ktish64

Our last full day in Mawlamyine. Today was market day. There are three large markets in Mawlamyine. One that is prmarily a wholesale market where anything and everything is sold in bulk. A second market supplies everything from buckets to hats and kids toys. The OH had lost all of his hats now including the favourite half a hat. With much optimism he set off to see if he could buy one at the markets in Mawlamyine. They may sell just about everything but there were no half hats. There were hats though that had a full flap hanging down the back. In fact they would even come in handy if on a motor bike as everything except your eyes can be covered. The last market is a fruit, vegie, flower, and jewellery market of all ... read more

We were eager to explore the town and set off down the strand road which ran along the river. It was a beautiful walk and so much to see. There are a few local jetties along the way. People were busy unloading and loading boats, trucks and vehicles of all types, including hand carts and rickshaws. The local markets are close by and they were a bustle too. The riverside area past the jetties is much quieter and is a relatively peaceful place to sit and watch life on the river. The river is full of local fishing boats and a lot of traffic comes in and leaves for the neighbouring islands. After having lunch at a restaurant called something like Grandfather and Grandmother. Apparently the profits go towards supporting the local elderly population. It has ... read more

On this visit to Yangon we had only allowed a day before we headed off to Mawlymyine in the south east. We have more time in Yangon on our return before we fly back to Bangkok. After breakfast at the hotel we packed and got ready to check out. After catching up on emails, we checked out and headed off to further explore Yangon. We had borrowed a map from the now out of date lonely planet and used a suggested route to explore the centre of town. The first stop was the Sule Pagoda. We had already had a bit of a look but this time we had a wander around the entire building. It is certainly spectacular. We didn’t bother to pay the $2 entrance so didn’t look inside. Next we wandered off to ... read more

Today was our last day in Nyaung Shwe and we spent the day re-visiting our favourite places. First stop was the markets where the OH purchased a longi for himself and a few bits and pieces he needed for a planned Burmese night when we got back home. We had a coffee at the local Indian Muslim teahouse with its array of samosas and pakoras and other delights. We stopped in at Smiling Moon to organise our morning taxi to Heyo Airport. Booking through them saved us 10,000 kyat. We had lunch at the first curry house we had visited on an arrival to Nyaung Shwe and dinner at the local restaurant where the ladies had been so kind on Christmas day. The owner has the cutest little boy who kept us entertained with his renditions ... read more

Inle Lake was our destination today. We had organised through the Smiling Moon Travel Agency to hire a boat and driver to take us around the lake. We had read of the peculiar rowing style of some of the lakes fisherman and anticipated seeing it. The boat was quite large and was a smaller version of the long tail wooden boats in Thailand. Something akin to an oversized wooden canoe. In the early morning the trip on the boat is quite cold and we were glad we had rugged up and even happier the boatman had given us a small blanket each. There was just the OH, the boatman and I until we collected one of the boatman’s young sons from his village on the main canal leading into the lake. We didn’t have to wait ... read more