Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: Pathein umbrella factory and the bus to Ngwe saung

onsdag den 16. marts 2016

Pathein umbrella factory and the bus to Ngwe saung

One of the reasons to stop in Pathein is to visit one of the local factories that are making the classic Myanmar umbrellas - the colourful ones with various decorations painted on them. That was our plan this morning. We had the directions for one of the places and since we'd been driving around with James yesterday we also knew that walking there wouldn't be a problem. Maybe 15-20 minutes of walking.

So we set out and walked there, found that factory which turned out to be a big shed and a back yard of a garden in the residential area where some 10 people were working with fabric, paint and bamboo doing beautiful umbrellas. A guy approached us and talked us through the manufacturing process and we were allowed to walk around and take pictures. All very quiet and not anything like factory-like.

Then we backtracked our way towards the hotel and on the way back we came across the cafe from yesterday and had breakfast there. It was such a nice place and best of all it was in a quiet neighbourhood.

On the way back to the hotel we also looked for the bus station and the bus to Ngwe saung - with no luck. We had more luck finding a bakery that served what looked like Danish "rom-kugler" - chocolate sprinkled coco flavoured Danish pastry. Not here! Seriously! This is Pathein. Mikkel bought a couple of "rom-kugler" for testing and it turned out that this was just was it looked like. "Rom-kugler" in Myanmar.

Back at the hotel they helped us locate the bus station. We had been close but we only made it down one back alley. The bus station was at a back alley of that back alley. They called the bus company and booked us on the 12 AM bus. Suddenly we were in a hurry, packing our stuff, walking to the bus and then we left at 12 for Ngwe saung and the beach.

The drive there was pretty short and easy, a few hills before the beach but after two hours we were there, had a couple of guys on scooters taking us to our bungalow at Forest Home Resort. Imagine 10 small bungalows on the top of a ridge, no tree but dry soil and a few bushes. So much for forest but our bungalow was nice with a patio and the added advantage on the hill was having a nice view of the ocean, the sunset and the fresh ocean breeze.

We walked to the beach and after looking around for a while we had dinner before heading home and taking a slow evening. This is a nice place definitely.