So what to say so far about BURMA?

Its hot, hot, hot and the power cuts that take place regularly, bust most annoyingly just as we go to bed, are really stifling. Yesterday, I arrived in Yangon early morning and met Ada and John, from Australia, who are on their way to England and a few others. We decided to take a taxi into town together and there the adventure began. Taxis anywhere can be a challenge and Yangon was no exception but it gave us a chance to see first hand how useful having an Israeli in the group can be. Yair, a slightly older, lone traveller, set the tone for the trip by reducing hard nosed taxi drivers to a quiver with his bargaining powers. We have kept him close by ever since and as a bonus, he is a comedian as well but the best thing is that he has no pretentions and talks to everyone. He has ordered 2 suits to be made for the princely sum of $60 and if there is a bargain to be got, he will get it. This is particularly handy when it comes to buying black market currency, which happens as routinely as a hair cut back home. The market changes slightly daily hovering around 1240 Khat (pronounced chat) for a dollar, it doesn’t take too long to figure it out though and I have been very pleased with my perfectly new never-folded $100 bills that I brought from Bangkok. Yair has one with a serial number which is unacceptable to the changers and any tears will make them significantly less marketable. The highest note in Burma is 1000K so wallets and rucksacks are bulging with the notes. The four of us have walked a lot while we have been here, visiting a Wat and various road side coffee shops. Earlier today we spotted a small slum type village and after a quick discussion we walked in, said hello, tried to say some Burmese words and were made feel so incredibly welcome, even being given a tour through the back to see the well where they get their drinking water and water for washing. Even thought the houses looked tiny from where we were standing, they all had satellite dishes. TV here is another anomaly. It all cuts out at about 11pm and while it is on, it seems to be an unending debate about taxi drivers across the world. I have been told that hotmail and gmail are inaccessible but I haven’t seen an internet café for myself yet. I know that people at home aren’t expecting contact so its no harm. We have discussed travel options with many, many people here and finally agreed to get to Bago by 2 hour bus journey tomorrow. Then we will go to Inle Lake. I think we will try to stay together as long as we can as there is negotiating power in numbers and while Yair is possibly not my usual travelling companion, there are unlikely to be too many dull moments with him.