After Lake Inno we went by bus to Mandalay. Mandalay is one of the largest cities in Myanmar, it is the main connection in the north of the country. The truth is that we did not do much tourism. You can visit the citadel, in the center of the city, the palace of Mandalay, the pagoda of Sandamuni, to the southwest of Mandalay.

The latter is a beautiful temple surrounded by more than 700 small white rooms, each of which contains two pages written in a stone book, impressive !!

In addition, we liked to have a good tour around the streets of the city, as we had done in Yangon, but Mandalay does not have the same beauty in the tumults, in the mixture of origins … We did not find it so attractive …

We stayed at the Tain Phyu Hotel (White Cloud) for 10 dollars. Not bad, in line with the standards of the country in terms of hygiene and details, with the possibility of being able to find the corpse of a living being from time to time. Watching a movie on television, we could see how the censorship of the country put a blur on the neckline of a woman in the American film series B that said on a local channel … certainly a good example of the evolution and the control of information in the country.

From Mandalay we took a bus to Swebo. The landscape of the trip as always in this country, was very picturesque, full of giant stupas on the horizon, abundant poverty, families living under a plastic sheet on the sidewalks, children running half naked … Also, as is customary in the bus trips in this country, there is always someone to release the last one, the sea of ​​breakfast, lunch or dinner … it seems to be an acceptable practice, and all drivers carry plastic bags prepared for the occasion …

 

At the station of Swebo, Martin came to look for us, the coordinator of a project in the village of Tee Gyi where we were going to collaborate, see the post where we explained it. Mayra went with Martin, and you got on your brother’s bike, which could not have a seat for a second person, but a platform to carry the load.

The motorcycle trip lasted more than 30 minutes, on the road of cars … never better said, since we were dodging them well … in the mud, that as long as we were stuck we had to push … can you imagine that she has my ass after such a trip …

When we arrived, a group of village women were waiting for us, curious about our arrival, they welcomed us happily. We started to “talk” … how funny they were … asking us about everything, they wanted to match me!

We were sleeping in Martin’s house, surrounded by goats, cows, pigs and chickens. We were in the middle of the field, between meadows, forests and farmland. Along the way passed the carts pulled by oxen, the ladies with their typical costumes with their heads, the young people taking the taxis to other pasts …

The house was a cabin, well managed but a cabin. Martin’s family slept on the dining room floor, he, his wife, his daughter and the grandmother … we slept in the kitchen.

During the dinner he had a scare of monumental, from our side appeared a centipede about 20 cm long 1.5 cm wide, a prehistoric monster that apparently is poisonous !!!

In the kitchen, we sleep under a mosquito net that can not be washed from the smallest insects … we are covered in bichillos, nothing dangerous, but we are people from the city … hehehe … and we are not used to having things that walk on us; Besides, that night the goat was in bad shape and did not stop.

The magic of the wine in the open window appeared some beautiful fireflies … that beautiful … a beautiful image in combination with the super starry sky … We do not sleep almost anything, we are not accustomed to country life, especially to share the space with so much life !!!

The next day we checked the village at the hand of some children. We went through the streets of mud, communicating huts with cows around, man working with wooden looms, kitchen utensils that are part of a museum … and many more animals of supply.

It was like being in another century … yes, surrounded by very friendly people, between smiles … What a most incredible place … see it to believe it …

And finally it was time to take the bus back to Mandalay, where we took a flight to Kolkata … We’re going to Nepal !!!!! It has been a pleasure Myanmar, perhaps the country that has surprised us the most and the one that has seen the most essence … This country is worth it !!!!