1:10pm 8 October 2023
Andros Άνδρος to
Rafina Ραφήνα by
Ferry
3:15pm 8 October 2023
Rafina Ραφήνα to
Athens Αθήνα by
Bus
5:30pm 12 October 2023
Athens Αθήνα to
Rome Roma by
Plane
Pack up, roll out. Last day on the bike.
MoreEasy day today. We're hoping the wind blows us all the way to Bonar Bridge.
MoreWe have a breakfast of cheese and ham sandwiches in the morning sun.
MoreWow.
That might be the best day I've spent on a bike, anywhere, anywhen.
MoreIt's blinding bright. I still can't feel my feet. It's too early. I refuse to wake up.
MoreSunshine again. We were 30km under planned distance yesterday, so this is how we start our day.
MoreThe day dawns clear and sunny. We head down to the hotel to get some breakfast. Packing up after eating, we get on the road around ten. About three hours later, we sit down for lunch at the Applecross Inn. We've covered 20km.
MoreA note on Scottish weather: if water is falling out of the sky, it's not necessarily raining.
MoreAs we head North Northwest towards the border, the sky grows dark. Thunderclouds have been threatening, and we've seen the occasional flash of lightning on the distant horizon. This is different though, as there is a reddish tinge to the swirling air. The train is heading into a sandstorm.
MoreWhile trains in Burma are relaxing and colourful, they are certainly not fast. Yesterday's moving rest still leaves us with a job of work if we are to make it to Bagan.
MoreJust a short day today, taking us east to one of Myanmar's biggest tourist centres, Inle Lake, and the town of Nyaung Shwe.
MoreCow bells. Wooden carts. Droves of cattle. Wheat harvested by hand. Cauliflowers, lots of cauliflowers, fields of cauliflowers, truckloads of cauliflowers. Cauliflower cheeeeeese!
MoreLuzhong to Pianma, Luang Prabang to Phou Khoun, Meiringen to Grindelwald, assemble esteemed company, and welcome... Kyaukse to Ywa Ngan! What an absolute swine of a day.
MoreSander calls my name to wake me. It works, kinda. I groggily come to, head still full of the vestiges of stressful dreams. My nights have been filled with paranoid dreams of packing up, leaving, cleaning, having rental places checked over, planes, airports and luggage. I'm not sure a bike trip in Myanmar is the best place to come down from the stresses I faced before getting here.
MoreWhen we're set to roll out, we ask the hotel staff where the next hotel is on the road south. They say there isn't one. Not until Taungyi, at least, and that's miles away.
MoreSlow off the mark this morning. The excuse is a debate about the route. The route I had planned has us returning the way we had come, descending back to the plain, before turning south towards Kyaukse. But, I had also pointed out that Pyin Oo Lwin possibly sets us up for an eastern route towards Inle Lake.
MoreWake up, pack up, roll out. It sounds easy, but when there's jetlag and other people involved, all bets are off.
MoreFollowed Wye valley down to Boughrood. Climbed over the Brecons/Black Mountains towards Bwlth.
MoreShort day after hard day. Late start; Tom didn't seem keen. Lots of delaying tactics.
MoreLong day. Beautiful weather, got sunburnt. Rolled out and up. Lots of climbing. Some so steep I needed to push. Culinary excellence with pasta and sardines again, but better this time. Bala; Llanbrynmair. Hard day.
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