Flight over was good chatting to someone that had been travelling for 6 years and had visited 156 countries.. hmm tempting! Also found out that someone had come to Burma the previous week with 20usd and his credit card however there are no atms here at all!! We didn't have a hotel booked but fortunately found one downtown by the Sule pagoda, very basic with cockroaches (free extras) but decent location. Went for a quick walk around the block to get Yangoon bearings and had a quick bite to eat however at the restaurant the menu didn't seem that appetising with stuff like goat's brain curry and fish head curry on the list amongst other groatesque 'dishes'!

The next day met a friend who was staying in another part of town however we pre-arranged it as mobiles don't work over here and internet is sporadic, its weird going back to pre-mobile days!! We met outside the People's park which for some reason was closed.. and then went over to the Shwedagon Pagoda, the main temple. After a bit of a ballache with them not accepting certainly dollar bills as they weren't flawless we went in. It was bizarre going up escalators to the temple and even more bizarre seeing some local's reactions whom had never been on an escalator before! The temple was stunning but we came at the wrong time of day around lunchtime, far too hot. Some staff were putting fairy lights around some of the smaller temples so we decided to come back later to see it all lit up. We walked back to the centre of town and had a well deserved beer after lunch. Got money converted from dollars into the local currency and you get a big wedge of notes, feel like a millionaire! At dusk we walked back up to Shwedagon and saw it all lit up which was far better in the evening, its got a really peaceful atmosphere but what I loved about it there's no hawkers about so you can just relax and soak in the ambience with no hassles.

On Friday we went across to Dalah Island which was a real pleasure. It was rustic, raw & bloody roasting! It was the real Burma which we were expecting, the people so warm & friendly, none of the greed or corruption seen in so many other countries. We caught the night bus to Mandalay and there was some absolute crap local music blasting out, kind of a warped version of one of those Jewish celebration songs. We stopped over at midnight and couldn't believe all the locals absolutely hyper at that time of night. It was chaos and bloody cold at Mandalay bus station, eventually we haggled a 'taxi' which was one of those shared taxis with no seats! We luckily managed to find accomodation on arrival, there were 3 blokes in our room with a double bed, good blooming job got a high card to get the single bed!! Saturday morning we had some great local breakfast that was so cheap (less than 50p) and then headed off to Mandalay Hill. We got partially lost but from doing so discovered a temple where some monks were playing football tennis in their downtime. We gave up on the distant hill and headed for the brewery instead! In the afternoon headed to Amarapura and its famous U Bein bridge, the world's longest teak bridge. It was an amazing experience being there, crossing it with the locals and monks and then seeing a stunning sunset.

Sunday was a great day of adventure hiring a couple of motorbikes out and following our guide Angelay around Mandalay and beyond. We saw children celebrating at the first temple but it was at another pagoda called Paleik where there were pythons which was cool especially when got to hold one! Nearby was an area with over 300 temples which was nice to see from the top of one of them then travelling to Sagaing Hill was fantastic crossing a Japanese and later also a Chinese bridge. The stoupa at the top of the hill had excellent views of the Ayeyarwaddy river and we then darted back to the hotel in time to catch the bus to Inle Lake in the evening. The bus was basic and hard to sleep and we got dropped in the middle of nowhere at 4am but luckily got a taxi and found rooms to got some much needed sleep. Chilled out the next day and arranged a couple of tours, we then tried walking to the lake but it was mission impossible to get there by land, only way was to go down the canal by boat. Had some fresh fish for supper which was so cheap, a mere pound, tasty & spicy then washed it down with some vodka martinis, shaken not stirred.

The boat trip on Inle Lake was good starting off at a traditional local market followed by lots of souvenir shops although did manage to see the long neck tribe women at one of them. Watching the fishermen fish was awesome, especially rowing their boats with one their legs wrapped round the oar. In the afternoon went to Thaung Tho which was off the beaten track and pap especially when a mate got his flip flops knicked outside the pagoda! We then went on to the Jumping cat monestary which was ok but not how we expected the cats to jump before jetting back across the lake and down the canal whilst watching the sunset.

Wednesday was a fantastic day of horse back riding which always wanted to do. Cracked me up as the Bhurmese don't give you instructions on how to ride a horse, you just get on and get on with it!! Took a bit to become confident & comfortable with the horse but then was free rein although mostly walking and just a bit of trotting. Went to a buddha situated in a cave which was different then later fell off my horse just before lunchtime. Had a traditional Bhurmese lunch and the host provided us with rice wine, whisky and cigars but then cheekily asked us for money even though dinner was included in the trip! In the afternoon stopped off at a sugar cane factory and saw it being processed and tried some of the end product also, sweet as. Our behinds were sore as by this point so we trekked it the rest of the way back down to the hotel walking through little villages on the way.

Chilled out the day after, wanted to do a bike ride but getting on a saddle after being saddle sore from the previous days excursions nay chance. Went for first run of the year instead and had vodka martinis (shaken not stirred) with cigars (7 for 20p!!) at sunset. Friday we caught the bus from Inle Lake to Bagan, nightmare, my mate & I are both 6 footers and had the seats with the least blooming leg room.. great! Bagan was worth the hassle (and 10usd entrance fee). We hired a horse cart for the day and went to the temples and pagodas in Old and New Bagan finishing at the top of one of the temples to view the sunset, bliss.

Bus journeys are brutal in Burma, on old school recycled Japanese buses.. we did two in less than 24 hours, an overnighter from Bagan to Yangoon and then Yangoon to Chaung Tha which is on the seaside. It was nice to chillout by the sea afterwards and my friend and I played footie on the beach with the locals until I stubbed my bloody big toe nail! Got a great beach hut a mile or so away from the main hotel complex which nearly feels like being in the middle of nowhere but fortunately had free bikes to get out and about. First night was fun having meal on the beach hearing the neighbouring hotels 'entertainment' of local karaoke hehe, was great being at the bottom end of the beach and seeing the fireworks going off at other hotels up the beach. The next couple of days blurred into each other, hitting different beaches, playing beach footie and chilling with a post meal cigar and local whisky. We caught an official footie match between two local villages, our local team in Man U shirts spanked the Juve ones 5-0!

Bussed it back to Yangoon and chilled there for a couple of days, been an epico time travelling throughout Burma with two young at heart Americans, an Australian and also geezas from Hong Kong, Finland & Switzerland which made the trip real special. The people here in Burma are so warm, friendly and always smiling its really made the trip here such a pleasure. Flight back to Bangkok was random, chatting to a geeza from Blackburn on the plane of all places!!