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.

Inle lake by boat not bike

Kalaw to Inle lake - 62 km
Nice and cool to start off, a gentle 8 k climb then a cruisy ride down. So nice to be off the main highway of the previous week. Quite a few Indian and Nepali descendants here, the British brought in labour when the built the railway years ago. We lucked out at the first village and arrived in time to see a parade. An annual event, everyone in traditional clothing. They looped around town so we got to see it all twice. So many kids dressed up on horses. Music, floats, fun.
Then downhill passed all the sugarcane fields, ahh imagine all those snakes... What a job. Tourism is what it's about here, Inle lake is on the must see trail. Found a nice place to stay, booked a boat for the next day  and caught up with Bea and Piet again for dinner. And beer, we have all decided it is the safest and cheapest drink! Just 60 cents a handle.
We were out all day on a small boat, whizzed around to the morning market, the floating village, the weaving, knife making, cigarette making,( photo)  temples, pagodas, right down to the ' long neck' women. Touristy but interesting.  We heard the workers get paid so little, about $1 per day.
The lake is large but shallow, (polluted) lots of fishing and those boats are rowed with a pole using one leg while they organize the nets with their hands. Houses built on stilts on the water, no sewerage system to be seen. They also have gardens floating on the water, using boats to get around and manage them. Lots of boat traffic, taking stuff everywhere.
Expensive resorts built on the lake but the majority of tourists stay in the nearby town. Good places to eat. Enjoyed an aubergine curry and avocado salad.

Bike, bus, pick up, a bit of everything from Bago to Kalaw

Mt Kyaiktiyo to Bago, 95 km
On the rd by 7.30 am trying to beat the heat. A straight rd most of the day, dry, dusty agriculture area. Water melons everywhere. Stalls and stalls selling them and trucks picking them up to take them to the markets.  Not fun on a road like a drag strip having to overtake trucks and cars stopped at all these stalls. But we also stopped and enjoyed one. Then lunch at an Indian place. Took a detour over a bridge to a small village. Then the turn off to Bago, about 20 km, the rd got busier, it was two lanes but it was being extended so road works and then lots of rocks blocking the shoulder.  We ended up riding on a concrete road extension, half finished,  with boxing still around it,  as we found the road too dangerous. We arrived in the city about 2 pm. Bago was nuts. Sooo noisy, the traffic was manic and the hotels were on the main street, noisy and not nice either. We both had bad vibes about the place. We went to Bago primarily to get a train north.  We only have a 28 day visa and the country is so big we thought we would not cycle the boring hot central plain as it would take days.  But instead of waiting till the next morning to get a train we decided to get an overnight bus north. We had a shower and a rest at a hotel then dinner then left at 8.30 pm, only 2.5 hrs late, heading north to Merktila.
Just went into a deep sleep only to be woken (10.30) to say we all had to get off the bus for 30 minutes as it was eating time... Anyway we slept later for a bit and arrived at our destination at 5.15 am. We were the only ones left on the bus, everyone else had got off along the way. It was still dark but a tea house across the road was just opening so we hung out there for an hour till it got light, photo of Trevor enjoying morning coffee. We wanted to bike to Kalaw, a town high up with a cooler climate on the way to Inle lake. Distance from Merktila about 120 km finishing with a 35km massive uphill, too big an ask for one day. So we were still working on a plan.
In the meantime around 7 am we biked to a guesthouse. Just as we got there we found a group of 9 cyclists leaving. They were from the UK and on an 8 day charity ride complete with support bus and pick up truck. Our plans and clothes were quickly changed and we  joined them on their ride, our panniers in the support truck. 85 km then all bikes loaded into the pick up, bus and people transported up the massive hill.  Fantastic. A fun day with them all. Much less traffic, more motorbikes and bikes, less cars and trucks. More trees. Kalaw was also much cooler, I needed an extra layer on as we headed out for dinner. Also just a bit tired!