The shortest flight ever and the best dinner ever all in one day.
Our next destination was to be Mandalay. We had investigated over night buses and worked out it would take us about sixteen hours to get there. So instead we looked at flying. There was an airport about an hour away from where we were staying and as we discovered it took about thirty-five minutes to fly to Mandalay. It was a no brainer which option we should choose. It was wonderful to see the area from the sky and observe the gentle patchwork fields and fluffy clouds. We literally took of were given a boiled sweet and landed!
We arrived in Mandalay and found our lodgings for the next couple of nights. Next was a wander around town and a search for food. We seem to have settled in the Indian quarter as there were lots of curry related places. This bit of Myanmar history was something I hadn’t known about. A generation or two ago many Indian families moved here for work and settled and made this country their home. There subsequent generation are interested in their roots in India but are unable to visit due to cost and red tape. It is such a foreign concept to me as a westerner that someones never going to be able to visit family they have never met and places that shaped their history today. We take so much for granted.
After an good wander we came back to one of the first places we passed quite near to our lodgings. Karaweik is a street cafe that takes up two sections of pavement meeting at the corner. The chefs are outside to so you can watch your food being made. It is mostly a kind of high bred Indian food with the odd bit of Southeast Asia thrown in.
This was simply delicious! Lots of little bowls of tastiness so you could assemble your plate the way you like it. Green tea in endless amounts was provided and I was a very happy lady. The lovely owner of this place came and sat with us to ask where we were from and we asked lots about him. He kept filling up the little bowls as soon as we had emptied them. This food was very fresh and full of flavour. I know my Indian food and this was excellent! If you ever find yourself in Mandalay make sure you visit and say hi to Abdul from me.
