Middle-aged flash packers

The homestay’s cockerel was a little premature with its crowing as it was still dark when it woke me up. My hips and backside were numb from the wooden floor. I fidgeted about for a bit before I gave up and started writing my blog.

The village looked very misty this morning and there is something quite captivating about wandering outside and cleaning your teeth in the open air. Not so romantic having to avoid the snails on your way to an outside dunny though.

It was mashed potato for breakfast today. Pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve had that for brekkie but it was nice.

At breakfast, Toto told us about some of the legends and spirits (called Nats) that form the beliefs of many of the Myanmar people. They worship them in conjunction with Buddha. Most of the Nats seem to have met with sticky ends and the stories themes are around betrayal and violence. Not the most uplifting of beliefs.

As we were leaving one of the villagers (female) wanted to know how old Steve was. She thought he looked very young and handsome. I’ll never hear the end the end of this.

We pottered along our route, stopping here and there to look at something, passing through villages and chatting to Toto. Toto is a very interesting lady who has had her share of sadness and problems in her life but is constantly smiley and upbeat.

Toto took us to a primary/junior school to say hello to the kids. The teacher there was on her own with 52 children to teach. What a handful! Some of them were diligently working independently but a few of the boys were very over excited and a visit from a load of foreigners pushed them over the edge. The poor teacher had to call playtime early. I bet she cursed us.

The sun got hotter as we made our way to the lake and I wasn’t sorry when we arrived at our final stop – lunch. (At 2.45)

Ridiculous amounts of food were thrust at us again which we all valiantly attempted to stuff down. The restaurant had a very exciting piece of equipment- a tap. Gleefully, we washed the mud off our trainers, socks and feet. Sorry about your flannel Nik, that will never, ever be white again.

We said our goodbyes to Toto and started on the final leg of our journey; across Inle Lake by boat.

Inle Lake is the second largest lake in Myanmar and is massive. It took over an hour to get to our destination. On arrival, we were a bit underwhelmed by the location of our hotel but after being offered anything we wanted as our welcome drink ( Nik ordered a tequila sunrise!) we all perked up. It got even better when they upgraded us to bigger bungalows.

After settling in and having the best shower in my entire life (god, was I dirty) we wandered up the Main Street and found a restaurant on its opening night. Run by a very intrepid young Frenchman and his gregarious business partner PewPew, we had an entertaining evening asking PewPew a million and one questions ( she was a mine of information) and finding out why a young man would want to start a restaurant in Myanmar. (Still not totally clear)

The raison d’etre for our visit to Inle is to see the balloon festival in Taunggyi. Well, Nik’s raison d’etre to be more precise. I’m quite happy for a cycle ride around the lake and a massage. The festival is supposed to be mental and over a million people visit it. Guess it’s got to be done.