Friday, and #11 A Back Road in Myanmar

Three more days until we take off for the summer!  Everything is ready, except for a last washday on Sunday. I will miss the Jojoba laundry prices, $1 per wash and $1 per dry. The machines are all in good order and very clean. Jojoba is home to the users and we like to keep it that way.

Although we are going to go to see Rocketman this afternoon, I will be spending a couple of hours this morning working on this, my next post.

#11 Driving on a back road in Myanmar:

There was not much traffic

We started our next day drive on a wide, newly repaired stretch of road. The wetness on this image was because they were still spraying water to keep down the construction dust. I'm not sure they will ever do center line or any other markings, but the ride was smooth.

Joko has been to these places on his many motorcycle trips he had taken in the last five years, so when he told us he was taking us on a back road to our next stop, we trusted his judgement.


It was a one lane, shoulderless track through the mountains. 

Oh My! One big trepidation was that large trucks also used it. 

We pulled over at the top of a hill at a little tea house. The dirt  parking area was quite large, and since we were only going to step out to take the picture above, Joko left the key in the ignition. 

Because it was a rental car, none of us was familiar with all of its features. One was that to start the car, Joko had to pass a security card over a reader in the windshield. This also unlocked the car.


What we didn't know, was that the car automatically locked itself, minutes after it was turned off. Joko had left the magic card and his phone in the car! Here we were, on a back road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Then we got very lucky. He went over to ask the men sitting outside having tea if he could use one of their phones. They generously said yes, and he was able to call the rental company in Yangon for advice.

There were many sharp drop offs with not much shoulder.

  
It was unbelievable to us that he got a signal in this seemingly remote location. The company was able to unlock the car remotely, and we were on our way. The wonders of worldwide cell technology!  I wish it extended to some of the State Parks we have visited in the USA.

I didn't take many pictures, because I was just holding my breath as we went around curve after curve and was happy we didn't meet any oncoming trucks.

Joko did an outstanding job of driving.

But the battered condition of these barrels on the curve above, made me wonder how many times they had been hit.

We made it through just fine. 

I may have been a bit more worried than necessary because I was now sitting up front, and I have the road awareness of someone who rides around in a 35' motorhome instead of a big, heavy SUV!
Craig is used to my gasps and squeals, but I think I unnerved Joko a few times. I gasp and squeal in city trafic too.

There are no RVs there.

Next up: A boat trip on Inle Lake from Nyaungshewe