Yet another early start to catch the flight to Mandalay at 8:00 am. The flight was barely up before coming down again. Mandalay airport (international no less) seems a bit of an overkill with air bridges etc. but not for our little Fokker. It is a long drive into the city. The driver wasn't bad until he got into the urban area then he changed from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde (or is it the other way around) and commenced to overtake into oncoming traffic and push motor bikes into the drain, tooting his horn with glee all the while. The approach to the hotel did not appear auspicious as it was down a narrow back lane but the hotel itself is quite "charming". We had nothing booked for the rest of the day so walked down to the centre of town. Central Mandalay is not a charming place. It is quite a large city choked with tooting motor bikes and honking vehicles. You can't walk on the footpaths as they are used for bike parking and all manner of industry. Not to mention the drains, with missing covers, to claim you upon a moments inattention. You have to brave it out on the road with the traffic. We made it to the Clock Tower and Central market without having seen anything interesting (or at least what we haven't seen a thousand times before). After a brief look through the market and a reviving drink we took a taxi back to the hotel to catch up on this journal. Back into touring mode tomorrow.