Pinlaung – Ngaunshwe (Inle Lake) = 80km (May 21)
Up early is the norm on ride days and by 6am we were sitting at the coffee shop getting our breakfast sorted for the big day ahead. The staple of bread donuts and samosas are always found in the tea shops early in the morning.
As it is so difficult to find information on cycling in Myanmar we actually had no idea what the terrain would be like. Well first thing this morning we realised that yesterday’s tough day was a breeze as we were straight into granny gear up the steepest of Mountains we have ever climbed. This continued for 25km as we battled our way up in Granny gear (easiest gear) and were rewarded with some free wheeling. At times down hill was too steep we had the brakes smoking. The road was remote, minimal traffic which was just as well as only designed for motorbikes so when a truck came by it was down to one lane.
This hill tribe village was amazing as we rolled through the Mountains. Such a tough basic life as we watched these village folk in the morning take their water containers to the community well. A basic life seeing them showering outside their houses wrapped in a sarong showering with a bucket.
A few Myanmar potholes and another broken drink bottle cage on Betty we made it through the Mountain down to the flat.
School in the Mountains
Once out of the Mountains the stunning scenery continued as we weaved our way through villages and then we could see glimpses of Inle Lake through the smoke haze. Rolled into the town of Nyuangshwe at 1.30 and noticed a significant increase in temperature compared to the Mountains. Checked out a few places to stay and realised after the first guesthouse that it is low season and they are deathly quiet. We managed to negotiate a room that sells for US45 in peak season for US23 and it is fab and includes brekkie. They have 15 rooms and we are it so we are being fussed over with the lovely Burmese hospitality. So here we will be for 3 nights.
All alone at brekkie one table set up for the kiwi cycle tourists.
THENEVSBYCYCLE 
LOVE IT!! Looks amazing. I can smell the samosas and bread donuts..yummmm Simple pleasures eh. Although the simple life is tough in comparison to our way of living it does make you think in the Western world we do over complicate things…. K,P,S & J xx
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I agree with you… The scenery is fantastic! Now you know how granny feels šš slow pace š Hope you find another water bottle cage…. don’t want you to dehydrate!!
Enjoy all the attention you are getting at your hotel you both deserve it with all that cycling you have done and still to do….. safe travels š
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Fancy having a whole retaurant to yourself, you would have been looked after like a king & queen. I can just see the smoke coming from Betty & Nancy when you were going down those hills. The school looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. It must be so exciting for you both seeing all the beautiful sceneries & hardly ever the same.Love Di & Reg
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