Myanmar (Burma) - part 5

Sunday 23 December 2007 - Bagan to Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)

The local bus to Mandalay arrived outside my guest house half an hour late at 7:30am. The bus was the same size as the 16-seater mini buses in Hong Kong except in Burma, they seat 32 inclusive of those who seat on plastic chairs in the aisle but exclusive of those who seat on the roof. Already on the bus were 2 locals, an American and his Burmese wife. (The window besides the seats in front of me was non-existent. Probably broken a long time ago, the hole was only covered by a piece of cardboard which was insecure and the effect was the same as not having the cardboard in the first place. In Chinese terms, I literally "ate wind" all the way to Mandalay.) Besides tourists who have to prebook seats on the bus, locals just wait along the route where the bus passes and jump on. The man who collected the locals' bus fares stood for the whole 8-hour trip by the open door and made sure that the locals knew where our bus was headed (in case they wanted to go in that direction) by yelling to locals enroute. He solicited many bus rides (business) this way. An hour and a half into our journey and I was in desperate need to take a leak. I knew I shouldn't have drank so much fluid at breakfast! The bus fare collector spoke hardly any English and I was having difficulty letting him know that I was desperate. I searched the language section of my Lonely Planet guide and the closest words I could find were toilet paper. I showed it to the nun sitting next to me and she shouted something to the bus fare collector. Not long after, we stopped for a toilet break. I was beginning to regret my decision to take the local bus to Mandalay instead of the airplane or the train (which takes longer than the bus). Our journey continued and before you know it, another one and a half hours later, I was desperate to visit a loo again. However, this time I decided to stay put. I ended up holding my bladder for 3 hours - a record for me - before we finally made a stop for lunch (within 2 hours reach of Mandalay). We could have stopped earlier but I don't know why we stopped where we did. Perhaps the bus fare collector has a commission arrangement with the restaurant we were forced to eat in. Of course I didn't eat at that dodgy restaurant, I just couldn't risk getting diarrhoea! Anyway, it was at this stop that I got the chance to talk to the American and his Burmese wife. They met at American University in Bangkok and married not long ago in his hometown Atlanta, Georgia. They have just been to Bagan with his relatives and were on their way to her hometown Mandalay for a few months. I asked if they would like to share a taxi to downtown Mandalay (upon arrival at Mandalay bus station) and they agreed. At Mandalay bus station, we were swamped by taxi drivers offering us their services. Thank goodness for the Burmese girl. She was able to translate for me what they were all saying. Someone held up the sign for Royal Guest House. I told the Burmese girl that's the guest house I want to stay in. According to Lonely Planet and what's on various Burma travel discussion forums, Royal Guest House is THE guest house in Mandalay. No other guest house supposedly comes close so I want to check out this guest house first. The Burmese girl helped me made enquiries with the man holding up the Royal Guest House sign and she said the man will take me to Royal Guest House so I allowed the man to carry my backpack to his pickup taxi. I jumped in the front seat. I was ready to get out of Mandalay bus station. From the side mirror I saw the Burmese girl talking to my taxi driver. A minute later, the American and his Burmese wife jumped onto the back of my pickup taxi. It turns out that they have reached an agreement whereby my taxi driver would drop the couple off at their destination enroute to Royal Guest House. I arrived at Royal Guest House at approximately 4:15pm to find that they only had a triple room left for the night. It would cost me US$9. Tomorrow I would be able to move into a single room for US$6. I took the triple room on the condition that I would be moved into a single room tomorrow night. They agreed. Honestly, after the 8-hour bus ride, I just wasn't in the mood to check out the other guest houses. My plan was to spend the next day sightseeing Mandalay and to visit the 3 ancient cities the day after. I made enquiries with reception about the possibility of a share taxi to the 3 ancient cities and he told me that he would let me know if he was aware of any other guests wanting to share a taxi to the 3 ancient cities. (If I was to rent a taxi by myself, it would cost me US$13.) Sometime around 8pm the male receptionist knocked on my door and told me that I can share a taxi to the 3 ancient cities if I alter my plans (i.e. go to the 3 ancient cities tomorrow and sightsee Mandalay the day after). He told me that two guys were looking for someone to share a taxi with to the 3 ancient cities tomorrow and that if I was interested, I was to meet with them now at reception. I exchanged greetings with Frederik (Danish) and Simon (Dutch) and we agreed to share taxi to the 3 ancient cities tomorrow. The taxi would be outside our guest house up at 8:30am.