Day 8: Sat 7 Nov - Mawlamyine

November 06, 2015

Day 5: Mawlamyine - Bilugyun Island (50km) Breakfast at the hotel. We enjoy our cycling on Bilugyun Island starting from Munaing to Thetkaw and Muritgale. We have lunch on the Island and relax on the beach for swimming before cycling and heading back to Mawlamyine. Dinner and overnight in Mawlamyine.

94km, 29 to 34deg, fine and mostly clear.

A much better sleep in a very nice clean bed. With the aircon set at 22deg I still had to stay under the doona.

Brekky was mainly what we'd normally eat at an Asian restaurant back home; or a normal European cooked breakfast, accompanied by lovely fresh tropical fruit. They also served those yummy rice flour and shredded coconut pancakes like the ones we had in Ye. Either choice is just what is needed for a day on the bike. The dining room was slightly OTT, see photo.

Got away about 8am and after a short couple of km to the port we loaded the bikes and us onto a longboat and off we went to Bilugyun Island about 40 minutes off the coast. We then spent the day riding the full length of this fascinating place ending up at a very rustic fishing village on the ocean side. Initially the smell of drying fish was overwhelming but we soon became used to it. The fish and prawns they were drying were very small and it's hard to see how it would be sustainable. We had lunch at a very basic "restaurant" but most of us were very reluctant to tuck in with the pigs and chooks running around amongst the discarded rubbish everywhere and the hygiene standards just a tad wanting. Also the "kitchen" was a small room at the back of the house where water could be seen running through the floor boards onto the ground. As it turned out we all lived through the experience, thus far anyway. A couple of us even tried some dried fish, after it had been deep fried though.

We then rode back to the morning tea place where some elected to call it a day and catch the tuk tuk back to the ferry, while three of us rode the 20km or so. We sat on 30km/h which is a bit frightening with all the traffic, dogs and livestock wandering all over the road.

The ride today was a fair bit longer than planned but we all agreed it was worth it. The last 7km or so each way to the fishing village was some of the roughest path I've ridden on. That said it was the best day yet on this tour. We even managed to witness some more road building, Burmese Style, which fascinates the heck out of us all for some reason. Everything is done by hand, including breaking the rocks up to cover the tar.

Dinner was at a very nice restaurant where the food was the best so far. I had crab & baby corn soup and prawns with cauliflower. This capped off a great day.