I decided to take it easy today. I went to breakfast and ran it Eric – from Peekskill – and we had a nice conversation. It says 11:18 am on my phone – which is actually only an hour and a half faster than local time. I think I might just chill out on the roof until around noon waiting for check out. It’s really nice up here with the breeze and sun. Ahh how I miss sunny days, they’re pretty rare in China.
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Sitting on the roof and just thinking about things made me realize that I’m running kind of low on money. Money dries up real quick here. I’m already down to 25,000 Kyat from the initial 80,000 I exchanged. I think I’m gonna exchange some more while I’m in Yangon, apparently the exchange rate is the best here. I talked to the front desk and they’ll let me leave my bags, hopefully they’ll be secure.
After I exchanged some more money, at a better rate of 840 Kyat to the dollar, I decided to check out the Yangon train station keeping in my relaxing theme day….
All in all, I think it took about 3 hours to complete the entire train route around Yangon. I’m not sure I would recommend this activity because it isn’t really for everyone. However, it gave quite an interesting perspective on daily life for average people in Myanmar. If you’re looking to take it to see the countryside, you may be a little disappointed because you only catch a glimpse. Anyone coming from a Western country and traveling for the first time in a developing country by train will be in awe. People selling food and water would pop on and off going from one carriage to the next whenever the train stopped.
Once we arrived back at the main station I decided to head to the markets to maybe pick up some souvenirs. However, for the most part all they were selling was clothes, fabric, jewelry and “precious gems.” Basically only things real tourists would buy. I like to consider myself part of a different type of tourist who doesn’t do/buy things of that caliber. Eventually I gave up perusing and decided to call it a day. It was also about time for me to head back anyway to pick up my bags from the hotel and head to the bus station for my bus to Mandalay.
At the bus station I ran into Richard. He actually decided to go to Mandalay as well and that we would be traveling together. Fortunately the ticket collector and the person who was suppose to site next to me were very cooperative and allowed Richard to change his seat so that we could sit together and talk. Out bus took off at 8pm and arrived earlier than anticipated at 4am. For both Richard and I, our guide books and research said to expect a 10-12 hr ride. So when we arrived in Mandalay we weren’t quite sure that we arrived or if we were just at another stop along the way. Actually, we almost didn’t get off the bus until someone told us we arrived. Apparently, Myanmar’s road system has improved drastically in the last year or so.
We decided to share a taxi – which turned out to be a rickshaw to the Royal Guest House and hope that rooms were available. When we arrived we were told rooms would be available later, after people woke up and checked out. I was able to get my room immediately, though, because I didn’t need my own bathroom. After getting to my room I took a long and most need rest.
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