Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: U Bein bridge trip in Mandalay

We woke up after a great nights sleep. Nothing like arriving at a good hotel, a good bed and a somewhat quiet room after having done overnight bus travel the night before. Breakfast at the hostel starts at 6 AM and closes at 9:30 AM so we hurried down at 9 to have a look at the options in Myanmar.

Lots of hot food for breakfast, including rice, lots of mystery cakes (have to try them) and then some recognisable food like pancakes and syrup. Save them for later.

After breakfast we headed to the train station which is just down the road. A small station but nevertheless a train arrived just as we got there. We were looking for tickets to go North-east in a couple of days to Hsipaw. All signs being in "Burmese" - a little confusing but a local scooter driver helped us finding the right counter and then informed us what we kind of already knew - tickets can only be bought the day before departure. Not a big deal though, we now knew where to go.

Heading out of the station we started to enquire about transport to U Bein bridge - a very long wooden bridge just outside of Mandalay. Prices for scooters started at 10000 Kyat per person which was a little steep compared to our transport from the airport yesterday. So we walked away and new and lower quotes were being shouted at us.

In the end we found a local taxi driver with a real car who offered to take us there for 18000 Kyat and wait for us there. The drive was about 40 minutes including a bit of busy traffic in Mandalay. Once at the bridge Malene bought a small bag of papaya salad, spicy Mandalay style only to realise after the first bite that the powder that had been added in reasonable amounts was in fact dried, crushed fish powder giving the whole thing a taste of - well, dried fish.

We spent the next 1½ hours heading over the bridge and back again. Impressive construction knowing it dates back to around 1850 - and it looks like it has only been maintained sparsely since then. Once on the other side of the lake we walked around a small monastery before heading back to our driver. We were dropped off at the hotel just around 1 PM and went straight for some lunch and then back to power nap.

In the evening we went to a local mall down the road - just to check out what is available in Myanmar. Turned out the selection of clothes and electronics were actually quite good but pricey - presumably due to import taxes.

We found a nice place for food and cold beer for dinner tonight we wanted a "real restaurant" and not just a street food kitchen. Then we headed back to the hotel planning to get up early and have a look at the Royal palace tomorrow.