Yet another pre-dawn start. We have seen more sunrises on this tour than we have in the last decade. A comment on our fellow travellers in Myanmar is in order. We have decided to change the name of our tour to the "Seniors Sunrise Tour of SE Asia". I think because of the high cost of travel here and the fact that the country has recently opened up after being closed for so long all the seniors are rushing to get here before their travelling days are over. We are fairly junior seniors compared to some. There are many "old geezers" on tour (according to another American traveller). There have been a lot of French (which is unusual outside of French-speaking ex colonies), Germans and Americans. They are mostly in big groups so one day it will be "German", the next "American", etc. each of the hotels seem to have a particular affiliation and it usually turns out that the owner is a German married to a Burmese lady or a Frenchman married to a Burmese lady etc. The return drive to the airport took half the time as we went the direct route not via the township so we were the first ones at the check-in counter even before the airline staff had arrived. As departure time arrived the, by now normal, scrum developed but we had already made touch-down in the departure area and were reading our iPads. The flight took 2 hrs instead of one because we had been bumped off the direct flight and onto another going via the beach resort on the Andaman sea. The arrival back at Yangon was chaotic even by the standards of the last week. The baggage claim system is totally non-existent and a complete free for all. Luckily the driver sent to pick us up had waited patiently and was still there when we got out. As is normal, we rested for the rest of the day and wrote up the journal. We were reflecting that there seem to be two reasons to travel: one is to see spectacular scenery, awesome sights, discover new and exotic food and friendships; the other is to go to places that make you grateful to get back to the comfort of your own home. Maybe it is always a bit of both. Our reflections on Myanmar are that the scenery and sites are a little bit of a disappointment and nowhere near comparable with those in other SE Asian countries. For example: Angkor Wat is hugely more impressive than Bagan and Halong bay more picturesque than Inle lake. The tourist infrastructure is about stretched to bursting and the local food fairly uninspiring. On the other hand, the people are lovely - genuinely friendly, helpful and gracious. There is a widespread optimism in the country that things are getting better and that the country has a good future. Contrary to expectation, the local people are very open about the recent history and optimistic about lasting change. Let's hope that things go well and that the ugly face of tourism does't spoil things.