Day 54 – Phyu to Pyinpongyi (Moyingyi Lake)

Today started early and with only a couple of cereal bars for breakfast I was glad of a shorter day ahead of me.

Once riding I felt good, the wind was fairly light and the air was cool. Both of these changed as time went by but I stopped regularly so the heat was manageable and with less than 100 miles to ride I wasn’t bothered by the speed.

I didn’t have a choice when it came to the distance as I’ve stopped in the only place for a fair way, but yesterday evening it was nice to know today wouldn’t be as long – regardless of what the wind did.

I didn’t sleep much last night; it took me about a hour to get to sleep despite being exhausted and I woke up every hour or so thinking I needed to get going. I eventually did so at 5am but still didn’t get on the bike until a bit after 6:30.

The day passed easily considering the headwind and nothing exciting really happened.

My accommodation for the night is nice. Not luxurious, but it’s a ‘wetlands resort’ and I’m in a little hut, shaped like a boat and the whole afternoon has been really relaxing. The only downside is that I’ve been ripped off on the price which I’m still a bit annoyed with myself about. I managed to get it down a bit, but haggling for the only accommodation within 20 miles after riding 75 miles is something I am yet to perfect.

The water for my shower had been heated by the sun and I would not have wanted it any hotter. I’m not quite sure how I often ended up with a freezing shower in India when they could have done the same thing.

For food this afternoon and evening I was given a choice of fried rice with chicken, fried noodles with chicken, and fried something else with chicken. I opted for two of the rice and one of noodles (not all at the same time). That now means that I have had chicken or pork with fried rice 7 times in the last four days; occasionally it has a fried egg on top.

Other things to note: apparently my ‘resort’ is an ideal spot for birdwatchers. There are pictures of birds to look out for dotted around everywhere… Unfortunately the most exotic thing I’ve seen is a crow.

Not sure what tomorrow holds yet. It will depend on the wind. I have a stop 127 miles away which is my last place to stop in Myanmar (Burma) until the border a full day away. This basically means I have to stop there, so I’m as of yet unsure whether I’ll get there tomorrow or if I will take two shorter days. At the moment I suspect the latter.

Last thing to mention is that it’s Milan – San Remo today… And I’d like to point out that I got there almost 2 months ago… These pros are slacking

A short one:
Distance: 72miles / 117km
Riding Time: 5:28:16
Av. Speed: 13.3mph / 21.5kph