Checking in to Nam Cat Island resort.

Malene was up early. At 6:30 AM the Thai Chi session started on the sun deck. Once done stretching the body in all directions we both joined for a short kayak trip around the bay. The sun was just breaking through the clouds making it a really nice morning. After 30 minutes we headed back to the boat, had breakfast, sailed for about an hour and were transferred to a smaller boat that took us through Ha Long Bay past more green islands to our place for tonight - Nam Cat Island resort. We arrived just in time for lunch and then we had the rest of the afternoon to do as little as possible which included reading books and doing a 30 minute kayak trip.

The clouds had closed in and it was a bit cool in the afternoon. Not something we are used to and definitely not as planned, but it was still nice being on the island. Once back from our kayak trip in the bay we had hot ginger tea - and a few beers before dinner. The group of people staying at our place was around 30 persons and we all had a nice Vietnamese BBQ but we didn't stay up late. Going to be hoping for a bit of good weather in the morning before we head back home.

6 AM view from our room

Sunrise in Halong bay

Morning Tai Chi

Cruising Halong bay

Look who's happy now

Heading to Cat Ba island

So much trash in Halong bay

View from our bungalow

Hot ginger tea for cold weather

Mr Fluffy

Last day on the beach in Ngwesaung - more of the same

It is really laid back here in Ngwesaung and we do our best not to spoil it. Sleep in late, have breakfast on the patio, read, go to the beach. have a swim, enjoy the sunset with drinks just like yesterday. Positively no intentions to go and look at temples, hike or do anything else for that matter. We like it this way and it also gives some much needed time to reflect about our experiences in Myanmar so far. This very friendly country, smiling people everywhere. You smile and you are more or less guaranteed to get a smile back. A big one. Tourists - there are plenty of them but it is also a country where you still can escape mass tourism easily. Hpa-an and Pathein the best examples for us.

It is also a country with limited and fragile infrastructure. ATM's are beginning to be easily accessible - at least in some of the bigger towns. Some work with our VISA card. Others don't. It seems to be 50-50. We've experienced power cuts some days but power seems to be a smaller issue than previously.  Road transport is tricky especially since the main road linking the big towns and cities are so narrow that two cars can just pass each other. Mix it with mopeds and scooters, trucks and delivery vans and big buses, and slow moving tractors and you have the mess that it called traffic in the country.

Here in Ngwesaung we realised that a few of the places have internet and we have actually been surprised that internet access is so common. It is slow - like in "check emails and facebook"-slow but it still there. Ngwesaung is also not connected to the grid so all places are running on their own generators including our "resort" which means we only have power from 6 PM to 6 AM. But it also works.

Having a bit of time here also means that we can start planning our next - and last - leg of the trip. We are going to Vietnam next week, so we have started to update the bucket list of places and sights and trying to fit that into our calendars. All that work must justify one more drink tonight.

Morning look from the bed

Afternoon drinks ready

Yes

Pathein umbrella factory and the bus to Ngwe saung

One of the reasons to stop in Pathein is to visit one of the local factories that are making the classic Myanmar umbrellas - the colourful ones with various decorations painted on them. That was our plan this morning. We had the directions for one of the places and since we'd been driving around with James yesterday we also knew that walking there wouldn't be a problem. Maybe 15-20 minutes of walking.

So we set out and walked there, found that factory which turned out to be a big shed and a back yard of a garden in the residential area where some 10 people were working with fabric, paint and bamboo doing beautiful umbrellas. A guy approached us and talked us through the manufacturing process and we were allowed to walk around and take pictures. All very quiet and not anything like factory-like.

Then we backtracked our way towards the hotel and on the way back we came across the cafe from yesterday and had breakfast there. It was such a nice place and best of all it was in a quiet neighbourhood.

On the way back to the hotel we also looked for the bus station and the bus to Ngwe saung - with no luck. We had more luck finding a bakery that served what looked like Danish "rom-kugler" - chocolate sprinkled coco flavoured Danish pastry. Not here! Seriously! This is Pathein. Mikkel bought a couple of "rom-kugler" for testing and it turned out that this was just was it looked like. "Rom-kugler" in Myanmar.

Back at the hotel they helped us locate the bus station. We had been close but we only made it down one back alley. The bus station was at a back alley of that back alley. They called the bus company and booked us on the 12 AM bus. Suddenly we were in a hurry, packing our stuff, walking to the bus and then we left at 12 for Ngwe saung and the beach.

The drive there was pretty short and easy, a few hills before the beach but after two hours we were there, had a couple of guys on scooters taking us to our bungalow at Forest Home Resort. Imagine 10 small bungalows on the top of a ridge, no tree but dry soil and a few bushes. So much for forest but our bungalow was nice with a patio and the added advantage on the hill was having a nice view of the ocean, the sunset and the fresh ocean breeze.

We walked to the beach and after looking around for a while we had dinner before heading home and taking a slow evening. This is a nice place definitely.

Getting a good introduction to umbrella production

Ready for more work

All sizes and colours 

Breakfast at new style cafe

Romkugler !!!

Ready to go

Watermelon shopping done

Our new home

And the nice view from the patio