Hissssy-Paw

Ul appears mostly better. We take a very early morning bus to Hsipaw.

I thought it was in the hills and would be a better place for Ul to recover. It's not. It's hot and dusty with distinctly less creature comforts than Mandalay: it's also the main trucking route to china, and huge lorries and busses hurtle down the main street every two minutes.

The bus looks as though it may fall apart at any moment - it's the blue one. We sit on top of, beside and underneath rice sacks. The road is switch backs up and down. I'm very happy not to be motor-biking. The driver is fantastic, spits betel copiously round ech corner, and chats away constantly with the horn.

A day of dust and moped has not improved the cold. I'm tired and grumpy, Ul sick and grumpy. But it is strawberry season, and smoothies have made it here.