Even More: Days 5-8

*This is really in-depth and probably not that interesting unless you really love me or you are planning a trip to Burma.

DAY 5:

• Spent the morning enjoying the relaxing town around Inlay Lake. We bicycled 45 minutes on a rural path to a hot springs. The road seemed to go to no where, so we climbed a deserted pagoda for a better view. Sure enough, the hot springs were just around the corner! There were only a few other people there. Each pool got hotter and I felt my circulation and digestive system improving with each wince of heat. We another typical multi-course meal at Smiling Moon. I was most excited by the avocado with rice crackers and fried bananas. We relished every moment of the day and finally showed up at the hotel at 4 pm to begin another long drive to Mandalay.
• The roads were not good. In some parts, they were just dirt. We shook and rattled for many hours. We stopped to get dinner along the road and continued driving into the night. We finally arrived at the ET hotel in Mandalay at 2 am.  From my 2 am viewpoint, Mandalay seemed big, dirty, and unspectacular.

DAY 6:

• We spent the day around Mandalay. It is the places nearby that drive tourists to this sprawling and dusty city. We wanted to be in the monastery at Amarapura by 10:30 AM so that we could see the thousands of monks line up and eat breakfast. This turned out to be kind of uncomfortable because there were many tourists who wanted to watch monks eat.  We felt guilty taking photos and quickly left to go to the longest teak bridge in the world.
• The bridge was also a touristy attraction, but the little cafe that we found to drink a strawberry drink at was authentic and delicious (The outhouse I peed in afterwards was also authentic, but not delicious).
• Next, we went to Sagaing Hill, a hillside that is full of monasteries and pagodas. It is the place were monks go when they are stressed out. One monk quietly showed us around. He kept wanting to take photos of me in particular places with my camera. What I really wanted was a photo of him taking a photo because his maroon robe matched my camera perfectly.
• Stopped by a few more pagodas, got picked up by another monk who sat down with us for tea, and then headed back to the city.
• That night, we walked through a night market on our way to see The Mustache Brothers – the comedy/dancing troupe that is infamous for criticizing the government.  The main guy talked about how the government was rich and the people were poor, about how the government is always watching, and about one of the brothers that was sentenced to jail. And then there was a lot of silly dancing.
• We tried to grab a late dinner, but the city was dead by 10 pm. We finally found some Indian briyani on the street, but the little children begging by my side made me completely lose my appetite.

DAY 7:

• We rented bikes for the day – a clutch decision.
• Started the day with a climb up Mandalay Hill to a pagoda. I really enjoyed the morning stair workout. Besides this hill, the city is completely flat.
• There just was not that much to do in Mandalay and it was hot so we decided to go to the pool. The local Olympic-sized pool looked great for swimming laps, but not that inviting for reading besides it. We sauntered in with an affected air to the Mandalay Hill Resort and enjoyed a lovely afternoon of dipping in the pool and reading. It was a nice break for us, but seriously, I cannot believe that people would come to Myanmar to stay at 5-star resorts and hang out by the pool the whole time. What’s the point? If that is what you want, sit by the beach in Thailand!
• After a five-star shower, went to TooToo, a home style restaurant. While it is listed as a MUST go in Lonely Planet, there are no signs of it selling out to tourists. Completely authentic mush!!
• Savored our last hours playing connect four in a bar and then at 8 pm, began the overnight drive back to Yangon. This drive was really scary because I knew the driver must be getting tired. The night was a complete haze of roadside tea and peeing off the side of the road.

DAY 8:

• Finally arrived back in Yangon around 10 AM. I was dizzy and exhausted.  I really wanted to run the Hash House Harriers at 3 pm so I set out to energize myself: a lemongrass drink, a lime drink, and a coffee drink.
• Still felt woozy, but really wanted to run. Good thing because the Hash turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. We met a bunch of expats and were able to get a feeling for the expat life. Turns out, they were surprisingly normal! The run was about an hour – through thatched-roof huts and dry fields. At one point, the monks and villagers were pointing us which way to go!
• By the time the run and following festivities ended, I was exhausted and satisfied. Tomorrow we would leave early and spend the day shopping at the weekend market, getting Thai massages, seeing old friends, and eating pad thai in Bangkok