Yangon/Ngapali

On our last evening in Yangon we all went to live the high life and had cocktails at the Governor’s Residence. A beautiful colonial building, it is a homage to days gone by, with teak staircases, boxes of Monte Cristo cigars in cabinets and rattan sofas.

The cocktails were very imaginative and packed a punch. I had to wait longer for mine as the waitress unfortunately slopped a considerable quantity of the first one over my foot and had to get another one. Despite this it was a delicious cocktail and we all enjoyed playing finger billiards. Never heard of it? Neither had I.

We then walked to an Indian restaurant which I thought was going to be a hole in the wall job but which was actually a very nice place and the food was sublime, eclipsing the Indian Hut, best curry I’ve had for years and no msg wakefulness.

And so to Ngapali, Myanmar’s premier seaside area.

Ngapali beach is beautiful. Unspoilt and clean, at least where we are.

We are doing the “resort” thing which to be honest we very rarely do. Our collection by the hotel from the airport was brilliant – a jazzed up pick up truck.

The Amazing Ngapali Resort ( word of advice: never call a hotel “amazing” far too much to live up to) caters to the wealthier clientele and it seemed very strange to be somewhere that was nearly all westerners. I’m sure everyone else was feeling the same as I expect most of us have been exploring Myanmar.

Unfortunately with higher prices come higher expectations and we are no exception. Cue disappointment when our “amazing” hotel room turned out to be rather average. In fact worse than average. A rusty, mouldy fridge, mould on the guest info book, mossies, smelly, chipped glasses, hard bed etc: by far the worst room we’ve stayed in. It’s very unusual for us to complain, we’re untidy slobs so our standards are low, but complain we did. To little avail. All rooms are taken but they can move us to the “new block” in two days time. By that time we’ll be used to our little hovel, our clothes will be strewn everywhere and the manky fridge will be full of our beer. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.

Still it’s a beautiful place and we went for a walk outside the resort to be greeted by the usual friendly local faces. There are signs of development but it’s all very low key.

Back to the hotel and Jan and Nik insisted that they take us out to dinner for organising the flights etc. We tried to resist as this trip was a joint venture by Dowton Enterprises but they refused to listen to our protestations so we gracefully accepted a delicious seafood meal.

I provided some aperitifs for us all in our room beforehand which ended up being a bit of a rush because the dress I was intending to wear for our special meal appears to have shrunk. Or I’ve put on rather a lot of weight. Whatever, the mirror reflected a woman who was about to burst out of her dress like a female hulk and there was no way any food could be consumed wearing it.

So no selfies of yoga poses for me. Think it’ll be more like Buddha poses for a while.