Myanmar Part 4 - Kalaw to Inle Lake; Last Days in Yangon

Ok - last installment for Myanmar and then it is on to other things. It is the longest one by far. Good luck!


Kalaw to Inle Lake and Last Days in Yangon – Wednesday October 25 to Sunday October 29

We are up early to pack and I feel very off. This is worrying as we have a pretty tough hike ahead of us. We wanted to check email so we went to a big hotel on the main drag to use the internet. Despite there being a sign in the hotel’s window that read “Internet / Email 24 Hours,” the man behind the desk says “No internet. Sometimes it takes many hours to work.” Um, ok. So ourHwe head over to the Golden Lilly Guesthouse (the one we decided not to stay at) to see if we can use the internet there. And they say of course – and one guy comes out from the back and turns on THE computer that they have there. After 25 minutes I give up. First of all the internet is controlled by the government so there are only a few web sites you can access. The Golden Lilly has to have a special permit in order to be able to get Yahoo. Except it isn’t even the Yahoo web page – just the email page. And over and over again we put in my password, wait for the slower than molasses dial-up to do whatever it does and then nothing. Just unreal. We still end up paying the guy some kyats for trying. Talk about frustrating.

We went back to our Guesthouse and met Nuang-Nuang and his helper, Tee-Tee. We begin the 6 hour trek and I am feeling all sorts of not good. The first couple hours it was pretty easy hiking.

We stopped by a temple with a bamboo Buddha in it and rested with tea.

This is when the warning light on my camera came on for low battery on my second and last battery. So disheartening. So we started mixing using the $5 camera and my camera. My strategy for using my digital camera was to turn it on, snap the picture and turn it off right away. I thought I might be able to take pix the rest of the way like this – kind of trick the camera. I was right.

The villages we stop at along the way are just amazing. Various ethnic tribes populate the mountains, and they live in such traditional ways that it is like stepping into the past almost. Of course the villages are very poor – no running water or electricity (or not much where they have it), very poor education system, and people survive by growing crops – rice and whatever else they can grow. The first village we stopped in was quite poor. Most of the villages are deserted during the day (except for the kids and grandmothers and some women) as all the villagers are out in the fields working. We stopped by the local schoolhouse to drop off some notebooks and pencils. The schoolhouse is very primitive – basically a large hut with dirt floors. There are 4 grades in this school house (elementary school) with 3 teachers for 80 students. The only item they really have is a chalkboard for each grade. And the kids seem to come and go as they please. And this is where the stickers caused such a stir. When Margaret brought out the stickers all the kids swarmed around her like they had never seen them before. Margaret took a sticker and put it on her face and then all of the kids wanted her to stick one on their faces. And she had a huge group around her until they all had one (some of the sneakier ones got two or three)! It was mass smiles, laughter and chaos. It turned out to be the best purchase – the kids absolutely loved the stickers.

Although the trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake is from the mountain to the valley, it seems like we are doing a lot of uphill trekking. And although I started the day feeling pretty badly, a couple of hours into the hike and I feel pretty good. A little tired and sucking air, but otherwise normal. We also got very lucky as it didn’t rain very much the three days we were out there. And at this time it can rain a lot, which makes the hiking much tougher. However, it was still a bit wet and muddy in places, and of course right before lunch I take a spill. I do save a total disaster as I brake my fall with my hands, but of course they become muck covered. Fun. We have lunch at a little place called the Viewpoint. It is basically a few circular hut/gazebos with views of the mountainside.

And other than the bees it was totally relaxing. So Tee-Tee is basically our sherpa (Nilla I couldn’t ship him to Chicago for you) – he carries all the food supplies and cooks every meal. And he is an amazing cook. For lunch we had an amazing pumpkin curry. I can taste it now. We see Matt again (there are only a few main treks – so you will see the same people during your trek – I guess during the busy season the trails can get pretty crowded) and he joins us and the bees for lunch. The Viewpoint also has a garden and they are growing these giant cucumbers – so amazing. And like almost everywhere in Myanmar you see tea leaves out in the sun drying. So funny how cheap and abundant tea is here. In fact we see an abundance of many things: tea, tomatoes, avocados (YUCK), pumpkins, chili’s, etc.

During the afternoon it becomes much hotter – and although still nice compared to Yangon and Bagan, it is hot hiking in the sun. And Naung-Naung tells us that today is the easy day and tomorrow will be longer and have much more sun. Always good to know. We walk through a few villages on the way – there are many different tribes, the main two we see are Palaung and Pa-O.

The two of us, Matt and a Polish couple also trekking are the only foreigners. It is so scenic and relaxing, and each village is just fascinating. As I have become a little nervous about my camera battery and only allow quick shots, Margaret dubs me a new nickname, the Super Camera Nazi.

Towards the end of the hike we walk on the railroad tracks. And it totally reminds me of a Stand By Me type of hike. And it seems like we are walking the tracks forever. We are only on Day 1 and I am really feeling it. As I just taught my class Idioms – my dogs were barking (by the way – almost everyone of my students likes to write about how Mr. Rich kicked the bucket in their warm up exercises – so funny). We finally get to a small station right on the rail tracks and get to take a break. Nuang-Nuang tells us it won’t be much longer from here. And this was one of the best breaks of the trip. We stop in a hut right by the tracks and sit down for some tea, water, snacks and cheroots. The family there is quite interested in us, and their little boy overcomes his shyness when Margaret pulls out the stickers. He gets this huge Mickey Mouse sticker and is just ecstatic. He goes and shows off to other kids, and soon it is complete chaos again. And the kids are absolutely adorable. And in almost all cases the lure of the sticker makes them overcome their shyness.

We were also lucky as a train pulled in just before we left, so we got to see the market in action. The train runs so slowly that people ride on top of it. When it pulls into the station, all the village people run up to the train cars to sell things. The people sell like mad for the 10 minutes the train is there, and then things are back to normal. And they sell everything: fruit, veggies, flowers, baskets, etc. Before we leave the town Nuang-Nuang buys some Myanmar whiskey for the evening.

I can’t remember the name of the village that we stayed in – but we stayed with the nicest family ever. They are obviously one of the better off families in the village as they have a pretty nice hut, with quite a bit of land. Of course there is no running water or electricity and the outhouse is one of those squat toilets, which will provide me with much discomfort over the next couple of days. For water they let concrete barrels fill up with rain. That is also how you shower – taking bucketfuls of water out of the barrels. The house, like most of them in the mountains, is on stilts and the “farmland in the mountains” scenery is incredible. The grandparents own the house – they are 65 (woman) and 68 (man) and the sweetest couple ever. They have 10 kids and 34 grandkids, although only a total of four (including the grandparents) lived at this house. But it is a very social place, as people come and go all the time. The old lady tells us to sit down and relax – and we sit at a table on the second floor looking out at the mountains. Nuang-Nuang brings out the whiskey and we start drinking whiskey, eating snacks and smoking cheroots.

The old woman sits by us and is just so nice. We try and communicate and for the most part I think we are getting the general idea – but who knows? We bring out the huge cheroots that we got in Bagan, and the old man can’t believe it! He is so shocked by them – and it just turns into the funniest thing. He wants to smoke one, but he is too shy to ask for one. We give him one, but he won’t smoke it in front of us. So he goes to his bedroom and smokes it – and all the people in the house have to go in and see what he is doing – and there is laughter and sounds of amazement coming from the room for the next ½ hour. So funny. And the old man was so shy – he spent most of his time out of sight – but would come out every once in awhile to tell us something important or just to smile and make sure we felt welcome.

The house has one really livable floor – the raised one. The ground floor is just on the dirt ground – and not for sleeping. The second floor is basically a bedroom and a main room. A section of the main room can be curtained off, and that is where they have guests sleep. When it gets dark we head to the main room and Tee-Tee brings us dinner. And it was well worth the wait. As it is dark now, the four of us (including Nuang-Nuang and Tee-Tee) have dinner by candlelight. Tee-Tee’s dinner includes tomatoes with peanut sauce, bean soup, beef curry and veggies.

And whiskey of course. Nuang-Nuang can put back the Whiskey. And I am drinking a fair amount, but pacing myself because I haven’t felt well. When Nuang-Nuang gets a little Whiskey in him he talks non-stop, which is so much fun because he is a wealth of knowledge. Nuang-Nuang likes kung fu movies, has never seen contact lenses before (he was so interested when Margaret took out her contacts), the first thing he says to anything you say is yes, he has five brothers who are all taxi drivers in Yangon, he is half Indian and half Burmese, his parents died in a car accident, he is 27 and has been married for 6 months to a Chinese woman. We also learn that most people in Myanmar cannot get a passport. We talk about politics and government too – but I can’t repeat it here.

After we finished dinner and the whiskey, one of the grandparent’s sons wanted us to go to his house and try some traditional “Shan” (the State we are in) food. We accept and Nuang-Nuang tells us to get our backpacks and flash lights and we gear up. This turns out to be hilarious because we think we are going on a significant walk and the son’s house is a couple of hundred feet away. So just after eating dinner, we are eating again. Both of us are full, but want to be appreciative so we eat as much as we can – it is basically a rice dish with garlic – although it has a distinctive flavor.

We stay for about an hour, and then their kids can’t keep their eyes open anymore, so we say goodnight and head back to our host’s house. We sleep in the corner behind the curtain, and it is pitch black out there. I can’t remember it ever seeming darker. At 4am I have to take a trip to the outhouse – it is an adventure finding it with the flashlight. And this time I didn’t need to squat, but that is coming up, so keep reading. At some ungodly time, well before it is light out, a rooster starts crowing, and that is the end of sleep.

As we get ready for breakfast I feel my tummy rumbling and I know that I am in trouble. Off to the outhouse and the squat toilet. And this may be the most unfun thing in the world. It is basically a toilet at ground level, so you have to squat over it and deliver. It smells horribly in the outhouse and you just want to get out of there as soon as possible. Good thing we brought TP with us as there is none there. Brutal. But I manage. I find out later that I have been standing (or squatting really) in the wrong direction. You are supposed to walk and squat. Not walk in, turn around and squat. Oops.

We eat breakfast and then say our goodbyes. There are a lot of smiles as one of the granddaughters gives Margaret some flowers, and even the shy old man comes out to say goodbye. We leave thinking what a great experience we just had. I am also thinking about how sore I am after one day of hiking. And I also feel like ka-ka. I am really hurting this morning – and it makes me nervous on two counts: 1) that the hike is gonna be brutal for me today and 2) I am now convinced that I have malaria (of course when I get home and actually read about malaria I realize even if I had it I wouldn’t be showing effects yet). This is also the toughest day of hiking – over 7 hours and all in the hot sun. I am feeling terrible by the time we take our first break for tea in a little village. I feel nauseous and like I may have a fever. I just sit down and everyone can tell I’m not right. I use the toilet (another squatter) for the second time already. Nuang-Nuang comes to my rescue though. He gives me a vitamin drink and some Gatorade type stuff – and I mix that with aspirin and Immodium AD and within an hour I feel fine again. Weird. But I’ll take it.

We continue hiking until we get to a Pa-O village where we have lunch. Again, we are in a house on stilts, and once I sit on the bamboo floor I can feel all of my muscles. And they are aching. Many village kids come to the house to check us out, and they are really shy. They sit by the door and look at us and talk to each other and smile. When Margaret offers them stickers and candy they slowly come up to us, take the goodies, and head right back to where they were. They aren’t taking any chances with us! And the women with the kids were absolutely stunning. Though not as stunning as my fellow trekker of course.

Our afternoon was trekking through the mountains. I was super exhausted and basically remember lots of yellow flowers and being in the sun all day, which made it super hot. I remember the wonderful feeling of each break and the despair when break time was over!

Towards the end of the day we stopped one last time for tea and we saw Matt again. And Nuang-Nuang bought some Myanmar rum this time.

Very close to sundown we arrive at where we will stay for the evening: a Buddhist Monastery. It is a pretty big compound and they are used to having visitors, as it is a normal stopover place on hikes.

Both Matt and the Polish couple are also staying here overnight. They have a shower, although it is outside and you have to have someone pump water for you. But I tell ya, a shower never felt better. After the showers we go to our “rooms” to relax before dinner. We are staying in the main Monastery building, and they section off “rooms” with blankets hanging from ropes. Margaret and I get a “room” that you have to enter from someone else’s “room” – which sucks, and will suck even more when a bathroom trip at night is needed.

After an hour or so of relaxing Nuang-Nuang calls us for dinner. Dinner is in the cookhouse, a small building just outside of the main Monastery. And dinner is cooked (by fires) inside the cookhouse, so it is smoky. Really smoky. Crazy smoky. It is tough to breathe and my eyes are tearing the whole time.

Dinner by Tee-Tee was amazing again: chicken with cauliflower, pumpkin soup and ridiculously good cucumbers with peanut sauce. But Nuang-Nuang tells me I shouldn’t eat many of the cucumbers because I am not feeling well. Frick! So we eat, drink rum, smoke cheroots (I know, I know – probably not the best to complain about how smoky it is and then admit you were smoking cheroots) and chat. The Polish couple and Matt are eating at the table next to us, and when they are finished eating, the Polish couple leaves and Matt joins us. As I wasn’t feeling good earlier in the day, I don’t drink much rum. Nuang-Nuang doesn’t have this problem and once again he becomes very chatty and entertaining. But it is another early night as everyone is wiped out from the trekking.

We make a trip to the outhouse (yes, squat toilet) before bed and I have to use the facilities again. All the time I am just thinking I can’t wait for a sit down toilet, especially with my stomach in this condition. I greet every tummy rumble with despair. And it is so much fun in the dark with a little flashlight. Ugh. But it gets worse. During the night both Margaret and I have to head to the bathroom. First we have to get adjusted to the dark, turn on our flashlight and walk from our “room” through someone else’s “room.” That person just got woken up. Then we get to the door and it has been closed and locked. So of course the door makes crazy groaning noises when we unlock it and open it. That probably woke up a few more people. Then our sandals are not outside where we left them, and all of this has made me super irritated and we haven’t even left the building yet! So there are three pairs of flip-flops there, none of which fit me. So Margaret and I head out for the bathrooms – and I can’t believe I didn’t slip and fall and break my leg with those ill-fitting flip-flops, especially navigating the small hill up to the outhouse (actually going down was worse). And it is pitch black outside – although on the way back gazing at the stars is pretty cool. And of course in the morning we see that the monks had taken all the sandals and placed them just inside the door. Ye gods!

Speaking of the morning, we are awakened at 5:30 in the morning to the monks chanting and praying. The life of a monk is spent praying and learning about Buddha and Buddhism. Many boys become monks because it is their only chance at an education and/or because they have a troubled home life (of course this is not to say that is the only reason one would become a monk). Monks have some serious rules to follow. Monks are not allowed to touch (or be touched by) a woman – in fact when offering a monk something, a woman must first pass it to a man, who can then give it to the monk. The Monastery we were at seemed to be a little relaxed. They had a generator and used it for three hours every evening. Now you might think that this is just for foreigners, but we heard that the head Monk loves karaoke and EPL (English Premier League for those of you globally challenged). Unfortunately for us the head Monk was not there so we couldn’t verify this.

After the “wake up call” and breakfast we head off on our final day trekking. And today will be an easy half day for us (4 hours to Indein Village on Inle Lake, where we will get a boat to take us into town). In the first few minutes we hand out the rest of our pens and stickers and also run into Matt, who had his face painted with the traditional Thanakha (sunscreen / makeup).

And of course I feel horrible again. And it is hot again. And getting hotter as we get closer to Inle Lake. During one break we see two women and a kid walking with their water buffalos. Actually the kid is riding on his.

And it is so funny, because the kid is obviously trying to be stern with the water buffalo and it isn’t really listening to him. And the kid shouts in his best adult voice, but the water buffalo pretty much just puts up with him. We are resting near a small lake/pond and the water buffalo get to rest too, as they wade in and take a load off. We also walk by a basket weaver and talk to him for awhile. It is too bad the baskets were to big to travel with, as they are really nice. We learn that it takes him one hour to weave a basket and four hours to walk them to the market. He earns about 600 kyats per basket (about 50 cents). Ouch.

We also see some rice cake vendors along the way.

We get to Indein Village and it is a tourist trap. Basically it is a stop along the boat tour around Inle Lake to show people “village life.” Which of course consists of souvenirs. There are so many tourists here who obviously just get off the boat, buy something and get back on the boat again. Margaret and I are so glad we decided to spend our time on the trek. We do break down and buy cold drinks at Indein, and it is the biggest rip-off of the trip, but after three days with no cold drinks, it seems quite worth it. The cigar boat takes us (including Nuang-Nuang and Tee-Tee) to Nyaungshwe, which is the main town on Inle Lake. The ride takes about an hour and it is so nice. The breeze makes it cool, although the sun is still torching. They have umbrellas on the boat and it isn’t until Nuang-Nuang opens one and uses it that I realize the umbrellas are for protection from the sun and not in case it rains. Um, yeah.

And of course as we are getting close to port, our engine dies. And we kind of float to an edge of the lake – and the boat is quite wobbly in the water. Every time another boat passes we get its wake, and it feels like we are going to tip. And without the speed and the breeze, it is unbelievably hot. Ugh. We finally get to our stop (our driver rowed us in) and Nuang-Nuang and Tee-Tee walk us to our hotel, which is much further than I would have hoped in this heat.

We had decided to “pamper” ourselves at Inle Lake and so we reserved a “Superior” room at the Nanda Wunn Hotel ($25). But it wasn’t what we had hoped. The room was ok and quite big, but the service was horrible and everybody there was grumpy. Ugh. We have one last cheroot with Nuang-Nuang and Tee-Tee and then it is time for goodbyes.

And once again it is really sad. I felt like we needed them for the rest of the trip. When I mention later how much I miss them and how sad I feel, Margaret accuses me of being in love with Nuang-Nuang. J

We rent bikes again, and these are about the same quality as in Kalaw, so once again we provide many people with smiles. We try top find a restaurant on the canal (at least according to the LP) but have no luck. It is one of the only places shown on the other side of the canal – but when we get over there we can’t find it and everyone we talk to (or try to talk to) has no idea what we are talking about. And with all the traffic (car, bike, truck, foot), dirt roads and the huge puddles from rain water, it is quite dangerous to bike in Nyaungshwe.

We stop for a late lunch at Miss Nyaungshwe Restaurant and think we need some banana milkshakes to help cool down. We also order a tomato salad and guacamole. The tomato salad is awesome and Margaret loves the guacamole (I have an anti-avocado stance so I won’t even try it). The milkshakes were another story though. They may have been good, but they arrived at our table boiling hot. When our waitress saw our reaction she poured ice into them, but the ice looked suspect, so we ordered cold beer instead. Which has never tasted so good (the Myanmar brand beer is damn good by the way). After milling around for awhile we head back to our hotel for a “traditional Myanmar massage.” This takes place in your room. The two “masseurs” arrive – an old lady for Margaret and a 14 year old boy (who also happens to be our bell boy) for me. Go ahead and get your chuckles. Anyway – the massage felt great on our aching muscles and joints. I almost fall asleep during the massage and am kind of half awake when it is over. We have to jet to get to dinner on time (we are meeting Matt) and in my dim state I decide to wear shorts and don’t even think about mosquito repellent. Bad Idea jeans.

Dinner at the Golden Kite is quite good. We meet Matt there and chat over dinner and beers. He is heading to Bagan after this and we are heading back to Yangon, so it is sort of a farewell dinner. We enjoy pizza, pasta and of course the Myanmar beer. However I am getting eaten alive by mosquitos. So much so that right before dinner I head back to our room and change into jeans and lather on the mosquito repellent (the cream that barely works). After dinner as we are sitting around chatting a truck full of people stops and they all pile out. They turn on some music and start dancing – we are told it is a dance for Buddha – but couldn’t really figure out anymore than that, or if that was even correct. After the dancing and singing we say goodbye to Matt and head back to the wonderful Nanda Wunn. And there I check out my feet and ankles and find them covered with mosquito bites. And I am convinced once again that I must have malaria.

Breakfast on Saturday morning is the worst breakfast we have had (uncooked eggs) – and of course it was at the most expensive place we had stayed at. Figures. After we pay for the room we realize that we are in a bit of trouble money wise. In Myanmar you can spend either Kyat or US dollars. There are NO ATMs in the country. So you need to bring all the money you need with you. I thought we had brought more than enough, but things have a way of adding up, even in “cheap” countries. So we figure out we still need to save money for a cab to the HeHo airport, a cab from the Yangon airport, a room for one night in Yangon and a taxi to the Yangon airport. That leaves us with approximately $10. Doh. We do have some Thai Baht and were told that you could exchange it in Yangon (for a really bad rate) and we pray that that is true. We try to exchange the Thai Baht at a couple of places in Inle Lake, but no deal. So we can’t afford to take a cigar boat around the lake and have to settle for a canoe ride. We haggle with a guy on the street and work out a deal. He takes us in his cigar boat to his house on the lake (there is a huge fishing village – all the houses are on stilts right above the lake – tiny places) and we switch to his canoe. He heads back to town and his wife paddles us around for a couple of hours. It is super hot and the sun just kills you on the open lake.

We stop at a Buddhist Monastery (another house on the water) and take a break there. There a two young kids (monks in training) eating food and seven kids watching them. When the young Monks are done, the seven kids polish off what is left. So the Monastery is a place where poor kids can get food.

After our canoe ride we went back to Miss Nyaungshwe Restaurant for a bite to eat before we leave. On the way we see just where our soon to be ordered tomato salad comes from.

And Margaret has been talking about the guacamole all day. And when she orders it the lady just says “oh, no have.” Turns out you can’t get guacamole before 4pm. Hmm. So we get two tomato salads and then it was time to leave. We got back to the Nanda Wunn and jumped in our cab. The taxi ride was pretty uneventful until we got to the town of HeHo, where the airport is. We actually ended up stuck in a parade! I’m not sure what was being celebrated, but when our taxi driver pulled up to the main street it was blocked by a parade. So he backed up and took a bunch of side streets – racing like hell to try and get ahead of the parade. When we got back to the main road he hadn’t succeeded in beating the parade, but we were near the front of it. So he just pulled into the parade and slowly made his way by soldiers, cars, floats, bands, etc. It was unreal. Everyone was just cracking up at us. Of course I was nervous as I was thinking about missing the flight! We again had a stopover in Mandalay (we stopped there twice without seeing it) and were then back in Yangon. We told ourselves that we were just going to get our bags and go outside and get a taxi and not be taken in by any of the “guides” like last time. So the first person we see asks us for our bag checks – and he looks official so I give them to him and he goes off searching for our bags. Damn – another “guide” – damn! Anyway he comes back with my bag, but not Margaret’s bag. So I go out by the plan to look for Margaret’s bag and it isn’t there! When I get back Margaret has her bag. Turns out a Chinese man had accidentally taken her bag and she luckily spotted him as he was leaving. Disaster averted!

We head back to the Haven Inn for our last night in Myanmar and Dr. Htun does exchange the Thai Baht for us. And of course it isn’t the best rate, but people had made it sound like we would get killed on the rate. I swear that people take this exchange rate thing way too seriously. I think we got “killed” out of $3 maybe. I can handle that. We head to Ashoka Indian Restaurant for dinner and it was really good. Tons of food was just what we needed. It was in a hotel, and we were vastly underdressed. I was in shorts and it was definitely a business casual type of place. But they weren’t very busy and didn’t mind. I felt like an ass though. After filling up on Indian food we too tired to head out, so we never made it back to My Guitar Bar where our CD awaited us. L

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Haven Inn – this time we ordered one Myanmar breakfast and one Western breakfast – so we could have the best of both! We had a few hours before our flight so we went to the Bogyoke Aung San Market. If you remember from earlier, the last time we got to Bogyoke Aung San just about the time we had to leave. So we wanted to check it out. What a great place to spend a few hours – a great market. We picked up a ton of stuff. Then we walked around the neighborhood looking for some Cheroots. After we found them it was time to go back to the Haven Inn and get our stuff and leave. So we jumped in a cab. The taxi on the way there took about 5 minutes. So after 10 minutes I ask the taxi driver if he is going to Haven Inn. And I can’t figure out what he is saying. Here is another pointer – many cab drivers will just say yes to whatever you tell them, even if they don’t understand you. The cab driver had no idea what we were saying and vice-versa. He took us to a hotel that started with an “H” but it certainly wasn’t Haven. So then he pulls over and says it will cost more. We should have gotten out right then, but didn’t. He drives us around – all in all 45 minutes! – with no idea where he is going. Finally we just have him leave us at a large hotel. I am so pissed at this point and he keeps saying he must get paid everything. Finally I just throw the money at him and get out and slam the door. I totally lost my cool – and it just isn’t done in this culture. I feel so badly about it now – especially because I don’t think he was purposely forking with us – just that he wanted the fare and didn’t understand “Haven Inn” – and I really over-reacted. But for those of you who know me well, there was a plane to catch!

After the Hell Taxi, we jump in another cab, make sure he knows where Haven Inn is – and get a ride back. We grab our stuff, say goodbye to Dr. Htun and get a cab to the airport. One of the bell boys from Haven joins us for the ride (I think it is a family operation) – and it is no problem. We get to the airport and I am a little worried. We are once again running out of money and still have to pay the airport tax. We have the $20 that it costs, but not much more than that. Like only a few dollars more. And I just think what if they won’t take one of the bills because it is bent or ripped. That would be just my luck. But after inspecting the bills carefully, we are all good to go. And we have just enough money to get an ice cream at the airport diner, although we have to pay for it with our last dollars and tip with our last kyat. Nothing like using every last kyat! Plus our plane is about a ½ hour late so Bangkok Airlines gives us free OJ and snacks in the airport. I can’t remember United doing that. And then it is just a short 2 hours and we are back in Bangkok and the Myanmar adventure is over.