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

Walking the beach to Ngwe saung town and back again

Today we actually made it out off bed early enough to have breakfast and then walk the beach towards Ngwe saung town before the sun got too high in the sky. The benefit of staying close to the ocean is that it doesn't get that hot during the day as is some of the other locations we've been to in Myanmar. But the sun is still scorching hot from 9 AM and until late in the afternoon.

So we walked down to the beach and spent the next 1½ hours walking past resorts, meeting a few people on the beach which mainly was deserted - empty - ours alone. Except for a couple of places serving drinks on the beach it is an untouched beach packed with resorts. Nice resorts it looks like. We stopped at the only place on the beach with a PADI flag and asked for trips and prices. Seems like USD 80-100 is the level here depending on how many dives you want to do on your day trip but since we knew were weren't going we didn't try to negotiate. They only offered two dive sites but we've have done so much diving in Thailand last month.

We made it to Ngwe saung town which is surprisingly big, lots of shops and only a single ATM and this morning no power. We stocked up on Coca cola, Myanmar Rum, a few mixers and some snacks and had a guy on a scooter driving us back to the resort. Then we went to the beach, relaxed, read our books, took a couple of swims in the ocean and headed back to our patio for sunset drinks. This is just what we needed and looked for.

Breakfast on the patio

Small rock temple on the beach

Seems to be an OK place to eat

Untouched beach - almost

Local market in Ngwe saung town

Ready for sunset drinks

Can never have too much of this

Completely chilled out at Ngwe saung

Lots of days of travelling, sightseeing, a bit of hiking, temples, scooters, train, boats, buses, and the list goes on. We haven't been in a hurry in Myanmar but in the past three weeks we have seen and experienced a lot. So much that we just like to do nothing this morning. We planned to walk the beach to Ngwe saung town but slept in instead, asked the nice guys at the "resort" for breakfast and realised that they served it on our patio. So we just sat there and enjoyed the morning.

No internet to disturb us and no plans for the day. A bit of reading maybe and a bit of writing and later a swim in the ocean. More days should be like this.

Breakfast on the patio

"Rynke" (Wrinkle") hanging out with us

Enjoying the beach

And reading a book

Sunset

First day of 2016 - first swim in the ocean 2016

OK. We were all a bit hung over this morning but it is probably related to an early but fairly drunken new years party last night. Our last day at Popoyo and Magnific rock, Matilde and Michael tried their luck with surfing and got a bit beaten up by the waves.

We on the other hand, didn't do too much except for being on the beach or doing "power-naps" and a bit of staying in touch with friends and family at home reading and sending a lot of new years messages and mails.

Having waited for ages at the local restaurants for our food we opted for the fast option of having late lunch and Magnific rock. We are leaving for Isla Ometepe tomorrow and not knowing how the Internet is there we also spent a bit of time booking places to stay for the coming week. Including a couple of rooms at a hostel in Granada.

One last sunset on the beach and getting all our stuff ready for a morning departure tomorrow. Magnific rock has been good to us - now it's time to move on.

Hung over breakfast

Afternoon surf

Last day of the year - and a bit of partying

We woke up this morning and did a bit of Skyping to our families at home after breakfast. Then we gathered at 11 AM for the traditional Royal new years speech from the Danish Queen. It's being broadcast and streamed on the Internet, but due to the 7 hour time difference between Denmark and Nicaragua we watched it semi-live in the morning. And since it is a tradition in Denmark with champagne for the speech we also had a glass of bubbles this morning.

Then we headed to Popoyo town - again - to stock up on booze. Magnific rock is a wonderful place but the bar closes at 10 in the evening and there was no New Years party announced. They promised to keep the bar open a bit later but we didn't want to run out of rum and other necessities tonight.

We spent three hours walking back and forth to Popoyo including a pit stop for food. The town was slightly more alive than at our last visit but still felt dead - like dead-dead. Nothing happens in Popoyo and we were basically the only guests at the restaurant. Still they managed to spend more than an hour cooking our food but when it finally arrived it was good.

Back to Magnific Rock and we just had time for a swim where we could celebrate "Danish new year" - 7 hours ahead of New year in Nicaragua. We watched the sun set one final time this year. Then we got dressed for dinner and had super food and celebrated Nicaraguan New Years evening - and saw the bar shut down at exactly midnight. No last calls here. The bar just shut down, the bar tender left and we were on our own playing a bit of music and hanging out with a few other guys.

It turned out to be an early new years eve this year in more than one respect but that just means were getting up for an early morning swim tomorrow not being too hung over. Welcome 2016. We hope that you'll be as good and awesome as 2015 turned out to be.

Hello Denmark

Michael vs Stingray - 0-1

Getting ready for the Queens new year speech

Listening to the Queen

Drinks for lunch in Popoyo

Finally being served food after 1½ hours of waiting

Crossing the river at low tide

More bubbles for "Danish new year" at 5 PM in Nicaragua

Happy new year, cold Denmark

Last sunset of 2015

New years dinner - excellent

...and cigars

Happy new year - Nicaragua