We used the final hours to take in a little of our area of the city near the Clock Tower. First, after breakfast, we walked to the train station and back through the well-planned British grid of streets. After that, it was time to pack and check out of our hotel at noon. We left the bags by the front desk. Then, we walked around the closest market area. Asian markets both appeal and appal. Burma may be a poor country, but there was too much of everything for sale. Blankets blended into jeans into stationary into pharmaceuticals into fish heads into sugary sweets into vegetables that many peers will have never seen. It all occurred this way as this was the direction we walked through covered passages and motorcycle-strewn streets. We passed elbow to elbow with all manner of society.
An Older Mandalay Market, Lady Monks, Acres of Blankets
Of course we ate both a lunch and a later sidewalk dinner with time in the hotel lobby for rest and Internet access.
At around 7 o'clock we got a taxi and jumped in with our two backpacks to head to the long-distance bus terminal. We paid an extra couple of buck and are heading back to Rangoon in a super-luxury bus. It is one of those massive, comfortable, European coaches. This one has just three seats across with 2 aisles. And as on all night buses in Asia the a/c will be cranked to the max and everyone will be shivering under blankets.