Breakfast was toast and fruit. There were a number of Asian dishes also available but all noodles and meat related.
Following breakfast we got into a coach with our luggage and firstly went for a walk around the colonial part of Yangon down Pansodan Street. We got to see someone preparing beetle nuts in leaves. At the end of the walk we stopped at the Strand hotel which was very lush. Then we went to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda. This was amazing - a gold stupa pagoda with a number of other Buddhas, shrines, etc. around it. The guide told us about the tradition in that Buddhism here had an element of astrology thrown in and the day you are born on is significant. Around the pagoda were corners dedicated to each day and folk try to get to this pagoda at least once in their life to 'water' the day they were born on. Each day has an animal associated with it. For me Tuesday it is a lion. There are eight days as Wednesday is divided into two, morning and afternoon. Finally we visited the second largest reclining Buddha in Myanmar. This again was interesting with symbols on the feet? We had a stop for lunch in a traditional Burmese restaurant. I didn't enjoy the food so much.
We left Yangon in the afternoon by propeller plane to travel to He ho airport. Whilst everything is very basic and manual it seemed to be very efficient. It is so nice to have our cases carried for us :-)
Arriving in He ho we got on a bus and travelled for around 45 mins to our next hotel the Lupin Hotel. We stopped briefly at the train station to enable our guide to get train tickets in a couple of days time. We will be travelling upper class which means we get a cushion ! He told us that apparently the military are using the train at the moment so he wasn't sure if we will be able to get on as planned.....we'll see in a couple of days !
Our hotel is lovely with a big room on a corner and has more of a country feel to it than the town one in Yangon. We were treated with a drink and hand wipe. I forgot to mention that when we visited the pagoda and the Buddha yesterday we were given wipes to clean our feet. Additionally because some of use were wearing shorts we were fitted with a Longyi ( a long skirt). They were pretty cool so I think I will buy one. Oh and I bought a hat to wear. It cost me £1.75.....
Wifi is not so good at the hotel so we have to go to reception to get it.
Our guide took us for a short walk in the town to show us where three good restaurants were. We returned to one of them later on with a few others for another traditional meal. Well - wow - we had so many complimentary dishes. I ordered a chicken and potato curry with rice, that with two drinks of lime and soda cost me 5000 Kyats - approx. £2.50. On top of the food we ordered we got, popcorn, soya beans roasted, pickled chillies ( boy they were hot!), a soup and fruit ( Papya and mandarin) as complimentary. We were stuffed !
Off to sleep now to be ready for another busy day tomorrow :-)
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