Two days in one of the most traffic congested cities I have ever visited. To give an idea of how bad the traffic is, the bus station is 20k out of town and the hotel advise to allow two hours for the journey. The taxi actually took an hour and a half. Crazy traffic! The bus station is also crazy. It's like a miniature town it's that big!

There is no point taking taxis or other modes of transport downtown as traffic doesn't move and it is far quicker to walk. Walking however isn't all that easy either, as like most other Asian cities, the pavements are an extension of the shop fronts and every bit of space is taken up with goods being sold or by seats for the 101 little make shift cafés. There are samosa's and other fried products broiling away in woks, vats of Burmese hot pots simmering with every conceivable bit of an animal, fruit stalls, noodle and rice vendors, crispy pigs ears, chewy chicken feet... You name it, you'll find it on the street. After reading about the high rates of food poisoning and with sickness still fresh in our minds, other than buying some strawberries, we stayed away from the food stalls. The huge rats that were frequently spotted were a bit off putting too.

Today we treated ourselves and went for afternoon tea at The Strand, Yangon's premier five star hotel which has played host to Rudyard Kipling and the like. It wasn't as nice as the one we had in Vic Falls but it was still a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours.

We stayed in China Town which was bustling and a great place to enjoy a beer or two in the evening, or afternoon for that matter. When we first arrived we went for a couple of afternooners. I discovered 50p rum and cokes and so that was it. I was drunk two hours later and fell asleep back at the hotel, waking when it was dark.

Yesterday, after dodging the chaotic traffic and wandering the city for a few hours looking at the decaying yet still beautiful colonial architecture, we walked out of town to the Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the worlds most majestic Buddhist monuments and Myanmars most revered pagoda.

There is a LOT of gold there with hundreds of little pagodas surrounding the huge main one. It was nice just sitting, people watching. Locals come at dusk to make their offerings and prey.

Next stop, Bagan. We've also got a nice hotel with a pool booked so we can watch sunrise and sunset over the temples but escape the heat of the day and lay by a pool.

Just a short twelve hour overnight bus journey to survive first! At least it's the best bus we've had yet with semi reclining seats and even some bakery products included in the 15,000/£8 ticket price.

We also booked our flight to Singapore today to visit Dave and Alé and Dan & Bec will be there too.