A Stop Called 115

It's not very uncommon for us to name famous junctions and notable areas according to their respective milestones from a center point. Everybody from Yangon, for instance, is used to name Mayangone's Junction 8 area, Insein's 10th Mile bus station, 7th Mile near Yangon University's Hlaing Campus. And if you leave Yangon too, there's Pyin-Oo-Lwin's 21st Mile camp, Mu-Sae's 105th Mile Trade Zone, etc., all naming after their signs of distance.

One of the newest of such nomenclature is nearest to my native, on a special high way linking Yangon and Mandalay through Naypyitaw, not the old Yangon-Mandalay main road. That's 115th Mile Station. The place is also the first multipurpose station for those hi-way expresses leaving Yangon towards north. In other words, it's the first stop for all the travelers, to get refreshments, to eat, to relax from hours of driving.

There're a gas station, a wide car park and several famous restaurants and teashops. Feel, Shwe Khayar Gyi, Pioneer, Famous are some brands you can trust for your complete breakfast, lunch or dinner, and even supper. Standardized service areas are impressive and there's a voice from loud speaker requesting travelers not to spit from betel chewing and throw rubbish at the area. Perhaps that's the only place I've ever heard of announcing like this in public; maybe they should do that in our economic capital as well, for the sake of clean and hygienic environment.

In fact, no one can travel long hours and it's a good idea to settle a while at roadside stations along the high way. The 115th Mile station is located at the 115th milestone (from Yangon), some 2 miles to the west of Phyu township, Bago Region. It's also the halfway mark between Yangon and Naypyitaw. One pleasant scene is its facades facing misty Bago Yoma, one of the longest ranges in Myanmar. There's a dim view of an electric power dam project to the north-west of the station. While refreshing, you can tune in Shwe FM music programs from your mobile's earpieces. However, you can't expect to stay overnight there as there, much as I know, isn't any hotel or inn around there.

And for your next visit to Mandalay, if it's also sunny at this station, you can shoot a photo there too. I'm sure you'll really look photogenic as, most of all, it's also a good place to photograph with high mountainous scene in the background. Look what I've just done with some Myanmar writers recently at the 115th Mile Station's car park!