Mandalay Hill

I met Thida later in the afternoon. We went to a local market but there was nothing I wanted. We both wanted to go to Mandalay Hill for sunset. The hill rises 760' above the flat city. We hired a bicycle trishaw for the ride there and back. We arrived late and as we climbed barefoot up tons of stairs to the top, the sun set. That was okay though because I've learned the most intense colors of the sun can come 20 minutes after it's set. We were both a little sweaty by the time we reached the top, but what a view! A panoramic 360 degree view of the shan hills in the distance, Ayerwaddy river and the huge Mandalay palace. There were some curious young monks up there asking me questions. We stayed up for a while admiring the views.
Ten minutes into our trishaw ride back into downtown there was a firecracker loud BANG! It was the tire of the sidecar exploding. We sat at a teashop for a bit waiting for it to be repaired. After it was fixed we only went for 5 minutes before it started ballooning out, it wasn't fixed. So we switched to another trishaw. We went to a local place for dinner. I ordered a big bowl of Thai veg soup, since it was only 30 cents more than the small bowl. Sure, I ordered the big bowl and that was what I got! There must have been 2 litres of soup, tofu and veggies! I said " Come on! You're kidding" as it arrived. Thida was laughing her head off! I scooped out most of the tofu and veggies. It was spicy but my stomach was able to handle it fine just two days after being sick. I just didn't want rice for a few days. Soup seemed like the way to go. I said bye to Thida at 9 as she rode her bike back home.