Lakes, markets, and the flu (oh my!)
Burma proved a difficult country to travel around given its lack of transportation infrastructure. We had 7 days in the country, but we decided to just go to one other location, Inle Lake, given it was a 12 hour overnight bus to get there. (more on the overnight bus later) Trains are slow and unreliable in the country and the flights...they are expensive, include major kickbacks to the government, and don't have the best safety record (Xmas crash as an example).
At Inle Lake, rural life in Burma shines through. The scenery in the words of Chan is California-esque with the sweeping hills and cool breezes. Our first day at Inle included a 10 mile bike ride all for tofu and hot springs. To explain: outside Naungshwe there is a small village where the locals are known for making tofu from yellow split peas rather than soybeans. Luckily after searching a bit we found a woman who would fry some up for us. And, there is a local tourist spot to jump in some hot springs.
This leads us to the flu...Kate had a sore throat for a few days that turned into fatigue and congestion culminating in a fever. She had her flu shot but clearly wasn't prepared with whatever strain Burma had to throw at her. Therefore, we laid low in Inle Lake (and Chan nursed Kate back to health with anything he could find...tylenol, OJ, and lentil soup ended up doing the trick).
