Bhamo - Friendship Hotel.

We have spent two days in this northern town waiting to board the boat for our week-long trip down the Irrawaddy to Mandalay (a one hour flight that we took to get here). As with all places we've seen in Myanmar, this dusty town is filled with people who greet us with smiles and expressions of welcome. We are loving our time in this beautiful country. But it's clear that trouble is close by. Yesterday we had a chance to visit a refugee camp filled with women and children (and a few men) from farther north in Kachin State, where insurgents are fighting the military for control. Sein Win, yesterday's guide, told us that at night he can hear the sound of gun shots from his house that is here in town. Most of the refugees had been in the camp for 20 months without any indication of when they might be able to return to their villages.Sein Win took us on a day long bicycle tour of Bhamo and the surrounding countryside. We went over the Bamboo Bridge (completely rebuilt every year after the monsoon rains destroy it and flood the delta). We peddled for miles over a soft sandy trail.  I was on a bike whose handlebars didn't exactly communicate with the front wheel - making steering rather less than precise - and David's bike had only one working brake. Apparently the trip that was supposed to take one hour to a monastery is accomplished in that time by people in top shape who are used to peddling fast across the desert. Two and a half hours later as we reached our destination. I was already formulating Plan B to get back to town. At our request Sein Win hired a boatman to carry us and the bikes back to town, thereby avoiding a repeat of the experience we once had in Costa Rice involving horses that I am certain Sam and Max remember well.David really wants to take a water buffalo home with him. He so rarely asks for anything, I am considering the request.Before leaving Laos a few days ago we had carefully monitored the weather in Myanmar  and packed clothing appropriate for 90 degree weather. Well, it's damn cold here in Bhamo, and while the Friendship Hotel is filled with friendly people, there is no heat.  But between power outages there is sporadic Internet, so I am writing this under several layers of blankets, hoping it gets to you.LoraPs. As you can from the photos below taken in the evening market here, you can run but you can't hide.