Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GEORGE ORWELL IN BURMA
Eric Blair (1903-50), who would later find fame under the pen name of
George Orwell
,
arrived in Burma in November 1922 as a youthful member of the Indian Imperial Police.
Sent first to Mandalay, he also spent time in the Ayeyarwady Delta and Moulmein (now
Mawlamyine, where his mother grew up) before being posted to Katha.
Orwell'sexperiencesinBurmaconvincedhimofthewrongsofimperialismandhegained
areputationasanoutsidermoreinterestedinspendingtimewiththeBurmesethaninmore
“pukka” (appropriate) pursuits for a British officer. In this he resembled
Flory
, the protag-
onist of his first novel
Burmese Days
(1934), which was set in a thinly disguised Katha.
Orwell also wrote about Burma in his essays
A Hanging
(1931) and
Shooting an Elephant
(1936).
There's a long-standing joke that Orwell actually wrote three books about Burma, includ-
ing his denunciations of totalitarianism
Animal Farm
(1945) and
Nineteen Eighty-Four
(1949). Unlike the anti-imperialist
Burmese Days
, until recently both of the later works
were banned by the regime.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: KATHA
By train
While trains do run directly to Katha, the single daily service between Katha and
Naba (3hr) on the Mandalay-Myitkyina line is so slow that it barely counts - it's far quicker
to get a pick-up (1hr; K1000) over the same distance from the roadside just north of Katha's
market. Naba is served by three trains in each direction each day, with the last departure to
Myitkyina (3 daily; 11hr 30min) leaving at 7.55am. Train times towards Mandalay (3 daily;
12hr) are slightly friendlier, departing between 4.55-11.35pm.
By boat
Fast boats depart daily at 5.30am for Mandalay (12-14hr; $25) and 9am for Bhamo
(8hr; K12,000), with tickets for either service available shortly before departure from Katha
Irra ticket booth ( 09 4004 35212) on Strand Rd. Tickets for IWT ferries are available an
hour before departure from the IWT office ( 074 25057) on Strand Rd, a little north of the
fast ferry ticket office - look for the Myanmar flag outside. The IWT ferries themselves de-
partfromajetty600msouthoftheIWTticketoffice,justsouthofthelargeriversidepagoda.
ACCOMMODATION
Katha's accommodation is rudimentary - shared bathrooms and cold bucket showers are the
norm across the board. Single travellers stay for half-price everywhere and none of the fol-
lowing options includes breakfast.
AnnawahGuesthouse
StrandRd 07525146.
Moredarklychaotic than
Ayarwady
or
Kant
Kaw
,
Annawah
has cheap, partitioned fan-cooled rooms that range from claustrophobia-in-
