Inle to Yangon

We went back to the Heho airport to wait for the plane to Yangon. And wait. And wait. Our 8:30 flight became 10:30. For a 1 hour flight. Such is life here.
Back in Yangon, we went to the National Museum. No pictures allowed, but I'm not sure why. Everyplace else in this country, there is a fee for cameras, but here we were even patted down. Nevertheless, in our first room, there was someone taking pictures. I guess that only applies to foreigners (who had our own marked bathrooms!).
The museum had the original throne of King Mindon from the 1880s. Not just a chair, but a 15 foot high raised dais with ornamental gold and figures. This was the "lion" throne, from which he gave legal pronouncements. There were reproductions of 7 other similar thrones which were used for other purposes. There were examples of the Royal crowns, jewelry, and other gold items. They literally were behind bars. In another room was mannequins with the ceremonial dress of 40 of the 135 different ethnic groups of this country. This really is a hodge podge of groups, trying to be one country. The Burmese are the largest group, and they are in control. The Shan are the next largest, and they struggle for recognition. The others all do the same. It's the same the world over. They don't want to break up into smaller states (a la Yugoslavia -"All Slavs") as they realize they would be even more powerless to the behemoths of China and India in the region. But those in power want to keep it for themselves and their own group, and let the others pound sand. As is usual in many places in the world, nothing gets accomplished officially without some "show of appreciation", so it is not just about being in charge, it is also enrichment.
Back to the museum, they also had room of some of the natural history, with old dinosaur bones, cave paintings, and artifacts from 10,000 to 2,000 years ago. Ann found rooms of jewelry and clothing. Overall, interesting, even if presented in a less than optimal fashion.
Then to the Scott market. This is a huge conglomeration of stalls in large warehouses for jewelry, clothing, food, and what-have-you. Ann was on a mission to get beads for Ellen; I was totally bored. There wasn't even much to take photos of, as it was dark. And hot. The only interesting thing was the piles of bugs for sale. They looked like grasshoppers, but I wasn't exactly sure. Yum.