Yesterday was epic.
It was Saioa's last day here in Chaung Tha before she had to head back to Yangon for her flight to Bali, so we were determined to have an amazing time.
The day started out fairly slowly. We took a moto down the road to the main beach for a swim. It's not as nice as the deserted beach just a couple of minutes from our bungalow but we had to check it out all the same. We managed to meet these three really giggly and funny Burmese women who were around our age and there on company holiday from Mandalay. They shortened their names to cute little nicknames for us so that we could remember/pronounce them: Zuzu, Tenten and Ayay. They were floating around in tube rings because they couldn't swim, despite the water being about thigh deep. They practised their English with us (they were very good) and asked about our lives etc. Tenten in particular really cracked me up because every now and then she'd announce how happy she was and start giggling in a really high pitch whilst jumping up in down in the water. All the Burmese people swim in full clothing, which made Saioa and I stand out quite a bit in our bikinis. Zuzu stayed around longer than the others for some swimming lessons, which were somewhat inhibited by the fact she was wearing jeans. She was so afraid of getting out of the tube ring, telling us she'd sink, despite the water being really shallow. We persevered for a while and she was very thankful.
We ate fresh whole fish and prawns on skewers on the beach for lunch and washed it down with some fresh coconut.
Saioa is a horse riding enthusiast so when we found out we could ride horses along the northern beaches there was no question as to whether or not we'd do it. They brought us our horses at 4pm... I'd specially requested the pony I'd seen earlier at the beach that they had (for some awesome reason) decided to paint like a zebra. I think it was generally meant for children because the stirrups they had on it were basically big enough to fit my big toe only, so that made for a bit of an uncomfortable/unstable ride. Usually the guides lead the horses but Saioa preferred to just ride by ourselves, so the two horse riding lessons as an 11-year-old stood me in good stead. Thanks Mum and Dad.
I was pretty certain I'd fall off at least once, I just hoped my landing would be cushioned by sand and devoid of big rocks. We rode down three beaches and then back while the sun set. Naturally they gave us two horses that hated each other, so zebra pony (I named her Sasha) was pretty well behaved as long as I kept her away from Saioa's horse. At one point Sasha and I were on a small rocky path around a headland and she started yelling in horse language. At the time I was very much hoping she was saying "I LOVE MY LIFE AS A ZEBRA PONY!!!" rather than "I'M GOING TO THROW THIS WHITE GIRL ONTO THOSE JAGGED ROCKS DOWN THERE!!!". Must have been the former.
We got along really well once I gave up any idea of steering her. At one point I tried to steer her between two big rocks. Just to assert her independence, Sasha decided to walk OVER the rocks. Twice. Alright, cool.
The whole ride was so beautiful and fun and now I can check zebra riding off my bucket list. Win.
("Onwards Sasha!")
Afterwards, we met up with a couple of guys staying in the same bungalow complex and went for dinner and beers to celebrate Saioa's last night.
Well, it was probably one of the crazier nights of my life. We bought a bunch of fireworks from children on the beach and then went back to our better and more exclusive beach with some beers, built a campfire, set off all the fireworks and went skinny dipping. Pretty standard night really. Haha.
(Feeling bad-ass with our giant fireworks)
I think we ended up getting in at around 3am and got up at a normal hour due to Saioa's leaving on a bus, so I'm just a wee bit tired. The others felt a bit worse for wear also.
(The guys at breakfast)
Everyone's left now. Sadface. It's alright, I still have my bungalow, the beach and my book. 5 days til Nepal!!
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