22nd March
We spent 3 nights and two full days in Mandalay, a dirty smelly busy city that wasn't nearly as romantic as it sounded in Kiplings work...but then old Rudyard never actually went to Mandalay....if he had there may never have been a poem!! We walked streets, talked to locals and kept moving just in case we caught something, such was the squalor at almost every turn. A trip to a 200 year old teak bridge 11 kms south of the city was a fairly low, highlight. Following that Diana and I walked to the top of the Mandalay hill where a beautiful sun was setting, romantically (if it weren't for the fact that public displays of affection are frowned upon I may have given my bride a wee peck on the cheek!)
Accommodation and food in Mandalay were excellent and we enjoyed trying a few local dishes along with the odd home style dish just to ensure we didn't get homesick.
24th March
We took a taxi 70kms north with two of the locals, a share taxi, $4.00 each for a 2 hour ride, to a town called Maymyo. It is also known locally as Pwin Oo Lwin and is famous because the English knobs came hear to get away from the heat and no doubt the polluted Mandalay. There are still signs of the English with botanic gardens, a town clock modelled on Big Ben and several old colonial houses. We stumbled across the Governors House, not bad digs considering it is 100 years old. We spent most of the day on the back of a motorbike, we each had a driver that we trusted implicitly to keep balance and avoid the potpourri of other road users. No skin off so a good day had by all.
Our day trip included a 10km journey to a waterfall walk. The walk did not start well. The Burmese are only learning as far as offering services to visitors. With no negotiation it seemed we had obtained the services of 2 'guides'. They pointed to a temple and told us when we were halfway!! I can safely say Rob was not happy at all and kept trying to march away in front. Anyway we walked down a steep wide track for 30 minutes and in the back of my mind was 'this is going to be a little tough going back up'. The Anisakan Falls were beautiful even though the water flow was low. The walk back up was certainly a workout in the heat but did us no harm. The ladies followed us back up and I felt compelled to offer them something but it wasn't a comfortable situation at all.
On returning to our excellent lodgings we had a message from my brother and sister to say that my Dad has taken a turn for the worse and he will be hospitalised indefinitely. So our plans have changed dramatically and we took a taxi back to Mandalay airport, cancelled some internal flights and managed to get ourselves to Kuala Lumpur by 10.00pm. By the time we had sorted onward flights to Auckland and then looked for a hotel close to the airport it was just after midnight and considering that our gate opened at 5.30am we decided to see the night out in the KL terminal. Sleep was difficult to find among the bing bong announcements, the all night KFC clientele and the general hubbub of techno wizardry that keeps those places whirring. Right now it is 11.00pm NZ time and we are half way across the Tasman Sea...seems like we've been travelling for 40 hours! And the china girl is still awaitin.........Kiplings poem is worth a read if you've got time, I reckon.
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