So all good things must come to an end. Our G Adventures group flew into Yangon from the closest airport to Inle Lake, the very strangely named Heho Airport.

On the way back to our hotel from Yangon airport, we passed the house of Aung San Suu Kyi. In the 1990 elections her NLD party won 81% of the seats in Parliament, but the results were nullified, as the military refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, becoming one of the world's most prominent political prisoners.

Since 6th April this year she has assumed the office of "State Councillor" of Myanmar to President Htin Kyaw. Now 71 she has received international acclaim including being a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. 

As we arrived back in Yangon the rain bucketed down. We were feeling so grateful it waited until towards the end of our trip. 

One final dinner together held, very fittingly, at a restaurant that was previously the military quarters and office of Aung San Suu Kyi's father. Several rooms were dedicated to memorabilia including items like his office desk and typewriter.

Our wonderful Burmese guide A Kay summarized the highlights of our trip and with one last photo together it was time for goodbyes. Our group were heading off in different directions (Swiss, Brits, Germans and of course another Aussie) with much more knowledge and an affection for this wonderful and complex country that is Myanmar. A Kay was to head off to lead another tour through SE Asia.

At 4.30 am (stupid o'clock!!) a taxi trip through Yangon streets took us to the airport again, this time to fly out to our next destination, a 24 hour stopover in Doha, Qatar in the Middle East.The Panorama Hotel handed us boxes of breakfast food to eat in the taxi on the way, but we donated at least 1/2 to locals outside the airport knowing we were probably to eat a breakfast on our flight.