Friday 18 November PINDARA to MANDALAY

We get up at 5:30 for a 6 o'clock breakfast and 6:30 departure. We're at 1,200 m here so the dawn is quite cold. We board the coach and drive for a bit before starting our cycle, which takes us through isolated rural settlements, where all the village children say "mingalarbar". There's mist in the valleys as it's still very early. We then cycle through eucalyptus lined roads through fields of mustard and linseed. There's a profusion of yellow asters/ daisies in this part. There are some roadside stalls selling strange looking vegetables which we don't recognise. Oxen pull wooden carts laden with freshly cut cabbages. The route is quite hilly at times and as we're heading north west the sun is on our backs and it's very hot. After about 5 or so hours cycling we have lunch in a little village eatery. It's then time to board the bus on the road to Mandalay, which descends along hairpin bends for many miles. The journey takes 5 hours. We arrive at Mandalay which is unbelievably busy with traffic and partularly huge numbers of motorbikes and is a complete contrast to the peaceful countryside of this morning.