Our day started in a weird, frustrating and in a way sad manner. Breakfast as usual (this hotel has a better breakfast buffet, is classier and even has better Wifi than Hong Kong). Then 9 AM muster in the lobby to set out for the day’s touring.

One problem: No Sandro.

Ten AM; no Sandro. By 10:30 we decide we need to take action. One group member called Boston, who called the Country Director here in Myanmar. I called our tour guide for the main part of our trip, Jack, in Thailand who said he would contact HQ in Bangkok.

Sandro calls the hotel and leaves us a message: he’ll be there in 30 minutes. Frankie, the country director calls and says he (Frankie) will be there in 30 minutes too and will arrange for a different tour guide for the remainder of our stay in Myanmar. Sandro is out.

Sandro’s excuse was that he overslept. But this is the second time he’s overslept. Yesterday afternoon he was 30 minutes late for our departure. He had fallen asleep in an easy chair in the hotel lobby while we were in our rooms getting ready. One of the group had to wake him.

Question: would he wake up in time to get us on the bus tomorrow AM for our 6:30 AM flight to Bagan?

In the end Frankie assumed tour duties for today and did a great job. He’d been a tour guide then got sent to HQ in Yangon before being promoted to Country Director.

Today’s agenda included a walking tour of the downtown colonial section of Yangon. The Brits, you may recall, showed up in the 1850s and departed in 1948. While built by Britain the architecture and city design were done by Scotsmen. Evidence of that architecture can be seen even though the buildings have been repurposed to Burmese use.

Within the area we walked were a number of places of worship including Buddhist temples, of course, but also an Anglican church, a Catholic church and a Islamic temple. We saw a number of Muslims on the street; ladies with head scarfs and men with long beards. Evidence that the people of Myanmar are totally xenophobic, perhaps.

Frankie took us to the oldest hotel in Yangon, The Strand, where he treated us to a cool drink in air-conditioned comfort. It was sunny and 91 degrees with high humidity today – we needed the break! The Strand is a well-preserved and elegant hotel, harking back to the days of Queen Victoria and Empire.

Next up: a fairly extensive market, mostly jewelry, clothing, arts and crafts; not much food.

Judy found a smallish over-the-shoulder bag and a matching water bottle bag. The sales clerk was a teenage girl. Her mom and dad sat in the background watching. The total price was 1,400 kyat (about $10). I offered 1,000. She countered with 1,300. I said no, 1,000 (who am I to be brow beating a poor, cute young girl about Reagan’s age over a lousy 30 cents?). She went and showed Dad the calculator (displaying the price). He countered with 1,200. I, being the robber baron type from the West, countered 1,100. Done. Sold to the big fat American. Actually we grinned at each other, acknowledging the fun of a little bargaining over a relatively small amount.

But maybe not so small an amount. The average income in Myanmar is about $600 per month.

The market was interesting but one unique feature was that young Buddhist monks (nuns? It’s hard to tell the girls from the boys since they all have shaved heads). These kids were, I’d guess, learning the ropes of seeking alms. Each had an alms bowl. Each would approach one of the stall merchants, make a little chant and almost always receive a token offering. Later in our journeys we’ll see adult monks do the begging for real. It’s a widely accepted practice in many Buddhist countries. Sorta like passing the plate on Sunday, I suppose.

Then back to the hotel. By now it was pushing 3:30, we’d had no lunch, and to make the schedule work we needed to be back on the bus by 4:00. Traffic in Yangon is terrible. Since the country opened its doors to the outside world in 2010 automobile traffic has increased greatly. The roads simply are not up to the traffic and so it crawls even in off-peak hours.

Traffic in Myanmar flows on the right side of the road, just like we do back home in the U.S. However, the cars are all right-hand drive, just like in England, India and other Commonwealth countries. Only in the past two years has it been allowed to import cars with left-hand drive, which over time will become the standard here.

But anyway, back on the bus and off to the banks of the Yangon River near the downtown area we toured earlier in the day. We took the ferry across the river to Dala, a small fishing town on the banks of the river The cost of living in Dala is low so many of the street vendors, manual laborers, etc., live there, of whom there are many. The double-deck boat was packed and it was a mad rush when the gates opened.

In Dala we were all assigned a trishaw – a three-wheel bike with a seat for a single passenger (in China we went three to a bike and up some pretty steep hills; this route was flat). The bikes took us through the village, which is made up of small houses (some pretty basic some more elaborate but all humble). The streets were packed with bicycles, motorbikes and pedestrians, including wives and daughters carrying buckets of water from the community pond to their homes. Kids were everywhere, of course, and all anxious to wave at the silly and strange looking Americans.

Then back to the big town and off to a traditional Bhutanese dinner – coconut rice, beef, chicken curry, tomato salad with peanut oil and all the trimmings.

Our orders are to be in bed by 10 PM. Wake up calls come at 4 AM, bags in the hall by 4:30. Bus pickup at 5:00, flight at 6:30 and then we’re in Bagan. We’ll hit the trail running. Danny, our replacement guide, loves temples; Frankie says we may have to tame him down. Danny was at dinner and seems like a great guy. He’s a close personal friend of Frankie’s and dropped other plans to help us out. We’d all be very happy to have continued with Frankie but this should work out just fine. At the end of the day everyone was very pleased with the way Frankie handled our situation and think OAT is a great company to tour with.