Myanmaaaaar

Well they let me into the country! I was half expecting some sort of "idiot warning" to come up on their screen as they scanned my passport and for them to kick me out again.

I changed over my US dollars at the airport... At a slightly reduced rate because the notes had become slightly folded in my luggage.



I'm almost a millionaire.

My taxi driver was a Catholic man called Mike, who was very helpful and called guesthouses for me while we were driving in, so that we wouldn't have to go searching for somewhere with room. Things have changed since Nikki was here - the same hotel that she paid $15 a night for a year ago now wants $27 for a single room with shared bathroom.

I ended up at Garden Guesthouse ($10 single room with bathroom) which was recommended to me by the Pakistani couple I met in KL. It's literally right next to the 2000yr old Sule Paya which is where the British centred their gridded street system.



Carrying my pack up the 8 flights of steps to my room was good training for my trek.

I went for a walk to find lunch and ended up in a packed local restaurant. I had "pork dumpling" and a fresh papaya juice for $1. No one spoke English and they were very bemused at me being there.

The girl gestured for me to put sauce on it. I thought she was trying to kill me because it was the colour of the really hot sauce Maie likes to put on food. I decided to embrace death and try it anyway. Was very tasty actually (and not very hot).



I walked 45min to the Shwedagon Paya, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites (now with wifi). On the way I found a bunch of gorgeous old decaying teak colonial mansions and added them to my "if I was a multi-millionaire..." fantasy list. This always happens whenever I come across old colonial architecture.








You can't see them that well through the trees but trust me they were huge and amazing. Alllll the plantation shutters! <3








It was a really peaceful place to hang out for the afternoon. Plus it cost almost as much as my room for the night to enter the place so I figured I'd get my money's worth.

Sitting at the pagoda I got a lot of stares. They kind of looked grumpy but I found if I smiled at them though, they'd send a big smile right back. So that became my hobby for the afternoon. I also guest starred in family portraits and gave conversational English classes to Burmese teenagers who had the guts to gradually move closer to me and then strike up a conversation.



Here's the old British train station:



Here's the Bogyoke market (over 2000 stalls.. Whaaaaaat!!?):



Here's a tonne of photos of old colonial architecture (god I love turquoise):











They chew betelnut here like they do in India. It's a bit like chewing tobacco in its requirement to spit. All the roads and pavement are coloured terracotta red from it. So yuck.

A noticeable difference from KL is the sleazy guys on the street there greet you with "hello you are sexy" whereas they say "hello beautiful". A welcome change. Seems a bit less harassment-y.

It's sweltering hot most of the day here. Very 'Biloela Summer'. I wore jeans. They're getting packed away now until Nepal. Time to invest in some baggy ass hippie pants.


Ohhhhh yeah.

Off on an overnight bus to Kalaw tonight (should be a fantastic sleeping experience) and then will organise a 3 day trek to Inle lake.

Xx