January 15 - Yangon

I have no idea what the temperature was today but it was too hot and humid for me for sure.  We visited two pagodas this morning but unfortunately they were in the wrong order in my opinion.  The first one was amazing and almost beyond description.  My photos weren't great but I will have to let them speak for themselves.  Suffice it to say that it is almost impossible for me to imagine someone even conceiving of such structures let alone building them that long ago.  It is equally impossible to imagine the worth of them at today's prices.    The second one definitely paled badly by comparison and was also more crowded.  As a result I didn't take too many photos there.

On the way back to the hotel we drove through part of the downtown area.  Nothing particularly impressive there as the buildings are old and dilapidated looking.  A fresh coat of paint would improve things considerably.  The streets are lined with street vendors selling everything imaginable though we were too far away and moving too quickly to really afford a look at any of their wares.

I noticed a definite lack of the motor scooters and motorcycles that I expected to see.  It was only later i learned that they are not allowed in Yangon.  Mandalay more than compensates in that regard.  I would be nervous wreck in minutes were I forced to drive here - just riding in the bus was bad enough.  Trucks and buses crammed with people, including some hanging off of the back were everywhere and the scooters, motorcycles and bicycles just zip in and around them constantly.  The bus driver was using the horn every few seconds.

By the time we got checked into the hotel I was ready for some alone and quiet time.  Everything, people included, is so noisy here.  From the loudspeakers blaring chanting at the pagoda to the roar of the people in the airport the constant hubbub was almost more than my ears and head could tolerate.

Except for the heat in the plane the flight from Yangon to Heho and then to Mandalay was ok.  I was a little concerned when I saw that my seat was 10B because I thought that indicated a middle seat but much to my delight there were only two seats abreast on that side of the aircraft.  Mandalay's new airport is quite pleasant and heads and shoulders above that in Yangon.

No food to report on today as my total consumption consisted of two Nutri-grain bars, two tuna croissants and a small Danish.  I was too tired and too hot to even think about eating when we arrived here.  I believe the restaurant opens early for breakfast so I may take advantage of that.  Once again we don't start touring until 8:30 so I should have plenty of time.

This hotel (Mandalay City Hotel) is nice enough other than for the lack of an elevator and no apparent air conditioning in this room. We are here for three nights so I guess I will take advantage of that to have some laundry done.  If there was  a chest of drawers I would empty my suitcase and try find things that i haven't located to this point. I did manage to find the memory cards and adaptor and that was a relief.  They were buried at the bottom of my back pack where I thought I had looked several times.  Now I have to find the bug spray for the mosquitoes I am told inhabit this place.

Tomorrow we are traveling by boat for part of the day and I am looking forward to that....