Taungoo (1-2 Jul 12)

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Another location I couldn't find in the website's database! This time I was in Taungoo in Central Myanmar, just slightly under halfway between Yangon and Mandalay. I'd decided to stop here to break up the nightmarish 12h+ direct ride, but I ended up staying just a little longer than I'd originally planned.

I'd arrived mid-afternoon, and was hoping to catch an early bus to Mandalay the next morning, so that I could arrive sometime in the afternoon. However it turned out the buses only left in the evenings, arriving in Mandalay at an unearthly hour.

I was initially somewhat annoyed by this as it put paid to some original plans I had. But I have to say the helpfulness of the manager of Myanmar Beauty Guest House where I stayed really put things into perspective. He gave me several free rides from the guest house to the main bus route and station, even in the early morning as I sought to flag down a bus en route to no avail. I really appreciated the hospitality, and decided to buy some drinks and tidbits for him and the housekeeping crew. It was just some raisin bread, a swiss roll and a bottled drink, but when I saw one of the housekeeping girls gleefully clutching the raisin bread afterwards, it sure felt right.

LP actually described Taungoo as a sleepy town with one of the more memorable guest houses in Myanmar, referring to Myanmar Beauty annexes II, III and IV. And of course I'd inadvertently gone to the "wrong" one (annex I), a non-descript sparsely-furnished two-storey block in between crumbling buildings, as opposed to the "teak houses with poster beds and wide open views of the surrounding rice paddies". But thanks to the Burmese hospitality that I've been seeing a lot of on this trip, it was certainly still very memorable.

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Photos

Dim Sum in Taungoo
Always too much food in Myanmar!

Shwesandaw Pagoda
Where I took refuge for about 20min during a sudden downpour!

Am I glad I can read Chinese!
Well sorta anyway! Thanks to Mr Lee, the traditional script still requires some guesswork. The irony is I ordered a dish whose character I couldn't actually read! For those who can, it was number 4 under chao3 fan4 on the bottom right blue section. What does it say?

All's Well That Ends Well
The dish turned out to be the one I kinda had in mind! I'd eaten this earlier on my way back to Yangon from Pathein, and I ordered it by just pointing to what someone else was having. It's similar to mui fan in Singapore. Extremely accessible to the Chinese palate. Just so satisfying when the meal order turns out well!