Just roll with it ..............I'm trying.

So......today is the day I come across the TUBBY store, and that's how it starts.
Yes, the Tubby store, for overweight people and they say, "come in, we have clothes to fit you". There is even a Tubby brand name.

I was at the mall looking around, actually killing time until my plane. I had my book and my puter with me and was looking for a great place to sit and watch the world go by when I discovered there was a Cebu Pacific office there so I decided I might as well check in for the flight. Guess what. I had no flight. The travel agent I had used had booked several things for me that day and the others were all fine. This one had a booking number and a confirmation number and yet it was not confirmed. The flight office said there never was a flight tonight and that the confirmation number wasn't right. So I bought another ticket on the spot and I am leaving tomorrow night.

If I had known that, I would have left here 3 days ago. I was just waiting around for this flight because I had booked the Visa people and the hotel pickup to coincide with it. I got it all sorted and now just going with the flow...... sort of. Grrrrr!!!

Here's a flower. Found it at the Chinese temple, also in my neighbourhood.

The temple gate wasn't usually open when I passed so I took the chance to look within. The fence was too close to get far enough away to shoot the whole building from the courtyard.

Still at the Mall there was this model of a house. This is the main floor with a tiny bedroom each for the maid and the driver. There were three bedrooms on the second floor for the family. It was something like 40 million pesos which would be a million in US funds.

I also saw the show suite in a new condo building. It was one bedroom, no laundry and about 300 sq. feet and for 4 million pesos.

The place I am staying at is costing me $5 US per night. It just makes no sense. This place is old but in fair condition. It is in a yucky looking neighbourhood but so was the new condo, even yuckier than this street. If there weren't these types of accommodations there wouldn't be all the back packers and the added income they bring. There would also be no place for the low income locals to stay.

The new buildings I am seeing are not well designed and I have no idea who is paying the big bucks for them but it seems like the split between rich and poor is getting wider by the minuet.

So, I am here, back in the same guest house, for one more night. I plan to go to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow if it goes well.

Nov 30, Safe in Yangon.

I didn't even get my camera out today.

The bus trip took 13 hours, the first 6 of which were switchbacks on a narrow bumpy road. I measured the width of the highway with my feet and it was 11 and a half of my size 10 feet wide. That's barely room for one bus never mind passing a bus or truck. During that time we had to pass a lot of people and again that required a lot of honking.

The bus wasn't as cold this time, probably because it was an older bus and the air wasn't as powerful.

The last half of the trip was better road and we even got onto some four lane highway.

Eventually, we rolled into Yangon's dusty bus terminals where I thought I had hired a taxi but the guy went and got 3 more people to share before we could go. I guess time was money because we had the taxi ride from hell through town this morning.

Got my room early thankfully and got a few hours of sleep. Then just went out for Internet and food.

Tomorrow morning I fly back to Bangkok.

My impressions of Myanmar.
1. Not to be missed. It is beautiful.
2 The people are lovely and kind to us tourists.
3. Accommodation is cheap. I paid as low as $4.00 US per night up in Mandalay and $15.00 in Yangon. That included breakfast in both places.
4. I should have stayed longer than 10 days to fully appreciate it. A month would be better.
5. Neither the drug wars on the boarder nor the communist government had any detrimental effect on my experience.

The thing that bugged me was the driving which was completely haphazard and dangerous not to mention noisy.
Transportation within the communities was also rather expensive. I spent far more on that than food and rooms.

Nov 29, Busing back to Yangon tonight.

Today I'm packing up and leaving by bus for Yangon. I have a blanket now as I am onto these drivers who won't turn off the air conditioning.

Just walking in the town in the morning for a last look around. Well, its just another view of this monastery.

Flower of the day.

I wish I could have seen the flowers that produced these pods.

I was having lunch on the veranda of a nice place when about 80 monks went by. They were later followed by a group of women in light pink robes.

To get the bus to Yangon I have to take a taxi (the truck with the seats in the back) 15 km from Nyaun Shwe to Shew Nyaung. The bus picks up there at 3:00PM for the 13 - 15 hour ride to Yangon.

I will let you know how that goes tomorrow.

Nov 28, The lake again. My favourite thing.

I hired a long boat on my own this time so I could go to a few other places I'd heard about.

Here the boats are at the jetty. The seats are wooden and are like lawn chairs. They are removable so the boats can also be used to haul cargo. The seats are for tourists usually taking no more than 5 people. The locals pile in and sit on the cargo or the floor when they go.

This boat has so much seaweed it is barely above water in the middle.

The dugout canoes are also used for cargo. This one is full of white bags.


A view of the floating gardens where you can see plants in rows in the water. Those rows are made of seaweed and dirt from the bottom and they are floating. They are also the habitat for many water plants which the people also use but they plant vegetable crops on top. They tend and harvest the gardens all by boat. It seemed we went miles to get through it.

Side view of a row of tomatoes.

Did I mention I love these hills. Forget stupas, Lake Inle is now "Burma" to me.

I especially wanted to see this place where a local woman has set up a purebred Burmese cat breeding program to reestablish the breed again here. To do that she is bringing purebred cats in from other countries.

Here we are in the dry season enclosure. I bent over to pat one and this big one jumped on my back. They are very personable and friendly.

This is their area for night time or in the rainy season.

This is their exercise island. They are also in the process of building a mating house for them.

It is an amazing project for the cats but also painfully obvious that the cats have a much nicer home than many of the population.

However, in their defense they do contribute lots to their environment too. They have a water purification system and provide clean drinking water to their village. They are also setting up organic gardens and will be teaching that methodology to the villagers too.

Aside from all that they have a gourmet organic restaurant catering to tourists.

If you want to see it just ask the driver for the Burmese cat place.

Summer rice fields.

After the cat place I went walking in another village.

Here is a cultivator for rice fields.

A rice field close up and personal.

A farm with rice field.

I know.... stupas again! These ones are white.

The long neck people. The older one on the left is wearing about 35 pounds of metal. She started when she was 9 years old. The young ones now start with 5 rings when they are 15 or16 and add more rings every 5 years.

My boat driver is on the right.

A view in the canal on the way home.

This place is just naturally beautiful.

More life on the canal.

Nov 27, Walking around Nyaungshwe.

Flower of the day - a tree across from my guest house.

I think I am all stupa..ed out. Sometimes I walk right by without taking my camera out of my pocket. This one is well maintained and pretty. I walked past it on the way to my walk in the country.

I love it in the country where you are walking on dirt roads with the sound of children playing and women singing in the air. The mistiness that hangs around in the morning is beautiful and lends a quaint atmosphere to this horse and wagon.

An orphanage with children playing in the austere yard.

Looking down the road into a farm with a crop blooming on the right.

Oh, those misty hills.

Corn laid out in the sun.

It is so beautiful in the country, you can almost forget the dirt and noise in town.

My goal was to have a look at this small lake. There were some women bathing there. It was pretty much undeveloped and I assume the locals just use it for water.

This pig came running down the road to meet me like a dog would. Lucky he was on a chain. I did take a fancy to him too as he is kind of cute.

Humm...just can't get enough of these views.

Back in town and looking at another monastery.

Extra flowers today because there was a day in Mandalay when all I saw were plastic water lilies.

Kids swimming in the canal.

A basket stand. There are lots of nice things to buy if I had somewhere to put them.

The sun sets between 5:30 and 6:00 and I usually head back to the guesthouse before that mostly to escape the mosquitoes. A shower is always welcome to get the heat and dust of the day off.

A day tour of Inle lake. Nov 26

We were off for a day-long boat trip on the lake just after sunrise. We were in one of these long boats. I was sharing with a couple from Spain.

Along the canal that leads to the lake were various homes and buildings.

How they stand in these little canoes is beyond me. I can barely stand in the long boat without falling in.

A fisherman and tourists shooting his picture.

I loved being able to get these shots, so classic.

He is paddling with his foot on the oar. It is amazing to watch, and what balance.

There was always some mist at the base of the mountains but this morning it was so beautiful on the water.

Here is the ultimate in coordination and balance. He is standing on his left foot, using his right foot and left hand to paddle and holding a fishing rod in his right hand.

Pulling in a net.

Here they are gathering sea weed to use on the gardens.

White stupas along the canal.

A restaurant.

Hotel and restaurant.

We have stopped at a small town and are walking toward the market.


Lots of good local produce for sale. This market moves to a different town each day of the week on a schedule.

Walking over this traffic bridge toward a temple.

Some old brick stupas that are crumbling.

There was much more but my battery died. We saw the jumping cat monastery, many local craft shops which had demonstrations of their work and had lunch in a nice restaurant. Most of the good stuff is at the opposite end of the lake from the town so it was an hour trip each way.

An enjoyable day but heavily orientated to offering goods for sale to tourists. Eh! It's what they do.