Arriving from Amsterdam via Ghangzhou with China Southern airlines in the early afternoon at the Bike World Myanmar Inn in Yangon, is a breeze: away from the main roads, a cozy courtyard, with a warm welcome by Jeff and SoeSoe the guesthouse appears to be a perfect spot from where to explore the city.

After a quick nap we head off to see whether Yangon has changed in the last five years. Yes, it has! Most prominent is the increase in traffic, the increase of passenger cars and modern trucks. This also affects air quality, unfortunately. Suzan is struggling with a throat infection, what makes breathing in this polluted environment difficult.

We have two missions for this afternoon: buying a light woven, long sleeved shirt for Juul, and visiting Jeff’s bike shop, since the gears need some finetuning. Finding a shirt isn’t that easy since clothing here is quite small sized. But we manage, watched in amazement by shopping mall staff.

The next days we spend fixing other practical stuff, like buying a sim-card and arranging transport towards Kyaiktho (we decided not to cycle out of Yangon because traffic is too heavy).