22nd February 2015 stilts and Mozzies

Well, I've awoken to both my legs covered in mosquito bites!  It seems I didn't shut the door properly last night and have been attacked mercilessly, I nearby vow to kill every last one of the gifts by the time I die!!  It's a good job I'm taking malaria tablets because I definitely would have caught it by now, I was driving today and although the mileage was short it proved to be a tortuous drive, millions of mopeds and really slow trucks, mixed with tut tuts and commercial tut tuts, also with oxen pulling carts it was a trying day!

We stayed last night in naypidor, the town with no one living in it, the road leading into this ghost city was 20 lanes wide and Owen and I were the only ones on it, a truly wierd town built in secret as the new capital city but as I believe no one wanted to move here from Yangon so there's shopping malls, government buildings, hotels etc but they are completely deserted, only a scatter of cars and mopeds are seen here, probably to water the plants that no one will see!

That's the truck watering the flowers on the right.

A completely deserted 20 lane highway, wish the M25 was like this!

During the day we had to marshal the MTC out from the sprawling but empty hotel and was a bit surprised to be presented with a $350 bill for unpaid bar tabs from the previous night, it not a concern as we know ERA will pay us back as soon as we inform them.

Having paid the drinks bill we headed off from this odd but fascinating city into the hills to sweep the route, it was a difficult route, brilliant but challenging, we lost a couple of crews today with mechanical failures but we hope they make it to Bagan, if they don't then we wish them the best!  

At the end of the day we arrived at a lake for the overnight halt, this was our first car park party with GandTs being passed around once the work was finished, thoroughly pissed we drove the few kms to our hotel which was a hut on a lake, very maldive in style but again the mozzies were relentless, a few more bites to add to the perforated legs really doesn't matter, popped another malaria pill and about to get some sleep, it's only half past nine so should have a good long sleep ready for what I guess will be another challenging day, but the end is only 2 days away and already thinking about getting home to Emma and the boys.

Herding cows!