Nadi Mandalay

... and Inle Lake. In the end I'll probably head to some beach before I leave.<br><br>-After Burma I will stay one day in Bangkok and then fly HOME and go work in Saint Petersburg for Christmas time because I'm a greedy ******* and want secure financial freedom to do anything I want in the spring as well.<br><br>Hmmm, what else? Probably a lot, but this will do for now. Too ****** off to write it all again...<br><br><br>

... and cigar making factory. Overnight in Inle lake. Day 8: Inle - Heho - Yangon (by flight) In the morning, visit Indein Village (45 mins) on the western shore of the lake to visit ancient Shweinndein Pagoda, a moundering maze of stupas. The ruined stupas were found in the bushes years ago. After lunch, transfer to Heho Airport to fly back to Yangon. Overnight in Yangon. These hight light sight were included flights, cars, boats,meals and guide fees.

... trip. After flying from Thailand to Kunmin, the capital of Yunnan Province in southwestern China, where I had met Tim, we had boarded a bus for a 20-hour overnight ride to western Yunnan, where we had planned to meet our Kachin contact. It was November 2008, and with the rainy season over, our trip stood a better chance of success. After crossing the river from China, we finally reached northern Myanmar, in the ...

... s Mazda pick up. Or it was really old and small Mazda, i don't' know about the year. We arrive and have breakfast there (at a charge because it's the next day that's included). It was simple, but after 3 years in Korea it was definitely nice to have a Western, homemade breakfast. We got to go our room right away, and while I took a nap, my comrade learned how to ride a bike. Around 11 or 12 we planned our stay in Myanmar ...

... West wall of the palace. We were headed to Ko's Kitchen that Bob had recommended. It was 1/2 down the Southward wall of the palace. We arrived at 2:25, they are closed at 2:30 for a couple of hours. The waiter recommended a Chinese place - The Golden Duck that was a few blocks back! So, we went there and tried the duck. It was pretty good, not a lot of meat and the head was on the plate too. We did not eat the head! We had planned on ...

... decoration (she placed a small amount on our hands with water), or on Buddha statues for an offering. We bought a small amount to place on a Buddha. <br><br>Our driver stopped at Muhamuni Paya on the SE edge of Mandalay. The buildings are gold and redt and was originally built by Kind Bodawpaya in 1784. The original shrine was destroyed by fire in 1884, this one was rebuilt more recently. <br><br>The main Buddha is believed to be from the 1st century AD. It is 4m high ...

My time Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo is the old name) was marked by two things. The people I met and getting sick. The first. I got sick on South Indian food. I would strongly urge everyone to avoid this place (I'll explain shortly). Going into town along the main road, travelling from the golden triangle cafe, past the clock tower, you will see signs for South Indian food ...

After arriving late on the train from Kyaukme I had a lazy morning around my guesthouse then set out to find an internet cafe to update by blog. It took a couple of hours to find somewhere with either a decent connection or did not have every site blocked. Thankfully the last place I found used a good proxy server routing out of Germany and the owner kindly installed the proxy software on my notebook. I had received and e-mail from Lio and unfortunately he would not be able to make it out ...

... were miniature plantains rather than the sweet fruit I had assumed. We pulled into Mandalay well after sunset and once again survived the gangplank. The bank seemed even higher here, and choked with touts grabbing at the luggage to secure our taxi fare. We had heard that taxis to town were relatively expensive, but took a hard line and managed to negotiate a reasonable price with a third traveller to the downtown hotel area.