We flew in to Mandalay which is in the north of Myanmar.
Straight away you feel like you are somewhere different. After becoming so familiar with Laos and having been there before anyway, and after a big city like Bangkok where it can feel like you are almost anywhere sometimes, this was a new feeling. It felt like travelI!
The men mainly wear longyi - an almost floor length skirt. Women wear a long skirt as well. All are very beautiful. People also wear a face paint or make up called thanaka. It is made from a ground bark. Many people wear it. A lot of women but many men and children too.
Our first meal was on the way to the hill town we were headed to Pyin Oo Lwin. It was a fabulous Burmese meal - you order a curry or two and get enough condiments to sink a ship! Totally delicious! This photo was when we thought everything had arrived but actually there were about five more bowls! They kept refilling any we ate as well - it was an amazing introduction to food here.
We travelled right up and up to the town, switchback after switchback!
After the quiet of Laos where we didn't hear a horn or see anyone yell or run for two months it was quite a shock to get here. People rush around and yell and the horn is used constantly as a way of working out overtaking, pulling in, etc.
We stayed at a lovely guest house called the Golden Gate. It was recommended by the people who work on the Steiner Initiative here in Myanmar. But more on that later...
The guest house folk here are bagging up green tea! You can see the face paint here...
Pyin Oo Lwin is a hill station. Cool and in the days of the British was quite a retreat for the important folk. So there are loads of old colonial buildings in various states of repair and disrepair.
Of course it is all about the street food - this was some sort of delicious coconut bread with a lovely syrup...
Cows everywhere!
Myanmar, and particularly Pyin Oo Lwin is very multicultural. Big influences from India, China, Thailand and more. The ethnic groups within Myanmar are also extremely diverse. Many languages and many scripts to say the least.
We were visiting this temple when we heard the Muslim call to prayer...
The markets were a feast for the eyes as well - tea....
...rice...
...the leaves for betel nut chewing so beautifully arranged...
Another part of the colonial hangover is the horse and carriages that are everywhere!
Myanmar has both monks and nuns but they can be much younger here than we have seen else where.
The smaller one of these boys was smaller than Kinyin!
There are tea shops everywhere. Very Strong tea poured over sweetened condensed milk. Mix and enjoy (well Todd does) with pastries with sweet bean fillings, or pakoras, or ...
Oh the lovely discoveries of travel. We are lucky folk!
