We cast off at 06.00 which is a great time to get up and see the surrounding area and carried on upstream to Yandabo village. We went for walking tour of a village famous for making terracotta pottery from the river bank clay. We were showed the pottery making process at various stages from throwing the pot on a potters wheel being driven by someone using their feet. They are then patted into shape using a type of wooden board along with a pattern by the same met...

We left the hotel at 11.00 to head for the jetty where we join our boat for the next 10 nights. We have sailed with Pandaw on the Mekong from Cambodia to Vietnam and so we're looking forward to a trip up the Ayeryarwady (Irrawaddy) river knowing that we have the comfort of the boat, good shore excursions and relaxing whilst sailing past unique countryside. We boarded RV Kindat Pandaw and got settled into our cabin before a welcome drink and safety briefing. Afte...

Today we are due to fly to the ancient city of Pagan at 17.30 so we spent a couple of hours lolling around a couple more temples and the Mandalay palace. We took our cases with us and transferred to the airport after finishing. Every time our driver wanted to tell us something he said "lisen me" and on the hours drive back to the airport lisen me became more frequent, I pretended to be asleep so Lesley listened but she has now decided that when she wants my atten...

After checking into the hotel and getting sorted we decided to venture and find something to eat. I had found a couple of places on trip advisor recommended as "good local street food" so off we walked as it only looked a few streets away on the map. We eventually found it and decided to get a taxi back as the streets were full of pot holes and open drains that we could fall down in the dark. The place didn't look great and we created a lot of interest with the l...

Today we booked a car to take us around some of the sights so were collected at 08.30. Didn't have any ill effects from the interesting food so all was well. The driver arrived on time and we agreed on where we should go although all we could really do was to go by his recommendation which as it happened was good. Today was a festival for the full moon so everywhere was packed and music was blaring out as children stopped cars by holding sticks across the road he...