We finally scored a win with the buses in Myanmar – we finally got hold of the elusive VIP tickets! Yes that’s right.. full reclining seats for the whole 10 hour trip back to Yangon. That is the definition of winning at life!!
An early morning entry back into Yangon and we once again haggled our way into a taxi only to be let off on the wrong street corner. A half hour of wandering aimlessly looking for non-existent street signs we found our hotel and were graciously allowed to check in. The remainder of the day was spent wandering about the city, checking out the parks, juice stands, temples and pagodas.
A special mention should go out to the outrageous Shwedagon pagoda – a massive complex with literally hundreds of temples and stupas, and a surprising display of ridiculous wealth. The massive central stupa itself is covered in something like 27 tons(!) of gold and topped with over 4,000 diamonds!! Up till now I’d always associated Buddhism with a lack of materialism.. but perhaps I’ve got all that wrong.
Ending our trip through Myanmar we flew out to Chiang Mai to meet up with a few friends before moving onward to Laos. Seeking out ways to keep ourselves entertained it seemed like a great idea to watch a Thai Boxing tournament one night and an even better idea to climb into the ring after the tournament finished. A few lads having a box/wrestle in Thailand.. what could go wrong..?
Everything was going well until a 12 year old kid entered the ring to challenge us. One thing led to another and I ended up with a broken nose. After dribbling blood for an hour or so we called it a night and that was that.
My face hurts..
