Bagan to Kalaw...a day on the bus

Friday, November 30, 2012
Kalaw, Myanmar
07:41 Up at dawn again today (I get more of a lie in going to work!) I was up at 6 for a 730 departure. Today we are going to Shan state...it will take approximately... all day!
 
08:43 We stopped off at a palm sugar factory to see them making palm sugar sweets and peanut oil and even distilling moonshine .
 
11:02 I have just returned from a 1600 step round trip up and down a mountain monastery on top of a random hill in a very scruffy town which is covered in litter, cows wander the streets, monkeys leap about grabbing what they can and accompanying everyone on the way up trying to steal things from them. 800 uphill steps is a fair old amount, and some were very vertical but given all the exercise I have been doing this year I was able to tackle it only breaking into a small sweat and not all that puffed! It was evidently hard work because at the bottom my legs were trembling and shaking from the effort! On reaching the bottom I decide it's time to use the local loo, as I need to go and have been clenching my bottom for some time now, not convinced that my desire to release some air might come with unexpected consequences which would be an unhappy occasion in my thin cream trousers. The once white tiled squat loo is covered in muddy footprints, has the customary trough of water and plastic bowl next to it, no paper of course, and I go for it . I was correct in my restraint and emerged seeking an Imodium from mum given the fact we would be on a bus for the rest of the day!
 
12:10 As we drive through the country on what must be the main roads, we overtake ox carts, dodge herds of goats and cows and ox being driven by the side and on the road. It's a remarkably empty land of people or housing, fences or man made structures. We overtake small vans or trucks packed with people both inside the back of the truck and sitting precariously on the roof. The roads here are quite straight else people would easily slide off! Scooters here also mostly go round without their lights on seeming to turn them on for a moment before turning them off again. A family of 5 on one scooter- dad driving, 2 small children of about 6 behind him with mum on the back riding side saddle holding a large duffel bag on her lap, with a boy no more than 3 up front between dads arms, feet on the neck of the scooter, hands resting in top of the middle of the handlebars, none of them wearing helmets . Occasionally we pass a few wooden huts, one with a small naked 3 year old boy flying a little kite above his house, the odd shop with individual packets of shampoo, and other such things dangling from the top of their stall, with biscuits and lots of things I don't recognise arranged neatly in glass cases and acres of advertising posters covering their shop.
 
15:52 After a local lunch- which was a buffet, but cold and I think the flies may have had first dibs, so I opted for hot noodle soup, I also managed to find some biscuits. The weather has been poor- very cloudy and drizzling for most of the way.
We stopped for a quick break where we poured our packets of instant coffee into mugs of hot water and enjoyed a samosa that was put in front of us- a complimentary set. Frank managed to find a chap who was such a big Arsenal fan he's not only named his cafe the Arsenal cafe, but he's named his first son Arsenal too! What a strange thing I find it, that so many people in the world, an absolute world away from England are such huge fans of the premier clubs yet I spent 5 years looking at Man united's football ground from my office, have driven past Arsenal several times and yet these places have no significance whatsoever to me yet it would make these people's day(or lifetime!) just to see it with their own eyes .
We follow a very winding road that follows the path of the river. There have been a few landslides in the past it would appear. Given that a lot of people travel on top of the buses, there are lots of very soggy depressed looking passengers clinging to the top of the bus or hiding under some tarpaulin.
 
16:16 Hmmm...this is interesting and hopefully not bad, we have stopped and lost a screw...we don't know what for, or where, just that there proceeded to be banging. It wasn't long before the banging stopped and we set off again but after the banging it was the bumpiest ride I've ever been on! They said they are fixing a brakes problem, I actually suspect they have removed the suspension as we bounce relentlessly down the road at about 10mph!
 
16:59 We stopped once more for some more banging and fussing about under the underneath. The engine does not sound healthy as we lurch ever upwards up the hill as it starts going dark. It's very cool outside and our soggy second driver looks very cold.
 
On and on up the hill past the thick green vegetation- trees and ivy covering it, up though the cloud base until we can't see too far at all- not the roads below or the hills that were on the other side . We stop as bus after bus passes by on the narrow roads with tight corners. This is a heavily used road, not only by the people buses but by transportation lorries. The clouds get so thick we can barely see more than a 40m in front. This is a dodgy road and I can't help but feel a little nervous.

It takes some time but we rise above the cloud and it stops raining. The tops of hills poke through the clouds below which looks quite pretty, but it's a lot cooler now.

We arrived at the Dream hotel in Kalaw. It was already late, so we changed and went for dinner. We have a little wifi, it's very slow though, but a decent hotel so we're all settled in. 

Tomorrow we are meant to be walking but I might ache! We will see!
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