Tag 47 bis 50 Montag, 22. Februar 2016 Mrauk U

Greetings,

the sleep was refreshing and helped with the recovery, so I'm feeling better now. Ready for the upcoming little hell ride. At 6:30 am, the taxi left Yangon Center with the destination Aung Mingalar Bus Station, 15 km outside the city. We were stuck in the morning traffic until we reached a construction site and then it was sweat time, the standstill and snail's pace. The bus was supposed to depart at 8 o'clock, so we still had 35 minutes, but they flew by quickly. Eventually, we made it through the bottleneck, but by that time, there were only 10 minutes left before 8, so we stayed cool. The taxi kept on driving, it was 7:59 am Mh... What to do? Our taxi driver sensed it and did his best...

Arrived at the bus station at 8:05 am, so we got out of the taxi and quickly got on the bus that seemed to be still there. However, it turned out that we were at the wrong provider and anyone who has ever taken a bus in Myanmar knows what that means: searching for the needle in the haystack among a hundred providers. We were quickly informed that our provider departs 500 meters away, so we rushed there on foot and arrived at 8:12 am. I immediately looked for our luxury bus with reclining seats and all the amenities, but someone nervously pointed at the clock and towards an older bus with regular seats.

Oh man, this can't be true. 28 hours, that's how long our journey took packed in such a bus. Oh yes, unfortunately, we were pushed to quickly get on and the journey began. Well, let's make the best of it. After a short time, the standard program on the TV started, which is a must in every bus here. We were offered everything between Myanmar music, bad soap operas, and cheap action movies, it kept switching back and forth. Luckily, my iPod didn't let me down.

And so we drove there, the first part quite fast, but as soon as we reached the mountains, it got slower. Constantly turning right and left, always uphill, the gorges on both sides got higher and higher. Luckily, it was already night by then, so some slopes could only be guessed. After my Myanmar seat neighbor exchanged whiskey and snacks with me, I tried to get some sleep. In the middle of the night, we suddenly stopped somewhere in the middle of nowhere, so we looked outside and used the time to stretch our legs. It turned out that there was a truck blocking the road down below in the curve, so we had to wait. No one could go up or down the road, luckily only for an hour, and then a herd of shouting and advising men managed to move the truck aside. Finally, we continued until we stopped again at 4 am, but I didn't care, I went back to sleep. At 5 am, I woke up due to the hustle and bustle and went to check it out. Aha, a river, a ferry, and it wouldn't depart until it was light.

Shortly after 6 am, it was time. Each ferry swallowed about 8 buses, so it went pretty fast and we made it on the second ferry. After arriving on the other side, we had to keep going quickly.

And after another 4.5 hours, we finally reached Mrauk U. The small remote old kingdom.

The following day, we explored it with the wire donkey and it was once again a breathtaking place. It is unimaginable what has been built in the surrounding mountains, stupas and temples everywhere. So the long journey was really worth it.

The next day, we hired a guide who organized a boat for us. We sailed up a river into the neighboring Chin State, which is actually closed to visitors. But short day trips are possible because the military has withdrawn to the Indian border, thankfully.

So we entered villages without roads and without any motorcycles, met curious children, ate fresh nuts with the elderly, and to our amazement, we saw the last women with face tattoos.

This was a truly worthwhile trip. To top it off, we swam in the river and drank homemade rice liquor. Before returning to civilization.

So let's summarize, it's worth taking the long journey, before the flood of tourists arrives.

See you soon