Myanmar

For a while there it looked like we wouldn’t get off in Myanmar. Rehearsals were a kicker, and if it hadn’t been for Justin Tundervary intervening, we wouldn’t have.

Still he managed it, and thank god he did. After an afternoon rehearsal, a group of musicians stepped off a tiny bus into downtown Yangon, looked around and wondered what to do. We found a supermarket and changed some money into an insane amount of Kyat, then wandered around until I spotted a sign saying “Beer Restaurant” (What more could musicians want?) leading off a suspiciously dark alleyway. We followed it for a ways and saw a lot of flashing lights.

Well, what a meal! Probably the best fish I’ve ever eaten, and they just kept bringing food and drink. Locals were very friendly and kind to a group of odd-looking strangers. It ended up costing us $3 each, which was just ridiculous. Sated and suppressing contented burps, we wended our way back to the bus for the very bumpy ride home.

The final day there, we managed to get on a crew tour to the Golden Pagoda. This, I am reliably informed, was built 2,500 years ago, and contains eight hairs of the Buddha himself. What I do know from personal experience is that it was one of the most mind-blowingly beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of spires of chedis and gold everywhere you look (As much gold as I could eat... sorry, had a mini Python film festival the other day.) But seriously, although the photos don’t do it justice, there are some in my travel photos page.

The rest of the day just smacked of anticlimax. We went downtown and saw some incredibly overcrowded busses, and had lunch (Cade was suffering from a sugar low). We went back to the ship, did Chloë Dallimore’s show, and discussed the day