Getting the feel of the city

A week and a half has gone by and we’re starting to figure out the city and how the way life works here. The first thing we’ve learned to rely on is the fact the Burmese people are truly some of the warmest, kindest and trusting people we have come across, safer then the guys I hang with at home. So when we have any issue: lost, hungry, looking for a store, need emergency beer, people will go out of their way to help. Westerners are obviously not the norm here and the Burmese women clearly like a large beautiful ball of muscle like myself and are always smiling my way.
I have a few favorite restaurants, while actually I mean one favorite restaurant that we’ve been to 5 times already. It’s a great 5-minute walk from the hotel and it is a Yunnan style BBQ called Yunnan 13. You do not have to wait to order, it has great service and two people dining there can enjoy four beers can get filled up with the best food for around 9 bucks. How it works… you walk in, go to this cooler that you pick your speared meats and vegetable to have bbq’d. The fish mutton and mushroom are a must! They also have some interesting things like sparrow with heads on and dried fish as well. (I have had both, with the sparrow being a bit graphic when you start the chewing process and crack the skull.) After you’ve picked your eats, restaurant girls in the back grill your food over a charcoal fire. Cats roam the place, including under your table looking for scraps. There usually are 30-50 people eating at the place with 30-40 staff waiting on you. I have gotten to know a few by name and they already now what I drink and where we like to sit. We took some pics which we will share with you on this blog.
Yesterday we also went to the river and checked it out. Lots of wooden boats and ferries with people carrying most of the supplies and goods on their back. I hope to find a kiting area on the river upstream. I don’t think the water is the cleanest i.e. dead dog floating in the river. So I’m not going to ride by the city itself. There are lots of huge timbers being loaded on modern ocean ships. I was planning on going fishing at the lake for the first time but the rain has turned on. I hope to head out in an hour. All the best and we’ll keep posting.