Argh! The alarm goes off, both of us in a deep sleep. But we must be up, breakfast at 5.30, bags at reception by 6 for a 6:20 (well let's call that 6:40) departure. We have a 6 hour bus trip to Pyay (pronounced 'pea'). The road we are taking is the main road between the two largest cities in Myanmar - think Pacific highway or Hume highway - then refer to the photos (though we subsequently found out there is a new 2 lane highway from Mandalay to Yangon - but until that was built just a couple of years ago, this was it!). The road is a single lane each way (generous description) and we are constantly dodging push bikes, motor bikes, trucks, buses and the occasional car. The mystery of the 'no motor bikes in yangon' puzzle - they are not allowed because of safety reasons (ironic?), but outside the city, the roads are dominated by push bikes, motor bikes and other motorised vehicles that defy description.
The journey is long. We stop for a tea break which a number of us will live to regret, then back on the bus to complete the journey to Pyay.
We arrive after 6 1/2 hours - a long, long day, but we are greeted warmly, offered drinks and are introduced to the crew that will look after us for the next week or so.
We cast off for our short cruise up the Ayeyarwaddy river to our overnight mooring at Palot village. Drinks and cocktail of the day at sunset are VERY pleasant, but after such a long day, tiredness set in and one after the other we crash in to bed.
That's when it hit Steve. A night of vomiting and diareah was NOT what the doctor ordered and on top of the extreme tiredness was the last thing that was needed. A truly awful night - we feel very sorry for the people in the cabin next to us but when nature calls...
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