A busy day today, as I flew from Yangon up to Heho airport, the nearest airport to Inle Lake. As expected Yangon domestic terminal had no 'Westerners' and the ATR72 prop plane to Heho was full. The flight was only about 1 hour, but if you travel by coach, then with the many police checks, the trip takes perhaps 10-12 hours. Not for old me!! I took a taxi from the airport to my prebooked lodgings in Nyaung Shwe, the nearest town to Inle Lake. I always only book the first night at hotels, in case there is something not ok with the hotel. That was the case here, where the fastest internet from their wi-fi was not even 2 MB/sec. Additionally, although the hotel was in the town, none of my 3 mobile network SIMs produced anything more than a whisper of a signal! So I wandered over to Sweet Inn, right by the bridge over the canal that runs down to the lake, and therefore close to all amenities. I had stayed at Sweet Inn some years ago and remembered the friendly owner and the fast internet. I was not disappointed. 19 MB/sec wi-fi internet and a cracking signal from Atom mobile network as a back-up! The owner appeared, remembered me and provided his best room at $7 a night :) He mentioned that since the military coup, he had only had 2 western customers (in 5 years). As a result of lack of income, his hotel needed a touch of paint (that's an under-statement!). But it was the same as the other hotels in town. Yes, they had Burmese from Taunggyi who come to visit, but that's it. I was able to teach my online lessons without any problems, and the electricity in the town was cut at about 8pm (the hotel has no generator). However, I always come well-prepared with a car battery charger and 12v/220v inverter. The hotel owner has an old car battery that he will bring tomorrow, so I'll hopefully not have to buy one. Enjoying a cold Yoma beer... here's a view across from the hotel to the nearby temple. I do need to print out more of my A3 vocabulary posters, but the sole printer in town only stocks standard 60 gram A3 paper, no card. I predicted this. So I need to buy white paper glue, some strong scissors and corrugated packing cardboard to strengthen the posters if printed on 60 gram paper. That's a job for Friday :)
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