Bus! Thats 10 points!

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We arrived in Yangon train station with little indication that bombs had gone off. We found another westerner who was going the same place as us and looked for a cab. The ones at the station were charging 5 times more than it should be and so we wandered further afield.

The Swiss guy was insistant that we could get one for $1.50 but it soon became obvious this wouldn't happen. We took one for $3 and were glad that we had booked ahead from Inle as we had the last free room. We sent a quick email home in case they were worried and got some much needed rest.

ahaha they were not worried at all as it had not made it to the news. I was gutted at the lack or parental panic over our near death experience (okay a bit too dramatic) as an American girl next to me was on Skype desperately trying to calm her parent down who had rung every hospital/embassy/ hotel in Yangon to check she had not been hurt. She finished the call a little confused as to her parents reaction and how they had managed to get all those phone numbers. She then went on to tell me that they had divorced 5 years ago and had not spoken to each other during that time but they had united in their effort to check she was okay. She was a bit dazed at her parents reaction and wondered off to have a beer.

Our only plans for Yangon were to see the Shwedaggon Paya, visit the markets and take part in the water festival. One of these would prove impossible and one was fulfilled almost instantly and with great success.

We had our buffet breakfast - two eggs and as much toast cake coffee and juice as you want and went to join the amassing crowd of hotel staff and guests outside on the roadside. The hotel had generously provided a huge tub of water being filled from a hose along with buckets and hoses for everyone to join in the fun of splashing locals in cars buses or even just walking (running really) around town.

We had received a dousing earlier today when getting our bearings and so exacted some revenge by dunking buckets of water indiscriminately into any open vehicle. Pickups were driving round with locals stood in the back who were dancing around going from one water tank to the next to get soaked.

The atmosphere was great and the kids and adults seemed to enjoy it equally. Even the protests were replaced with smiles once the victim was already wet. There was also people going round with black and brown face paint smearing it on men. Emma soon started her own war with some of the kids who took great pleasure in ganging up on her. I think I had target written on my head that day.

It was really good fun and by the afternoon we had all decided that certain vehicles were worth more points (we are the computer game generation after all). So slow walking pedestrians were not worth much, people in trishaws were not either (unless they were dry) and so on. The best thing to get was a bucket full of water through the window of a public bus (even better when the people were obviously trying to close the windows very quickly after spying the mob with buckets and evil grins). On spotting a bus everyone would scream 'busss!!', run to the trough to fill up and then take aim. It was quite difficult considering the bus pelted it down the road (full of kids playing) at about 40mph. Not exactly safe. Andy was a really good shot (and vicious with it) along with a guy called Bram (who we would keep bumping into over the next few months) but I reckon that it was just because he was at window height.

The only blemish was when an overenthusiastic thrown bucket hit a bus window an shattered the glass. A passenger received a few scratches and the guy paid for the window and a bit more to the injured woman to smooth things over.

We returned to our room thouroughly knackered and washed out our clothes - the water wasn't the cleanest. I managed to drop Emmas swim shorts out of the window into an alley. We got them back by the end but she was not best pleased about this.

Yeh only after watching Andy carelessly balance them on the windy window ledge and saying 'make sure you attach them to something' a million times.

We ate at the guesthouse that night still not wanting to venture too far into town after we heard an Americans family had called round all the hospitals to check she hadn't been hurt. Our parents still hadn't replied to our email. They don't love us.

The next day we planned to stock up on cheap booze before leaving in a few days. We tried to find the mini mart from our first time in Yangon but just succeeded in getting more and more lost. We were constantly being drenched and in a neighbourhood where lots of the houses had barbed wire and armed guards. Unsure what to do we stopped and asked someone official looking in a car that had pulled up next to us.

It turns out this was no coincidence and the policeman had pulled up to question why we were in a restricted area. After some questioning we convinced him we were lost tourists - not hard considering we were - and he offered to drop us back near the main bit an the shop we wanted. Result.

Me being dense, I didnt realise that it was a police van and though he was a taxi driver until Andy pointed out the other guy in a uniform and all the guns in the front. It made my day. we had officially been picked up by the police for being in a restricted area. I felt like an SAS spy or an undercover reporter except that I was not exactly cool about it and got giddy with excitement.

It was all to no avail as the place was shut anyway but we grabbed some noodles and on our walk back (no detours this time) Booo we found a place selling cheap rum and vodka. We got some for that night and sat out exchanging travel stories with a Dutch guy who would feature in our future and an Alaskan salmon fisherman who also studied physics.

The next day we had our breakfast and milled around aimlessly till we motivated ourselves to going to the shwedaggon paya. This was the main attraction in Yangon and consisted of a huge golden dome (real gold for the most part) topped with diamonds and gems with more carats than bugs bunny.

It was certainly impressive but the hordes of tourists and people quoting your guidebook then wanting $5 for it were annoying. Some were friendly and showed us some good spots to view it from but in the large we came we saw and we got out of there before sunset as it wouldn't match up to the Bagan ones.

It was our last night in Burma and before getting to sleep to catch the early free shuttle bus our accomodation offered we wanted to eat somewhere other than our hotel. We looked around for a good curry house but ended up stopping for a few draft beers and eating just round the corner. I had spicy chicken and emma had veg noodles. The cheaper beer, cheap food and friendly locals were all good and summed up our time in Burma. Emma learning to make new noises to attract dogs was funny as I just couldn't do it and we both agreed that the old cliche of "the people were so nice" had really made our trip.

Normally we grimace when people gush (and they do always gush) that 'it was the people who made the trip...they were so friendly'. However the lack of tourism in Burma ment that while everyone was still trying to sell you something, there was not the same cynicism there is in Thailand or Vietnam.

We made it to the airport the next morning and were on our way back to Bangkok unsure of our plans but pretty sure we should be meeting one of my friends there and making the most of western comforts again.

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