"This hill was longer than I thought it would be" Rachel says as we reach what we think is the high point. Not that it was really a climb, it's just when you've been spinning in one gear all day, a change in effort seems like a climb.
Again today most of the road is shaded by trees, good too, because the sun is strong. We saw more oxcarts, mostly transporting rice straw. People are working in the fields, some separating the rice from the straw, some loading the oxcarts.
Today there were not as many roadside restaurants. There are the very small ones, but to minimize our risks we choose to eat at the larger restaurants that cater to the long distance buses. These places seem efficiently run and typically have an English language menu. We finally stopped at a restaurant but didn't have much luck ordering any food. Even using Google Translate to ask for "fried rice" or "fried noodles" gets us nothing. There doesn't seem any attempt to figure things out, so we finish our soft-drink and move on.
By then we are only 30km from our destination. We push on to Shwedaung where we detour to see the "Buddha with the eyeglasses". Then another 10km of undulating road. We made reservations at a cheap guesthouse just outside of town. It is near the large bridge across the river, but to get there we need to circle though town. First we stop at the Southern Star restaurant for an excellent, but not cheap, meal. The pineapple-chicken is great!
Our room is nice room, a little ways out of town, but we figured will be quieter and only half the price of a room close to city center. After some laundry and a rest we walk back into town, skirted the temple, then through the night market. Lonely Planet indicated a nice backpackers restaurant, but it is closed this week. On the river is a larger karaoke-restaurant. We have a beer, but when they don't even have the appetizers listed on their menu we decide to leave. Walking back through the night market we pick up some egg-pancakes, very nice and filling.
The easiest way to get around this fairly hilly city is on the back of a motorbike. We have a wild motorcycle ride in the dark back to our hotel. It has been refreshing in Burma not to have to negotiate for everything. Prices seem fairly set and taxi or motorbike drivers give you a fair rate. You can always knock a little off if you really want, but we are talking peanuts.
Back at the guesthouse the owner welcomes us and asks what we want for breakfast. They will serve it in our room at the time we want because the dining room is still under construction. Very friendly people. An Italian couple has also checked in. We think it was a smart move by the hotel to list this place on booking.com and really undercut the high prices in town.
Tomorrow a rest day.
Typical scenery along route 2; large trees to shade us.
Riding into Pyay. Our guesthouse is near the bridge that crossed the Ayeyarwady River. Route 2 though crosses underneath the bridge and we have to make loop through town and climb a hill to get to the guesthouse.
