10-10 (Tuesday)
May Thu and U Tin Wint came over while we were having breakfast. We paid them for our trip. Last night we gave the tips to U Tin Wint and Ko oo because we were afraid we wouldn't see Ko oo again. U Tin didn't want the trip money last night he just wanted to get home to his family. I arranged to go with U Tin Wint to the Golden Rock the next day. Joyce was too tired and was going to stay behind in Yangon.

May Thu gave us news that it rained so hard at Inle Lake just after we left that the tourists could not get out. They were stuck there for several days.

We dropped May Thu off so she could change our air tickets then U Tin Wint let us out at a Supermarket. From there we walked to a bookstore so I could get some bookmarks for my book club but they had never heard of bookmarks. They sent us to a stationary store but no luck there either.

We went to Scott's Market and each ordered another pair of prescription sunglasses. They would be ready the next morning at 9:30.

We decided to treat ourselves and go to lunch at the Strand Hotel. This is a very famous and elegant hotel. It was originally constructed in 1896 and had been restored with none of the atmosphere lost. Our lunch was $14 each. We though it was well worth it to be dining in one of the glorious outposts of the British Empire. After lunch we toured the hotel and took pictures. At the gift shop we each bought a necklace. One of the workers showed us around the bar area. He showed us the Aussie Embassy right next door and the British Embassy. He said they all come in after work on Fridays for Happy Hour. We didn't get back to the hotel until 7:30.
I decided I didn't want to spend another 13 hours in the car so I called May Thu and canceled my trip to the Golden Rock. She invited us to dinner the next night at her family's house. I told her we didn't eat dinner (which was true) so she invited us for lunch. She said U Tin Wint would pick us up the next day at 11:00.