Shwelabok

Our last and unplanned stop of the day was the Red Mountain Winery. I hadn't been there but the others had already visited. Our driver seemed willing to go even though we had exceeded our planned two hour tour, so we all agreed to go. It isn't difficult to persuade Francophones to make a pit stop for cheese and wine.

Red Mountain Winery is one of these wonderfully random things you sometimes find during your travels. I mean, who expects to find a winery in Myanmar? We got up there in time for a spectacular sunset, and we ordered a bottle of sauvignon blanc and a couple of cheese plates. The wine was decent, as was the cheese. We also bumped into Ewan, and he joined us for his second tasting. The mosquito situation at the winery was quite bad, though.

Our driver was a really great guy. He watched over us, loaned Julie his flip flops when hers broke (he walked barefoot). He didn't complain when we exceeded by far the two hours we initially agreed to. He stopped to pick up two tourists who appeared stranded, and while we were at the winery he drove them back to Nyaung Shwe and then came back to get us. He declined payment from Ewan, and we suspect he declined payment from the other two tourists because we had chartered his vehicle. We gave him a big tip at the end. He later saw two of our party and he bought them snacks.

After arriving back at Ostello Bello, we trooped out for dinner (Michael joined us), and we explored the night market while looking for food. After that, it was yet more drinks and conversation at the hostel rooftop.

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