I catch the 06:30 bus out of Chaungtha beach, for the 6 1/2 hour ride to Dagon Ayra west bus terminal 8,000 MMK ($5.50) then a shared cab to Chan Myaey guest house through Yangoon traffic maybe 7 miles, two hours 10,000MMK.
Some nice vistas in the early morning as we wynd, and I do mean serious twist & turn over the coastal hills.
Mist hang in the low spots, sun coming up through the jungle trees. We stop & pick up 1/2 a dozen school kids for a couple miles /this little guy’s sunblock make up, shows up well as it was just applied. Most all women lots of the men put this stuff on. it’s called Ha na khar.
Here in the foothills its a lot of just jungle, but I notice in places the trees are all of a size, with less undergrowth and in rows. trunks about 6″ dia, maybe 10 meters high, I see no fruit. Then I notice on some a small collection bucket near the base. It’s a rubber plantation.! The botanist out there might guess the age from size? I saw some text on the British rubber industry when I went to the Ag musuem, With all the synthetics I didn’t know tapping rubber trees was still a thing but I guess yes, somebody was keeping the brush cleared.
Crossing East over the Aweawaddy (I’ve surmised the waddy part means river, since all rivers end with it). My 4th crossing after the emergency bus stop incident. Bit hard to see but someone is getting a crop off this river sand bank before monsoon and river rise. this is really a wide long delta tucked between ranges of hils. like the Mekong delta very fertile. It’s harvest season, the road has funky looking tractors hauling wagons stacked 3 or 4 meters high with big sacks of rice. Headed for multitues of warehouses, shops and stores, which we see along the road. Pallets & forklifts not a thing, it’s all stacked & restacked over the shoulder. As part of the process blue tarps are spread on the ground, sometimes on the higway shoulder, and the threshed rice is spread out on it to sun dry.
Sorry for lack of rice harvest Pics, out of maybe 20 shot in the morning Hills crossing these post are all that were acceptable. shooting through a bouncing dirty bus window. And the phone camera eats the batterey. which on a 8 hour journey must be conserved.
Lots of these little palm thatch stores hug the road, 1/2 have palm thatch roof, 1/2 rusty tin.
You can get a glismp of the traffic on the balcony from my 3rd floor walkup guest house.
that’s In Tone (sounds like etoe) or Nancy, Like Taiwanese many Burmese working with westerners adopt easy to recall names for us. Anyway she is very nice and helpful booking Train bus and plane tickets. most doable online but not very or at all on english language sites. She did go get my, needs to be in person, at the station, and not before 3 days prior to departure sleeper train to Bagan. at which time I was at the beach. It’s a 17 hour ride and the berths reportedly sell out ($12.50), so thanks In tone.
Directly accros the street from the balcony is this, and typical of lots of the buildings in this old part of colonial Yangon, aparment, with shops at street level. It’s really kind of a nice facade with wrot Iron railings. A boom truck and some serious pressure washing, a coat of paint restored to Raj splendor. Of course it would blast off the Orchids growing out of the cracks
And not many food shots lately so last nights Eric Clapton & eagals playing down the street bar, Crispy Fish burger. Not exocotic but less than 1/4 $ of a fillet of fish MC gaunies and 10 times better I was happy. That’s the National beer brand, obviously, and runs between 1 or 2 $ depending on where you are here with Clapton it’s $2. But 500ml
Shawn's travel updates 