I came all this way to take the train over the Goktiek Viaduct and there has been a landslide and the train line is closed. I will wait here for a couple of days cos there is a chance they clear it and I can take a train that way and back again. Miss Lily organized a bus for me and a girl from Hong Kong to come down to Pyin Oo Lwin. It had already left Lashio so they had to ring the driver and get him to come and pick us up. It was an OK trip, just 4 hours and he dropped us off at the Grace Hotel here so that saved another taxi fare. Only cost 8000k
Grace hotel is OK, nothing special, but they don't have a single room for me so I got a triple for the same price ($15) and it is massive. The bath room is bigger than some of the rooms I have been in.
I went to explore and found the other reason I am here, the golf course. I am booked to play 18 holes tomorrow. I got lost looking for town but eventually found my way back to the hotel via the market. The market here is huge, even bigger than the one in Yangon. Selling the usual stuff and Im not buying any more stuff so I just looked.
Pyin Oo Lwin is a hill town, built by the brits when they ran the place. Like Darjeeling in India, they built these hill towns to escape the heat in Mandalay during summer. The place has a lot of old British hotels and it is the new place for the well to do. They say Tay Za, the richest person in Myanmar owns heaps of property here and a couple of the high end hotels. Most people come to see the botanic gardens, apparently they are the best in Myanmar, but I will be busy tomorrow.
I'm staying here tomorrow night then to Mandalay, but I cant take the train cos if it is running it gets to Mandalay at about midnite. Not sure of a plan just yet but I will be in Mandalay the day after tomorrow.

I played golf today. I am a foreigner so I have to pay for and take a caddy. That's pretty good having someone to carry your clubs and with local knowledge. His name was Soogoo and he didn't speak English but I think he plays off 2 handicap. The course is not as good as I expected. There was no run on the fairways, the greens were a bit dodgy and if you got off the fairway it could easily mean 2 or 3 shots to get back, the grass was so thick. there was water on about 13 of the 18 holes and I managed to find it a few times but we always managed to get my ball back. One green was an island and I had a bit of trouble getting to the island. I didn't score well, lets just say golf was the winner today. This sure beats the hell out of going to work and putting up with sniveler.

I have found a share taxi to Mandalay tomorrow. For $6.50 he will pick me up and deliver me to my hotel in Mandalay. I know Im getting lazy I could have got a bus for $1.50 but I thought hang the expense.