Country Road to Pindaya

Inle Lake to Pindaya, 65 km
The climb out of Inle Lake was better than we thought it would be, 10 km flat,  passed lots of sugar cane and loaded trucks ( photo ) then a good gradient up for another 10 before we turned off onto a lovely country rd. Trevor wasn't feeling the greatest, (dodgy stomach) but we continued on slowly. 30 km mark I  got a puncture so Trevor (photo) fixed that. We were right at an intersection of a small settlement. We thought we would stop for a drink at what looked like a tea house. There were a few tables and chairs. They quickly brushed everything of a table then swept the floor around us into a pile in the corner. But they didn't actually have anything for sale so we got out our cups and coffee and they provided the hot water. Laughs all round. Across the road 3 guys were making wagon wheels so we watched them  heating up the steel rim in the fire, someone on the bellows keeping it going. Then they cut it, hammered it, heated it again quite a process. ( photo )
Further along we met a couple of boys coming home from school, had a cup of tea with Grandad and watched them play draughts using bottle tops. One kept winning but I think he was turning the bottle tops over, kids are the same everywhere!
A rural agricultural area, bright red dirt. Dry with these kind of  billobongs along the way. It's the place for animals to drink, everything to be washed, oxen, people, motorbikes... The laundry, the well.
A great days riding.
4 sleeping options, all ok, we chose the one with the outside seating area rather than the inside upstairs hotel room.
I was hungry at 2.30 when we got to Pindaya but Trevor wasn't and he needed a rest so I ventured out on my own, not many places to eat, ended up having fried rice at the local beer station. Entertaining. We walked around the little lake at Pindaya around 6 pm, everyone was bathing and washing.
Trevor had  recovered so we wandered the town until we found somewhere adequate to eat, not great options.
Quite a nice town, the claim to fame being the caves which we visited the next day. There were  over 8000 Buddhas in these caves, quite astounding. If you buy one they will find somewhere to put it!
It is the start of the school summer holidays and there was a  local fair on so we strolled around that. I loved watching the ferris wheel, no motors, just run by the gravity of four guys, two at a time, as they took turns jumping on, climbing up and over. No safety of any sort and they kept going and going. Great buffet breakfast both mornings including a whole avocado each, fantastic.