Tropical Heat Tour: Myanmar Part 18

Not a drop of rain fell from the sky today, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t visit more temples because the bus to Yangon was due to leave at 6:00 pm, and there’s no way I was about to get all sweaty and thrashed right before that. So, I spent the afternoon cooped up inside May Kha Lar, working on yesterday’s story and photos, and eating lunch and dinner at Shwe Moe. As 6:00 arrived, so did the bus. I didn’t even have to walk down to the terminal. It picked me up right out in front of the hotel. This bus was much newer and cleaner than the ones I rode from Yangon to Mandalay and from there to Bagan. Surprisingly, there was plenty of legroom, too, which is a first. When the guy in front of me leaned his seat all the way back, it didn’t even touch my knees.

The narrow road heading Southeast out of Bagan was paved most of the way, with a couple of dirt creek crossings. After a couple of hours, we pulled out onto the main highway that runs between Mandalay and Yangon. It’s made out of concrete and boasts two lanes in each direction divided by a median. Once you’re on this road, it’s fairly smooth sailing. At a snack / bathroom stop, I saw a really huge, weird-looking bug with a body that was two inches wide and just about as thick. It had pinchers and a huge leg spread–almost as big as the palm of your hand. Also, it must have been into death rock, because it was all black. Back on the bus, as usual, I managed to nod off for a couple of hours right before the end of the trip.

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Words and photos ©2012 Arcane Candy.