Share Taxi from Inle Lake to Mandalay.

Last night we went on a mission to secure a taxi from Inla Lake to Mandalay and our luck came in when after lengthy negotiations elsewhere, our guesthouse agreed to provide us with a (black market) taxi for the princely sum of $70. We started off at 0830 and after a pretty hairy journey through the mountains around Inla Lake, we arrived at our destination at about 5pm. On the journey we saw many people working in the fields and on the roads but by far the most strange was a group of young women who were tarring the road by hand. It was a hot and dusty day, even in the car and knowing that many of these people are part of a forced labour group of workers was a stark reminded of the responsibility that I feel being given the privilege of being allowed into Burma. When we arrived at The Royal Guest House, I was given a $3 room with a shared bathroom which is small but nice and fulfils my adjusted necessary requirements of having a window and a fan so I am happy. We found an internet café where I was the only one lucky enough to be able to read and respond briefly to emails. Then we went to a local café for supper where Jair’s requirements for kosher food were met with some confusion so he headed off with John, almost certainly in search of the local ‘dhisko’. After they left a Burmese man tried to stick us with his beer bill but Ada saw it coming and we averted any conflict. There is a small cosy roof terrace at the top of our guesthouse, so Ada and I met there with another ‘lone’ traveller called Anya, from Germany, and ended our evening discussing the best practices of responsible tourism in a country such as Burma.