Kalay to Monywa, Myanmar June 2016

Dag 20 Kalay til Monywa. 345 km

I dag var endnu
en lang dag. Vi kørte fra hotellet kl 9 og var fremme i Monywa kl 18. Myanmar
er et meget smukt land, vi nød det flotte landskab på hele køreturen, men det
var meget smalle veje vi kørte af, så tror, vi kun kørte i gennemsnit 40 km per
time.

 Det er kun få år siden man har fået rigtige benzin stationer i Myanmar,
før det, var benzin og diesel rationeret, så hver person kun kunne købe en vis
mængde. Så langs vejen sælges der stadigvæk benzin i dunke (det sorte marked).
Vi stoppede ca. halvvejs og spiste frokost, dejlig mad til ingen penge, ca. 40
kr for alle 5. Vi lagde mærke til at mange børn/unge ikke var i skole og fandt
ud af at man ikke har skolepligt her.

Tæt på Monywa er der nogle huler (Phoe Win Hill), med mange Buddha statuer, 
de er bygget i det 13. århundrede, de var virkelig spændende at se. På vej op til hulerne kom vi
forbi en ceremoni hvor unge drenge bliver optaget i munkestanden. Der var helt vildt mange aber der og lige pludselig var der en som hoppede op på ryggen af Louis, han blev noget forskrækket, men heldigvis sketer der ikke noget. 

Næsten en dreng fra hver familie bliver Munk. Hoveddelen af befolkningen her i Myanmar er Buddhister.

Vi nåede endelig vores hotel, og da vi mødte guiden for at spise til aften, var han sammen med
en anden person, Michael var lige ved at spørge om han ville vaske vores bil,
indtil han fandt ud af, at personen var ham fra regeringen, som skal følges med
os i morgen.

Click on the pictures to see our album

Click på billedet for at se vores billeder.

4th June. Distance 345 km. Driving time 9 hours

Today was a long, long, day.

The drive today, was a bit exhausting, as the roads in Myanmar are not
exactly what you call roads, but all in all, we averaged, just about 40
km/hour.

In Myanmar as of today, diesel (petrol) is available at tank stations, but please remember,
that untill 18 month back, petrol and diesel, was sold in small bottles or cans
to the public. Everybody was given a ration for their usage per month, which
resulted in a massive black marked of diesel/petrol.

                                              The small petrol bunk - Den lille benzin station

The quality of diesel today is ok at the tank stations, but still every other vehicle stops at the local shop to tank up. (with bottles)

We had lunch in a small restaurant, next to a tank station,
and wondered why kids from the age of 11 to 15, were working here.

 It is apparently summer holidays, and everybody wants to earn a quick buck.

There is no government policy in Myanmar that children have to
attend school, sad.

We then drove to a beautiful place in the mountains, with many Buddha statues, in caves.
On the way up, we passed a massive procession, for a young kid, who has to join the monetary to be a monk.

                                                 Ready to be a monk - Klar til at blive Munk

Everybody was dressed up here in their best clothes.

Visiting these caves was a very soothing experience, when suddenly a monkey jumped on Louis shoulders, and started picking lice from his hair, or at least tried to. Poor Louis.

We reached our beautiful hotel/resort,  by a massive lake, on the outskirts of Monywa
at 6 pm.

When going out for dinner, I saw a Burmese guy together with
our guide. I thought to myselv, that our guide has bought him to wash our cars,
and I was just about to tell him to go ahead, when Susanne shouts at me and
tells me, that he is the government official, who has to follow us right
through Myanmar.