We said farewell to the Governor’s Residence and took a short flight on Yangon Airways to the Bagan airport, where we were greeted once again by smiling faces.

(On a related note, I just saw this story on FriskoDude’s blog. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our travel planner William for booking us on the only airline in Myanmar still able to obtain spare parts!)

On the long drive to Mt. Popa, we stopped at a local farm where Kelly took a turn making peanut oil the old fashioned way. We also saw how the male coconut trees were tapped for their flow of sweet toddy, which when reduced, yields a super-sweet brown sugar. Some of this sugar is eaten in this form with coffee or tea.

The rest is fermented in large vessels and distilled into a potent liquor which tastes a bit like tequila to me. Naturally, I brought a bottle home.