we had a bit of a disturbed night as the sermons went on all night. however it meant we were awake for the sunrise which flooded our bedroom,some on our tour went back to the golden rock pagoda for the sunrise to watch the monks process and be given alms. We gave that a miss as we had seen that before in Laos but as we walked back to the bus past the stalls ,monks and nuns were out with their bowls to greet the new day's pilgrims. After another manic drive down the mountains we reached our bus for the return journey to Yangon. We stopped on the way first to visit a bamboo furniture workshop. A complete chair takes an hour to make and costs $3. It was fascinating to see the production line,every health and safety rule was being violated but the skill of the workers with their machetes was extraordinary. A few minutes later we stopped to visit a rubber plantation. The manufacturing process hasn't changed in 200 hundred years and good to see victorian mangles still in use.
We stopped for lunch in Pagon,a city that was the capital in the 16th century,sadly most traces have gone but it does have the tallest stupa in Burma with a nice hotel next door . Lunch tends to be either a rice or noodle dish. On our way again we crossed over the railway and had a view of a very sad looking marshalling yard. The railways here look seriously underused,almost derelict. However a lovely wooden traditional British signal box ,just like Sebastian's train set as a child,stood the test of timeJust before our two hour drive back to Yangon we saw a massive prone buddha with extraordinary feet. This one was completed in 1995.
Back in Yangon, for dinner, our tour guide Min took us to a National Restaurant and hat specialised in regional cuisine and we both chose dishes from the North,up towards the Chinese border and it was the first proper spicy food we'd eaten. Absolutely delicious. An early night as we have a flight to Mandalay to catch first thing.