Today we travelled about three hundred kilometers south from Mandalay to another hill station called Kalaw. The first part of the journey was through a low-lying agricultural region where we continued our fascination with the ox carts which are used everywhere here for pulling loads and plowing fields. Mechanized tractors or other farm vehicles are virtually nonexistent. Almost as equally charming are the local "taxis" - the horsecarts - which are used in all the small towns to transport people and their belongings where they want to go. Definitely not just a tourist conveyance!

Once we left the flatlands and began climbing into the mountains the roads deteriorated and became god-awful! The pavement was narrow with deep ruts and potholes- no doubt made worse by the many large trucks carrying produce and other goods from Yangon to Mandalay. Roadwork was underway in many places and consisted of women carrying baskets of stones on their heads and dumping them onto the road where they were hand packed by others. A very tedious and ineffectual system!

Two odd things we saw today: one was a huge collection of teak logs that we understand disappear from the country and people do not know where they go. The other was an enormous compound that had two high walls around it - one solid rock wall and the other barbed wire. The sign on the gate states that it is a slipper factory. We were impressed with the level of security necessary for a slipper factory - must be very high tech slippers!