The pink buddhist nuns of Myanmar

This picture is taken from the balcony of our guest house this morning.  

You see these girls everywhere in Myanmar.  They are buddhist nuns or sila-rhan.  When a girl or woman choses to enter the monastic life, they shave their heads, take ordination vows and practice meditation and reading scriptures, just like the male monks do although they don't travel overseas or perform ceremonies.  The girls walk around every town for much of the day collecting money and food and are always quiet but curious when they see us.

We've had a really nice time in Pyin Oo Lwin but its times to move on so we take a shared taxi to Mandalay, arriving at about midday.  The hotel we've booked is a little further out of town than our previous one and right in the middle of a huge and interesting market.  We eventually find our way out and go for some lunch.  We get lost again heading back and, although we were going to go to U Bein Bridge for sunset, we're now a little late so just relax in the room for a bit before heading out again for an Indian ... by taxi this time!