Today in Myanmar » travel story

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 4

Thet Naing — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:04:32 +0000

On the way at one station near Shwebo, one man climbed up through the window beside my friend. My friend pushed him back, telling not to climb. He kept on climbing, pushing my friend back. Once he was inside the carriage, he scolded at my friend yelling he could be arrested for breaking the law. I looked at him and found he was wearing the uniform of the State Railway Department. I was very angry by then. I yelled him back, telling how he could talk about laws and rules when he himself broke the rules by climbing through the window. He was very angry but climbed out of the same window through which he climbed in a few minute ago. Other passengers just stared at us in amazement. When we reached Khin-oo, other passengers nearby told us to close the windows. Otherwise, they said, the farm girls will come and sit on our lap. We didn’t believe what they said. However, once we arrived at the station, we saw hundreds of people running after the train. We had to close the windows frantically before these people reached the train. From below, they yelled at us to open the windows, [...]

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 4 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 3

Thet Naing — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:38:25 +0000

For you Grandpa, you always traveled by plane, or by luxury cars, so you would not know about these. That is why I was thinking of you all the time. You have never experienced such kind of things, so you would not know what we, your grandchildren, had to experience. You have a very fortunate life. Grandpa is so rich that you don’t need to experience these things. Even if you ever had to encounter such a condition, other people would make sure you never see these things. I think, if you were me in this place, you would be swearing at these bugs. If other people came and sit in your seat, you would push them out yelling “this is my seat”. Well, if you don’t know any of these and always thinking all the people are as problem-free as you, I have nothing more to say. If you ask me if these were all my problems, I would have to shake my head again and again. Do you believe Grandpa that the train from Mandalay to Myitkyina took 30 hours? Yes, it took more than a day. The train left Mandalay at 5 PM and arrived to Myitkyina [...]

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 3 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 2

Thet Naing — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:30:59 +0000

The ticket that the station manager said “Gone” is still available from the black market! Isn’t it surprising? However, you had to pay two times the actual price. I was really angry. Well, what could I do? Too bad for us, as we, grandchildren of Grandpa, got only ordinary class tickets. I used to travel this train trip in the past, and I knew how bad the ordinary class was. However, what could we do? If there were any cancellation of ticket from one of the VIPs, we might be able to get one or two tickets. I don’t understand what VIP really means. (Translator’s note: here the author was sarcastic about the term VIP or Very Important Person). In the countries where I had been, there was no such thing like this. Other members from my group offered to buy an upper class ticket for me, but I declined. We were traveling in the same group and I didn’t want to be the only one who was traveling in style. If we had to suffer, we suffer together. That is my motto. So finally, we left Mandalay on a second expressed train bound for Myitkyina, at 5 PM in [...]

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 2 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip

Thet Naing — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:17:07 +0000

Translated from Burmese. Original article posted on Nyi Lynn Seck’s Blog. Wish Grandpa to take a train trip Grandpa, This month, I traveled for more than 5,000 miles total. When I was young, I used to be very happy whenever I traveled long trips like this. However, more recently, whenever I traveled, it makes me very tired. The last trip was from Myitkyina. (Translator’s note: Myitkyina is the capital of Kachin State, which is situated in the north of Myanmar). From Yangon to Mandalay, and from Mandalay to Myitkyina. What a long trip. What a long time it took. Would you believe that I was thinking about you, Grandpa, all the time while I was in the extremely dirty train, full of passengers and full of bugs? Let me tell you from the very beginning. We started our trip at Mandalay Railway Station. Our group was altogether eleven. We tried to buy train tickets to Myitkyina, but all we got was the same usual answer – “No ticket”. Our group is actually survey group for a UNDP project in Kachin State. We have all the necessary documents and permits. We have been trying to get the train tickets since we [...]

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 4

Bamarlay — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:46:39 +0000

28 October, 2007 8:25 AM At Yathe-taung, we paid 1,300 kyat (US$ 1.20) for bus and arrived back to the base camp. I was quite hungry by that time but I was also running low on money so could only had oiled rice with fried egg. On the way back, I had some questions popping up in my mind about the trip and Kyaikhtiyo. I couldn’t find the answers. If any of you could answer these questions, please let all of us know. 1. In Kyaikhtiyo legend, it was said that the pagoda was built on the rock which resembles the head of the Tissa Hermit, and thus called Kyaikhtiyo in Mon, meaning that “which was carried over the Hermit’s head”. I tried to look at the head, but could not find any resemblance to the head. I then tried to find the statue of the Tissa Hermit, but his head in the statue was nowhere near the rock. Finally, I realized that by the time they found the head, the hermit was already in his death bed, lying down. Then the head of a lying down person would resemble the rock. 2. Near the entrance of Kyaikhtiyo, there was [...]

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 4 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 3

Bamarlay — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:28:45 +0000

27 October 2007 2:40 PM Suddenly turned dark with fogs, and the weather suddenly became cold. We sat at a tea shop and had a cup of tea and snack. All day we had been walking and our whole body had a full exercise, so here at the teashop, we did our neck exercise – swing our head from side to side looking at beautiful girls walking in the street. 6:15 PM Until now we still couldn’t find a place to sleep. We asked at three pavilions but all the rooms were full. (At Kyaikhtiyo, most of the visitors stayed at backrooms of restaurants, shops and pavilions). Finally, we ended up sleeping on Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda’s main platform. 8:30 PM It was time for prayer. We sat on the staircase around the pagoda and said our prayer. I was already half asleep when I heard a voice saying “They will have to sleep here”, and was woken up suddenly. All my friends were also sleeping while in their prayer. I had to wake them up and looked for a place warm enough to sleep on the main platform. Next we hired mats at 400 kyat each, and prepared to sleep. At [...]

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 3 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 2

Bamarlay — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:56:52 +0000

27 October 2007 9:00 AM We arrived at the main entrance of Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda. There were a lot of people here, many waiting for their friends and their luggage. Nearby was “Lady’s Changing Room”. This was the place where women wearing short pants, long pants, and skirts, tight or revealing dresses were asked to change their clothes to Myanmar longyi (sarong) and proper clothing. The reason was “against Burmese custom”. The first pagoda (stupa) on the way to Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda was Lwan Zedi (Feeling Blue Pagoda). Next one was Kyauk-sampan Zedi (Rocky Boat Pagoda). Nearby was the Shwe Nan Kyin Spirit Shrine where there was a depiction of the history of Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda. We continued along the main road and finally arrived at the main terrace of Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda. The terrace was very large. However, when there were so many visitors to the pagoda, many people could not get a room and had to sleep on this terrace, and sometimes even this large place was not enough for all the visitors. Children love the terrace of Kyaikhtiyo very much and we saw a lot of children running and playing all over the place in the evening. The first thing we [...]

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 2 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 1

Bamarlay — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:47:06 +0000

26 October 2007, 10:15 PM When we bought the ticket, they said the bus will leave at 9:30 PM. However, when they actually left, it was already 10:15 PM. The whole trip was uneventful – just watching video and listening to music. 27 October 2007 4:00 AM We arrived at the base camp of Kyaikhtiyo, the Kinmon Base Camp. Our bus stopped at one restaurant so I took a nap on a wooden bench in front of the restaurant. 6:00 AM I was woken from my sleep by the sounds of people and cars. Other people were ready for their trip to Kyaikhtiyo. For us, we were still in our bed. We wash our face, had breakfast and went to the bus station in the Kinmon base camp. 7:00 AM Let me describe you the kind of bus we used to climb up the mountain. The buses were actually light trucks with open cargo space, which was used for passengers. There were rows made of wood in the back cargo space. Each row had space for six passengers, which was actually very cramped for the passengers. There were no backs in the seats. Whether the passengers are thin or fat, [...]

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 1 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Chin National Day 2007

Bamarlay — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:21:55 +0000

Chin National Day 2007 was held at U Wumthu Maung Stadium in Hakha, Chin State, on 20th of February, 2007. The origin of Chin National Day or Chin State Day dated back to 1948. On 20 February 1948, a people’s assembly was held in Falam, and decided unanimously to reject feudalism and in support of the Union. Since then, February 20 was marked as Chin Day, and ceremonies were held every year. This year’s ceremony was 59th.Starting from 19 February, show rooms and shops were open in U Wumthu Maung Stadium. Chin traditional wrestling competition was also held. At night, Chin fashion show and Chin traditional dances were held in the stadium. On 20 February, winners were given awards, and groups from Hakha and Falam performed traditional dances. After that, “Khaung Kauk Pwe” was held. In ancient time, the sawbwa or local lord chose a girl as her minor wife. The wife to be was accompanied to the sawbwa with a ceremony. That ceremony was named “Khaung Kauk Pwe”. Nowadays, the descendants of former sawbwas do the ceremony just as an honor, to show their former glory. First, the honored maiden was carried on a seat to the ceremony. The [...]

Chin National Day 2007 is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

A visit to Inle, Shan State

Bamarlay — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:11:07 +0000

The following is the English translation of a traveler’s story to Inle. Original article was written in Burmese and can be read at To Inle Again. This time when I went back to Taunggyi (the capital of Shan State), I visited Inle Lake. I didn’t have enough time this time so I could only visited Inle. Otherwise, I would have visited Pintaya and Kattu. Inle is my favorite: never feel bored how many times I visited. The most crowded time in Inle is during the Thadingyut festival (the candle light festival celebrated during the month of October). I had been to Inle during one Thadingyut festival when I was young. It was during the time of Phaungdawoo Pagoda festival. So many boats and so many people: it was a very exciting memory of my childhood. This time I visited Inle, it was on the full moon day of Ta-zaun-mone (November), and was not as crowded as the month before. My friends also wanted to go to Khaung-dine (translator’s note: a place where there is a hot spring), so we visited both places – Inle and Khaung-dine. Actually, I wanted to have some delicious fish in Khaung-dine, but the rest wanted [...]

A visit to Inle, Shan State is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice.

If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us.

Myanmar Today

Today in Myanmar » travel story

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 4

Related Posts

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 3

Related Posts

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip – 2

Related Posts

Mandalay – Myitkyina Train Trip

Related Posts

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 4

Related Posts

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 3

Related Posts

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 2

Related Posts

Kyaikhtiyo (Golden Rock) Travel Story – 1

Related Posts

Chin National Day 2007

Related Posts

A visit to Inle, Shan State

Related Posts