Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, is the largest city in Myanmar, which was once known as Burma. Upon arrival every one of our senses was set whirling. The city is chaotic but not disorderly. It is dirty, but at the same time colourful and charming. Noise of the car horns filled our ears and the aroma of cooking foods our nose. A flurry of activity surrounds the street vendors and markets, and crossing a road was exactly like playing the old arcade game Frogger.
We were really looking forward to our cruise down the Mekong River and it didn’t disappoint. We had heard mixed reviews from people on the slow-boats, the majority of which were positive but still mixed, so we had a decision to make. We did choose to pay a little extra to have some of the organising done for us. With Nagi of Mekong, getting to the border from our hotel in Chiang Khong, crossing the border and getting to the boat was all taken care of. For us that was a bonus. It probably saved us a day or two, which meant more time in Laos! The cruise included accommodation, village tours, rice whiskey tasting, hot buffet meals and drinks and tour of caves…
We happily left Pontianak behind – without a backwards glance – as we begun our journey across the South China Sea. We soon arrived at Pulau Pengiki-besar… This trip was delightfully packed full of visits to villages, schools, local restaurants as well as many local visitors to our boat. We barbecued on shore and enjoyed a bit of snorkelling.