Last night was pretty bad.
Where do I start? With the bloody cold in the room? With the dogs? I love them, but that night I felt like strangling every single one of them. Why they are holding a rendezvous outside my room for several hours, of all places, and why it's apparently about finding out the loudest screamer, barker and howler, will probably remain a mystery forever.
Freezing cold
And it's cold, bloody cold. The thickness of the blanket on my bed is about the same as a shroud (I've never seen one before, but it sounds good), and that there might be an extra blanket somewhere in the room doesn't occur to me until four in the morning. Well, you learn a lot about yourself.
The wake-up call at point five must also not go unmentioned. So, something horrible sounding, which could be recognized as a choir with some good will, tears me out of my sleep at point five. What is it? An alien attack? The Attack of the Clones? Have zombies risen from their graves?
I know how a muezzin sounds like, but not like that. After a few minutes the spook is over (could it be the Burmese version of one or more muezzins?) The fact is that I am wide awake and look forward to the new day with some bitterness.
Horse-drawn Carriage
But the day will be fine, that's for sure. A horse-drawn carriage takes me to the train station.
Hundred people have already gathered there and of course tickets for the preferred left side of the train, from where you have a better look on the famous Gokteik viaduct, are already booked up. I make friends with an older gentleman who also travels alone. An American with whom I get along brilliantly right from the start.
The train departs
In any case, the thing called train pushes off on time, 6 long hours for just under 100 kilometers ahead.
Torture on the Train
Every travelguide says train travel in Burma is an ordeal. What could be the reason? Bad seats? They're all right. Heat? Tolerable. Overcrowded compartments? Not at all. The real reason shows up a few kilometres after Pyin U Lwin.
The cars start to sway to the left, to the right, up, down, always opposite to the movement of the car in front of us. If this moves to the right, ours moves to the left. and so on. So for stomach-sensitive people this is really bad, because we are pulled along, pushed along, thrown along in any direction. Pure physics, of course, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant. However, one gets used to it after a while, but a nap to catch up on the missed sleep is definitely out of the question.
Unless one is dead.
Half an hour before the famous viaduct turns up, everybody gathers at the windows to make sure they don't miss anything. My upper class car is entirely occupied by tourists. French, English, Americans, Swiss, Germans, the usual suspects.
Life Insurance
The ticket for the six-hour trip costs the equivalent of just under 3 francs. But that's not the real beauty of it. Included in the fare (and mentioned on the ticket) is a life insurance. A LIFE INSURANCE! And listen now. It costs just 0.87 Kyats. 1 kyats is pretty much one thousandth of a Swiss franc, so if I calculate correctly 0.00087 francs. What the heck is insured? One of my last hairs? This is Burma, dear people. Beloved Burma.
Stop in Naung Hkio
Somewhere in no one's land, called Naung Hkio, a stop. Time to stretch your legs in the burning sun and admire the locomotive.
The most famous Railway Bridge in Myanmar
In the Gokteik Viaduct is the most famous railway bridge in Burma, built by the Americans on behalf of the British from 1899 onwards.
It is almost 800 meters long and 111 meters high. It is - thank God - only passed at walking speed, which allows the clicking and whirring photo and video amateurs the opportunity to apply their arts. I am also impressed, but in terms of the beauty of the landscape, the Landwasser Viaduct in Switzerland is still an option.
Hsipaw
AAnd then we arrive, a bit tired from the heat. Hsipaw is a nice little town that has developed into a traveler hotspot. And now there they are, the young Travellers, the Backpackers, and now you hear Hi there and How're you from all sides. Nice. This is the place to stay.
In the evening a cold beer on the bank of the river. This is the way to forget the hardships of the day ...
P.S. Matching Song: The Eagles - Seven Bridges Road
And here the journey continues ...
