March 7, 2013
Yet another airline has entered the race for tourist (mostly Asian) dollars and local kjat and reduced the price of flying Mandalay to Yangon from $125 to $70 for me though it looks from my voucher like Zone Agency only paid $52. Changes, changes minute by minute. Most of the flights I've been on have not been full. It will take shaking out to see which airlines survive. That said, looking around the waiting room I see only one other possible westerner. There is apparently a growing (if slowly) middle class, and the Chinese business and family members for whom time and relative comfort dominate decisions on travel, that is 4.5 hours vs. 11-16 on bus or train.
The cavernous Mandalay airport (no wifi) -lots of potential space for shops, and restaurants but currently vacant- is one hour from Mandalay proper on a new highway which continues on to the capital Nay Pyi Taw thence on to Yangon. Its just a tiny bit of the needed infrastructure improvements needed to bring Myanmar into the 21st Century. Major among needs is electricity. Mr Charles in Hsipaw and the Smart hotel where I stayed in Mandalay this time, both have huge truck size generators to keep the power on for air/con.....though even that doesn't work all the time in Hsipaw. Some places have outage times posted in the lobby.
A passenger in our shared taxi into Mandalay last trip mentioned $30 rooms at the Smart which is brand new. These are rooms for the guides of tourists who are paying $75-85. Its the same size as the "cell" I had at Sabai Pyu, but clean, enclosed, and with a private bath and a/c. Same size included either an open suitcase on the bed or me on the bed. I worked out a compromise with my suitcase and pushed it down to a corner propped on the stool.
-On the road with Kathryn
Location:Mandalay
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