Needless to say. We were a little sceptical this morning. How often do you bump into a complete stranger in a far away town who offers you a free guided tour? James kept his promise and we talked to him about his plans for the morning and first issue was to call his friend and have him bring one more scooter so we could get around town. A few minutes of waiting and "Yang" showed up and we were on the way. First scheduled stop - James' home - or at least the place he had a bed to sleep in.
We drove through a nice residential area and suddenly there was a cafe and we stopped there and had breakfast - noodles and tea - before heading to James' place. Or the place with the family that he stayed with. It turned out that they were running their own little hospital taking care of people with broken bones, patching the poor people together and giving them a place to rest and recover. So we were shown a lot of interesting x-ray pictures of fractures before being taken to another building to meet the actual patients - and they could meet us. There is free healthcare in Myanmar but the country is still one of the countries spending the least amount per capita in the world and this effectively means you are left to "clinics" like this unless you are part of the wealthy elite. We pay our taxes at home with an ever increasing joy when we come across places like this.
After the visit we went to James' friends place where he was running his own pharmacy, waited a bit for the friend to take care of business and then we left for the local lake and a small amusement park and had a chance to sit down and talk some more with James about his story, the recent elections in Myanmar and his view on Pathein. We were dropped off a bit later at our hotel and stayed inside for the rest of the afternoon. It is also hot here, but slightly cooler than 40 degrees.
Once the sun started to set in the afternoon we did another two hours of city walking on our own, Mikkel had a hair cut (1000 Kyat) and we ended up down at the river having a cold beer for sunset. Then we headed back to the hotel, James picked us up and we went to the northern part of town and a restaurant right on the bank of the river and had local food with James and a couple of his friends. It was now very clear that we were the main attraction of the evening and as we made it though the menu of pigs ears, pigs skin and other local delicacies there was a lot of photo shooting.
Dinner was interesting - maybe not our favorite meal so far - but we enjoyed hanging out with James and friends and getting to know them a bit before heading back to the hotel. A bit of sightseeing on our own tomorrow morning before catching the bus to the beach around noon and spending some days there with no plans - except no plans.
We drove through a nice residential area and suddenly there was a cafe and we stopped there and had breakfast - noodles and tea - before heading to James' place. Or the place with the family that he stayed with. It turned out that they were running their own little hospital taking care of people with broken bones, patching the poor people together and giving them a place to rest and recover. So we were shown a lot of interesting x-ray pictures of fractures before being taken to another building to meet the actual patients - and they could meet us. There is free healthcare in Myanmar but the country is still one of the countries spending the least amount per capita in the world and this effectively means you are left to "clinics" like this unless you are part of the wealthy elite. We pay our taxes at home with an ever increasing joy when we come across places like this.
After the visit we went to James' friends place where he was running his own pharmacy, waited a bit for the friend to take care of business and then we left for the local lake and a small amusement park and had a chance to sit down and talk some more with James about his story, the recent elections in Myanmar and his view on Pathein. We were dropped off a bit later at our hotel and stayed inside for the rest of the afternoon. It is also hot here, but slightly cooler than 40 degrees.
Once the sun started to set in the afternoon we did another two hours of city walking on our own, Mikkel had a hair cut (1000 Kyat) and we ended up down at the river having a cold beer for sunset. Then we headed back to the hotel, James picked us up and we went to the northern part of town and a restaurant right on the bank of the river and had local food with James and a couple of his friends. It was now very clear that we were the main attraction of the evening and as we made it though the menu of pigs ears, pigs skin and other local delicacies there was a lot of photo shooting.
Dinner was interesting - maybe not our favorite meal so far - but we enjoyed hanging out with James and friends and getting to know them a bit before heading back to the hotel. A bit of sightseeing on our own tomorrow morning before catching the bus to the beach around noon and spending some days there with no plans - except no plans.
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| Morning view from our hotel |
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| Meeting with James |
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| And James' friend |
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| Breakfast |
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| Somebodys broken bones. Not an everyday experience for us |
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| The girls from the family posing with Malene |
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| Visiting the local amusement park |
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| Jump |
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| Heading back to the hotel |
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| Afternoon haircut |
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| Impressions from Pathein |
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| Abandoned railroad |
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| Umbrella memorial |
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| The river and the downtown area of Pathein |
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| Downtown goat |
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| Sunset drinks |
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| Various pork based dishes |
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| Dinner with James and friends at the river |
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