My first stop after the frenetic city of Yangon and a 9 hour overnight bus journey is Bagan. As I get out of the town to cycle to sunrise at the Temples of Bagan – 1200 temples built over a 200 year period of frenzied pagoda building 800 years ago – my horrible sense of direction, which poses no problem in everyday life in metropolitan London, becomes a serious nuisance when travelling alone. I find myself travelling along the wrong road for ages… anyone I stop in the dark has either no interest, no English or is drunk… and so i head back the way i came from.

Normally I’m cool with this kind of palaver, but I have a deadline of sunrise, I have no idea what time it occurs, and the couple I met the day before said that cycling this journey at 5:30am alone is totally fine! Lots of people around! I disagree on both counts and remind myself that those not travelling alone forget that some things which seem easy with company become entirely

not ok when alone. I consider crying… when was the last time I cried… 4 weeks ago! Well now I’m entirely entitled to feel sorry for myself given I’ve been so brave for nearly a month! I resist indulging myself, check the map and get myself to a temple in time for the most magnificent sunrise I’ve ever seen. Thousands of temples, a perfectly clear sky and hot air balloons dotting the skyline to boot. Definitely worth the effort.

I cycle home and head back to bed after breakfast. I awake at 1pm and head out for a beer. Its been a stressful day and my intended departure will just have to wait until tomorrow.