So the place does get a little more lively after sunset. Locals flock to the beach, drift around in the water (most can’t swim) and sip a beer. The centre of town is basically just a couple of shops and restaurants lined along an unsealed road. It’s easy to tell that everything is set up for bigger amounts of tourists, so I assume they are going to be much busier over the next 2-3 months.

The road between Yangon and Ngwe Saung is among the bumpiest I’ve ever experienced. Large parts of it are just the gravel of a road construction site - sleep is all but impossible. We arrive in the middle of the night and, without a room to check in to yet, head to the beach for a nap. Early in the morning the guest house’s restaurant is open and a local breakfast of coffee and fried rice brings some life back into my body.

Quiet day with a bit of work and exploring street food around the hostel. At the train station now, waiting for the bus to Ngwe Saung beach. Not a big fan of overnight buses but it was kind of the lesser of two evils.

Bus stops in Yangon are a noisy thing. Conductors of waiting and arriving buses shout directions and routes at the top of their lungs. For somebody who doesn’t understand the language nor is able to read the numbers, it is a somewhat confusing experience. Luckily I had student of the German language and future tourist guide Hanny with me, who had agreed to join me for a trip to the country side south-east of the city.

The big Shwedagon pagoda is one of the main sights in Yangon and accordingly the government and many merchants are happy to make a few dollars out of it. Today I came by one of the many smaller pagodas in the city and went inside for a short visit. The atmosphere was really relaxed with some people praying while others read a book or chatted with friends. Nobody paid much attention to me and I could just sit around and let my thoughts wander for a while.

An hour and a half north of Bangkok lies Ayhutthaya, capital of an ancient kingdom (wikipedia knows more about that than me). I hadn’t been before and when local couchsurfer Goi offered me to come along for a daytrip on Sunday, I happily jumped at the opportunity. For Goi it was a bit of a worktrip, as she earns money on the side with travel photography. First stop in the area was a small temple with a big pagoda.

I feel really creative with my post titles lately… After yesterdays social times, I had more nice experiences coming today. A local couchsurfer had contacted me a week or two ago and offered to show me around the city. We met in the early afternoon and I learned that she is studying German at the Goethe institute, hoping to work as a tour guide once finished. We talked in German the whole time and her skills were pretty good.

Looking for a taxi at the airport on Monday, another backpacker approached me and asked whether I’d be up for sharing a taxi. I certainly was and on the way into town I learned that my newly found companion had already spent time in Yangon in the past. Perfect - local advice! Today we met up for a little tour around downtown and Yangon looks a fair bit like other Southeast Asian cities.

When travelling, a strict plan is really counter-productive. It takes away all the flexibility that makes travelling so much fun. Still, it is good to have an idea of where to go (and what to see). I had making plans for Myanmar on my list of things to do when I was in Berlin. However about the stay in Berlin I can say two things: It’s a cool city and: I’ve worked too much.

During the day, Silom is a business district with office workers filling the streets. At night it’s still a business district but the industries have changed. One of the sois is home to the infamous Pat Pong sex tourist haven and the whole main road is lined with small shops selling… pretty much everything. Souvenir t-shirts, fake Rolex, dildos, knuckle-dusters, hand-carved soap, … I had to ply through there every time I wanted to catch the skytrain (BTS) - which basically means a couple of times a day/night.