The Amazing not a Race: Saving the best for last

Well,we almost considered skipping past Inle Lake, but thank goodness we didn't, and thank goodness that we ended up staying for three nights since we left Mandalay early. Of course once we were in Mandalay we discovered that we could have taken a one day cruise on the Ayerwaddy river from Bagan to Mandalay, which we would have liked to do, but we didn't find out about it until it was too late.

So we flew to Heho airport and began the 45 minute drive into Nyaung Shwe. I got a good feeling for this area right away, and felt a bit like Golidlocks when we got to town. Yangon was too big, Bagan was too small but Nyaung Shwe was just right! Plus it was more mountainous and quite a bit cooler in the morning and evening. "Cool"was something we had not experienced for a month and a half!

Sunrise from our hotel

And another view

We were really in the country, and heard birds and a few roosters in the morning. I decided that is one of my favorite travel sounds-the dawn chorus of birds in the early morning. There were a lot of other sounds, too, that were not as pleasant, like motorbikes beeping and really loud trucks that sounded like the most annoying unmuffeled motorcycles.

But there were so many wonderful sights and a perfect sized market, and it happened to be market day! Ah, music to my ears. I love a good market anywhere in the world, and this was my first really good market of the trip, surprisingly.

So since I kinds cheated you on photos recently, I will overcompensate by giving you more than enough, starting with the market.

I couldn't resist these tiny sweet peas and roses for $1. Water bottles are good for vases too!