Myanmar Adventure

Thur 10 Jan 2013.
After a quick breakfast and topping up of gear oil for Loh's bike, we headed out for Mandalay at 1030 am.






We stopped by at one of the Pagoda's for a group picture.



The road to Mandalay was one of the best that we have had till now. But we had to take many breaks as Cherie was having a bad bout of diarrhea. But she braved it and managed to complete the whole journey. We stopped for lunch at one of the towns. The ride being approved by the ministry had its benefits. The police stopped the traffic for us to pass through. I think we are privileged to have this benefit, as when the country opens more, it would become like riding into Cambodia and Laos.








After lunch and a rest we continued with our ride. For the first time since entering Myanmar,
we managed to reach our destination before dark. Mandalay, unlike Naypydaw was a bustling city. We were told that its the second largest city after Yangon.
As there were not enough rooms available, we stayed at 2 different hotels, Hotel Mandalay Hotel and the others at City Mandalay Hotel.
After shower we headed out for dinner and then ended up in one of the rooms for our daily "gossip".

Fri 11 Jan 2013
Today was our rest day and a guided tour was arranged for us. We had a mini bus to bring us around. So after breakfast, we visited a couple of temples and the Mandalay Royal Palace.



























By then it was time for lunch. We had lunch at Myanmar Cuisine for our lunch.






We continued our tour with a visit to another temple and to the top of the Mandalay hill from which we could get a good view of the whole Mandalay city. On the way back we stopped for some photography and visited the china town in Mandalay.











While on the way to dinner our guide informed us that the news about our ride came out in the local newspaper "News Watch".



We ended the tour with a dinner at the Golden Duck. The dinner was so yummy.




Back at the hotel, we topped up oil for the final drive of Loh's bike and after our usual chit chat we called it a day.

Sat 12 Jan 2013.
We had an early breakfast and were ready to go by 830 am.








We weaved our way out of the city to our next destination, Bagan. My rear tire pressure was low. I monitored it for a while. It wasn't going down so I continued with the journey. We didn't use the main road. We took a slightly longer scenic route and stopped for a very long lunch around 1 pm.









Our next stretch brought us into Bagan and the place was filled with pagodas. It was an awesome sight. We checked into the Bagan Thande Hotel. Its a very nice hotel set on the river banks and chalet type of accommodation. Then it was free and easy till dinner.












For dinner we were brought to Nanda restaurant. It was a tourist place and had a puppet show. After dinner it was our chit chat session as usual.










We will be staying in Bagan for one more day to do for some site seeing.

So, even with the police escort you still can't ride in Yangon.....too bad. I always tell people that despite the off limits areas for foreigners on motorbikes there are enough places where we are allowed to ride to keep us busy.

Looks like I missed you guys when you were here in Mandalay. I would have loved to have met you.

The roads are much better than I thought except for the one from Mae Sot to Pa'an. Great for riding. If I had posted my reports on time maybe we could have met. I was so preoccupied with uploading the pictures that I delayed my reports. Sorry about that.

Sun 13 Jan 2013

Got up at 730 am. Breakfast was by the river and the view was great.







After breakfast we checked out of the Bagan Thande Hotel as their rooms were fully booked. We checked out at 930 and went to a few pagodas for photo taking. The entire Bagan was filled with pagodas. There were so many that you can't pass by an area without seeing atleast one.
















We reached our new hotel, Kaday Aung Hotel, at around 1 pm.










A quick shower and we were off for lunch. There was a bus to bring us around. Lunch was at a restaurant by the river and the food was not too bad..









We continued visiting a couple of pagodas before going for the grand finale of the tour, "the Bagan sunset". It was a breathtaking view. It seemed to be a very popular place as it was full of tourists and touts. Things in Bagan are more expensive than other places in Myanmar due to the large number of foreigners there.
















We came back to the hotel for a short rest before proceeding for our dinner. It happened to be at the same restaurant that we had our lunch yesterday.




Back at the hotel everyone decided to call it a day as we had a long stretch to cover. Approximately 7 hrs of riding.

Mon 14 Jan 2013.
Got up for an early breakfast as we were to move out at 830 am. Loh's bike was already lying down and getting its "spa treatment" of gear oil.







We left on schedule. Some parts of the road were sandy and I lost control of my bike, but somehow managed to keep it upright.







We stopped for lunch at one of the town around 1230 pm. Had a long rest and continued with our journey. We made a couple of stops to have a rest and most of the time we had large audiences.



<a href="http://s1294.beta.photobucket.com/user/gshajisg/media/Myanmar%20Adventure/DSC03891_zps715edaf6-1-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/g/gshajisg_Myanmar%2520Adventure_DSC03891_zps715edaf6-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSC03891_zps715edaf6-1-1.jpg"/></a>










We arrived at our resort, Mingalar Garden, at around 4 pm.











After a shower and short rest, we had our dinner. Dinner was very nice and we had some wine with it today.







We had our daily night chit chat before hitting the bed. Tomorrow we head for Yangon.

Tue 15 Jan 2013.
I had good sleep last night. The morning was cold and it made the water in the pond around the chalet look like a hot spring. It was a beautiful sight.
We had an early breakfast and by 830 we were ready to move. As soon as we started off, Ivan realized that he had a puncture. Cliff as usual was quick to respond. He had been a boon to us for this trip.
With the repair done we moved off and stopped at a nearby petrol station for gas. That's when Ivan realized that his air was still leaking. We found another metal piece and got the puncture rectified.
Stopped for lunch at about 1145 and continued with our journey.














A truck that was coming fast from the opposite direction, on seeing the escort car"s red blinker swerved off the road to give us way. But he was moving too fast and the roadside curb was too bumpy and I saw him lose , control of the truck. I heard a loud bang and by then I had already passed it. Just prayed that all on that truck were ok.

We stopped outside Yangon city as bikes were not allowed inside. The plan was to transport the bikes to our next destination, Bago and we, after an overnight stay at Yangon, will proceed to Bago by van. But the lorry that was waiting for us had a high platform and they wanted to push the bikes up via a plank. It looked too dangerous an operation. So the guy from the hotel and tourism ministry talked to the police and got them to allow us to park our bikes at the nearby police station.






From there we got a van that brought us to the Myanmar Life Hotel near the Yangon international airport. Yangon city did not look like what I had expected. It was a bustling place with the area near the airport really well done up. our hotel was on the outskirts of the city.




We arrived at the hotel at 430 pm and were supposed to go out for dinner at 530. However, there was no water in the room and when I peeped out the door I caught a glimpse of Chris at the lobby wearing only his bath towel and asking "where is the water?"

At 530 we were off for dinner. We had our dinner at Chinatown in Yangon. The food was great. After dinner we walked around the china town area looking at the various food beong sold there.











Around china town in Yangon.















It was back to hotel after that and I was feeling rather tired. Time for me to sleep.

Wed 16 Jan 2013

We were going to have a city tour by bus before returning to our bikes for our ride to Bago. So after an early breakfast we checked out and left for the city toir at 9 am.

Our first stop was at the Shwe Da Gon pagoda. We spent an hour there taking in the sights. it was almost 12 by then and we proceeded for our lunch. Lunch was at YKKO Ryay-Oh & BBQ House.

















Traffic in downtown Yangon was terrible. We were moving at a snail's pace ad it looked like we spent more time in the bus than viewing the sights. After lunch we continued with the sightseeing. We visited the popular Bogyoke Aung San Market. But it is a tourist enclave and if you are not sure of the prices you may not get value for your money.



























We then proceeded to the police station to collect our bikes and proceed to Bago.



It was less than 50 km away. Cliff wasn't feeling too well but he managed to ride the distance. We arrived at the Bago Star hotel at dusk and after a quick shower, went for our dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Dinner was good. Giant prawns, toufu, pork chops...... in a candle light setting. Back at the hotel it was time for our chit chat session before we called it a day.








Thur 17 Jan 2013.

First thing in the morning was "spa treatment" for Loh's leaking final gear. Then we had breakfast before moving out for Mawlamyine.




We had a group photo taken at the nearby temple and the it was a 220 km ride through the lovely countryside.














Along the way we came across some dirt bike riders coming from the opposite direction. We rode into the Ngwe Moe Hotel at around 1 pm and after settling down all were fown for lunch at 2 pm.







I felt slightly feverish, maybe due ti the sudden change from cold to hot. I took a nap while the rest went up the nearby hill for sightseeing.




Uncle David, Eric and myself did not wish to go through this rough part of the last leg of our journey. So we loaded our bikes onto 3 pickups. With the bikes secured we went for our dinner and as I wasn't feeling well, decided to call it an early night.

Fri 18 Jan 2013

We had our breakfast at 630 and moved out at 7.00 am. Uncle David, Eric and myself took the escort van while the rest roughed it out. We had a couple of stops, bought some giant prawns along the way, stopped for lunch and got the prawns cooked before hitting the mountain trail.






























Cherie dropped her bike along the way. The traffic was much less than on our way up and the wind was cold. By 230 we were at the border and had to wait for the three pickups.






















The side stands of all the three bikes were damaged. Learning point, never strap the bike down with the side stand. Our Myanmar adventure has ended. By the time we cleared the 2 borders it was almost 6 pm. We rode another 85 km to Tak, where we checked into Viang Tak Hotel at around 7 pm.






In an hour all were down for dinner and after which had our chit chat till 2 am, before calling it a day.

- hallo !

- when are you chaps heading back into Malaysia ?

- will be rounding peninsular Malaysia starting on the 24th Jan (kota bahru) and then 25th Jan (Changlun/Alor Setar) and may be able to hook up on your way south.

- am riding a 1400 GTR too. Amazing that you can take that bike on unpaved tracks ... she's a big girl !

ride safe.

.

We will be passing malaysia on the 22nd. At Hatyai now.

We parted ways at Tak Thailand. Loh Eric, Cherie and Chris headed for Chiang Mai. Cherie will slowly find her way down while the remaining 3 took a flight back to Singapore, leaving their bikes there. They are planning to continue their journey from there to Vietnam somewhere in Mar/Apr.
Cliff proceeded to explore the west of Thailand. Steve went to Phuket for a crash course in diving. The remsining 4 of us, Uncle David, Terry, James and myself rode back to Singapore stopping at Hua Hin and Hatyai along the way. Uncle David and myself got our side stands fixed at Hatyai.
We reached back Singapore on the 22nd night.
















<a href="http://s1294.beta.photobucket.com/user/gshajisg/media/Myanmar%20Adventure/20130121_112920_zps33de7ae2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/g/gshajisg_Myanmar%2520Adventure_20130121_112920_zps33de7ae2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20130121_112920_zps33de7ae2.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s1294.beta.photobucket.com/user/gshajisg/media/Myanmar%20Adventure/20130121_123041_zps99ffdc58.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/g/gshajisg_Myanmar%2520Adventure_20130121_123041_zps99ffdc58.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20130121_123041_zps99ffdc58.jpg"/></a>














The End

I will start inserting the ride pictures and videos from today.

Awesome report from a country most of us will never see! Can't wait to see the photos!

Thanks David. Its easier to go in now. I saw a lot of tourists especially in Yangon and Bagan.

Pictures for the 7th and 8th have been inserted.

Finally I am done with inserting all the picture.

My video cam worked for the first 2 days only. Here are the videos that I got.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtAR9JU-8tA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJzfgwPJh6M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn9rd7Il3lo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snd-MN2OjoY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHAm9VaJ0U8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRRdMxrdFQo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EtDVVAA8fU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LovD5zOn4Do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rht2GFBQSdA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXHE7aIKCnw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__729gZHQ1o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwbz6guGJd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR2upiSQTs8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Q6uwLyGSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p74m7UkRi84
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU-uDZYwq_w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4bAsvYPOFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXKycBdUYj0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPHuhn0Sxyc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9yyXDjxqHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmOA3VRpO5s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5sSsVdNuWI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxcddHtsf10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkxmV4YC4Ns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwA-ap_ewJc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkeFyQjA9RY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0hLvdvBWkg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbD5IdZbQ54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYiuD5bVPTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRcLKesShRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74tZ9Id6og
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LzRYTVN1OA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM1IzjKjveM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J9QEYJGjyw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Ivknlnuss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pUL2cijhMQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOWrRKc0yQA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox5pGhQNrvs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuMC-PwlqP8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM3h-JQQSLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIxj1fImVfU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBnlFP18a6k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtU5mieZ9RE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnLWlPQ6N4s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=454GwlCd3vc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50of6MNQEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfLIGLlB_Dw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72ShjdhpGJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57XAmk0ve0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFT9H-MiRGs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVZeCLOl7jo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVZeCLOl7jo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_mcsvP9Qc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZHype7yH0

If and when I can get videos from my friends I will post the link in here. Meanwhile enjoy the first 2 days in Myanmar.

Fascinating place. Thanks for posting

My pleasure. :)

nice report. i envy you guys.