Mawlamyaing

On Friday (23.09.) in the morning, we searched for the 'bus stop' for the bus to Mawlamyaing. Some locals pointed in a direction, but we couldn't find a sign or anything similar and so we went to have breakfast across from the mentioned place. The plan was to run as soon as we see a bus. And it worked. 😄 We hopped on the bus for a euro, and we were the only non-Burmese on the bus. The wild two-hour ride over rough roads began. Doors and windows remained open, of course. Maybe someone wanted to jump in or out during the ride. I even made a friend when the nice young man next to me decided to fall asleep on my shoulder. 😴💤

Arriving in Mawlamyaing, we found a motorbike-tuktuk to take us to our accommodation. The Ngwe Moe Hotel is right by the water, it's clean, and everyone is very nice. You can even watch the wonderful sunset over the water directly from the room window. What more could we want after the catastrophe in Hpa-An? After a short settling-in period, we grabbed the Lonely Planet guidebook and started walking. The recommended walk took us past a park, a church, old English buildings, a market, and many locals going about their daily work. The people here are all super friendly and helpful, even more so than in Hpa-An, where it feels like more tourists show up.

Since it was incredibly hot and we were still a bit worn out from the past few days, we went back to our room in the late afternoon and just did nothing. We were so lazy in the evening that we had our food delivered to the room. 😁

The next morning, we set off again. Our goal for today: the largest reclining Buddha and a few pagodas for the sunset. After a 5-minute walk, we hopped on the scooters of two motorbike taxi drivers. They took us to the Buddha for a few coins and patiently waited while we explored and took photos. This Buddha is really huge!! 😊 The heat took a toll on us, so we took a break at the hotel around noon before heading out again in the afternoon to explore the rest of the city, including the pagodas. I think by now we know almost every type and form of Buddhas and the different ways they are illuminated at a pagoda. 😁 After visiting two pagodas and changing clothes multiple times due to sweat (you have to wear long pants, cover your shoulders, and take off your shoes at every pagoda), we sat on the pagoda where the sunset is said to be particularly beautiful and waited. Suddenly, a local sitting next to us started a conversation. He is an English teacher for young monks and has been living in Mawlamyaing for a while. We talked about his teaching, the city, and everything else under the sun, until one of his students came and joined us to test and improve his English. So now we have had a conversation with a monk as well. 😊 The evening ended at the night market with some skewers of meat, seafood, and potatoes straight from the grill. It was a wonderful day!