Mingun, Myanmar: Cow taxis!!!!

The Myanmar adventure is almost over!  So sad, but very excited to be on the road to the rest of SE Asia.  

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Took an hour+ boat ride across the Irrawaddy River to the tiny town of Mingun.  Our group guide Matt had told us that Mingun was a lovely city and was like stepping back in time. To be honest, I couldn't remember anything he said there was to do there, except that the city still has COW-PULLED TAXIS. WHAT.  On a mission to find cow taxis, stat.
• The boat ride itself was so nice, across impromptu planks onto wooden two-level contraptions. But we each got a bamboo lounger and it was the best.

Getting onto the boat - notice the human handrails 

I'm not boat expert, but does that boat look slightly overcrowded? They were all the cutest though; all the ladies were waving and smiling

• First stop after arriving in Mingun was the world's largest pile of bricks (GLAM). It was actually supposed to be a temple called Mingun Pahtodawgyi; initially started by a king in 1790. However, he never finished it because an astrologer told him once he finished it, he would die. 

World's largest pile of bricks. It's HUGE. It's all damaged and has these equally huge cracks running down its sides due to an earthquake in the 1800s.

And you can climb to the top

At the top with Stephen, Clare, and Will; bricks everywhere

Looking out on Mingun

Pano of Mingun and the Irrawaddy River

And then we found the cow taxis!!!! 

• Next on our self-guided tour of Mingun was the world's 2nd largest uncracked bell.  I tell you, this city is a hotspot.  Move over, NYC.

This bell was originally created to go inside the world's largest pile of bricks-temple. But obviously, since that's unfinished, now the bell just lives nearby for people to come see

And you can ring it with big sticks

• Last stop was the Hsinphyumae Pagoda, or what we dubbed the white pagoda.

The white pagoda - so cool-looking; kind of reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean or something

We are here. Boys are thrilled.

The white temple deets

• After our half-day adventure, we sailed back to Mandalay.

Bamboo loungers

• That evening, we started our overnight bus adventure to Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar. It was the nicest bus ever - they served food, had increds A/C (so increds that I thought we were in Antarctica and ended up wearing every single coat in my bag), and each of us got a personal TV that was playing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (so appropriate!).  In true fashion, I managed to pass out the entire night and miss every stop and the meal.  And woke up in Yangon! Next up, the big city!

Hooray night bus!

Kengtung to Inle Lake, Myanmar: The Sketchiest Airport Ever

Internet! The slowest internet in the entire world, yet still - glorious internet!

Cliffnotes of the Day:

• This AM, we took a flight from Kengtung to Inle Lake for the next leg of the trip. Seeing as how Kengtung is a tiny, tiny city (I mean, I've previously mentioned there were only 2 restaurant choices for dinner.....) - the airport itself was quite an experience. I'm actually a little surprised Kengtung even has an airport.

Our bus pulled up a small dirt road to this structure. THIS WAS THE ENTRANCE TO THE AIRPORT.

Oh, and here is their extra tight security. Some of our group didn't see the metal detector and walked right past it into the room - the security man had to come get them to make them go through.

The departure room of the Kengtung Airport

And here's the plane!  It was the only plane in the entire "airport", but was actually kind of legit - plus it was a 35-minute flight and they served beverages AND peanut butter cookies AND candy.  Asian airlines are where it's at

Soaring over Myanmar

Here's how they wheeled the steps on over to the airplane after landing

• Upon arrival at Heho Airport, it was a 45-minute drive to Inle Lake

Our tour guide told us we could get out and take photos with this bridge. I have no idea what it's called or why it's cool or what is going on with it, but if you tell me to take a photo, I will do it

And then we arrived at Inle Lake!  You have to pay for a ticket to even enter the area (about $10), and then you can head to any of the cities near the lake

• We are staying in this adorable hotel by Inle Lake called Paradise Hotel, where all the rooms are bungalows named after flowers.  I'm sitting on the patio of our little bungalow (which is named Rose) as we speak 
• Our group collectively decided to head to a local winery before dinner to go watch the sunset - it's called Red Mountain Estate and was started by a local Burmese with the assistance of a French winemaker.  The winery imports the grapes, machinery, oak barrels, etc. from all the fancy parts of Europe (apparently the best oak barrels come from Hungary? Who knew), so everything is super legit there

The center of Myanmar....OR FRANCE?!

The winery was incredibly pretty. Per usual with wineries

Enjoying a glass of wine - which I hate to admit, I did not love. Granted, I'm probably the least fancy wine person ever (I choose wine bottles based on how cool the label looks; bonus points for animals), but I thought all of the wines had a tiny tiny hint of wet swimsuit flavor

Our view of the sunset - AMAZE

PANO MODE

Artistic, because I am an artistic person

And then there was the most majestic sky as we were leaving the winery

My new mate Claire (all the English-speakers on the tour are from the UK, and I find myself accidentally picking up some of their weird British words and intonations out of nowhere)

The skies were insanely pretty. SE Asia is currently in rainy season so our guide was saying that he never sees sunsets like this