– ODO- 15769 – 15933km
– Location- Naypyitaw, Myanmar
– Weather- 29-36 headwind with broken cloud in the afternoon
This morning I started out at 4am. Using the morning darkness alone on the highway 1 toward Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw. Moving fast and pushing forward I found that tiredness effect my speed as much as the heat and head wind. Last night I’d been traveling so slowly against that I fell into the first guesthouse I came across. While I’m working across the plains heading south to the mountainous border I’m working from guesthouse to guesthouse to escape the heat and the flat waterlogged ground that makes it impossible to camp with out a full Glastonbury experience.
The guesthouses are much less plentiful than in India where ever town would usually have some level of hotel, however basic. They seem to be gathered all at once around larger cities. At between 10,000 and 20,000 Burmese Kyat a night they work out to £5-£10 which for air conditioning and a shower to rinse and wash my clothes – gritty from salt – is too appealing to miss out.
Cycling day after day is a great form of meditation. My mind drifts quickly from the effort of pedalling to my thoughts. Dreams of life, love and work to come. What makes the heat so impossible is that it forces the focus into the body. My heavy legs. My tight chest. My thumping heart.
