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Walker's Travels in Scandinavia 2017 and others
Amazing brekky in a pretty swish hotel. Pity we weren't staying longer, but we have ks to get under our wheels, this is not a sit around the pool tour. Rode away from the hotel at 8:15am onto a smooth (hot mix) wide verge. The roads here have improved dramatically over the last 10 years they are now streets ahead of us, pun intended. In addition the motorists were much more courteous and every vehicle gives us a wide berth or waited behind us until it was safe. 72km and a few temples we are getting close to the Burmese border so it was time to load the bikes on the ute for the crossing. And what a border crossing!! Not that any of us had a problem, it were the guides, one from Laos and the other from Cambodia, held us up for about an hour sorting out paperwork in various forms. Not their fault just a misunderstanding about the requirements for ASEAN nationals. On the Burmese side the fun started, but it soon wasn't funny as we waited around for over two hours while dozens of border staff sat around and chatted and played table tennis. It certainly is a third-world country, particularly in attitude. Finally sorted, we hit the road in a mini-bus, on a very rough, windy, dusty dirt road - for over three hours. And they had to have the aircon off due to the engine overheating. But it was a good chance to check out the locals and the way they live. There seems to be a connection between inefficiency of public servants and dictatorships. At 7:15pm we pulled into our motel, the Crown Diamond. It made up for the rather rough day, very cool, clean, huge rooms and all so modern. Just time for a shower and dress for dinner. The restaurant was excellent, a choice of food from about eight different countries and nice Burmese beer; just to wash the dust down of course. An interesting day; and a new country for me. Looking forward to seeing the real Burma.
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PHIL Anderson Greg, looks like a great trip so far with a great bunch again. Say hi from me. Love the Dad jokes/puns. PHIL.
G & Y If ever you need a hand, this will be the place.
Stew & Ali Looking good Greg [I mean the Trek bike].Hope you have a great trip with good weather.
Tinkie Beswick Thanks Greg - methinks this will be very different from even your other Asian tours. The photos are great - tell a good story. Keep having fun and keep safe. Blessings. T & R