Day Six: Mission Accomplished!

The Hotel Zewkabin served us well for the now traditional dinner dishes with the added novelty of them being served on a lazy susan. The party headed to bed at about 2100. No communication home due to an earlier storm knocking out the mobile cell. (Myanmar's pretty good WiFi network has been established over a mobile phone network built by the Norwegian and Qatari mobile phone companies).
So a delay in posts I'm afraid.  By the time you read this and yesterday's blog we'll be back at the Hotel Clover in Yangon.

So day six dawned.  Alarms at 0530,  breakfast at 0600 and on the bus  for an early morning tourist jaunt to the Kyauk Kalap Pagoda - an eye wateringly beautiful stupa on the top of a limestone outcrop surrounded by water. In the long shadows of the early morning this will surely be one of the images of Burma that will last with us all for a long time.  Could this have been the inspiration for the Avatar movie?

Back to the hotel?  But just to mount our bikes and set off for the final 50km of the adventure.  Where has the week gone?

A glorious ride as the rural day to day activity started its daily routine.  We were passed by many dumper trucks and lorries,  the majority would definitely fail their MOT in the UK. But three or four pristine yellow trucks and a huge articulated flatbed with an excavator stood out.  'a present from the people of Japan'  declared a sticker on their cabs.  Another sign of how things are changing here.

The sheer beauty of the landscape is hard to put in words.  At one bridge crossing the rocks outcrops and broad confluence of  number of waterways would, in so many other countries, be a tourist hot-spot.  How long before the hotels are built on the banks?

A great morning's cycle at super pace kept us all together and we made very good headway.

We pulled off after about 30kms to visit the Kaw Gun caves.  As monastery in habited by lively monkeys and built around hot springs that provided relief for tired feet and, in the case of Adam, Peter G and me, full bodily immersion!

Soggy cycle shorts were not ideal for the final push, but we only had ourselves to blame! The moment of truth was just a few kilometres away. the moment we would say farewell to our trusty bikes of the last few days and the last chance to shout 'mingalaba' to the incredulous Burmese on the roadside, to see their faces erupt into the most wonderful endearing smiles.

We regrouped just before the final 6km for a quick puncture repair to Ben's bike, and to allow an advance party to enjoy the last opportunity to stretch their legs to the finish line where we were greeted by Crispin and his horn. We so missed him on our last leg today, but he sensibly stayed in the cool of the bus, feeling far from 100%.

The timings of the the final 6km tell a story:
1km:3.48 mins, 2km:2.28 mins, 3km:2.13 mins, 4km:2.03mins, 5km:2.07 mins, and finally 6km:1.44 mins. Slightly downhill on a great road surface it was a wonderful conclusion to the athletic exertions of the past 5 days. Chance to pick up a bit of speed and head to the line.

And that was that. 345.25km (215.94m miles) conquered. 

We pulled over, dismounted our bikes for the last time and stripped them of our customisations in broiling heat. Did we really cycle in that?! Saddles removed and we sat down to a celebratory drink and chicken noodle lunch. Boy, did that beer taste good!

And then we retracing the route we cycled by bus for a long transfer back to Yangon accompanied by torrential rain.  As I write I'm surrounded by reclined chairs, open mouths, sweat-drenched cycling jerseys drying from the curtain rails. Contented exhaustion sums it up perfectly.

A night of celebration in Yangon awaits before visiting the reason for all this: the orphanage which will benefit from all of the generous donations that spurred us all on at our lowest ebb.

Let there be no doubting the physical challenge of the whole enterprise. The long flight, the lack of sleep, the jetlag, the inevitable tummy rumbles, the heat, the hills.

But the friendships made, the prospect of the first cocktail in The Strand Hotel tonight, and above all the £25,000+ money makes that all worthwhile.

Bravo everyone! We done good!!