I found watching the women extract the fiber from the lotus to be amazing.

Talk about tedious work that requires patience.

Tripping around Nyaung Shwe with Phyu Phyu.

I've made a partial effort at sorting the mess on the dining table. The name of the temple from yesterday is Phaung Daw Oo Paya. A famous festival is held each October wherein the five ancient Buddha images are paraded around by a kind of dragon boat. Its March, I'm either six months too early, or too late.

I had lined up another day with Phyu Phyu (pronounced as in Pepe Le Pew).

We had talked yesterday about some mild trekking and village visits.
She asked me whether I wanted a car or tuk tuk. I opted for the tuk tuk, which would cost 30,000 kyat, regretted it briefly while hanging on for dear life as the driver roared down the road out of town, but he got calmer, all was well.

PPs niece accompanied us. She is 15, shy, and while I suspect was along for this ride to improve her English, she wasn't confident enough to speak with me.

Before leaving the hut, PP had placed a plastic sack in the back of the tuk tuk. I asked what was in the sack, she said didn't know the English word, and would show me later.

We wound up into some hills to arrive at a cave temple. The monk allowed PP to use his torch, and I was chuffed that I had remembered to bring my tiny LED key ring torch. It was such a help when it lay in the suitcase back at the hotel, while I negotiated the broken footpaths of Yangon at night.

From the other side of the cave, there was a view over farming land to a small village. Sugar cane is now finished, onions (red shallots) are replacing the cane.

So, the plastic sack gets opened, two large live turtles lay inside ! The explanation was "not much water in streams in Nyaung Shwe, people there might eat them, more water here, and the local people won't eat them". Fair enough, it later transpired that today was PPs birthday, I reckon she was doing her good deed for the day.

We visited another cave temple, then stopped at a Pa O village, where all the houses except one were made from bamboo and thatch. The exception was concrete, and belonged to the "rich guy". The village was very neat and tidy, lots of kids held up by mothers waving at me. I saw a man chopping sugar cane leaves and leftovers to feed to cattle. He was using an ingenious home made device, which allowed him to use his foot to chop the leaves. Myanmar is full of ingenious home made devices, not surprising really.

From here we made a stop at Red Mountain Winery. I didn't do the tour of the production area, having been to many wineries before (hic).

I sampled the tasting platter, $2 for samples of 4 wines, and not a small taste, more like half a small glass of each. The late harvest was okay, I'm still not sold on many wines from anywhere in SE Asia.

The tuk tuk ride is now a breeze though.

On to a wooden monastery, where there is an old folks home. Smiling old women invite me in to sit and chat. There's also an orphanage here, so they have both ends of the age spectrum covered. I watch a man making bricks, jeez that's hard work by hand.

PP wants to stop at the market to buy fruit and flowers for the monastery, she will be visiting later to honour her birthday. The flowers are amazing, she buys three bunches of beautiful pink roses for $2.

We are back at her hut, I pay the tuk tuk driver and he roars off.

I still can't figure this out, PP refuses to accept any money from me for her time today. Is it because it's her birthday ?, did I tip too well yesterday ? Is it because the niece joined us ? I don't know, maybe I never will, but she then topped that off with a present for me, a hand carved wooden turtle. This is from someone who yesterday packaged up my left over food for her family.

I don't know what to say, except thank you.

To follow, some thoughts on travelling solo, and the wrap up.

Wonderful! Your time with PP sounds great.

I'm falling in love with the people, and I haven't even been there! Caroline, your travels here are wonderful to read about. Thanks again for writing them up.
Paule

Rule No1 in Asia: Footpaths are poor, everywhere. Rule No2 in Asia: Streetlights are poor, everywhere.

Solution to Rule No1: walk on the street, not the footpath, day or night.

Solution to Rule No2: Carry a powerful torch if walking at night.

It's very expensive to get repatriated with a broken ankle if you trip down an open monnie drain, so make sure you have travel/health insurance.

In most underdeveloped parts of SEA, such as Burma, Cambodia, Laos and pretty much anywhere else in Indochina, the footpaths are unreliable and basically unsafe.

MareeS55

The torch comment was a gentle dig at myself for not having it on my person when it would have been useful.
Your broad generalisations about Asia aren't very helpful. Singapore and Japan for example don't comply with your "rules".

Your suggestion to avoid "rule No 1" is downright dangerous on a six or eight lane major road in Yangon. The injuries sustained from being hit by an overloaded bus or truck would be far worse than a broken ankle.

I always have travel insurance.

What is "an open monnie drain" ? Google can't tell me, perhaps you can.

Forget the 6 or 8 lane road, the small roads were also dangerous with the motorcycles trying to hug the edge of the roadway and cars zipping by. I also agree that the broken sidewalks were much worse in Burma then other places I have been to in SEAsia.

Last day in Inle Lake.

I decided to have an easy day, I'd been offered to go with PPs family to the "new cave" I passed on that to just have down time. My time in Myanmar has been exhilarating, but exhausting. The heat doesn't help.

Nyaung Shwe is small and easy to navigate.
Places to try for snacks and drinks include Inlay Palace, it's in Yone Gyi Rd and painted bright yellow and lime green, so you can't miss it. There's a rooftop area which is reached by climbing up strategically placed vertical tree trunks, complete with stencilled foot prints, also bright yellow and lime green. I had spring rolls here, they were fresh, home made, and very good. Another place is the Butterfly Cafe, this one is bright orange, and just off Yone Gyi Rd. The onion pancake was tasty and filling. I tried Indra Indian Food as well, way further down the same road. Very friendly owner and his sister is the cook, delicious vege curry, with soup, chapati and numerous side dishes for about $2.50.

I was making my way back to my hotel, and passing PPs place where a man was negotiating a massage for his partner who was in a wheelchair. I commented "good choice" only to have him explain that PP had said her skills were so good that the chair would be irrelevant. He planned on selling it to the highest bidder while his wife got the massage. Funny.

I whispered to PP if she'd like the fruit basket from my room, "yes, all of it" was the reply. Went back to hotel, placed two bowls of fruit in a plastic bag (kicked myself for rejecting the third bowl the housekeepers tried to deliver yesterday) and walked back to her hut. Her two young boys dived on the apples, then thanked me in perfect English. I snuck some cash in too, she needs it more than I do.

I have an early night in preparation of the 8.55 am flight back to Yangon tomorrow.

Thanks Paule, YT, and Kathie for the continued encouragement.

Solo travel, for me, the first time since 1989.

I think there's a diverse range of readers of this forum, some purely for travel specifics, some for a travel story, and some for a large grey area in between.

Fodors has been entertaining me during the quiet solo times of the past few weeks. I too enjoy reading the fabulous tales of other peoples travels. It helps me to choose, where next, when next ?

I did bust in on a few conversations with real people while solo at Inle. The Austrian backpackers made me laugh when they told me about the tourist T-shirts in Vienna. They have the famous kangaroo road sign, with a line through it and NOT printed below. I often had to clarify Australia, not Austria, and didn't realise it happened the other way around.

One couple asked if I was travelling alone, and invited me to join them. We had a great conversation over the next hour or so, two teachers from Sydney embarking on a one year trip around the world. I was able to put them in touch with the school in Mandalay, and later got an email from them saying how much they enjoyed that visit. I note this experience for when I'm next travelling with DH, and will at least ask people sitting alone if they're up for a chat.

There were other groups that I joined in on, always asking first, and focussing the conversation on where they had been, what they had done. This was quite a learning curve for me, but really not so hard.

I take my hat off to the many that regularly travel by themselves.

Next up, the final two days in Yangon, the final wrap.

I really admire you for going at it solo. It's something I really haven't done and wonder how or even if I would go on my own to someplace like SEAsia. Your TR has been so much fun to read and so interesting. I always enjoy meeting people as we travel, both locals and other tourists. It never occurred to me to seek out solo travelers but in the future I will do that.
I think there is a diverse group on these boards reflecting many ways to travel and I find them all interesting in their own way. I often read for entertainment or to hear another perspective of some place I have been. Or I read seeking travel specifics for a trip I am planning or thinking about going on. These boards are a fantastic resource and I appreciate those that take the time to report and answer inquiries. Hard to imagine traveling without travel boards.
We're finishing up our last two days in Yangon also. How long were you in Myanmar?

I was there for 18 days, and agree it is usually fun to talk travel with people we meet along the way.
I thought the solo travel would be easy, perhaps I wasn't quite prepared for some of the isolating aspects.

To think that I didn't know about Fodors or any other internet resource just a few years ago makes me cringe. While we've had fantastic trips using guide books to source information and ideas, the real and personal advice from this forum has proved to be invaluable. I make special mention of your TR to Thailand and Laos YT, that made me turn the trip around to go downriver, rather than up the Mekong.

I need to go back to India now, and try all the havellis and quaint BnBs that I've read about since our 2012 trip.

So many places, so little time !

Yes, I think the isolation would be tough esp for a long trip. We were there 18 days also.
I pick up great little tips from these boards as well as where to go and what to see or whether I want to go some place or see something, and the answers to all the nitty gritty questions is invaluable.

Back in Yangon, and back at Garden Home BnB.

I'm getting lazy now Fodors people, below are some cut and pastes from emails sent home. I need to get back to normal life, although revisiting my trip through this report has been a joy ( distractive joy though).

Email 1
This evening, got taxi to school to meet the gang, we walk to a hot pot place which is as large as those huge Singapore food halls. I had invited Andrea to join us, and it was interesting to hear about what the schools are doing, but limited interaction with the others a bit.
Why did I think hot pot was a good idea ? I end up downwind of the roaring jet flame, I'm already very hot, and then the food comes, masses of it, many undiscernible bits of the like of fish balls, eek, I barely eat at all. At one stage I went a bit weird, all hot and clammy, thinking I need a bathroom or a bucket. Fortunately that passed. I paid for the meal, $36, and the guys took the remains home in a plastic bag for the novices.

Note for Fodors, Andrea is coming to the end of a 2 year Volunteering Australia opportunity. She has been assisting the Monastic schools with formulating curricular, and putting in place measurements to assess the performance of the many Monastic schools. She tells me she is paid a basic living allowance, but you need a certain amount of self funding to do something like this. Hats off to Andrea.

Email 2
Well I fly out tomorrow, and I'm currently as organised as I can be. Just repacked, and figure there's some room left so a bit more shopping is in order.

Today I went out with Jon and Momo, I do know their correct names, but that will do for now. I think Mas We was disappointed that she couldn't join us, she had to prepare meals for the twenty teachers from Rahkine state that are training at the school. She gave me a beautiful silk longyi this morning (like I need another one) and Momo snuck in a present at Bogyoke market, which she presented to me in the cab on way home.

Now I have to go out and buy presents for them. Quizzed reception, there is a mall about 20 mins away, so will taxi there when it gets a bit cooler. The Bogyoke Aung San market closes at 5.00, but the mall is open until 8.00.

Jon and Momo were delightful to spend the day with, we left the school at about 9.30 and got back at 3.30. We went first to a pagoda that I had read about on Fodors, all mosaic tiles in mirror and green, very pretty. We then went to Botataung Pagoda, that's the one near the jetty where Pandaw was. It was actually very good inside, loads of gold, very interesting angles and not that many tourists, I saw maybe 4.

I then suggested lunch at China town. Well, did that cause a stir, difficult to explain that it was an area, not a specific restaurant. Eventually we got there.

Momo felt the need to grab my arm in an iron grip every time we crossed a street, and again the personal space issue arose. She would sit in the middle of the back seat of various taxis, Jon in the front, me squeezed into the side of the back seat. That's just the way it is here.

We had lunch, me very little, and it was really Burmese Chinese, took a lot of time to decide on the dishes. Fried pork bits, I persuaded them to forgo pork liver, Chinese greens with oyster sauce, noodles (again) and rice. All good, and about $11.

We then walked to Bogyoke Aung San market, where I found the ethnographic textile shop I had read about. I finally got the Shan state leg warmers I have wanted for a while, boy are they going to be unique in Oz.

I could see Jon was being shopped out, but of course he was too polite to say anything. We taxied back to the school. Every taxi represented a challenge for J & M, they knew what it should cost, however, the driver has seen the foreigner. In many cases, not all, we walked away to find another cab. I seriously couldn't have cared less about the 1 or 2 dollar difference, but it mattered to J & M.

Mas We is coming to see me at 7.00 am tomorrow here at the Hotel. I will have to get presents now for her and the others.

Before I left for Mandalay, I asked her to think about what I could buy for the novices here in Yangon. She told me yesterday that buying a special meal would be best. She will buy the ingredients and cook it for them. I plan to leave $50, which is probably enough for 5 special meals.

Feeling good about my time in Myanmar.

Email 3.
Man, have I had a wild time tonight. I got a taxi to the Dagon Mall for 2000 kyat. It reminded me of the shopping malls in Bangkok. No ethnic Burmese stuff, just brand names like Giordano and lots of mass produced Chinese crap. Still, I was on a mission.

I bought a t shirt for Jon, hope he likes it, a shirt for Mas We, and a scarf for Momo, plus she is interested in coins, so will give her one each of the Australian coins I have, in a small leather purse I bought at DMK in Bangkok. I also got some sweets, they can share those.

So I was freaking about having enough Burmese currency for the taxi tomorrow, and went next door to Dagon Mall 2, and changed US$50. After that, walking back to Dagon 1, I decide to sit and have a break on this concrete block thingy. Bugger me, a young woman starts talking to me. She asked if I remember her, errr no. She works in the travel agency in Yangon where I bought my flight to Mandalay more than two weeks ago. She didn't even serve me, just remembered me - do I have obvious green horns or something growing out of my forehead ? What's the chances of that in a city of 10 million people ?

She wanted to stay in touch, asked if I was on Facebook, and put her contact details in my phone. She also invited me to the place across the road where they have the best hot chocolate, mmm, clearly doesn't know my predilection for beer. She was meeting a friend there, I politely declined, explaining I had more shopping to do.

So back into mall 1 I go. After a very short time, I think, what am I doing here. It's all crap, I looked at handbags, thought geez, you can only use one at a time, there was nothing remotely Burmese, so I skedaddled.

Out to taxi rank, map in hand. First guy, after much explaining wants 3500 kyat, I say I got here for 2000, and walk away. I can't believe I'm doing this over essentially $1.50. But, I am. The next guy wants 4000 kyat, no way matey. I go back through the mall entrance area, and approach another taxi who suggests I go over the road. I do that, and I'm in the hot chocolate place area, so go into the cafe to look for my travel agent, didn't find her, she may have been upstairs, I wasn't gonna go that far !

So back outside, another rank. The first guy I approach (map in hand) ums and ahhs, then suddenly a woman with perfect English asks if she can help. Long story short (you'll get the full version on Friday) is that her, her boyfriend and I share a taxi back to my hotel (I pay only 2000 kyat, whew, glad I saved that $1.50) and with overtones of the Chiang Mai affair, I'm getting a bit paranoid through unfamiliar streets, with no idea where we are.
I shouldn't have been worried, they even invited me to join them for dinner, I declined, thinking you can't push a good thing too far, and I was beat. I have her business card, she teaches tour guides, is fluent in French, English and Burmese.

It's been wonderful Mark, I can't believe that just a few days ago I was thinking that there is no reason to ever come back to Myanmar.
There is of course a very good reason, one that we identified on the Pandaw trip, the people.

Okay, for clarification to the Fodors readers, the statement about "no reason to ever come back" was made when I was in Inle Lake, feeling really quite sick and isolated.

I had an allergic reaction to something, dreadful itching everywhere, and five bites in an arch at the top of my right leg. The management were sympathetic, arranged for all linen to be changed, as I googled bed bugs on their PC. In hindsight, I don't think it was bedbugs, some antihistamines from the local chemist soon stopped the itching, and all is good now.

A few last recommendations for Yangon.

Monsoon Restauarant, 85/87 Theinbyu Rd, Botataung. Food here was excellent, with Burmese, Thai, Laos and Cambodian choices. Very cool atmosphere with colonial architecture and stunning portraits on the walls of tribal people.

A few doors down, and up some very steep stairs is Pomelo, a fair trade type organisation where the owner will patiently tell you about different weaving methods and how they are reviving some of the nearly lost tribal arts. Some very cute papier mâché animals here, she tells me they pack well, I'm trying to downsize and only buy a few beaded bracelets as gifts.

The next morning the taxi ride to airport was so much fun, tried to get pictures of the crammed busses, crammed pick ups and crammed cars. I saw eight in a small sedan, in Mandalay six on a motorbike.

Yangon international airport, I'm at the cafe, where a guy is preparing salads. He has a plastic glove on the hand holding the scissors, the hand holding the food he's cutting is ungloved. That's Myanmar for you, it's a country struggling to adopt western food safety practises.

Go sooner, rather than later. You will be rewarded with amazing sights, temples, and friendly, sincere people untouched by western culture.

I'm glad you had such an amazing trip - and that you will return. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

Thanks Kathie, yes, an amazing trip, and I will definitely be back.

Happy to share with this forum. It is only fair after the wealth of information I've gleaned here.

Happy travels to all.....

Wonderful trip report. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
Right now, we are in Yangon. We will be going to Inle Lake on the 25th of March, so we are grateful for your insight.

Caroline,
Loved this report but especially enjoyed reading about the wonderful connection you made with the people you met. It made your trip come very much alive for me.
Thanks for writing it up. I know how much energy it takes and appreciate it!
Paule

I echo the sentiments above. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us.

What a fantastic report. I was thinking, that considering we enjoyed Kerala so much (haven't gotten to it in my trip report yet, but we really did enjoy it) that we might be able to deal with something further east...

My daughter teaches ESL in Durham Public Schools (in North Carolina, US, not Durham UK) and we planned to have some stuff to share when we visited a school in rural Rajasthan. It was one of the best experiences of our entire trip. Connections with "real" people are essential. Our recent trip was way more high-end than we expected, and we really did need to go out on our own to make sure we had some of those experiences.