More color

I had some real reservations about going to Myanmar, and I can't even define what my worries were beforehand. I know that one thing I worried about, though, was a lack of good wifi. I know, I know, sad, right? When you have blog readers hanging by a thread , waiting to find out where you are next, that becomes a concern! Haha. I know there at least two of you reading along...in fact, the wifi went from bad to worse the longer we traveled. That is why I have not been able to blog or answer e mail much.

 In many ways, Myanmar is not ready for the onslaught of tourism that I believe may be coming soon. For one thing, communicating can be difficult, with a real lack of English. But usually there is someone who can speak a little and they'll find them to help figure out what you are asking, and they try very hard.

 I wasn't the only one who was often trying to find a wifi connection. You can see them everywhere- travelers in restaurants, hotel lobbies, hunched over their phones or computers. We need it to connect and when we can't find it we can't plan onward travel, or communicate. 

Mostly though, I found Myanmar easy for travel and worth the effort. Certainly the experiences we had at Inle lake area were worth the time it took to get here. 

The second day we were here, jim and I had nothing more on our agenda than going for a bike ride on the bikes provided by our hotel. It was so pleasant to be outside the small city center in 5 minutes, riding along cool country roads .

Peaceful until a motorbike or truck beeps to let you know they are approaching.

Neat little houses, often made from woven reeds.

And off in the distance, you might see a monestary. 

Then you come back to town for a traditional Shan style lunch of avocado salad, noodle soup, and curry, with all the accompaniments.

I can't really tell what each of these bowls contain, but one is peanuts, then chili paste, anchovies, I think and something pickled. Very different than anything we had eaten.

Quite honestly, though, our favorite restaurant was across the street, named The Seagull. We liked everything we ate there and were almost regulars by the time we left. It was staffed by teenagers,and they were all very sweet. Jim even wanted to buy one of their t shirts, but they were fresh out..

Simple, but good food, at a reasonable price. What's not to love? Note the typical woven walls.