The worst night in 16 months.

31.01.2020

I woke up at 3 o'clock in the night. I had pain all over my body. What's wrong here? I felt a bump on my forehead, I couldn't see properly with my left eye. It itched and hurt on my shoulders, back, arms and legs. I was wide awake and went to the bathroom and saw huge bites all over my body. In addition, my eye was swollen. Great! After over 16 months of traveling, I had to experience such a bed bug attack. Even when I lay down in bed, I thought somehow that there were black dots on the sheets (bed bug feces), but I didn't think much of it. I didn't choose the cheapest hostel and also studied the reviews and so far there hasn't been a single comment about bed bugs. That's what I call bad luck!

There was no one at the reception at this time. What to do? In my desperation, I simply changed to another bed and the ordeal was over. The next morning, I showed my upper body to the lady at the reception. She apologized and rubbed everything with Thanaka (a milky substance made from water mixed with the bark of the Thanakha tree, a natural makeup and also a medical cream here in Myanmar). The boss himself didn't care much, he only spoke to me about why I was sitting with my upper body bare during breakfast.

I had my lunch on the street. Like in Vietnam, there are these small children's tables and chairs here too. However, hygiene is somewhat different here in Myanmar, my stomach let me know afterwards. In any case, I went to the Swe Taw Myat Pagoda in the afternoon and then to the Kabar Aye Pagoda. Since I walked most of the way, I also went through some strange areas of the city. Some children were fascinated by me, I was skeptical. They actually just wanted to show me a temple. They were actually really nice. But most of them just want money from you. Late lunch and then I decided spontaneously to take the train back, which wasn't far away. That was an experience on the swaying train! And I didn't see any other tourists on the train. That's the pure experience in the midst of the locals.