Bago, Golden Rock and Hpa-an

We carried on round the Southern part of Myanmar, stopping in to Bago first. We enjoyed the big Schwemawdaw Pagoda, Kanbawzathadi Palace, Kyaik Pun Paya (4 Buddhas) and reclining Schwetalyaung Buddha. Olive went in her first proper tuk-tuk and her first motorbike taxi, on which she fell asleep! People were really friendly and Olive got loads of attention as she was the only baby we saw, let alone a western baby! The best bit was seeing a massive snake in a monastery, wow, apparently it is fed a live chicken everyday!

We accidentally flagged down a family outside our hotel, they were too polite to tell us they weren't a taxi and drove us here, asking shall we wait for you and drive you back home afterwards??! People were so friendly and Olive got soooo much attention.

We travelled on to the Golden Rock, which was impressive at sunset. Although our favourite bit was Livvy’s sheer enjoyment at the rollercoaster bus journey back down afterwards!!

The journey into Kayin state to Hpa-an was really scenic, with these massive boulders, reminding us of El Nido in Philippines.

Selina suffered the worst food poisoning here from fish curry from the restaurant everyone recommended! We hired a driver to tour round Hpa-an seeing the Buddhas tooth relic at Haw Ka Thaung cave...

... and walking through the massive Satan Caves with loads of bats, followed by a lovely boat ride under another cave and Lon Ba Ni gardens

Next stop Colonial Mawlamyine.

Yangon, and on, and on

After a fortnight in Bali, we flew on to Yangon, in Myanmar, via a long transfer at KL, which we spent in the Premier Lounge, sampling the complimentary food and beverages!

We spent over a week in Yangon, initially to work out the lay of the land and how far out of town we felt happy to take Livvy, but then we stayed longer as we liked the place! Don’t normally say that for the major hubs you fly into!

One of my best moments in Myanmar was the very first evening watching the bright red sunset by the Downtown pier, with all the locals streaming onto noisy motorised longboats to get home. No photos, dammit!

Sule Pagoda was fun, not so sure about the cages crammed full of birds that you can pay to release.

Shwedagon Pagoda was very impressive, if a little busy! Yes what I am wearing is called a Longi, not a skirt, I’m local don’t you know, ok?!

Tuesday shrine: good luck as Olive and I were both born on Tuesday.

We saw a lot more pagodas and Buddhas, including a striking reclining buddha:

We also enjoyed the national museum, too much to see, including an impressive Golden Throne and Royal Relics:

People’s park was fun too:

The best bit of Yangon though, was the puppet show, which ended up being a private showing!!

Bali, full of Aussies!

We really liked Java, very local feeling. After a lot of debating, we agreed to do Bali, even though Mount Agung was threatening to erupt. We planned to stick to the South and save places near the volcano for next time.

I really liked the capital, Denpasar. The monument to independence was impressive with the classic diorama that I love!

Daddy's girl!

Then on to Seminyak where the international food was amazing! We ate A LOT of tasty food! Including 50cm pizza, mexican, brunch, ice creams and coffee. There was no public transport, so we tried to hire a scooter like every other tourist, but it was a lot harder than it looked and neither of us felt confident taking Olive on the back, so back to taxis it was!

Watching the sunset

We stayed in 2 nice places in Seminyak, one with a private little pool. One evening we watched the surfers at echo beach which was lovely. But the area round Seminyak was a lot more touristy than we expected, so we headed up to more chilled Ubud, staying in a Homestay with a temple:

Our final stop in Bali was Jimbaran, near the airport, where the seafood sat by candle light on the beach was awesome. We enjoyed watching the sunset at Rock Bar as well:

If we ever comeback to Bali, we’ll want to try the North East near Mount Agung and Sideman, to try and escape the crowds down South.