothing else, just roast duck. (a bit greasy but never the less lovely) Then booked out of the accommodation, got a taxi to Don Muang Airport and hang around for about 3 hours before boarding.
Arrived home in good order and condition. Had an exciting holiday of which the highlight was our 4 days at The Mission. Laos is a very good place to visit. The people are gentle and unassuming. Well worth a return visit. Myanmar is also a very good place to visit. We found Yangon to be a bustling Asian city even though it has not been open to the west for very long. There are parts of Yangon that are very sleazy. Mandalay was certainly a good place to visit. Bangkok should only ever be used as a transfer place….
Goodmans Travels 