Ross appeared again in the morning. He had apparently gone to bed immediately we had arrived (having chosen to stay in a more expensive + more comfortable guest-house) + had slept right thro’ to this morning. He was now happy to leave, having seen nothing at all of the place, yet having, naturally, no good to say about it. Chas + Dave had not been able to raise enough people for the bus, or so I could only gather, since they knew where I was + had not got in touch, so I had made detailed enquiries about the journey by public transport from the owner of the guest-house, so much more helpful + reliable than Tourist Burma. He provided me with comprehensive information about times, distances, + prices, plus even requests for instructions written in Burmese, in case I should get lost. So off I set, accompanied by Ross.
Part one was by pony-cart back to Nuang Oo – we had attempted to take the local bus, but we were assured there were none running today. Ross’s comment as we left Pagan was that they should “knock the cunts down + build some houses out of the bricks” – wonderfully anti-cultural, anti-spiritual. The cart dropped us at the wrong bus-stop for the express bus, but we found it soon enough + bought our tickets. The express bus turned out to be a Toyota pick-up with a low roof + bench seats in the back. When the seats were full, more people sat on wooden stool down the middle, + then more hung on the back when they were all gone.
That bus connected direct with another one – I forget the name of the town – remarkably similar in appearance. There were 3 other Westerners travelling with us, all heading to Thazi – 3 German girls. They were the 2 from Maymyo plus one other that I couldn’t abide, who thought Burma a fantastic country but couldn’t stop complaining about the buses, the food, and above all, the prices… in one of the cheapest countries in the world. A short pony-cart ride was necessary next –we all 5, plus one local lady, piled on the one cart, at the driver’s insistence. This delivered us to our next bus – another pick-up, but larger this time , like a small truck, with benches across, instead of down the sides. The other journeys had all been reasonably short, but this one was a biggie, a few hrs, so I dug out my book again. On this trip we had a meal break, of which I was the only one to take advantage – a meal of many dishes, each one replenished, + costing a pittance.
And then we were at Thazi, with just one more ride to come, a short one on a pony-cart out to the station. We had a 4 or 5 hour wait on our hands now – the unfortunate thing was that owing to vagaries of local public transport, we couldn’t have spent that extra time at the other end. But, of course, it passed – we drank coffee, + ate rice, + wrote our diaries, + did nothing at all – Ross spent most of the time sleeping. The others had to wait till 8 pm to purchase their train tickets, but they had no trouble doing so, so my precautions had been unnecessary.
Val wasn’t at the station, which disturbed me a little, I couldn’t believe she would have returned to Rangoon earlier, but returning later, except by plane, would be cutting things decidedly fine. There were 2 guys there who’d come from the Lake, a couple of Kiwis, but it didn’t occur to me to ask about Val.
The train was late arriving – it came in about 9, + I quickly found my allotted seat + then ignored it, choosing to claim a space on the floor before they were all taken. I did say hello to Mark + Dominique, however, as well as a couple of our other companions from the flight. I was surprised there weren’t more. I laid out my green foam mat, + attempted to sleep, in a space right next to the toilet – it was alright when the door was closed. A restless + fitful night however – the train rattled + bumped its way thro’ the night – the mat seemed to do little.
No Val, which was definitely concerning – no idea what I would have done if she continued not to reappear. Otherwise. bits and pieces of travel, gradually returning us to Thazi, and the train back to Rangoon.
