Yangon

Arriving in Yangon was nice and easy, with my hostel providing a airport pickup. After that things became more difficult!

Unbeknownst to me the water festival meant that a) everything was closed for a week and b) no buses were running! I thought at this point my Myanmar trip was going to be a limited one...

I decided to make the most of it, with a walk around town come that evening. The Burmese people are amazingly friendly even to the extent of one of them buying me a beer!

Day 2 I donned my wet weather gear (ready for the onslaught) and went for a walking tour of the crumbling colonial old town. You could really see what a magnificent city Rangoon must have been at the peak of the Empire. Many of the old building are in the process of being restored so eventually the Yangon riverfront will be a great attraction for the city

I also managed to find a ticket to Mandalay through the only bus company running, at 3 times the usual price mind, so at least knew I wasn't stuck in Yangon the whole 9 days.

That evening I wandered down to the Sule Pagoda in the centre of town, where a water festival concert was ongoing. Hearing Eye of the Tiger sung in Burmese was one of the stranger experiences of my trip! The Sule Pagoda was open that evening so I had a look around. Lit up at night it was certainly an impressive sight, although I found the excessive use of neon lights around Buddha images at bit bizarre.

With my overnight bus booked I had one last day of the water festival to enjoy/endure... I decided to use the morning to visit Yangon and Myanmar's most revered temple, the Sewadagon Pagoda. At more than 2000 years old and over 100 metres tall, covered in gold leaf and precious stones it's a breathtaking sight and certainly the most beautiful
pagoda/stupa/temple that I've seen so far on my travels! My only mistake was visiting at midday. As with all temples in Myanmar you most remove your shoes and socks before entering. With the temperature at 42 degrees the tiled floor was hot and by hot I mean blisters on the feet hot! Ouch!!

After drying off back at the hostel I caught by, surprisingly nice, overnight bus to Mandalay.