Day 23 Nyaung Shwe

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Breakfast at the hotel was included with our room. It was a pretty basic breakfast of eggs (or rather an egg), white toast, tea or coffee, and fruit usually a banana or two. Today was a day to investigate the local markets and the sights within Nyuang Shwe. The markets are very much local markets selling all types of produce but no meat products, so there must have been a different market for these purchases. There were some stores along the main street that sold things such as longis at fixed prices but basically everywhere things were negotiable. We booked a trip on the lake for the following day. After much debate we decided to do a longer tour. We figured it would be hot on the lake and one day was probably enough. The day after we had arranged through the same travel agent to do a half day trek in the countryside around Nyaung Shwe. The dusty streets of town are very interesting and the back streets offer a glimpse into the lives of the local people. This town is very busy dealing with the influx of tourists and many of the local businesses seem to cater specifically to this. The people like everywhere else we have been in Myanmar are extremely friendly and always have a smile and a mingalabar as we pass. There is a local puppeteer in the town. Myanmar is famous for its puppets apparently. We spent 3000 kyat to see the local puppet show Aung Mingalar. It was 3000 kyat well spent. It was an entertaining half an hour or so and the puppeteer was very skilled and had the small audience in stitches much of the time. This was one of the first real puppet shows I have seen as puppets are not very common in Australia.

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