In Mandalay

 I am now in Mandalay with Win Kyaing, Win San, Saya Htay and I all working on my itinerary for the rest of the month. Apart from the Shinbinsagyo Pagoda Ceremony at Salay there will be Waso Fullmoon Day, which the whole country celebrates and a Fish Feeding Ceremony at Pwinphyu near Magwe, which should be different!

Air Asia now operates from Mingaladon Airport’s new Terminal 1 in Yangon, which has thick carpets but the seats look as though they are cardboard cutouts (I couldn’t try them because I was on my way out).

As I usually do, I headed for the Green Nothing-to-Declare Queue only to be redirected to a small room where they could investigate the contents of my big brown suitcase. Fortunately, Hazel had the good sense to tell me to put Rotary’s card of thanks for my talk on the Used-Glasses Project on top of the almost 150 pairs of glasses. This would have helped. The Customs Official looked puzzled but from the state of some of the glasses’ cases in particular, he could tell I did not have in mind to sell them. So I zipped up the case and was allowed to leave.

I travelled this time with a different bus company as Tun Shwe has changed his job. This bus stops only once on the nine hour journey. I missed the stop, as I must have been asleep when everybody got out for the bathroom and refreshments. I woke up to find not only were there no passengers or lights on – I couldn’t get out as I was locked in. So I went back to sleep.