Long Day on the Bus

---

Today can only be described as "a long day on the bus." Our day began at 5:30 am, well for some that is. We did not get a wake up call, so I slept til 5:50. It would have been OK except for the fact we had to have our suitcases out the door by 6 AM. So I was in a bit of a bind to comply and still make sure I was fully packed. Unfortunately I failed in my quest. In my rush to get ready, I forgot underware, so today I went commando! I know TMI



Our sole goal today was to travel, and travel we did. We had to drive 285 miles which would have taken 6 hours had we been allowed to drive straight through. The bus driver is allowed only 2 hours without a stop, so we stopped every two hours, taking a full 10 hours to complete the trip.



I went to sleep on the bus as there is really not much to see except poor little villages and verdant forest. There were no big cities, scenic rivers or interesting architecture so I did not miss much. Our first stop was for coffee at a really cool coffee shop.



Apparently other tour groups were making the same journey, for I noticed a series of busses at the same stops we were making throughout the day, and tonight at dinner, I recognized one of the other travelers I saw at this first stop. So I guess this was the same plan for all the tours.



We enjoyed coffee and shopping. This little shop had some of the coolest handcrafted windchimes. there were a hand painted ceramic cup like bell with a hand painted design N the outside. When the clack hit the ceramic it made a very pleasant ring. I bought one for the porch.



there was also a plethora of snacks, so I bought some pretzels and my first magnum ice cream bar of the day. Barb, you remember her of the monk story, had another interesting idea for travelers, disposable bathing suits! The idea was if you swim in the evening there is no way your bathing suit will be dry overnight and putting a moist suit in your bag can only lead it issues, so the solution is a cheap disposable model...well good luck Barb getting that to market!



Our next stop was a bit peculiar, in that we went to a sleeping Buddha Temple that had a really weird representation of the Buddah. He looked gay! Tan told us in fact this is the Buddah in the Burmese style. Odd, but here is why. It seems that the most powerful kings of Burma were gay or as Tan tells us, "ladyboys." It seems that the last eight Kings of Burma were gay and proud of it. They were well loved by the people and open about their preferences, but they still had to marry and produce a male heir. The solved the problem by marrying a beautiful young maiden, and having her sleep with someone chosen by the King to do the deed, that is until she became pregnant. If the baby was a girl, try again. If a male heir, the standin is executed. It's good to be the king.



Our third stop was the best. Here we stopped at an ancient temple, mostly in ruins. It was build in 1240 and made of volcanic stone from a land that has no volcanos. Where did the stone come from? "It was mined", came the answer from the ever helpful Tan. It seems there may be no volcanos but there are lava tubes. These were underground and the builders used this tough stone to build their temple. It was covered with a white stone veneer and withstood the test of time. The veneer is gone and much of the temple is in disrepair, but you gather a sense of its magnificence in your minds eye. That was well worth the stop.



Finally, around 5 we left the damnable bus and arrived at our hotel. The hotel is located off the beaten path, well way off actually. It is owned by the same business men that own Bangkok Airways. They own it as an investment, which means the they put no money into it.



On first glance it is beautiful. The lobby is teak, spacious open and inviting. There is a bar, lounge, open air sitting areas, water displays and mosquitos and geckos everywhere. they even give you free mosquito repellant when you check in. How thoughtful!



The rooms are nice. Smaller that we have seen so far, we'll appointed but a little dated. Our bathroom was OK at best. The shower is large, the tiles are a little old and cracked and, one of out crew had to call maintainable when the shower head leaked all over during the course of her husband's shower.



Interestingly, on TV channel 1, they have an advertisement for the hotel, featuring large spacious open air rooms replete with jacuzzi, porch and large comfy beds. We did not get any of these rooms for sure. But, hay, the room is clean, we have a porch and the heated pool is right out the back door. We are only here two nights, so we will survive.



We did a little local ceremony before dinner. Our Hotel had prepared small offerings of banana leaf boats, filled with flowers, a candle and three incense sticks. We each took one and went down to the pond build for the ritual. We were told to silently, or vocally offer a prayer to the water gods, light the candle and set our boat free. the boat would float away, taking your pain and bringing you WHT you wished for, if the gods were in the mood. It was fun and all participated.



Dinner was a little off, let me explain. We are 14 Americans, used to eating. We obviously eat more than the locals, so when the servers brought out five or so plates of food for us to share, there was an immediate dirth of supply. They also ran out of shrimp. The amount of meat, chicken or pork, in the remaining serving dishes was not all that much either. Soon the plates were empty and we were still hungry. Tan to the rescue. He somehow called World Spree, who called the hotel, who called the restaurant, who brought out more food. Problem solved. Tan apologized for the issue and we thanked him for his prompt response.



Dinner over, we all retired for another much needed rest. Until tomorrow.....Good night.

---