We had an extra day in Nyaung Shwe than planned and so we booked our bus down to Bago to head south and picked up a tuk tuk to the station at Shwe Nyaung (yes...be careful not to mix those two up!) to catch the 9.40am train to Kalaw. The ride had been highly recommended by the man in seat 61 and we were not sure where we would have the chance to travel by train, so as we had time to kill and we could pick up the bus in Kalaw we jumped on.
The train was a lovely ride weaving through the countryside and only cost about 1,200 Kyat upper class or 500 Kyat normal. Upper class was very nice with big comfy seats and as we found, generally full of westerners. The normal class looked like it could be good fun with wooden benches as you'd get the chance to meet lots of local people. However, given the small price difference we went for the comfort of upper class!
The train is, how can I say... characterful. We thought it was not possible for railways to have pot holes, but going by how jerky and bumpy the ride was it seems that it is possible. This is all part of the fun though and actually it is fairly easy to drift off to sleep if you fancy a kip.
Arriving into Kalaw was a little like arriving home. The station was a mock tutor design and we knew the town fairly well from before our trek. We found a street cafe with internet, had a green tea and figured out where we were picking our bus up from.
It was great to catch up with Phil and Hayley again for dinner as Julia didn't have the chance to say good bye. We were all catching buses that evening, so we waited around the cafes on the main road.
The children of the owner of the bus agency where our bus was to stop were doing their English homework, so we ended up helping them out. A thoroughly enjoyable way to kill an hour or so. We were amazed at the language they were using at 11 years old with a common phrase of 'honesty is the best policy' being central. How much they understood we have no idea, but they read very clearly and their handwriting put ours (particularly Chris') to shame!
When our bus finally arrived, who would jump out but Martin and Pepe! Small world! We said our goodbyes to new found friends and Phil and Hayley, got on board and settled down to our 8 hour overnight journey to Bago.
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| The train from Inle to Kalaw |
The train was a lovely ride weaving through the countryside and only cost about 1,200 Kyat upper class or 500 Kyat normal. Upper class was very nice with big comfy seats and as we found, generally full of westerners. The normal class looked like it could be good fun with wooden benches as you'd get the chance to meet lots of local people. However, given the small price difference we went for the comfort of upper class!
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| Upper class! |
Arriving into Kalaw was a little like arriving home. The station was a mock tutor design and we knew the town fairly well from before our trek. We found a street cafe with internet, had a green tea and figured out where we were picking our bus up from.
It was great to catch up with Phil and Hayley again for dinner as Julia didn't have the chance to say good bye. We were all catching buses that evening, so we waited around the cafes on the main road.
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| Just in case we were worried about flooding |
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| Our little English class |
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