After a short bus ride of about 2 hours we reached the outskirts of Inle Lake, transferred to a taxi with another couple and headed into town. On the way there we have to stop to pay another tourist tax or Eco tax. Every region seems to have a tax for foreigners. Bagan was $25, here is $13.50. I feel that at every turn in Myanmar there is a grab for money.  I know in other Asian countries foreigners have to pay more than locals but at times I feel that here in Myanmar they are taking the piss.

The hotels are expensive in comparison to other Asian countries and the standards are not that high. The food is not  cheap but can be quite tasty at times and you notice the difference as you move through the country. The last two days I stayed in Kalaw in the mountains and the Nepalese food there was great but the hotel was shit and so was the service and did I tell you that it was expensive.

When I got off the bus at Kalaw I felt that it was a mistake, maybe that was partly due to the weather but it just didn’t feel welcoming, instead it felt like it was saying ” Give me your money”

The only good thing was that the hotel was about a 5 minute walk from the bus stop.  The hotel as I said before was expensive and the customer service was non existent. The room had not been used for some time and it just felt miserable. Breakfast the next morning was pathetic, it was tasteless in every way.  The only reason I stopped at Kalaw was to do trekking but the weather was so wet that I was unable to do that, so instead I killed time by reading and watching a movie or two.  A bit disappointed that I couldn’t do the trekking and I don’t think I’ll be back here to try again.

I’ve finished my lunch but I’ve decided to sit for a while because the rain is still pissing down.  Catch up on my blog, read the news and just sip tea. It’s also interesting to just people watch and at the moment at the table beside me there are two Americans that are killing the English language and breaking it down to such things as ” so, like awesome, cell phone  “and so many other fucking annoying utterances. Their accents are particularly irritating but I’ve decided to stay because sometimes you just have to study these creatures in the wild and these two specimens are prime examples of what it means to be American. I’m not too sure how long I’ll be able to sit here and listen to them as they have a similar affect on me as chalk screeching down a black board. 

I bet they voted for Trump, they look like a Trump stereotype. But I don’t want to talk to them or engage with them in any way. Oh and why to they have to stretch out their words A one syllable word seems to end up the length of “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

It’s been raining since yesterday, I even woke up in the middle of the night listening to the rain batter down.  It’s such a change from the first day when I arrived in Bagan where the dust and the heat was the problem. The dust was everywhere and there were small hillocks of sand all along the sides of the road but since the rain started yesterday they have been slowly eroded away and spread about to the point where it looks like a quagmire.

But the rains freshen the place up and takes the dust out of the air and allows you to breathe once more without getting a nose full of shit. However the drivers are not as courteous when it comes to puddle etiquette, they will just go through and don’t seem to care if you are in the splash zone.  I have been splashed twice so far as I’ve been minding my own business. Possibly Karma at play, because  this does remind me of the time when I was driving the bus along Renfrew Road many moons ago and I soaked an innocent pedestrian. There was a huge puddle and we were doing about 40 mph and I just could not avoid it and this poor lassie got completely drookit. The wave of water I sent up in the air was like a tsunami and she had no where to go.  Then again this was something I had always wanted to do but I wish I could have picked my victim. I felt very guilty but I was also laughing on the inside too. 

The trip from Bagan to Kalaw took about 7 hours and it rained all the way.  The roads are in a terrible state of repair and I had to laugh because we went through about 4 toll booths along the way.  You have to pay for the privilege to use these crap roads. 

The small mini bus was full and so they put all the luggage on the roof which made it very top heavy. At times you could feel it wobble and walk round the corner because they came into the corner way too fast. There was a smell of rubber because the rear tyres were getting buffed away because we were over loaded.  It’s not a very comfortable or interesting trip but it is the only way to get here.

We made it in one piece and my hotel was only a short walk from where the bus stopped.  The hotels in Kalaw are very expensive and to be honest I was a bit disappointed when I saw mine considering it cost $40 a night which by my standards is expensive. But no choice or I would have spent the night out in the rain.

I did however find some good food to warm me up. ..

Since the wee hours of this morn Bagan has been awake.  Bus loads of folk are coming into town for a local festival at one of the temples. 
The pickup trucks and any kind of people carriers are full. Every so often there is one thumping out music at full volume. They’re singing, dancing if they can and all this combined with the usual sounds of the motorbikes, horns and the like.  
It’s a wee place but by god it’s noisy. Tomorrow I’m moving on to Kalaw and then work my way south. I’m hoping that it might be a little kinder to the ears. 

Tis a wet old day in Bagan and I wanted to eat some good old fashioned western food and so I went for Pizza, freshly made at the wood fired pizza restaurant and it was so good I ate it in one sitting. 

I was considering a doggy bag so that I could have some later but alas I succumbed to temptation and scoffed the lot. 

It’ll soon be the year of the Dog,

And I’ll hopefully emerge from this fog,

To decide what to do for the coming year,

Maybe I’ll just travel and drink more beer,

But hey I’m doing that now so never fear,

But what if reality gets checked and then I’ll rebel,

But it’a OK as long as I stay away from the rat race hell,

Then life will be good and I hope it is for you,

So Happy New Year and the let party ensue,

I got my trusty E-bike today and went around looking at a few of the many temples of Bagan. There are hundreds,  maybe thousands of all shapes and sizes.  I didn’t leave until 11am so there were many people already on the move and the tour buses were pouring in and so many temples were bulging at the seams.  I must admit I prefer the old ones that are no longer used on a regular basis because they seem to have more character and less people as well. 

There are too many to name so all I’ll say is that the first one was very big and shiny. The second one I went to was a little bit worse for wear but you know I like this kind of structure.  They’re all over the place so you can’t really visit every one that you see and they are much the same, but sometimes when you see them all together they look stunning.

When you arrive someone will approach you and ask “Where are you from? ” It’s hard to get rid of them at times because they want to try and sell you something and you don’t want to be rude but after the umpteenth time it’s difficult. 

I climbed this temple up to the bottom of the dome and it have you a great view across the plain.

It was very hot today but I went out well covered up. Hat and helmet, long sleeves, long trousers, scarf and gloves and you know even although it was around 30c or so it was very pleasant. Being on the bike and wandering about only for a short time I never really got the chance to break into a sweat.

That’s right the big Jessie one!!!!!!!

Up before dawn,  up even before the dawn prayers from the Mosque nearby the hotel so that I could get the slow boat to Bagan. 10 hours down the sand bar infested waters of the Irrawaddy. The time went quickly but I was surprised at how cold it felt throughout the journey. 

This was the scene when we arrived, it was bath night. 

Day 2 in Mandalay and I woke up feeling a whole lot better. I went for breakfast and loaded up on toast and banana to get my stomach back into a better state. I thought I’d load up on white food and fruit to get the body back into balance. Yesterday I had virtually no energy, when I was walking back to the hotel in the afternoon I was almost dragging my feet but today I went out on the bike and almost cycled to the top of Mandalay Hill although I was beaten by the tight bends and to be honest the bike was not really that good. Now I know that you think that is an excuse but if I had been on my own bike I would have had enough gears to use to get me up the hill no problem, plus the fact this bike is too small. It’s seems a common theme here in Asia, the bikes are just that wee bit too small.

I stumbled across this small pagoda, which was more like a grotto, at the bottom of the hill and it seemed to be deserted which is just the way I like them. I walked round to the side of the building and there was an old guy there that ushered me to come into the building but only after I removed my shoes, but I could keep my socks on which I thought was cool. This small white building didn’t look like much from the outside but inside it was absolutely amazing. The decoration all over the columns and ceilings were great. Basically it was white but with the gold reliefs standing out making it look really beautiful.

The reclining Buddha was the highlight and the focus of this space and it was very tastefully done along with the music playing it was a place where you could lose yourself for hours and be at one with the universe. It was great that I was the only person here too. Most of the tourists pass right by it and head up to the Pagoda on the hill, I too was heading that way but when I reached the summit I decided to give it a miss. Too many people and I don’t think it would have been anywhere as impressive as the intimate space I had just visited about 30 minutes before.

I came across this place which holds many tablets with inscriptions of the teachings of Buddha.

On the way back I stopped at a western style place near the city moat and had tuna sandwiches and coffee, I’m still not feeling confident enough to eat the local food again and tonight it will be more fruit and bread me thinks. Last night I walked quite a few blocks and I came across about 3 places that looked safe to eat in. I normally eat food from the roadside stalls and have done this in many countries and I did in Rangoon but here in Mandalay they just don’t look clean.

Tomorrow it’s up bright and early so that I can catch the boat to Bagan…………………….