Kalaw

As I mentioned we arrived at 2:30am. Now, normal people would have booked a room already in hope they could check in and get a good night sleep and rest the next day. We aren't normal people. As we felt like we were running out of time we decided to skip the sleep and a day off and hoped we could sign up to a 3 day hike to Inle Lake. A bus would take 2 hours but that wouldn't be so fun would it?!

Jungle King Trekking office didn't open till 7am so we had quite a few hours to kill. So we took refuge on a freezing tiled floor in the reception of a hotel. At the time it felt like the worst decision we had made this trip. It was so miserably cold I felt like I wanted to cry and obviously I didn't sleep a wink, just felt miserable. Finally at 6:30am we got up and went in search of breakfast. It was warmer outside than in!! We had egg pancakes and talked to locals about football and then sat outside Jungle King waiting for them to open. Luckily we were able to sign up to the trek for today and our morning sleeping on the floor worked out!

We had 2 hours before the trek started so we went to visit the local market, ate some breakfast and freshened up.

At 9am we met the 4 others that would be in our group and Pyu our guide. 3 Swiss, 2 Brits and a French on a 3 day adventure. Within seconds we were all laughing, making jokes and bonding. I think it's going to be a great group!!

The morning hike took us up through villages and along pathways leading upwards towards the hills. It was a straight forward start. We took a short break while a heard of water buffalo's headed down the hill. We were even entertained to a bull fight to which I quickly hid behind Pyu just in case!

At one point Will's mi band fell off so we both went back to search for it. Luckily we soon found it and then went back to find the group. Now the next thing that happened was the start of a regular event for our group. The group were waiting for us in a little village and had somehow been invited for tea by a little old couple!! We sat for about half a hour drinking lots of tea and chatting to the old couple using our guide as a translator. It was such a unique experience!

After about another hour or so we stopped for lunch and wow what a spread!! We had guacamole, veggie noodles with a fried egg, tomato salad, watermelon and oranges. Oh and green tea! Yum!!!

The afternoon was definitely my favourite part. We walked along the top of the hills through hundreds of fields growing beautiful red scarlet chilli's and you could see the valleys far below on both sides. It was really gorgeous.

When we arrived at the village where we were staying myself, Pauline and Will soon started to feel the effects of not sleeping but we powered through by having a well deserved beer, sunflower seeds and watching sunset as a group.

For dinner we had another incredible feast by candlelight of aubergine, morning glory, catfish curry, beans and rice. Oh and more green tea! There was a gorgeous little kitten in the home that would just wouldn't leave Will alone. The evening was finished off with a bedtime story about the Dragon and the Prince of Myanmar from Pyu.

We were all tucked up in bed at 9pm. What an incredible day.Read more