With a 0700 departure on the ferry, I got the hotel to order me a taxi for 0615. It turned up slightly late and there was a mild panic. To make matters worse, he took me to another deserted jetty which is used on some days of the week.
Fortunately we made it to the correct jetty in time. As we moved away from Mandalay, the landscape was rather monotonous with brown waters of the Ayeyarwady flanked by sandy banks. The only bits of interests were the couple of times when we pulled up against the river bank to allow locals to sell us fruit and craft.
The 11h journey was very painless and much more comfortable than the shorter bus option I imagine.
Upon arrival, I was quickly approached by a rickshaw driver who whisked me to my pre-booked (by phone) accommodation in Nyaung U. He certainly had strong legs and lungs pedalling me and another guy, plus luggage.
I half-expected the Eden Motel in Nyaung U to not honour the phone booking as accommodation is very tight everywhere in Myanmar. To my surprise, they had something for me … first night in the dorm due to overbooking, then my single room as booked thereafter.
The 6-bed dorm on the rooftop was nice, and so were occupants. The shared bathroom was clean until the Europeans with different bathroom etiquette sullied it. They walk in-and-out of the wet shower-room with their sandy shoes. Bathroom flip-flops were provided for this purpose but I don’t think they understood what they were for.
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- Homes on the banks of the Ayeyarwady.
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- Leaving Mandalay, we pssed the Sagaing Hill area which I climbed up yesterday.
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- Leaving Mandalay, we pssed the Sagaing Hill area which I climbed up yesterday.
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- Bridges over the Ayeyarwady.
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- Washing in the river.
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- Locals selling us fruit.
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- The scenery is quite monotonous.
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- Our sister-ferry; ours looks like this too.
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- Arriving into Bagan at sunset.
