We made it!

So we made it back to Yangon and then home to see Alice and Polly. Its extraordinary how hard the 6.5 hours time difference is to overcome when you are 53 like me. I was absolutely knackered last night by the time we went to bed, went to sleep immediately and woke up 2 hours later thinking it was 9 o'clock in the morning and that i should be on the road heading for a regularity. I'm sure that i will get over it soon.

Now we gently reflect on our experiences over the last 3 weeks and savour them for many years to come.

First and foremost Julian was the most marvellous co-driver. We chatted away for 3 weeks without drawing breath. Rallying, cars, Slim, education, politics, the dutch, Volvos, Slim and more Slim, there wasn't a topic that we didn't cover.

What do i take away from Myanmar and the rally. Firstly 3rd place overall and Winner of our class. being beaten by two 1970's cars (Volvo and BMW) doesn't really count so I think morally we must have been higher. So unfair that Gerd and Birgit blew up their pre-war BMW at the regularity in Bagan. We would never have caught them which would have put us in 4th overall. Having blown my car up on more than one rally I know exactly how they feel and they have my total sympathy. Such a nice car and such nice people, we called them the fox and the vixen because we were always chasing them and they never put a foot wrong, until Gerd quite literally put his foot wrong, hard on the accelerator instead of the brake, over revved the engine and bent his exhaust valves.

As always on long rallies you make some fantastic new friends and renew old friendships.

Ines and Xavier (car 5) in their unbreakable Chevy and Julian and I (car 6) travelled the rally together, laughing all the way. As Miranda's mother in the TV series says "such fun". It was so nice to get to know Michael and Simone (car 8), the only other Lagonda in the rally. At 96 the oldest participant was Dorothy Cauldwell, Alastair's navigator and mother. A forthright old bird, you can tell where Alastair gets it from. Kate and Dougie in the XK150 cruised along behind us, always a joy to see. It was nice to see Roger and Maggie in their BMW again. We shared 3 days together in the Mongolian desert in the back of the Bus of Shame and they pipped us to second place. Their BMW was certainly more reliable than their Cadillac on the Peking to Paris. Jose and Maria, also P2P participants, who I didn't really know then but now consider firm friends. Ian and Denise from Australia in their delightful MGA won the Spirit of the Rally and deserved it. Heidi and Jackie battled remorselessly with their Lotus Cortina which we heard coming from the previous state! So nice to see Heidi back behind a wheel rather than charging ahead to organise our rooms as on previous rallies. Barbara ands Adrian always chugging along on their Model A, reliable as ever. That's focusing on the positive, I will ignore the negative!

Myanmar is still an extraordinary country to visit and we were so lucky to have the time to enjoy it and its people over 21 days. The county is still so unspoilt as are its people. Although under the yolk of military dictatorship for the last 50 years the people are extraordinary. Honest, spiritual, embracing I cannot fault them at all. The breadth and diversity of the people as one travels through makes it one of the most interesting places on earth to rally.

The highlights included;
1. seeing the monument to central planning, the new capital city Naypyidaw and having the opportunity to take the Lagonda at speed down the 20 lane highway
2. Inle, the most beautiful lake with its floating fields, its market, boat builders, weavers and fishermen. I have never seen fishermen with such balance before. In 10 years time it will be unrecognisable.
3. Mandalay with the rebuilt palace within Dufferin Fort. Burnt down in 1945 during the recapture of Mandalay the palace was rebuilt by the generals in 1999 to give them good luck.
4. Maymyo was fantastic rediscovering Julian's family. the visit to the Angican church, Julians grandparents house, the drive through the Botanic garden and discovering my doppelganger Sir Harcourt Butler
5. Climbing Mount Popa
6. Bagan, the city of 10000 temples is extraordinary but doing a regularity amongst them was really exciting, particularly when we nailed it. The balloon trip was even better than I anticipated
7. the school visit was simply fantastic and all credit to Julian for organising the football match which all the school loved.

There were so many other little treats along the way, too many to put down here, but all of which will give me pleasure for years to come.

Seeing the ground over which my father fought in 1945 was extraordinary. For Julian to discover the house in which his grandparents lived and his father grew up even more so. The enthusiasm amongst our fellow ralliers for such personal discoveries was delightful.

I had the most fantastic time and thank Julian for his contribution to the success of the visit.

I look forward to revisiting Myanmar as soon as possible.

A second Cunningham on the Chindwin

The first river that father crossed in 1945 was the Chinwin which the 19th Indian Div crossed much further north to where I am standing (on the Japanese side). I have no doubt that I would have a much easier time of it than he had!

One of father's bridges?

I think this bridge was too far west for father to have either built or demolished but I think that it was built before the war.

A new profession for Xavier

Highlight of the trip

This morning on the journey from Magwe to Pyay we visited a local school. It was fantastic. They had never seen a tourist before. Julian gave a impromptu English lessor which the children picked up so quickly. I think it was his impersonations of "dog" and "cat" which won them over. The children and teachers were simply a joy to meet.

We had with a game of football. Our average age was about 55 theirs about 10. Julian was our captain, Xani their manager. Our captains instructions were "let them win by a goal". At half time we were 3-0 down! Playing in sand was a new experience for most of our players. However Roger Allen needs to be penalised at least 5 seconds for missing our best opportunity, about 3ft in front of their goal. I think we lost by 5 or 6. But what a game as we tumbled in the sand the kids laughed and laughed.

We donated books, pens and fillers, kindly donated by H&H. The crews had a whip round which will provide the school with vital resources and before leaving we were sung a song.

Julian and I both drove down the road in silence (for a change). It was a fantastic visit which we will always remember.

Last minute hiccup!

Julian and I drove 200km yesterday through dry rural countryside. It's so different from the more lush land further north but beautiful as ever. The people are as charming as throughout Myanmar.

When filling up with fuel at the end of the day we noticed a continuous drip, drip of oil under the car. Since I haven't put any into the engine throughout the rally I was a bit worried. I put a plastic tray under it to catch what we are loosing and as the oil cooled he dripping stopped. The mechanics told me to keep an eye on it and not to worry, so that's what I am doing.

The hotel is basic but clean, no wine, only beer which has traumatised some crews! Rallies always show initiative and some disappeared to return with more wine than we could drink. I certainly won't be bringing any home!

Dinner finished with Alastair Cauldwell sharing his views about Formula One's main characters. Very amusing but clearly not to be repeated in print. Perhaps it had something to do with the amount of wine! His car and his 96 year old navigator, as always, are running smoothly.

During todays final regularity we got 2 seconds of penalties which left us 3 seconds adrift of Roger and Maggie in 3rd position. Beaten by two 1970's Classics, a Volvo and a BMW. Not bad for a 1933 car. We've just got to finish the next couple of days and 450km and 3rd place and Class winner is ours.

Tonight we are split across two hotels, the noisy competitors are in a hotel with the crew which should be fun. Then it's into Yangon in time for tea and medals.

I've volunteered to collect for the mechanics whip round. Non contributors will be named and shamed.

I think we are on an 8 am flight on Saturday which might be testing. I cannot wait to see Al!


Sent from my slyPad

The lady with the long neck

Before leaving Bagan Xavier, Iness, Julian and I visited the lady with the long neck. Slightly weird but fascinating. They come from south of Yangon and are excellent weavers.

Last regularity this afternoon.