Kalilandia

I know there is pleasure in doing nothing, but I never expected the pleasure of the nothingness in Ngwe Saung will be of that dimension. The night bus ride from Yangon is around 6 hours and is an absolutely hilarious experience with the host of the bus tirelessly speaking on that microphone, which has a funny echo and one almost feels like in a club. Any time I drift away the guy will shout something, will remember to announce something more, will push my seat for some unknown reason. A German girl is traveling next to me and we share this memorable ride, which will bring us together frequently during my stay in Ngwe Saung. Life in the middle of the rice fields The host of my guest house meets me with a scooter taxi in the middle of the night and brings me to my bungalow. As I wake up in my first morning I am full of joy to discover that the bungalow is in the middle of the rice fields and the village people living in the field are having a great time singing on a m...

Bagan, possibly the most sacred place in Myanmar, and one of the most known in the Buddhist world. It is usually advised to take an e-bike (scooter) to ride across the temples, but I feel so intimidated by the traffic, and the constant honking and illogical movement. So, I take the "brilliant" decision that I will WALK from Nyaung U to Bagan (it's just over 5km, without all deviations, and probably 10km with all temple drifts). Later I will bitterly regret, when I will need to find the most random kinds of transportation any time I need to move - from a horse carriage (!), through an open-air van for workers (!?)...to the back of the scooter of some poor kid (!!?). I am literally the only lame duck walking on the road. At some point I wonder if I am on the right way and where are ALL these temples when suddenly they start erupting from everywhere. There are over 2200 temples in Bagan and one could hardly imagine what that means unless they really see it with ...

My next destination in Myanmar is Nyaung U/Bagan, I take a flight from Yangon, which is already a hilarious experience by itself. Safety instructions are considered overrated a t the local airline Air KBZ . As soon as the flight attendant closes the door of the little suspicious plane, we literally take off while placing our carry-on luggage and ourselves.  The airport in Bagan is something rather like a hangar where some guys literally unload the checked luggage one by one and bring it on their backs directly from the plane, asking whose that bag is. Inside the airport there is literally nothing, the "check-in" counters are actually something like little hotdog kiosks where I see people dropping their bags on the floor (apparently same strategy works for loading the bags as for unloading them). Finally, the airport "bar" is outside the airport and represents some sort of a wooden construction where one could chill and get some fried rice, noodles and fis...

The excitement of hitting the road to an unknown destination is hardly comparable to the fascination itself when I am deep into the journey, especially if the journey brings me across Myanmar. I have tried to prepare with some readings, mainly books, blogs and articles as resources aren't too vast, but nothing could prepare me for what I will have experienced in this land. Anyway, any preparation is practically useless as few things appear in reality as they appear on booking.com or on the map. When preparation is unnecessary, there comes the luxury of randomness  My hostel in Yangon is literally undiscoverable. I very quickly realize that addresses in Myanmar simply do not work, and I just need to rely on people I meet on street. The taxi drops me somewhere "very close" and I start wandering around streets full of people chilling on the street with no name, and no sign of a hostel. An old guy, frying something like donuts on the pavement, sees my lost ...