I have now completed my 2 bus journeys. I tried to film and jotted notes of sights, sounds and feelings but even these do not say it all! Seen from bus to Kalaw Mountain river caves Broken trucks Building roads by hand, ladies shake sieves of gravel over larger rocks Petrol stations Monastery, shacks, stores, café, wooden house on stilts Meiktila city town by lake or river Catholic church pink Pagoda in river, flood Shiny gold dragon like temple Oxen pulling cart, young woman driving Sheep or are they woolly goats Tuk tuk van filled seats, guys hanging on back parcels, baskets on top Goats in the road, herd spread across, bus braked & stop blasting horn Cows in motorbike tuk tuk JCB. Trucks here not decorated, all very practical Hear constantly blasting horn Yutong advert ... read more

Zfreeti Hotel So totally different to previous two - open and airy and very welcoming after the long bus ride. We were quickly checked in and told to ask for anything we needed. True to their word, all service has been brilliant from reception to housekeeping and laundry. One of the reception staff told me that the boss took them out to dinner as a celebration for their successful work. However when I offered to tip after dinner the waiter said they are not allowed to accept extra at this hotel. The hotel is only enclosed within rooms and all else, reception, pool, restaurant open to the air. Gardens surround it and shrubs in pots are by rooms and on the roof. My room is another huge room, it's simply furnished and comfortable. From the roof ... read more

Bagan King hotel Completely different to Clover in style and ambience. Staff are of course attentive, friendly and helpful but the whole place is rather posh. I am most definitely the customer. Prices are listed in USD with a poor exchange rate. For example Sprite was k1000 in Clover and k2100 here. Although I arrived before 10, staff prepared my room so I was able to bag up my t-shirts and trousers that were soaked in Yangon’s rain and by 7 this evening they were back in my room freshly laundered, at a cost of 12 USD for 5 pieces. It was useful to pay for dinner on my last night as I have not changed enough into kyat. That was $14 a good price for peppered beef and rice, banana fritters in honey and a ... read more

Ein Daw Yar I reached the temple around the back, I think it was the west entrance but I had intended to enter through the east, the direction from which I had walked. Thankfully I did it that way round because at the entrance I used, there were people collecting money for the temple with the usual donation stall and loud hailing for any passers by to give money or goods. I left from the east entrance and although it also had people making goods to donate to the monks, in this case fans, I'm not sure I would have seen all the different things made for donations. The Pagoda itself was quite spread out. In the centre was the stupa in gold, as so many are, but around it were other stupas in marble, wood ... read more

This morning I was up by 5:30 to see my first Burmese sunrise, like sunset last night it was a bit disappointing but hey, there is more to life than seeing the start and end of a day. It is now noon and I will shortly be collected for a tour of the historical area south of here. After an early breakfast I left the hotel around 7:30 heading east as I thought, huh, a block later I realized it was the other way. Lucky I checked the phone map. I also remembered to map my walk and am proud to report that I covered 3.88km in 1 hour 17 minutes taking lots of photos and rejecting possibly more rides on taxi motorbikes. This in sun and temperatures above 30C. My goal for the morning was ... read more