Dr. Hla Tun had managed to arrange for us to visit the Freight Marshalling Yard at Mahlwagon and the Diesel Locomotive Depot also at Mahlwagon Emily accompanied us. We were treated with great friendliness and, of course, I enjoyed myself immensely. A more technical description of our visits (with links to pictures) can be found in the post Mahlwagon Marshalling Yard and Diesel Locomotive Shed, Yangon.
A visit to the main Locomotive Works at Insein had been arranged for the afternoon so, when we left Mahlwagon, the Doctor had to drive across Yangon to Insein. On the way, we stopped for a quick lunch of soft white bread, hot milk and yoghurt at a small roadside cafe which is famous for its milk. Certainly, as we consumed our lunch, they were doing a brisk takeaway business, particularly in milk supplied in plastic bags. There is no standard pasteurisation or sterilisation of milk, so a reliable source of supply is essential. A number of stainless steel churns were standing on the pavement and, as I watched, these presumed 'empties' were loaded into a taxi, a dignified gentleman with a beard climbed into the passenger seat and the taxi drove off, I assumed to obtain more milk.
'Milk Bar', Yangon-style.
After our meal, we continued to the Locomotive Works for our afternoon visit. Once again, we were made very welcome and I had a great time trying to grasp all the activities. There's a more technical description of our visit to Insein (with links to pictures) in the post http://janfordsworld.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/insein-locomotive-works.html.
There was one final piece of business. We drove to the Palae Metta Home which has about 20 orphans, boys and girls over a wide age range. It was built by and now operates in honour of the memory of Isabel and Lawrence Barnett and Bob Jennings. For the last three years, running costs have been met by a German charity. Dr. Hla Tun supports the home as possible and we brought clothing and stationery which was gratefully received.
The boys and girls performed a song for us before we left. There's a short video of the song here. After seeing the video, the 'Back Button' will return you to this post.
Smiling faces at the Palae Metta Home.
Events of Thursday, 6th May 2015
On Thursday, I was picked up from the Strand Hotel at 05:15 to go to Mingalardon Airport for my Qatar Airways flight to Doha where I transited to another Qatar Airways flight to Manchester, England. 'Burma-2015' was quite a trip!
My posts
All my posts on this trip to Myanmar can be found here.
My pictures
The following albums (on Flickr) hold pictures relevant to this post:-
Around Yangon, 2015.
Palae Metta Home, Yangon.
All my albums for this trip (except purely 'technical' ones) can be found here.
[Text and Links amended 31-May-2015]
