Towards morning there are colorful stripes in the sky: dark blue, usual
blue, light blue, white, orange, dark grey.
It's cloudy under the
sunrise and occasional pink and green lightning in one hump.
Some time later we fly over Burma. Mountain tops peak out of fog like in a dream. Further away is Irrawaddy which looks like a broad sandy ribbon from above.
Bangkok is full of smog and hot. Free internet. I forgot my laptop in the big bag in Tallinn...
Külli is glued to her electronic gadgets and it not very talkative. She compensates that in the plane when gadgets have to be switched off.
At the gate to Yangon people are filling out white and pink papers. Mostly tourists are flying to Burma, some FITs, some groups, white and Korean. And one monk.
"This is Burma and it is unlike any land you know about." (Rudyard Kipling, 1898)
After queuing we get our luggage and a pile of local money.
Right in front of the airport approaches a so-called taxi driver, asks 10 000 kyat and claims it to be equal to 5 dollars. Well, it's a bit over 10 $ but who cares. The right price should be somewhere between 8-10 $ but I'm not prepared to search for 1 $ bills right now. There's a total money-mess in my wallet.
Complete and warm darkness outside. Driving is on the right side of the road, the steering-wheel is right or left, depending on the origin of the car. Overtaking on a highway will be pretty uncomfortable with the steering-wheel on the right. They use blinker light. Occasional long stops. No obvious other reason for stopping except all cars standing in the front. Three men climb under a standing bus and hustle there, waving flash lights. Sellers of all kinds of stuff call out between the cars.
We reach various tall buildings with flashing neon lights here and there. Dusty swaying buses next to them seem to be from another movie.
There are more trees than I expected. Either they grow very fast here or were there even more before Nargis. A light-column reaches towards the sky in the middle of the trees. It's not difficult to guess where it comes from and indeed, a moment later a giant stupa becomes visible in the distance - Shwedagon Pagoda, fully covered in gold.
A handful of Burmese dashes about in the hotel to honor our arrival. We're entitled to a big water bottle, map of the city and wi-fi password. Breakfast will be on rooftop terrace but we'll miss it unfortunately. By that time we should already be on the train. But who knows.
The room is alright, with a wide bed and a wider bed. Somewhere in the vicinity is a disco.
Some time later we fly over Burma. Mountain tops peak out of fog like in a dream. Further away is Irrawaddy which looks like a broad sandy ribbon from above.
Bangkok is full of smog and hot. Free internet. I forgot my laptop in the big bag in Tallinn...
Külli is glued to her electronic gadgets and it not very talkative. She compensates that in the plane when gadgets have to be switched off.
At the gate to Yangon people are filling out white and pink papers. Mostly tourists are flying to Burma, some FITs, some groups, white and Korean. And one monk.
"This is Burma and it is unlike any land you know about." (Rudyard Kipling, 1898)
After queuing we get our luggage and a pile of local money.
Right in front of the airport approaches a so-called taxi driver, asks 10 000 kyat and claims it to be equal to 5 dollars. Well, it's a bit over 10 $ but who cares. The right price should be somewhere between 8-10 $ but I'm not prepared to search for 1 $ bills right now. There's a total money-mess in my wallet.
Complete and warm darkness outside. Driving is on the right side of the road, the steering-wheel is right or left, depending on the origin of the car. Overtaking on a highway will be pretty uncomfortable with the steering-wheel on the right. They use blinker light. Occasional long stops. No obvious other reason for stopping except all cars standing in the front. Three men climb under a standing bus and hustle there, waving flash lights. Sellers of all kinds of stuff call out between the cars.
We reach various tall buildings with flashing neon lights here and there. Dusty swaying buses next to them seem to be from another movie.
There are more trees than I expected. Either they grow very fast here or were there even more before Nargis. A light-column reaches towards the sky in the middle of the trees. It's not difficult to guess where it comes from and indeed, a moment later a giant stupa becomes visible in the distance - Shwedagon Pagoda, fully covered in gold.
A handful of Burmese dashes about in the hotel to honor our arrival. We're entitled to a big water bottle, map of the city and wi-fi password. Breakfast will be on rooftop terrace but we'll miss it unfortunately. By that time we should already be on the train. But who knows.
The room is alright, with a wide bed and a wider bed. Somewhere in the vicinity is a disco.
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