We woke at 3am and got a taxi to the airport. Our flight only took an hour so we were at our hotel, Haven Inn by 9am for breakfast. We did absolutely nothing all day except I finished reading Harry Potter 7!

The following morning we took a walk around the city in the rain. I was really surprised at how old fashioned this place really is! At this point i wasn't sure if i liked the place or not. I don't like the fact that the government controls everything, hotmail and other websites are banned and I felt a little scared to voice my opinion untill safely back in Bangkok! In the main part of Yangon is Sule Paya, a 2000 year old temple. It is in the middle of a junction and acts as a roundabout! From there we walked along the path (path meaning rocks rubbish and mud!) to a cafe for some tea at Cafe Aroma. It has been hailed as the Starbucks of Myanmar. I cant quite see Starbucks serving me non-dairy powder creamer in a satchet!! From here we went to a shopping mall which wasa a building full of marketstalls. Next on the list was the Bogyoke San market which was lots of little shops. Do you follow the strange set up? In the eveing we took a taxi (which had to be started under the bonnet, looked ancient and had holes in the floor flintstone style!) a little way out of the centre for dinner which was really nice. One thing for sure is Myanmar has the best service and the friendliest people in the world!

Monday morning well actually early afternoon as we slept in till 1pm! we decided to visit Shwedagon Paya. Its a huge iconic monument where all Burmese hope to visit at least once i their lifetime. The stupa is gilded in gold and glitters in the sun, it is stunning. It is 98m tall and you can see it from most parts of the city. At the top of the stupa are 4351 diamonds, the topmost is 76carats! (unfortunately we have no pictures of this as Chelsea had a little accident with the camera - doh!!)

Alex and Ryan arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday morning the four of us took the train for a 15hour journey to Mandalay.