The bus could have been worse

I experienced my worst bus ride so far today. To my horror my bus was a "minibus," or large van, instead of a full-sized bus. The big busses are uncomfortable enough, but in the minibusses they keep packing people in until they can't move. Two people per seat, and one in the aisle, so at five people per row there must have been 50 inside, plus 20 more on top. Then there were the spare parts, including a crankshaft, which we thankfully didn't need. Needless to say, I couldn't move my legs. After an hour, my ass started to hurt, and squirming didn't help, but only served to irritate the Burmese woman crammed next to me. Adding to my ass's discomfort was the sorry state of the road, with huge potholes, large stretches of missing road, where it just became sand, and parts that were too narrow, forcing us to drive on the bumpy side when passing or when a vehicle was coming towards us. We stopped twice, which helped my ass a little, but all told it was seven very uncomfortable hours.

We finally made it to Nyang U, Bagan, and were set upon by touts. Noel and I didn't want to deal with them, so we took refuge in a tea shop until they went away, then spent two hours scouting out all the same-same-but-different places. The best of the lot was Eden, so we checked in, then went to an "Italian" restaurant for the most expensive meal I've had in Myanmar: pizza, two lassies, and a crepe (a strange international mix) for $4. On top of the $10 entry fee, today is an expensive day.

So far Nyang U is OK. I was expecting Kaoh San Road, but there were hardly any tourists. I'll have to see what it's like tomorrow.