We passed through Mandalay again, staying at the ok but a bit noisy Arawaddy River Hotel as it was convenient for an early start the following day. It has a great rooftop bar but is also next to a monastery that broadcasts monks reading from the holy books through loud speakers for most of the night. We spent 45 minutes in a travel agent booking 1hr flights from Bagan to Mandalay, watching a team of three 'work the Internet' then a team of two work the visa mac...

A day or so in Mandalay began to get us into the holiday mood. J and I realised that we don't act like many tourists, shuttling from temple to temple, historical sight to historical sight. We tend to like to visit some, and enjoy wandering backstreets and sitting in local cafes just as much. In some places this approach can put you in places where 'spider senses start tingling' but we haven't felt like this at all in Myanmar. In general, South Eat Asia feels s...

In the planning of this trip I looked at a lot of websites and a lot of pictures. This means that it is possible to mix stuff up. This is probably why, in my mind, the train we were going to be on had white reclining seats and aircon in 'Upper Class'. The reality was a bit different, though not awful. The seat did recline a bit and resembled old fashioned airplane business class seats, for people with very small bottoms. The worn and stained upholstery was c...