I woke up at 7am, had breakfast at 7:30, a bit meager compared to Beauty Land's. At 8:15, went outside and Thoo Thoo was there waiting, as well as the taxi tout Mango from the night before. Mango told me he would take me to the jetty, and was disappointed when I pointed out Thoo Thoo waiting silently on his trishaw. He then said he would meet me at the jetty when the boat returned at 1:30pm, but despite his persistence I told him it wasn't necessary. After going to the store to return the soda bottles from the night before, hopped on Thoo Thoo's trishaw, and after a bit he started to tell me that he didn't like the taxi tout, and that other tourists had reported problems with him.

Thoo Thoo drove me to the jetty, and said he would pick me up at 1:30pm when the boat returned from Mingun. In the ticket office, met Louis from yesterday, who was with a German woman named Uli that he met at his hotel, the Nylon. The ticket roundtrip to Migun was 300K, I bought a ticket and then looked for a place to buy water, found a place across the way. After getting water I sat down on the curb to take some photos of the jetty, and soon was approached by a trishaw driver asking the usual questions. When he realized he wasn't going to get a fare, he started to show off his knowledge of American slang, asking me to "gimme five." At his urging I taught him a few other phrases, like "dude" and "wassup", as I was doing so a crowd started to form, other trishaw drivers and assorted folk, I showed them my remaining San Francisco postcards, the slang-speaking driver asked for one which I gave to him, the others disappointed to not get one as well (I was fast running out of them). Went back to the ticket office, where I met the German woman as well as a Dutch couple (the man wearing a longhi). The ticket seller was slicing up a mango and walking around passing out delicious slices to each of us.

At 9am the five of us boarded the boat, having to climb over 3 other boats as well as walk a precarious plank. Before the boat departed we were joined by a young Burmese in his 20's named Mg, who said he lived on Mingun and made the trip back and forth to hook up with travellers to be their guide and practice his English. The trip was pleasant, the boat passing very close to fishermen and families docked on the left hand bank, some of them loading sand onto their boats to sell in Mandalay, others not doing very much, children playing, women bathing. Altogether the trip took 1 hour, the sun very hot, and me without sunscreen or a hat to shield it from my face.

As the boat was arriving at Mingun, Mg warned me that there would be many young kids awaiting the boat's arrival, selling things or offering their services as guides, and sure enough as soon as we got to the landing spot they all came running to meet the boat, extending their arms to guide us down the plank. I noticed that the German woman refused any help from any of them, not endearing her to me (she was quite an unpleasant personality at any rate). The children and women seemed pleasant enough, one boy about 17 latched on to Mg and I, much to the apparent disapproval of Mg, who himself had already latched on to me on the boat! I paid the $3 entry fee, in FEC, and then we walked up a small incline and came first to Settawya Temple, which was quite dilapidated, oxen milling about in the yard, walkway crumbling, many Buddha statues inside with heads missing, which Mg and the boy said were as a result of the Japanese cutting them off during the occupation.

Next we walked to Mingun Paya, Mingun's star attraction, where only the huge base of what was to be an enormous temple remains, itself spectacularly cracked on account of an earthquake in the 1830's. We walked around the base, but I decided not to climb up, as you had to remove your shoes before doing so and the stone was very hot. My little guide troupe was soon joined by another person who called herself Muu Muu, who was trying to sell me painted umbrellas and when I declined decided she would just follow me until I relented. We next walked over to the Mingun bell, a huge bell weighing 90 tonnes, while there an American from Seattle but living in Hong Kong was there with his own entourage of 6 or so girls selling who knows what, the sight of them walking down the dirt road made me glad I only had 3 to contend with.

We then went across the street to the Buddhist Infirmiary, which is mentioned in the LP, met the sole nurse who works there and speaks some English named Thwe Thwe Aye (she's NOT the same person mentioned in LP, that person long since gone apparently). I gave her much of my cold and diarrhea medicine, as well as some bandaids, and she showed me her book with the names and addresses of previous tourist visitors. We left there and walked over to Hsinbyume Paya, which Mg claimed would give me a good view of Mingun and the marble cooler so as to not hurt my feet. Three were more children here selling drinks, candles and incense sticks. The temple itself interesting for the wavy sculpture surrounding it, and quite cool with many passageways shielding one from the sun and filled with the passing breeze.

At 11:30am or so we walked back towards the main village and the boat jetty, gave the 17yr. old boy 100K, he wanted more despite my warning at the outset that I wasn't going to give him any money so he shouldn't follow me. I went to eat at Mg's parents' restaurant, whether or not they were really his parents I don't know, at any rate I had quite bland fried rice for 300K. Muu Muu the umbrella saleswoman was still giving me the hard sell, and eventually I gave in and bought an umbrella for 1000K, after which she promptly disappeared. Left the restaurant and made my way for the jetty, gave Mg $2 plus 500K, he tried to sell me on his accompanying me to Pyin O Lwin but I declined, wasn't interested in his offer and frankly there was something a bit unsettling about him, he seemed to have quite a chip on his shoulder. Before getting to the jetty he had me stop in to his sister's souvenir / tea shop, she gave me some tea and tried to sell me a hat. Finally just before 1pm went to the jetty and boarded the boat, and after waiting for the German woman for about 10 minutes everyone was on board and we headed back to Mandalay, this time me staying under the covering as I felt I was getting decidedly sunburnt.

After the 30 minute return trip, Thoo Thoo was waiting as promised at the jetty, I asked him about taking me to the Shwe In Bin Kyaung monastery in the afternoon, but he suggested that I go there at that moment since it wasn't too far from the jetty. We agreed to 500K for the trip there and then back to the hotel. Initially we drove along the riverfront, he pointed out the fast boat that goes to Bagan and when I asked him about tickets he said he would drive me to the ticket office, which he did. I inquired there about buying a ticket in advance, but from what I understood from the guy there I had to specify the sailing date when buying the ticket, so I didn't get one at that time.

We then continued on to the monastery, Thoo Thoo accompanying me, and after taking off my shoes the ground was blisteringly hot, so we had to race to find a shaded part. The main building of the monastery, though not very old (only about a hundred years or so), is built entirely in teak, which is it's main draw. There was hardly anyone about, certainly no other tourists. Inside a monk quietly sat on a chair. On the grounds there was some activity around fixing an old car, and some children playing, and on the other side of the main building I was amused to see a group of monks reclining in wicker chairs.

Thoo Thoo then returned me to the hotel, which was quite a haul in very hot weather, one long street in particular was littered with potholes and Thoo Thoo was having a tough time of it. When we got to the hotel around 3pm, I had him drop me a few storefronts down where someone was operating a lemonade stand, and asked Thoo Thoo if he could return at 4pm to take me around in the late afternoon. Had some lemonade at the stand for 100K, sat in a pink plastic chair on the sidewalk for about 15 minutes enjoying the refreshment, then went to the hotel and took a shower.

At 4pm Thoo Thoo was there and I asked him to first take me to Eastern Photo on 28th Street (nr. 81st) as I was running out of slide film. The shop had some outdated (by a month) Fuji Sensia for 1500K/roll, and in-date Kodak Elite Chrome for 2500K, I played it safe and went for the fresher Kodak. Then had Thoo Thoo take me to the Zeigyo, or central market, but he explained that it closed up at 4:30pm. Disappointed, I had him drop me off in the general market area and to my surpise still found quite a lot of activity in the market set up outside the Zeigyo buildings, I walked around for several blocks worth, taking photos, people curious as always. About 45 minutes later I eventually circled back to where Thoo Thoo said he would be waiting, and I asked him if he know a good place to get draught beer, which he did, and so he pedaled me over to the Golden Spider on 32nd (at the corner with 81st).

While I ordered a beer, Thoo Thoo went next door to a teashop, and I sat outside amidst very curious wait staff who kept trying to see what I was writing in my journal. I ordered a Myanmar draft (they only sold Myanmar) for 110K per mug, and after a while Thoo Thoo came on over and joined me at my table, and I bought him a coke, he explaining to me that as a Buddhist he doesn't drink alcohol. He offered me a Burmese cigarette (called a cheroot) which he said cost 5K for two, and which he told me he doesn't often smoke because his father disapproves. I showed him the San Francisco postcards I had left, and gave him one that had the Golden Gate bridge enshrouded in fog, which was very curious to him. We chatted about his life as a trishaw driver, his family (he's married and has 3 children, 2 boys and 1 girl), how both his father and brother are also trishaw drivers, and that previously his father worked in some sort of box company as did he, but that it went out of business and the only work available was driving a trishaw. He was quite proud of his trishaw, which he claimed was the only green trishaw in Mandalay, and that he gave it a fresh coat of green paint every year. He said that he bought it in 1996 for 9,000K, but that nowadays a new one cost somewhere around 50,000K.

We sat and chatted until about 6:30pm or so, the place getting very crowded, the staff began to set up tables on the street to accommodate the crowd. Before we left, a "beer girl" type woman was making the rounds of the various tables, but conspicuously stayed away from our's. I remarked to Thoo Thoo that all the customers were men, and he said that if a woman or women were to be at such a place unaccompanied by men, it would be assumed they were "sexy girls" (by which he meant prostitutes).

I asked Thoo Thoo to take me to Laksmi restaurant, when we parted I promised I would seek him out when I came back to Mandalay, and gave him 500K (which we had agreed upon) plus another 200K tip. I had vegetable curry and rice, and two bottles of water, for 390K total. The staff refilled my vegetable plate twice, so as usual I was completely stuffed when I left; not wanting to go back to the hotel so soon, and needing to walk off the food, I made my way to the night market on 84th. Again folks were very curious and very friendly, I wished the market was bigger as I was enjoying just walking around, and was disappointed when I had finished walking its 3 or so blocks. I walked along 26th street to the palace at 80th, then turned back and went north on 83rd towards the hotel. About a block away there was a trishaw driver in front of this very riche-looking hair salon who said Hi to me, but he didn't speak much English so he called his "brother" over, a young guy who studied computers for a year in Yangon. He invites me to have tea with him at the teashop next door so that he can practice his English, and I chat with him and the trishaw driver. Later another friend shows up, and the four of us end up talking for 2½ hours. They were all Muslims, and were very open about their distaste for the junta government, and all very keen on the USA, naively so ("George Bush is a good man," "the US is the land of freedom," etc.), and quite fond of stereotypical images (there were frequent references to the Marlboro Man, Harley Davidson, Bon Jovi). The one who did most of the talking, the computer student who now works for his parent's pharmacy, has plans to go to Malaysia to study and work, and eventually immigrate to the US (he has an uncle living in LA). They were all naturally very curious about the US, asked questions like "how much to go with a sexy girl." I pulled a number out of my hat and told them $300, which amazed them (apparently it costs 2000K in Burma). The computer student and his friend who worked for a satellite tv provider both expressed disdain about the idea of having a girlfriend, saying it would get in the way of their plans (I heard the exact same thing from Monyin in Yangon), though one of them confessed that he visited with a "sexy girl" at least once a month.

Around 10:30pm or so a large rumbling noise turns out to be two trucks each carrying what looks to be around 15 soldiers in uniforms, helmets and assault rifles. "Army? Police?" I ask my companions. "One and the same" is their reply. They said "they're looking for trouble", although the implication was that they were looking to start trouble. About 15 minutes later, crossing 83rd in the direction of the palace were 12 to 14 soldiers (not sure if they were some of the same that had been in the trucks) on foot, in two columns, marching stormtrooper like down 24th Street, a very unsettling sight although my companions were non-plussed by it all. I on the other hand was paranoid about being a foreigner talking with members of the minority Muslim population (just a few days prior to this there had been clashes between Muslims and Buddhist monks in Taungoo). It didn't help that during all this the block we were on was experiencing it's scheduled power blackout, which lended to the eerie atmostphere.

About 15 minutes later we decided it was time to go our respective ways, the computer student paid the bill and wouldn't accept any money from me, and although my portion probably came to 50K I still felt awkward. When I got to my hotel in the next block, the street was completely dark, as was the hotel. Outside two of the hotel staff were furiously trying to get the generator to start, so I waited about 10 minutes outside in the dark until they finally got it running and the hotel lights came on. I couldn't get to sleep until about 1am, the full day running through my mind and all the tea I had drunk having it's caffienated effect.