On Wednesday, I'm ashamed to say, I never left the Doctor's house. However, you probably wouldn't believe how long it takes to back up my pictures, try to update the blog posts, deal with a few e-mails and recharge my battery-powered equipment. I admit to resting for a while.
I've commented before that, in general, Myanmar people enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner and that I can never believe the sheer volume they enjoy, since their frames are usually much smaller than mine. Because I'm bigger than they are (they always politely say 'strong', not 'fat') they think I should eat more than them. My protestations that half their portion size is right for me fall on deaf ears: they are a very hospitable people. Whilst at the Doctor's house, a consensus emerged and I enjoyed splendid meals tailored to my tastes.
A splendid meal, tailored to my rather conservative tastes, at the Doctor's house in Yangon.
So the combination of the heat, over-eating and (admit it) being old makes me sluggish in these circumstances. So that was Wednesday.
I had some difficulty getting to sleep Wednesday night with itchy skin and slight heat rash. What I learned is that Myanmar people are not immune to this and a plastic bottle of calamine lotion was passed around the household. However, once I dropped off I slept soundly until the alarm, no doubt helped by the air conditioning being set to take the 'edge' off the heat.
Thursday, 26th April 2018
After breakfast on Thursday, the Doctor had arranged a meeting with Eddie Teh, General Manager, Hotels and Cruises (Belmond Governor's Residence, Belmond Road to Mandalay). We discussed the Belmond Myanmar Foundation (of which I am a trustee). This is a British registered charity which helps to fund the work carried out by Doctor Hla Tun.
In the ten years since my first visit to Myanmar, the country has changed rapidly. One change is the advent of ATM machines. When I first came, there were none and banks were not very helpful. Now, there are kiosks everywhere where cash can be obtained on demand, often with the choice of U.S. Dollars or the local Kyat. So, on the way back to the Doctor's house I drew some funds as readily as in my own country.
I spent most of the rest of the day dealing with e-mails and trying to update the blog. Tomorrow morning the Doctor, his wife and the writer fly north to Nyaung Oo then go by road to the Bagan Medical Clinic where the Doctor expects a heavy list of consultations. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get internet access again but there are lots of existing posts on the Bagan Medical Clinic. You can find them (in reverse date-of-posting order) here. The Clinic will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday then we are planning a side-trip to Chin state with the Monk who looks after the Clinic.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar. The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.
My pictures
All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.
[Pictures linked 28-May-2018]
