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I got up fairly early in the morning and found a bus to Kushalnagar and then used a autorickshaw to get to Bylakupee. This place is the largest settlement of Tibetans outside of Tibet. Plus I heard they have an internet connection there.

It was a peaceful place, a nice change from the rest of India. I visited the Namdroling Monastery. Now it was technically illegal for me to be there without a permit to this special area, so I just stayed a short while. I got connected to the internet for the first time in India here too, it figures where the foreigners are, I can do it. Plus I had a new plan, not ask about the laptop, but just walk in and plug it in myself. It worked.

I headed back to Kushalnagar, the nearest city, and found a room. Probably my favorite place to stay so far. A few restaurants near by and lots of cybercafés (popular with the Tibetan monks). I tried one restaurant and ordered the standard South Indian food. Rice and a lot of little curry type bowls. Luckily, one had a spoon in it, so I could use the spoon for most. Tasted good. Still hungry, I went to another restaurant and tried some tomato curry and bread. Really good. So far all the Indian food I’ve tried has tasted good, no complaints. Plus everything has been vegetarian, but it seems to taste better than food with meat!

At sunrise, I got up to see the main attraction at Shravanabelagola, on top of Vindhyagirl Hill. During my walk up, I was met by a number of Indians  coming down and they all wanted their photo taken. It might not be too difficult to take people photos in this country when they want me to do it so bad. However, it is only males who want photos. They also wanted to shake my hand, they were very excited.

Everything was stone, including the hill, the buildings, and the statue. They say it is the world’s tallest monolithic statue (cut from a single stone) at the top of the hill of Bahubali. The statue looked brand new, even though it was sculpted over 1000 years ago. It is hard to believe it has stayed in perfect condition outside in the weather all these years.

Since I got a refilled water bottle yesterday, I thought I might as well refill it myself. Near the guesthouse was a tank saying Drinking Water and on the tap there was some kind of cloth filter. Seemed good enough, no problems with that water.

Today I took five buses to different places and seemed like they worked well. First I took a bus to Hassan, where I found a cheap guesthouse. Then I took a bus to Halebid, the site of stone temple known for its architecture and sculpture called Hoysaleswara. It was unbelievable. I’ve been to a lot of museums and temples, but this seemed to beat everything. The outer walls had rows after rows of carvings and at the top many Hindu gods shown with great detail. Inside the columns, up to 16 feet tall, looked like they were turned a lathe. Not sure what kind of lathe they use on such a big stone like this 900 years ago.

Then it was to Belur, a similar temple called Chennakeshava and at the site of the capital of the ancient kingdom of Hoysala. Similar style with these columns I liked and countless carvings around the outside walls. There was even a stone overhang carved so it looked like beams holding up the roof. The inside continued with impressive skill shown everywhere.

Outside some kids asked if I could take their photo and then asked if they could take mine. I think they were a little too excited about using my camera, I said no. I don’t want them to run off with it.

Back to Hassan, I looked around for a cybercafe, but I couldn’t find anything. This was starting to get annoying. For perhaps the first time in my life, I bought a newspaper to stay caught up with everything. Only 3 rupees ($0.06 USD), it is a good value. The newspaper explained how IT workers have increased hours from 40 to 45 hours per week for the same pay. I also read in the US, companies are doing the opposite, like having 4 day work weeks. I read the job postings and was surprised to see “Nurses for USA” as one of the advertisements.

After seeing everything today, I thought I must have seen the best India has to offer. I guess I could go home now if I wanted.

I knew going out in the morning, the streets of Bengaluru (Bangalore) would be different from the night before. It was quite loud here near the train and bus stations. I was told by a few people not to stay very long in the big cities, and Bengaluru is the 3rd largest in India. I had three goals this morning: 1. ATM 2. Eat 3. Internet.

I tried about three ATMs that didn’t accept my card and I was beginning to get worried. Thankfully, State Bank of India accepted my card and I was able to take out 4800 rupees ($100). I read this bank is the largest in India and second largest in the world.

Yesterday, I didn’t eat at all. I tried a restaurant next to the bus station here. I had a roti (bread) and two curries and no silverware. I picked up the roti to tear it in half and after a few second remembered the rule you can only eat with your right hand in India. So with my right hand I ate the rest and it tasted good. Still a little hungry, I tried another restaurant and had something similar and forgetting to use only the right had at the beginning.

This whole time I was looking for a cyber cafe. Bengaluru is known as the IT city, this is were all the software companies are headquartered, the ones that work gets outsourced to from the US and other places. My book also said there are a lot of cafes where I find internet access. I did find some, but I asked if I could use my laptop and every cafe said no. I noticed every place was very small, about 4 old PCs. I was surprised this is all they had here? I think my answer came when I saw two men using the computers. One was working in a spreadsheet, another was working on a presentation. I don’t think anyone plays computer games in this country, and that it the thing that drives these cafes in all other countries. I was surprised to see people working, not playing!

Anyway, I got a bus to Shravanabelagola. They had a wall in the station that listed all the destinations and their departure times, which was very helpful. Shravanabelagola was one of the places I wanted to go, so I decided to take the 11:45AM bus. I couldn’t figure out how to get a ticket though. There was an advanced reservations booth, but no one was using it. I figured out everyone just buys a ticket on the bus. It was a bus from the state bus company, so it was no frills but it was on time and quiet and not crowded. So far, the roads here seem better than Myanmar. Should be better for my back.

I bought a bottle of water on the way, but I think it was a refilled bottle. It didn’t seem to be sealed. That’s why the bottles say crush after use so this doesn’t happen. I guess I don’t mind too much, I didn’t get sick from this water.

In the small town of Shravanabelagola I found a nice guesthouse. Only $3, including hot water shower. The first place I visited was Chandragupta Basadi, which is a walk up a hill. This is an interesting area because it has many 1000 year old stone Jain temples, which is new for me.

Today was quite a long day. And also a record for me: 4 countries in a single day. First I took the free shuttle bus from the Motherland Inn to the Yangon airport and took the AirAsia flight to Bangkok, Thailand.

There was some kind of medical emergency on the flight. I notice in the front row someone was collapsed and after the landing flight attendants were running up and down the aisle and were using oxygen tanks. At the airport, everyone exited through the rear door while ambulances came up to the front door. I’m not sure what happened exactly.

After a few hours in Thailand, I got on a Tiger Airways flight to Singapore. After a few more hours in Singapore, I took another Tiger Airways flight to Bangalore, India.

I arrived in India at 11:00PM at the new Bangalore International Airport which just opened in May 2008. Immigration went quickly and then I looked for an ATM. I found only one foreign ATM but it said out of service. I was forced to change USD $20 I had.

Next I went out to the buses and tried to figure out which one would take me to the train station area. After a while I did figure it out and was confident I was on the correct bus. The bus didn’t leave for an hour, but at least they have 24 hour buses here.

When I got dropped off around 1AM, I noticed there was almost no one on the streets, all the shutters of hotels and businesses were closed. I didn’t have much choice, but had to rely on an autorickshaw driver to get me somewhere. He took me to a couple hotels and knocked to wake the people up who were sleeping in the lobby. I got an OK room for $10.

The bus ended up taking 15 hours total. Thankfully most of the roads were better in this trip. My time in this country is winding down.

I bought a new plastic strap to replace my worn out leather watch strap. I think this one will hold  up to sweat and humidity more.

I wanted to visit the British Consul Library, but it was closed to do a holiday. Instead a Myanmar man invited me into his come after walking down the street. Maybe he was a little drunk, but he kept shaking my hand and saying things like “Burma has no freedom” and some other not so nice things about the government. Actually the first time I’ve heard someone here talk like that, since it isn’t really allowed.

I also visited Botataung Paya, since I missed it last time. I also went back to the big Shwedagon Paya to see the sunset there.

An update on my camera, the flash is not working anymore. I think for the same reason as everything else, the camera was not in a hardened case and something got smashed. My two batteries are getting old, I notice they don’t last as long (even with no flash photography).

I brought a 80GB external hard drive with me and found a USB case for it in China. But I noticed it has gone missing here in Myanmar. It either fell out of my backpack or was stolen. Good thing it was just a backup drive.

Overall, Myanmar has some of the most friendly people I’ve seen in the world. Maybe the only things I don’t like is everyone eating Betel nut and spitting that everywhere and the roads. But one of the top countries in Asia to visit.

I got up early to try to catch the sunrise. I made it to the same place where I saw the sunset, but this time I was all alone. It was an ok sunrise, but afterwards I rode my bicycle back to the guesthouse for breakfast. Today they served pancakes with honey and chocolate. Very good!

In the afternoon, I got on my bus back to the biggest city in the country, Yangon. From 3:00PM until 11:30PM they were playing music videos inside the bus. It got cold in the bus later on, but I was prepared with enough clothes.

Today I decided to visit the south and center areas. I saw one pagoda which was filled with so many paintings all over the walls. I saw another that had an example of a double arch construction. I saw a lot of cows and sheep along the trails where I rode my bike. Farmers were moving the animals.

After reaching the farthest south point, I had some fresh sugar cane juice. They have machines here that will squeeze any juice out of the raw sugar cane and tastes pretty good.

I treated myself with some pizza today. There is an Italian restaurant here. For $3.33 I got a Italian style pizza and it wasn’t too bad.

Then I decided to go see the sunset, since everyone likes to do that. I had some trouble finding a spot to view. The first place I tried didn’t have much of a view, the second place the stairs were gated shut, and the third place I finally climbed up with a bunch of other foreign tourists. It was ok. But too bad I discovered another flat tire when I returned to my bicycle.

I rode it back to town and found a guy to repair it. While I waited I decided to try some food at a Myanmar restaurant. I ordered a vegetable dish and some rice. The waitress asked if I wanted some curry, like chicken or pork or vegetable. She said she had a lot of vegetable. I said I’ll try a vegetable curry, but I was kind of shocked when all was finished there were 16 plates on my table! There were 10 plates of different curries, soup, a second soup because I finished half of my first soup, salad, fresh vegetables, rice, and the original dish I ordered.

I was panicking because I just ate an entire pizza three hours ago. I was thinking now it is my turn to get scammed. I asked the waitress if I have to pay for all of this or only what I eat. She said all. I tried to eat as much as I could , tried everything. I wish I was with someone else to share this meal and the whole time I was fearing the final price.

When I asked, she said 1500 kyat. I was shocked. That’s $1.25 and there’s 16 plates on my table? Well, it wasn’t a scam, I got the local price. They even gave me some small dessert snacks.

I got my bike back and rested in my room.

After a nice breakfast including fresh fruit juice (included in the price of my $5 room), I took my rented bicycle out for another day. This time I headed for the southwest area. I saw one of the bigger buildings and this one looked like a step-pyramid. Inside were huge cathedral like hallways. Each one of these pagodas is like walking through a medieval castle in some ways. I was wondering if I could go up another level, but it was gated off. I did find an alternative way, if you walk along a narrow ledge you can get to the second floor. Looked like something out of the Prince of Persia video game, but I didn’t need to visit there that bad.

Today I quit at about 1:00PM. Just a few days ago I was sick with a fever so I don’t want to repeat that.

I had a fruit milk shake with ice. Now I know when the guidebooks say be careful of ice. One cube had what looked like a lot of dirt frozen inside of it. I took that piece out at least.

It was New Year’s Eve. And the guesthouse had some dinner for the occasion, which was very nice of them. I talked to a few other tourists here. Some said they were caught up in a scam where a local person invites them to their home for dinner and then asks to borrow like $50 for rent. They said these people would chase you on motorcycles. I noticed these people and saw they were aggressive and I stayed away already.

I didn’t stay up for midnight, but went to sleep early.

Today I decided to ride my bike to Old Bagan, the center of the old city. I visited the tallest pagoda, but you cannot walk up to the top of this one. But there were others I could walk up.

In the middle of the day I visited the Archeological Museum for a relief from the sun.

In the afternoon, I made a mistake by taking a shortcut down a path. The path soon turned into a farm and then turned into a grassy field. It became impossible to ride my bicycle. I saw these holes all over the ground, thinking snakes maybe live there. Also I saw cacti and other sharp plants. My feet were soon in pain from all the scratches.

Luckily today I asked for a few bicycle and this one didn’t get any flat tires. I finally made it through and made it back to my hotel.

After a nice breakfast with some fruit juice, I rented a bicycle and headed out to explore the ancient capital city of Bagan, which was flourishing around 800 years ago.

Nearly the first place I went was a little used dirt path and it was difficult to ride my single speed bike here. The trick is to go as fast as possible to get through any sand. Bagan has somewhere around 3000 standing pagodas right now and I visited some of them today. Some local kids helped guide me through one, up some stairs to the roof for a view. They are all made out of brick, many are filled with paintings inside, and a lot have stairs and dark passageways that are fun to explore.

It is interesting to see all the arches used throughout all the structures. And it is amazing to look out across the plain and see these ancient remains go on forever.

Next I visited a cave and some other pagodas. I realized I wish I had shoes on instead of flip flops when riding or walking through the wild areas.

After about two hours I noticed I had a flat tire. The bike would still ride, but slower. After a while I found a place to repair it. The tube looked very old with 40 or 50 old patches. The man found at least 4 new holes to fix and he put on 4 to 7 new patches. He charged me 1000 kyat ($0.83).

After a break, I took my repaired bike out some more in the afternoon, but it can get exhausting trying to see everything here.