Kalaw

Sometimes, things just don't quite turn out as expected.  It's all part of the adventure really; you get up all bright and bushy, excited for the day ahead. As joint first (did I tell you that?) our leaving time was important.  Very unusually, for me, I was waiting at the MTC for the seconds to pass and reach our appointed time all ready for the sprint (me!) to the car, which Adrian was already revving.

Off we set, making excellent time for the first 80kms, past gorgeous villages and into increasingly rural areas.  We were well off the beaten track when Adrian suddenly stopped.  I hadn't heard anything - not unusual, but he had detected a strange noise.  One of the front wheel bearings had gone and smoke was coming out of it.  No problem, we had a spare and it should not have taken too long to repair.  We were on tiny road with few houses, many ox carts and almost no cars.  It was really beautiful.  Other crews came and went but there was nothing anyone could do until the mechanics came with the puller needed to get it off.  Adrian started to make preparations, jacking up the car taking bits off, which I cleaned, beautifully and then we waited.  

I went off for a bit of a walk and was invited by a very excited man into his family compound.  A beautiful little wooden stilt house sat amidst a lovingly tended flower garden.  I had to admire the pig, photograph the cow, see his wife hand spinning and see and photograph some people threshing behind the house.  It was one of many moments when I wished I understood Burmese as he talked away to me.  We said our farewells and I went back to the car.  Then, a lady in the house opposite invited me over to sit on her shady porch.  She produced a little fan for me, made of leaves, brought a jug of water and showed me the outhouse. All quite lovely and so kind. The little hut had very little in it apart from a bed with a mat on it and a baby swinging in a hammock from a beam.  I sat quite happily for a couple of hours watching the ox carts pass by until Richard and David turned up as well as Liz and Julie in their Land Rovers.

There was little point in my staying as, after the repair, David could navigate for Adrian, with Richard following.  I went on with Liz because I did not want to miss the elephants.  

The elephants.  Oh how I love elephants. There are seven at the rescue centre and. the  Burmese man that started it is instrumental in trying to improve the lot of elephants in Burma and to stop the babies being sold to Thailand for the tourist industry.  There are a couple of elderly gents and one of the old ladies has a heart conditions.  There is one baby of five years too.  There are extremely well looked after, no one, part from their mahout is allowed to ride them as they find it stressful.  People, I was able to get into the freezing river and scrub them with a natural fibre that acts like soap.  The thrill! Total. Utter. Joy. They like a bath three times a day. It was wonderful, a great memory that will always remain with me.  Everyone else had gone, apart from Liz who was elephant washing, so I waited by the side of the road for car number 2 to arrive.  After a while, the Landie appeared with Adrian in the front, Richard driving and poor David curled up in the cupboard in the back.  

Sadly, the puller was in Charlie's vehicle and as there was no phone signal - Richard couldn't even contact anyone on a sat phone.  They had made the decision to leave the car on the side of the road and come on.  We all moved on to the hill station, Kralaw, where we were spending the night. There was no point trying to do anything that night as it was getting dark and the roads at night are just too dangerous.  

Krakow is a delightful hill station at 4,000 feet.  It has a touch of Darjeeling about it.  We stayed in little wooden chalets.  Lousy wifi was the downside.  Not helped by everyone trying to get on at the same time. IIt was also very cold. 

Charlie made the decision to send Richard and David off in the morning with the necessary to repair the car, not a long job, and for David to then drive it to our hotel tonight.  I went with Liz and Adrian travelled in style in Alastair's Rolls Royce. 

A short journey, with a fab lunch under a tree at a winery, has brought us to Inle Lake and a beautiful hotel. We are about to go on a boat ride, all the time anxiously hoping that our car will soon appear. It's a rest day tomorrow and I can think of no lovelier place to spend it.  I just hope that car 2 is son parked outside.  Again, the wifi us almost non- existant, so I'm not sure when these posts will appear.