Yet another river boat ride, seven miles up river to an unfinished Palace from late 1700s. The king died before it got above the first terrace which is 162 feet high. The design height was over 500 feet. Successor kings stopped work on it because the horoscope said finishing it would be bad luck. The pedestal is marked with large cracks from two earthquakes, the most recent in 2009. Standing near the unfinished Palace is a beam supporting what is reputed to be the second largest bell in the world. Unlike the largest bell which we saw in Moscow this one is not cracked and is mounted so it can be rung with sticks which are provided. Just across the road from the bell is a home for retired people who do not have family to live with. We visited and talked with several of the ladies who seemed quite happy, of course being Burmese they seem to have perpetual smiles.
The night before and there was a street festival near the hotel. Carol and I walked over to see what it was all about. There was food, of course, there was gambling of some sort and there was a stage with live music and animated singing by several singers. The singing was mostly in Burmese, but did not seem to be classical folk music. Also a group of five young women performed to something that seemed related to Gangnam Style. We interacted with a couple of people with hand gestures since we did not have a language in common. The kids were the most fun as their lack of inhibition let them express themselves with broad gestures.
After the river trip we relaxed for a couple of hours and then drove to see the U Bien footbridge, the longest teak bridge which extends across a lake. The walk felt a bit precarious as there are no side rails much of the distance and the bridge deck is made of uneven planks of teak. Carol and I walked maybe half way across to a stairway down to an island so we could get pictures of sunset through the bridge supports. The picture can be found on Google+
Passing thoughts on motor bikes; Myanmar is awash in motorbikes outside Yangon where they are banned. We saw 3 and 4 people riding on one bike. We saw dads riding with mom sitting side saddle holding an infant, no helmets, no safety strap just babe in arms. And once I looked down from our van to see a mom riding side saddle through traffic while nursing and infant, no pics. Walking across traffic is frightening. As our guide Lucky has told us, in Laos and Burma drive on the right, in Thailand drive on the left and in Vietnam the are no rules at all, total chaos.
We are now 16 passengers and our very large bus is threading through roads and traffic I find challenging in a car. I cannot imagine driving Gee Whiz through Bangkok. Adjusting to such a large group will take some doing although they all seem very nice and are seasoned travelers. We have been spoiled by being in two different foursomes for two weeks.