Before we head off to the train, Helen just comments on being back here for the third January in a row....How wonderful it is to be back in Myanmar. The first big change we noticed was the new airport. It seems that Yangon is moving quickly to welcome the increased number of visitors; the first indication of this was the large "Mingalabar" sign at the customs counter. We have had a great day learning more about the people and culture of Myanmar with our knowledge...

An early rise to depart by 5 am. As I said in my last entry, you negotiate taxi fares. We found a driver and his price was a 1000K more ($1... $4 in total) than a previous trip. He said it was because we had four big bags. In we squeezed and then so did 2 drivers. That's right two drivers. One was the driver, the other was learning to drive. No one blinked an eyelid. We prayed a lot and managed to arrive safely at the station with a few gasps on the way when...