Silver Star Hotel Mandalay

... Immigration and security.<br><br>All in all the flight was pretty uneventful. We caught a share taxi into Mandalay and managed to get lost just trying to find the guesthouse we wanted to stay in. We were just lucky enough to have a local who had returned from some work in the UAE in the cab with us who helped with a bit of translation and directions.<br><br>The place we stayed in Mandalay for two nights was ...

... on for the journey to Bagan, an area home to 3,000+ ancient temples. Our seat numbers are swapped from the rear of the old vehicle to the front row. I have never seen a bus so weighed down with bags of, presumably, crops. The roof, the luggage compartments underneath, the back of the bus (our seats?) and the entire aisle are filled with white sacks, piled high. Unfortunately the seats are basic - very upright with no reclining option, no head ...

... big smile. that was interesting.... The rest of the evening was filled with toss and turns in a seat whose width was smaller than my shoulder width, sandwiched between my Chinese friend (who isn't as as small as you think) and a larger middle-aged woman who purposely sat next to me, leaning on my armrest as an excuse to touch me. Yep. And who could forget the redone pop singles, and the Burmese movie, all showed at deafening decibels. All in all ...

... in grade school, another was "I love you" and a third was Mingala-bar" (greeting meaning it's a blessing). I was completely thrilled! They were 3 to 5 years old and the most beautiful children that you have EVER seen. I am so disappointed that I did not have my camera with me, but I think their faces will stay with me forever. Heidi - you are right, <br>these children are priceless! That is one of the best things that has happened on this trip so far! <br><br>In ...

... Qu Pagoda, it have a replicate of the gold rock, quite strange. Then it was on the Sagaing crossing the Ava bridge built by the Chinese. There was a great view of all the payas on the hill. We went to a Paya at the top the view was great. Then back to town and to Mandalay Hill. The taxi drove us up to the half way mark, then we were going to take the ...

... because my currency didn't pass government regulations. Then to Mandalay Hill. I had romantic notions of climbing the hill to see the sunset. Mandalay Hill has a lot of steps, over 1700 to be precise. I got to about 1200 and lost the will to live but the pagodas and shrines on the way up are interesting but my advice is to give the hill a miss if you are short of time. If you are fit, under 25 and American you can run it in 20 minutes.

Today I am preparing for the longest bus ride in Myanmar. 16hrs to Yangon. The preparation consists of getting up as late as possible and doing as little as possible before the journey starts. Breakfast, Internet, lunch and then hanging around my guest house until the bus turns ups is the idea. It works out rather well and I am crammed into a tiny seat for rest of the day. One of the problems with these bus rides is that they do ...

... Not itiching for a brawl, I just appreciate the realities of the situation to ease my mind. As the train is pulling into a station, a local begins talking with us. Fairly good English. At first we think that he is a passenger. It pans out that he is a trishaw driver. Obviously used his connections to get on board and solicit our business. Smart too, because we used him to get to our hotel. We even agreed to ...

... Although not everyone still believes in Nat's there is a large proportion of the population that still worship them loyally. In Burmese culture there are 37 Nat's with one chief Nat. Taungbyon Nat Festival celebrates two brothers who were killed by King Anawrahta for not contributing towards the building the Taungbyon Pagoda in the mid eleventh century. Each male was ordered to contribute one brick and one handful of sand towards the building of the pagoda but the brothers didn't and ...

... centuries. We reached it by a small ferry and then hired a horse cart, the only way to see the scattered sites. Time was getting tight, so we negotiated a reduced fare to skip most of the routine payas to concentrate on a 200 year old teak monastery named Bagaya Kyaung. There's a special feel to these old wooden structures, still in use, built on massive posts. During our visit we were fortunate to see how palm fronds are ...