Babs’ travels -The Peking to Paris Rally and other driving adventures.

A beautiful, misty start to the day for the 300kms drive to the outskirts of Yangon to await our police escort into the city.  We waited by the  beautifully kept war cemetery.  A moving experience.  Humble car 2 led the way as the traffic parted like the Red Sea for us on the way to the finish line. I felt like a Queen! We had a fantastic final dinner in the garden with a view across the lake to the Shwedagon Dagon pagoda.  A fitting end.  Prizes were awarded and, in a class of only three, we were awarded second place.   Our table was so covered in trophies it looked like the temples of Bagan.   This has been a stupendous rally, really quite outstanding.  Extremely well organised, action packed with so many fabulous things organised for us to see and do.  We have seen many wondrous sights and experienced many great things. One abiding memory will be of the great comraderie and endless laughter but, the memory that will remain always, is ...

Our first stop on our dusty 220kms journey today was to a village school where donations of school supplies were being made.  The village, well off the main road, comprised mainly palm leaf houses, some barely had side walls. The poverty was plain to see. What made it stand out, however, was how immaculate it all was.  Not one piece of plastic, or other rubbish, could be seen lying around.  The dusty ground around the tiny compounds was well swept and all was neat and orderly. The school consisted of two long concrete buildings, each with three different grades inside. The unpartitioned concrete buildingswere supplemented by one palm leaf building with a tin roof but open sided, with two grades in. There are around 200 pupils.  I was so impressed by what I saw.  The Head Teacher is doing a marvellous job. There are no facilities at the school, the only resource a blackboard, but the children's few exercise books were filled with work of an excellent standard. ...

Our Temple dinner was beyond magnificent; a memory that will remain forever.  As we approached the group of stupas where it was to take place we, quite literally, had our breath taken away.  Our path was lit with rows of candles with more placed all around the beautifully set out tables and chairs.  Most astonishing of all though were the stupas themselves, some several storeys high. Candles had been placed all over them - flickering flames soaring into the inky, star filled, night sky, creating a magical ambience, dream like and overwhelmingly beautiful. Traditional local musicians and dancers entertained us with an enchanting six year old boy playing the drum with perfect timing and rhythm; a superstar in the making.  It was a very, very special evening, which, inexplicably, several crews failed to attend.  They missed something very special indeed, a real highlight in a rally filled with wonderous experiences. Today has been a transit day.  166 kms to a ...

Temples.  Lots of them.  They're dotted about everywhere, thousand upon thousands, more than you can shake a stick at, and there used to be about gives times more.  Looting, earthquakes and neglect saw many of them disappear.  It is still a very impressive area to visit. The best place to appreciate the scale of Bagan is fom the air - so that's what we all did yesterday. The dawn balloon ride was marvellous beyond words.  We all agreed that it was a true 'once in a lifetime' marvel. It was the perfect start to the perfect day.  After breakfast a bit of a rest, we went to a tiny traditional village where we were warmly greeted and invited to look around.  Everyone was so hospitable, rushing to get bowls of peanuts, a crop the grow here, for us to try. Then lunch under the trees and a meander around the temples.  Yet another fabulous dinner, by the pool, with everyone wearing longyi completed the day.  If I seem to be talking about food a lot i...

We've all got ridiculousy happy grins on our faces today.

The day started well; just 170 kms drive to take us to Bagan and a luxurious hotel for three nights with, allegedly, a bit of decent wifi* - some hope! We were on mainly small roads through villages; dust - so much dust,  a bit of gravel, some sand, many bumps and dips and one huge bridge that took as across the Irrawady - again.  As always, incredulous stares followed by smiles and much waving, was the order of the day. All very fine. Bagan is quite extraordinary. Thousands, THOUSANDS of red brick temples dotted about all over the place. Some huge, many tiny but in so much abundance it took our breath away. Bits of it reminded me of some of the smaller, outlying temples at Angkor. We have certainly hit the tourist zone and, I'm sure that in a very few years time it will become overrun.  New businesses to serve the rapidly increasing number of visitors are being thrown up in a very haphazard fashion cheek by jowl with ancient monuments.  The portents are not good. Af...