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Walker's Travels in Scandinavia 2017 and others
Felt like jumping on a bike this morning but that part of the tour is over sadly. Brekky on the seventh floor was nothing to write about, still haven't had a Burmese coffee and have not missed it at all. First stop was the Shwedagon Pagoda, a massive structure 326ft (99.36m) high sitting on the top of a 199ft hill. The top terrace covers an area of 14 acres (6 hectares). The site dates back to 600BC. The terrace contains 1,000 of relics, Buddhas, statues and shrines. The glare off all that gold, marble and white paint was blinding, and the temperature went up several degrees while we were on top. Needless to say we didn't stay up there for long. I take my hat off to these devoted, gentle people who are so dedicated to their faith that they would build something so big and beautiful. Not for me though, after seeing how millions over here live I would rather see the money spent on decent housing and sanitation for the poor. It was then off to "The Lady's" (as Aung San Suu Kyi is affectionately know as here) house, the entrance of which was surrounded by a media scrum and a few curios western folk like us. As we were standing there a man ( since identified as famous local actor and fan of Suu Kyi, (Ya Za Nay Win) came out of the gate after visiting The Lady who we were assured was home. The media swarmed around him for an interview. We then wandered up the road to a very impressive coffee house where the low prices did not match the grand building, furniture and fittings. I had a pot of Japanese tea for AS$0.60. It is also next to the USA Embassy so even more surprising. We continued walking back to the People's Park where we had a nice lunch in the shopping centre / entrance building. It was then back to the motel, on foot, via the park and some very busy roads, for a rest before dinner. We tried to do a fair amount of walking on the first day with no riding so the legs don't seize up, job done. Met up at 5pm and walked a couple of km to Chinatown. The walk and the streets there were just buzzing with people, food and commence. Really vibrant and a bit smelly in parts. And if you look too close you wouldn't eat anything anywhere there. Reminds most of us of Singapore 45 years ago. Had a beer at one place then ended up at another place for dinner. I had the duck, rice and veggies, (AS$6) very nice. Most of us then called it a day a couple (Trio & Baz) soldiered on. Tomorrow is our last full day before flying out.
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