Road to Mandalay

Mandy: 14th October 2014

I passed the time on our flight to Burma by practicing my fear of flying relaxation breathing but when I finished we still had a way to go so to distract myself I decided to count …instead of sheep I imagined monks walking past the cabin window and estimated 500 would pass before we touched down…. But I only got to 81 when we banged into the runway! I thought it a sloppy landing but Glen said it was the sort of landing Pilots liked, aimed for in fact. God he is so positive, It can get on your nerves at times. (Rolling eyes)

Our first sight of Mandalay had been from the ‘plane as we came down to land and it was very green and flat but not like the green hedge row or stone walled fields as we know them. We could see we were in a different country (smile)

As we taxied along to the airport terminal we could see that it had an ornate gold edged roof, half temple half airport building. (smile) The bus to pick us up from the ‘plane had seen better days but hey we are in Burma after all. As we walked through into the airport terminal with mostly female Asian passengers, there was a small box ‘room’ with glass windows in the middle of the entrance area saying ‘quarantine’ ….. I was hoping that they couldn’t tell I was, and had been, feeling sick, all morning! I then noticed a Burmese lady stood near by with what looked like pancake mix smeared on her face that had dried yellowy-white in swirly patterns. Ahead of us we could see that each passenger had to stand on a spot by a screen and have their photo taken. I was trying to get the camera out of Glen’s back pack to take a photo of the the lady with the facial food as Glen continued to walked forward and I managed to still be zipping up his back pack as he stood in place to have his photo taken. He was cross because all the ladies in front of us had stood one by one but now we had a joint awkward photo like we used to get in those photo booths when we were teenagers when you put your money in and the flash went off before you were ready! so I stood back then went forward and had mine taken with an array of local on lookers by the man with the camera (not sure what that was about!) I managed to look fit and healthy and they let us pass through to passport control (smile) I glanced back at the 2 x 8ft quarantine box with a shudder and sigh of relief (smile) I was disappointed as I never found out whether the lady with pancake mix dried on her face had just come out of the quarantine box or was putting people in it and that was some sort of barrier to stop her catching things from those within it.

Glen said he saw a sign saying ‘free shuttle bus’ I imagined a shabby old mini bus so we went to…… I say we went to… Iots of young boys, with smiling faces and great enthusiasm came to us! and explained why the free shuttle bus was not a good option and why going with them was. They were speaking English of sorts but too quickly to understand totally! Anyway instead of being annoyed by them I felt I didn’t know who to choose as they all looked so friendly and helpful and I didn’t want to offend one by choosing the other. So I left Glen to sort it out….. as always. (smile) I went to the airport toilets instead and found them to have the stretchiest toilet paper I have ever come across lol!…..but no soap (Jack I am documenting this for you!) Glen choose a taxi ‘company’ and wanted to pay extra to have our own private car but I said I would prefer to go in a seven seater minibus with others, that way we could have a look at different areas and hotels for later in the week (smile). So we paid our money and we made our way to …. Ah, hec! …a shabby old van! and watched as the large shiny Air Asia FREE SHUTTLE BUS (coach) drove off with all of the other back packers! Lol! We sat in the minibus and our driver said he was waiting for more people as he had seven seats! finally we were on our way our with all seats occupied (with non westerners) We bumped along a side road and I hoped this was not the road the driver would use for the whole 45km journey ……I didn’t mind actually as it was slow and there was no other traffic. (The Asia Air free Shuttle bus was long gone!) We passed packs of dogs, herds of goats, padi fields and numerous skinny ox by the side of the roads and in the distance in every direction were Temples and Stupas, mostly gold or white it looked magical. (Smile)

Glen said he didn’t think any of our fellow passengers were tourists and it seemed he was right. After ten minutes we dropped four of the local passengers just outside of the airport on the side of the road! Not sure what that was about. Anyway on we went for 45 mins until a young well dressed female indicated to pull over and we bumped along a little track to a shack! Surely this girl with posh earrings and normal cases could not be staying in this area? But yes she was! Or maybe she lived here.

Off we went again away from the bumpy dirt track road and back on a normal-ish road and the nearer we got into ‘town’ the busier it got with motorbikes. It was now looking a lot like Vietnam but without the tourist shops and bars and cafes!

We eventually checked into our hotel and then went out for a walk to explore the area. There were red splats of what looked like blood on the pavement everywhere. Nearly all the men (and a few old women) were or had been chewing a red mixture and were looking at us with glazed eyes and happy friendly smiles…..and red teeth!! Apparently it is a mixture of betel leaves, areca nuts and tobacco that make your teeth red and your mind happy! http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan

Later that night we a took a stroll down a dark road where we were told there was a night market. We were hoping to find some hawker stalls selling local food…….There were no street lights or food….but plenty of porn from what we could see in the dim candle light coming from other clothes stalls… And second hand books being sold spread across the dusty road. This market wasn’t for tourists….but any books left here by them would be down here on the dirty floor next week I’m sure.

We thought we knew Asia, we thought we knew what to expect but this was different, this was poor. It put us in mind of Old Calcutter…not that we’ve been. Glen said maybe the Captain over flew Burma and we actually landed in India!

Oh by the way, all of the women (and some men) have that pancake mix smeared (or in leaf or other patterns) and dried on their face, and the children so we need to find out what that is about….

OK, I have just ‘googled it up’ (smile) I am glad we didn’t know everything before we came out here (smile) we are learning on the job so to speak (smile)

Thanaka is a yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from ground bark. It is a distinctive feature of the culture of Myanmar (formerly Burma), seen commonly applied to the face and sometimes the arms of women and girls, and is used to a lesser extent also by men and boys.

Thanaka cream has been used by Burmese women for over 2000 years. The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek, sometimes made stripey with the fingers known as thanaka bè gya, or patterned in the shape of a leaf, often also highlighting the bridge of the nose with it at the same time. It may be applied from head to toe (thanaka chi zoun gaung zoun). Apart from cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation, provides protection from sunburn, removes acne and promotes smooth skin. It is also an anti-fungal. Thanaka contains various active ingredients such as marmesin or antioxidants.

This blog has been posted late because when we arrived the hotel told us there wasnt any internet, there hadn’t been for two days, not just in the hotel but everywhere. We had to wait a further two days for it to come on. The electric is as sparodic as the Internet we have since found out too.