Sunrise Hotel Mandalay

... the high court, Mahabandola Garden. In the afternoon, visit to Bogyoke (Scott) market where a lot of food, clothing, handicrafts, and gems stores are located. Visit to the hand made glass blowing factory and explore the natural warehouse. Enjoy the sunset to Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the world's most spectacular monuments. Overnight in Yangon. Day 2: Yangon - Bagan (by flight) In the morning, fly to Bagan to discover the richest archeological site ...

... that we can see anyway). The 3 bus boys and the driver changed the wheel / fixed the puncture without removing anyone or anything from the bus AND without the use of a jack (unless there was one lying handy in the local ditch). We have survived hours of bumping along the equivalent of an Irish farm lane in a tractor with no shock-absorbers and are once again, due to the open door etc., are sweaty, dusty and generally grimey. Oh, and exhausted. <br><br>

... reserves in the gas field off the Arakan coast have attracted considerable attention following the discovery of deposits at block A-1 (Shwe field and Shwephyu field) in January 2004 and at block A-3 (Mya field) in April 2005. It has been estimated that the Shwe field holds a gas reserve of 4tcf to 6 tcf and the Shwephyu, and the Mya fields have a combined proven reserve of 5.7tcf to 10 tcf. The finds have triggered fierce competition between India, China ...

... were whisked around the island by a man with a horse (pony) and cart at a good, but bumpy pace. We thought the taxi ride today was bumpy, this was worse! <br><br>Bagaya Kyaung (teak monastery) built in 1834. Before we entered two ladies tackled Bill and were able to sell him a coke. Bill was very thrilled with this monastery. He asked the monk if we could take a picture of the class in progress and he obliged. We had heard them singing indoors while we were wandering around ...

... hold goods, toiletries,... It is like a mall. We found Eindawya Paya which has a Buddha with Naga protecting him and a large gold leaf zedi. Once again the camera is a big hit with some boys who were playing with pretend swords there. Nearby there is a couple of shops were monks can purchase the items they need. That was ...

Arriving at 4:30am (again!) I get on a motorbike to take me to my guesthouse. Once I arrive and check in, I sleep for 4hrs and then go get breakfast, on the way I am stopped by a man with a trishaw who offers to take me to the main sites for the day. I don't want to be out all day, but we organise a tour for the afternoon. When I meet up with him, he takes me to a restaurant for real Myanmar food. The food is fantastic and we ...

... of a trishaw driver. It is why they ask questions about where you are staying and your comings and goings. Outside of the Guesthouse I was staying at was a boy dressed as a monk. Cute kid, with a kind face, and pretty good English. He was fake. It was a shame that he was not in school. Not terribly common, but anyone dressed as a monk that isn't wandering from door to door is fake. In the end, he asked me for money.

... plenty of people dancing around waving their flowers in the air and it was a bit like Morrissey does punk with everyone jumping around and bouncing of each other (under the video's tab you will see what I mean). Officially it is dry festival although looking at some of the people that did not seem the case, although plenty of betel nut was being chewed and it looked like plenty of other things had been taken also. It was addictive watching everyone and I had to draw myself away to go and ...

... on Google Earth and you can't miss this immense walled square covering about 150 downtown blocks, completely surrounded by a two hundred and fifty foot wide moat and two miles of 25 foot high walls. We were surprised and disappointed to learn that the inside held little interest - historic buildings had been destroyed by fire during Japanese occupation. Forced labour in the last two decades had produced tacky reconstruction ...

... and hollered "how much?" when she was below me. To my surprise, she replies with a bunch of bananas. She must have been tired by now because they did not reach me. For the first time they fell short, half splashed in the river and the remainder bounced off the side of the ship and landed off-limits among the coiled hawsers and winches near the bow below. She demands payment. I have no bananas. She becomes quite agitated ...