After getting a new transfusion of cash, we walked down to the south edge of the moat. We waited for something to come by to take us to the base of Mandalay Hill. In this case it was a pickup driver who must have run some errands and wanted to make a little extra money. Actually, the is the type of situation the tourists should search for. It's hard to travel here and not have a good chunk of one money make it's way into undemocratic coffers. If one has chances to put the cash into the hands of citizens then direct families can benefit.
We decided against 'cheating' and taking a vehicle up the mountain choosing instead to walk the hundreds of steps. Lots of sellers and a number of pagodas lined the way and it was a very leisurely one hour hike up and perhaps 45 minutes down. We then walked in the area to the Kuthodaw Pagoda. It contains hundreds of stone pages of holy text each housed in its own small protective temple. The area for all of these white structures in pretty huge; hence, it is often called the world's largest book.
We stopped by a roadside restaurant to a Myanmar lunch, meaning basically rice and lots of bowls of small curries, a salad, and soup. We returned to the base of our original climb and arranged for a taxi back to the hotel. I needed a nap.
In the evening we wanted to check out the pier on the Irrawaddy River. We may want to take a boat trip from there tomorrow morning. The front desk clerk said we could walk in 15 minutes. I don't know what his energy drink is, or what type of running shoes he owns, but it took us 45 minutes each way. I am having a little stomach trouble, so I won't have any dinner tonight.