Nywoman

Carlux

As EKS said the flights are not onerous most airports are close by except Mandalay. The boatride Mandalay to Bagan is very pleasant. If you choose to travel by bus expect bad roads, bad buses and an almost non existent rail road.

Kathie

Eks, your visit at In Dien (In Thien) was quite different from ours. I'm glad we went first thing in the morning and had the place to ourselves. The walkway to the top of the hill did have the best quality crafts we saw in the Inle area, though just a few of the vendors were open as we left. Because it was so early and not yet hot, we wandered through the stupa forest on our way up the hill. The shops where our boat docked weren't open yet, even as we left.

ekscrunchy

From today's New York Times book review, a new book about Burma:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/bo...html?ref=books

Older book, also about Burma, by the same author:

http://www.amazon.com/Lizard-Cage-Ka...8&sr=1-2-spell

ekscrunchy

Kathie: I do not think that we visited Indein under the best circumstances. Despite the impression that I may have given above, we actually saw few tourists there, possibly because all of the tourists were in Nam Pan at the market that day. But even without the tourists, the place was crowded with stalls and eateries oriented toward tourists. This was just so different than the scene at the villages we had walked through during the cruise that I mentioned it. I think my impression was heavily influenced by the remoteness of the villages we had visited on the cruise.

But compared to villages on the tourist trail in other countries, the innocence was still there, although who knows for how long. Of course that may be a moot issue if the lake dries up..

I do realize that I only scratched the very tip of the iceberg at Inle Lake--in no way do I want to give the impression that I delved anyplace below the surface. I was delighted that my friends had agreed to add the area to our itinerary. They were also so very glad that they had agreed to include Inle Lake.

We are almost out of Burma now! Prepare yourselves for a culture shock when we relocate from the shores of Inle Lake to Nanjing Road in Shanghai!

Gpanda

There are icebergs in Inle Lake? No wonder they proplel with their feet. Ever diligent, don't want to hit an iceberg. A demonstration of an inapt mwtaphor. That's our beloved Ekscrunchy. Stuck in the wilds on the Gisalnd.

Shanghainese

Can't wait for your return trip to Shanghai and your impressions and discoveries!

ekscrunchy

Hi, S! I will continue as soon as I can but I will tell you now that I loved Shanghai as much the second time as the first. I found the people very welcoming and the city has an electric energy that delights me. I think it is interesting about the energy--I find that some cities have it and some don't (just like people, I guess!) Shanghai has it, Beijing does not. Saigon certainly has it; Hanoi maybe not so much.

I am not sure where I am going with this and I cannot put my finger on it.

Gpanda

I'm going to Las Vegas for five days and will be offline. That means that someone else has to step up and keep the pressure on the OP. She's a hopeless slacker and needs "encouragement". Maybe by the time I check in on 6/21/10, she will have arrived in Shanghai.

Marija

Put all your fingers on the keyboard, eks. We're all waiting. Please.

ekscrunchy

The following day, after two nights at Inle Lake, we departed the Inle Lake View Resort shortly after 10am, bound for Heho airport and our 11:55am flight to Mandalay on Yangon Airways. I had been quite nervous about this flight due to our connection in Mandalay but I need not have worried. We departed on time and arrived in Mandalay at the scheduled 12:25pm, with plenty of time to collect our bags and make our 2:40pm China Eastern flight to Kunming. As I mentioned earlier, food options at Mandalay airport are limited; I was sorry I did not carry provisions with us, especially since I managed to miss a good eating opportunity in Kunming.

Our guide, NyiNyi, had accompanied us in Yangon and Inle Lake. We said goodbye to him at the gate for the Kunming flight. I was happy to have had his help shepherding us through the two airports on that day.

The flights to Kunming was uneventful. I had secured a window seat and my eyes all but fell out of my head as I observed the scene unfolding as we approached the city. Superhighways, flyovers, forests of 10-story-plus towers—this was a very different scene than the one we had left behind a bit more than an hour before! Yunnan province is currently suffering from a disastrous drought—the worst in a century-- and this, too, was evident in the landscape below.

I felt as if we had been catapaulted forward 100 years as we entered the Kunming airport. We collected our bags, passed through immigration and then entered a vast hall, where he scene was more reminiscent of a train station than an airport, with travelers camped out on the floor, surrounded by thermoses and snacks, myriad shops selling everything from Pu’er tea to beribboned gift packs of Nescafe to cell phones to stuffed pandas; I was enthralled by the many food shops but found it disconcerting to have a salesperson attach herself to me as I wandered, examining the shelves of exotic delicacies, and frustrating that I could not ask questions about the offerings. We found an overpriced airport café with comfy sofas and camped out for the duration. It was only when the time of boarding approached that I noticed a real restaurant on the upper level balcony at the top of a staircase. This proved to be a major oversight on my part, and one that prevented us from sampling Yunnanese cuisine at its source. (There is no sign in English, but the restaurant is easily visible from the main floor of the terminal).

We departed Kunming on the China Eastern flight at 9pm, bound for Shanghai, and it was with tremendous excitement that we landed in that city at 11:30pm, after a two-and-a-half-hour flight.

thursdaysd

No mountain views on the Mandalay-Kunming flight?

ekscrunchy

Thursday: No--I think we either flew too high or the weather was too hazy but there were no views until we neared Kunming. How I would have loved to spend a few days (or more) around Kunming before moving on!

I just received a copy of the Spring 2010 Pandaw magazine; I found it very interesting, especially the comments made by Paul Strachan on the changes he has seen recently due to the massive influx of Chinese (more than 10 million, according to his account) into the country. This should be avaialable as a download on the Pandaw website.

thursdaysd

Pity about the view - the photos were awesome. Also sounds like Kunming has grown some in the last six years - although I arrived by train and likely missed some of the 'burbs.

ekscrunchy

I was very disappointed about the view between the two cities.

Kunming looked absolutely huge and sprawling from the air! Forests of those high rise white concrete towers sprouting up everywhere for miles and miles. And the roads looked brand new. The airport looks to be a bit out of town so I did not actually fly over the central city of Kunming. Just writing this frustrates me that I was unable to spend a few days there! But at least we know know that travel from Mandalay to China by air is a snap, if expensive. (I am almost embarrased to tell you all how much I paid for the tickets, which I bought here in the US; ticket from Mandalay to Kunming )

Speaking of roads, I just finished Peter Hessler's book, Country Driving, about the effects of the auto on China.


Pandaw magazine mentions that they are now researching the possibility of a new cruise on the Upper Mekong, into Laos and China. I would love to go on that one! Details should be in the download on their site, or you can request the magazine by postal mail.

I am confused by the ownership/management of the Burma portion of the company because Strachan writes in the magazine article, The Pandaw Story, that he "could not take working with the government any longer and was forced to give up the old Pandaw. It broke his heart and is something he regrets to this day."

Marija

Thanks for completing a third of your report, I'm eagerly awaiting the remaining two destinations.

ekscrunchy

Marija: I will try my best to complete in a speedy fashion. Only then do I dare to begin a new thread on a possible next Asian destination!

Here is the excerpt from the Pandaw magazine, spring 2010, that I referred to above; I had forgotten to mention in my account that we had seen the new, tremendous Katha railway station (not yet in operation) on our drive to the elephant camp.



<It was several years since I was last up at Katha and I have a number of observations on the state of affairs in Upper Burma today. First of all,
there was far greater prosperity than there used to be or indeed we are led
to believe. These river towns are booming. New houses going up everywhere
and the quaint old teak houses fast disappearing. Even small towns now had
metered power supplies. People are running around on scooters rather than
push bikes. Fishermen in their canoes have outboard motors where before
they relied on a trusty paddle.

In Katha an enormous railway terminus was
under construction connecting the river station to Bhamo and thence Yunnan.
Across the river from Pagan another railway is under construction connecting
Pakokku with Bassein with a spur through the Yoma to Akyab (Sittwe)
through the Yoma. A six lane highway linking the new capital with Rangoon
and Mandalay nears completion. These are engineering projects the colonial
British did not even think of in their wildest dreams.
Burma is now a major transit corridor linking SW China to the Indian
Ocean. An oil pipeline will bring Middle Eastern oil up through Burma
cutting out the long sea journey round Singapore.

We saw the effects of this
opening up all around. The wealth generated is far greater than one might
expect. Hand in hand with these strategic projects are the mass migration
of Chinese people into Burma. A trend that began in the early nineties but
has now accelerated. A guesstimate would be that at least 10 million Chinese
have moved into Burma taking over most businesses, buying prime property
and exclusively populating the city centres of Rangoon and Mandalay. Even
in Katha the main street shops were now run by Chinese.

........ I took a walk to a village situated a couple of miles upstream of Katha. I first went there in 1986 and was overjoyed by its rusticity – little wooden houses, everyone busy
making things. I went back in 1996 and it was exactly as was ten years before,
nothing changed. Last time I walked here was around 2003 and again nothing
had stirred. Now in 2010 over half the teak houses had been replaced by
rather grand brick mansions. People had trucks and tractors parked in front.
Every house had a satellite dish. The girls were wearing jeans and the boys
base ball caps. These were Burmese folk, not Yunnanese migrants. >

Leaving aside the possibility, or probability, that the changes he saw signify a better living standard for the local Burmese, his comments do make the case for travel to Burma now, rather than later.. Although I am transfixed by the idea of that Upper Mekong cruise!

thursdaysd

"I am almost embarrased to tell you all how much I paid for the tickets" - my friends flew the other direction, and bought their tickets in China. I suspect it's a lot cheaper doing that.

See the thread I just started for an article on Chinese investment in roads through SEA - Laos specifically in that piece. Economic colonialism 21st century version?

ekscrunchy

Thursday, I plan to check that thread right now!

Here is a bit more; we are safe and sound in Shanghai and will begin our appointed rounds after breakfast!


We landed at Terminal 2 at HongQiao airport and were struck by the gleaming spotless appearance; I later learned that the terminal had opened only two days before our arrival, in anticipation of Shanghai Expo.


HongQiao is the city’s original airport and since the opening of Pudong, it had been used mainly for domestic flights. It now handles both domestic and international and, being much closer to the city than Pudong, is more convenient, if one has the choice. It was after midnight be the time we collected our bags and exited to the taxi line. Fortunately, we did not have to wait for a cab. Although the driver used the meter, I suspect that we may have been overcharged because according to my notes, we paid 120RMB (about $US17) for the drive to our hotel on Nanjing Road. (We did have lots of luggage and it was late at night, so perhaps that explains the fare).


Here is some additional information about the airport:


http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archive...t_t2_opens.htm



Flying along the expressway with the lights of Shanghai around us, I again felt as if I had been thrust into a different century than the one I had left behind in Burma. I had visited the city once before, in 2007 and was very excited to be back. There was no traffic at that late hour and within 15 minutes we arrived at the familiar Le Royal Meridien, where I had been so impressed on my first visit. There appear to me many excellent hotels in Shanghai and while I would have liked to explore a different neighborhood, particularly the French Concession, I opted to return to the Meridien mainly because of their wonderful swimming pool and for the warmth and professionalism of the staff.

I obsessively searched for the best price on the room, both on third-party sites and through Starwood, but I did not find any substantial discounts and ended up booking directly with the hotel. I selected the lowest priced room category, the deluxe (as opposed to Grand Deluxe) city view, just as I had the first time. My friends chose the Grand Deluxe Bund View but since the lights of the city are turned off before 11pm, and the view is rather distant, I do not think that it was worth the substantial price difference. (The rooms looked about the same to me; the only difference that I noticed was that they were provided with slightly more upscale better bathroom amenities than mine, but a simple request netted me the same products).

I would consider my room to be very deluxe! Here you will find a photo, on the hotels’ website; note that rates vary tremendously depending on time of year:



http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeri...ropertyID=1945


My room cost me 1725 RMB ($US252) on the first night and 1380 RMB ($US202) on the subsequent two nights, including taxes and service charges but without breakfast.

Although I had been impressed by the service last time, the concierge appeared to have fallen down on the job even before our arrival. I had contacted the hotel to assist me with obtaining train tickets with sleeping berths on the Shanghai-Hong Kong direct luxury train.

This train runs only every other day but the concierge kept insisting, through e-mails, that it would not run on the day we intended to travel. Back and forth flew the e-mails, with me insisting that we could travel on 22 March, and the concierge insisting that he had checked with the railway authorities and it would depart only on “odd” dates. (I knew better because I had received the definitive dates here, which I confirmed with the railway authorities in Hong Kong). In the end, the concierge realized his error and the tickets were, indeed, purchased, after we agreed to refund the monies to the hotel in cash, upon arrival. After that, however, we had no problems and I feel confident in recommending the hotel and would stay here again in the future.

By the time we got to bed, it was past 2am, but I was so excited to be back that I was in the swimming pool by 6am opening time. I had tried mightily to have breakfast included with the room rate but it was not to be. My friends, however, opted to take breakfast at the hotel anyway and they invited me to join them on that first morning. On my first visit I had been bowled over by the vastness of the hotel breakfast buffet. Here is what I wrote after that trip:


<On my first morning in Shanghai, I decided to try to try the hotel breakfast. In a two workds: Mind-boggling! I thought the Peninsula breakfast was lavish. This one looked like the tables at a fancy bar mitzvah! The food must have stretched for 60 feet across the room! All the usual suspects plus omelette stations, miso soup, xlb, .....there was so much food! And it was all good. They actually used ghee to fry the eggs. My favorite thing was a pieces of yellow dried fruit which I looked for at stores but never found..I am not sure what it was..bright yellow but not pineapple. Dried fruit, by the way, is sold everywhere and would be great purchase. And amazing jams with flavors like mango coriander... and fresh yogurt in flavors like mango and coconut. With dried coconut to put on the top. And excellent croissants. And pan au chocolate!>



Two years later, the number of offerings had decreased slightly and the buffet now resembled only an over-the-top bar mitzvah spread and not a Hollywood mogul’s son’s over-the-top bar mitzvah spread. Or maybe I had seen a few more lavish Asian hotel buffets in the interim and was not as easily impressed. Or perhaps, after Burma, the sight of all that food just seemed wasteful. (Weekends would bring back the mogul-worthy-ness of the buffet). But, at US$30 per person, it should have been worthy of Hollywood, or Las Vegas! That first Shanghai meal, I am again embarrassed to report, cost a grand total of $US90 for the three of us. I would be heading to my old dumpling haunts on subsequent mornings!

dogster

eks: when fact meets fiction meets Pandaw meets Paul meets marketing there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. Only a true Pandodderer would believe all she reads - or believe that all she reads is all of the story.

Dog signs off from C-c-cooopenhagen. I'm heading north to take lessons in good manners from the Troll Queen. Back after my fortnight in Flam... by which time I imagine we'll have made it to lunch in Shanghai, day two.

ekscrunchy

Hi Dog! Interesting. Because if he does not own the Burma operation, who does? I guess I am showing my Pandodderer stripes yet again with the question. Do not make haste--we will save you some snacks from lunch in Shanghai.