Tag Archives: UK to Australia 2014

2slowspeeds motorcycling from the UK to Australia from June 2014 to December 2014 on 2 BMW F700GS

Nov 7 2014

Myanmar capitals – from the new to the old

Naypyitaw, 6th November. We start the day with yet another frustrating conversation with our guide. His stories, which he usually announces to a couple of people only, never to the whole group despite our repeated requests to speak to the whole group, change as he speaks, and within 5 minutes, we go from having to meet at a check point in 50kms and him needing to give some letters of authorisation, to him going ahead and doing all the paperwork for us, to now suddenly not needing to provide any letters at all. ?!?! Next, motorcycles aren’t allowed on the super highway to Yangon. And finally, we are to meet outside Yangon where we have to leave the bikes and travel to the hotel by bus as we are not allowed to ride the bikes to the hotel.

Some bikes have already gone ahead and we wonder whether they have been turned back. We have 380kms to cover today, we know it is going to rain and the idea of riding through endless villages and covering that distance (or more) when we know we usually average 30-40kms/hour means we would be in for an extremely long day. In the end, we all decide to take a chance and go down the super highway – a beautiful, smooth and deserted 2 lane each way highway, with concrete posts indicating our distance to Yangon every furlong!!!

The Super Highway from Naypyitaw to Yangon

The Super Highway from Naypyitaw to Yangon

It is not long before the heavens open up again and we feel the cooling of the toes as the water sloshes in our boots. Lovely! We pull over at the only food stop along this highway – the only 2 stalls providing some shelter both sell identical snacks: packets of chips and steamed eggs. Pity they don’t sell different items. They might both get more business… We ride on, do a couple of “U’ies” to refuel, go through a few more toll gates – bikes always either go around the edge or get waved through which is the case here. No problems. Then, at the final toll gate, at end of the super highway, on the city outskirts, we are greeted by a couple of whistles and cops frantically waiving at us. There’s no politely smiling and waiving and driving by here. We are told to pull over, stop and that we will be escorted to our hotel but we must first wait for the 4 riders (smokers always need more stops than us) behind us. The senior policeman explains that motorcycles are illegal on this motorway. Oops… Maybe our guide was correct here… Eventually, we spot our pilot car and our frustrating guide – although he must be frustrated at us too now!!! We are only 10′ from our hotel he tells us and the others are not far behind (how does he know that?!). After a while, as it is still raining, we find refuge in an unused toll booth. After an hour, my lips have now turned blue I am so cold. We have no idea why the others have not arrived yet. I then decide that if we are only 10′ from the hotel, why can’t we be guided to our hotel and our guide returns for the others. At most they’d wait 20′ for us if they arrived just as we left. It takes some convincing, Anthony points out my purple lips but he eventually agrees.

In our toll gate booth. My lips aren't blue yet but my fingers are, thanks to my wet gloves!

In our toll gate booth. My lips aren’t blue yet but my fingers are, thanks to my wet gloves!


25′ later (not 10) we arrive at our hotel. For some reason, our guide checks into the hotel and gets himself some lunch. What about the others?!?! The pilot went back alone we presume. We find out one of the bikes had broken down and when they eventually arrive at the toll gate, 2 hours after we left, the policeman is not at all happy with them, with us all in fact, and decides the 4 bikes will have to be taken and left at the police station.

The next day we are introduced to our new guide for the day – Albert is taking us to see some of Yangon’s sights. This young man of 21 is fantastic. He speaks very good English, is very well educated and knowledgeable and is even good at “herding cats”!!! That’s what our group has been like, “as difficult as herding cats” – imagine 11 bikers, used to travelling alone, or at most 2, having travelled thousands of kms successfully and suddenly having to be ready by a certain time and ride following a pilot car.

Albert was far more interesting than the sights he took us too. He was happy to answer any question we had: he explained that Myanmar had come a long way in the last few years and he was now free to say what he wanted about the government without fear. He talked about the upcoming elections next year. The constitution of 1998 states that any citizen who is married to a foreigner is not allowed to be president and in 2008 it was changed barring anyone from the presidency who is widow(er) and parent of foreigners. Aung San Suu Kyi is therefore unlikely to be able to stand for presidency because her husband was a foreigner… It felt strange to drive past the lake I had seen so often on the news, where her house in which was placed on house-arrest for 15 years was located, and the place so many protests took place… Immigrants, which make up 10% of Myanmar’s population are never allowed to vote nor are their kids. Only those who can prove their descendants back to 1835 can have the pink ID card which allows them to vote. 2-3% of Myanmar’s budget is spent on education and health and 45% on military. Myanmar had 1 million visitors in 2012, 2 million in 2013. I hope Myanmar is able to cope with such rapid growth…

Reflecting on this reminds that we have not commented how how sweet, friendly, courteous, happy, smiling the people of Myanmar have been everywhere we went. Myanmar feels content, in spite of the controlling government. The driving especially is such a dream: every single car or truck always indicated to let us know whether it was safe or not to overtake. First of course, you have to understand whether indicating to the left (they drive on the right) means “ok to overtake” or “not ok”.!!! Once you have established that, you don’t blindly overtake of course, but it gives you a good indication – and they were never wrong in the whole time we were in Myanmar. And traffic coming towards us would do the same for the vehicles behind them. Hooting is Myanmar is very rare. Most people here don’t speak any English, yet we are able to communicate. And building a rapport with people is easy here. We are absolutely loving Myanmar 🙂

Back to Yangon. We visited the reclining Buddha, 65 metres long and 16 metres high. Next, Kalaywa Tawya scriptural learning centre and monastic education school, a holy learning centre on 17 acres of land, where we witnessed the monks arriving with their food offerings, queuing to enter their dining room and then pray before tucking into their lunch. It felt very intrusive to be there watching them pray and taking photos…. Next stop a nunnery school. Again, it felt wrong to be taking photos although I did enjoy the serene feeling of the place, watching a lone monk reciting and learning.

Reclining Buddha, Yangon

Reclining Buddha, Yangon

Monks queueing for lunch, Yangon

Monks queueing for lunch, Yangon

Younk monk, Yangon

Younk monk, Yangon


Nunnery school, Yangon

Nunnery school, Yangon

Brilliant idea spotted at a market in Yangon, Myanmar

Brilliant idea spotted at a market in Yangon, Myanmar


Shwedagon Pagoda, originally built by king Oklalapa in 600BC to enshrine eight strands of hair from Goutama Buddha and was maintained by subsequent kings to the 14th century. In 1453, when Queen Shin Saw Pu ascended to the throne, she had the pagoda raised to 302 feet. When she turned 64, she had 64 pagodas built at the base of the Shwedagon pagoda and also had her own weight in gold (25 viss or 41kgs) beaten out into gold leaf to cover the Shwedagon pagoda. The main pagoda undergoes regilding every 5 years because the gold plates become pale over time due to the local weather. This year, pagoda officials forecast to use over 81 kilos of gold and cash of 11.4 million US dollars in gilding the over 320 feet tall pagoda. Donors contribute in cash or gold – each plate measuring 30x30cm. I found it interesting seeing it under scaffolding and appreciating the enormity of the task of regilding, even if it meant we didn’t get to see it in all its glory.

The pagoda complex is enormous and stunning but what struck me most was seeing the huge crowds of locals, visiting and praying. While it is a major tourist attraction in Yangon, it is still and foremost a place of worship.

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar


Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar


A very interesting day in Yangon. We all wish we could keep Albert for our last 2 days in Myanmar but he is unsurprisingly fully booked until February. Good for him!!

Tomorrow is the 8th November – that is Anthony’s 60th birthday!!!! Because we have an early start (going via the police station to retrieve the 4 bikes), I ask Anthony if he’d like his birthday cards this evening as the morning will be rushed. I have one traditional paper birthday card, which I carried since we left Australia, from our dear friends Pat and Andy and 59 electronic messages (amazing how it turned out to be exactly 60 in total – I recounted to double check!!!) from family and friends. Anthony will tell you all about his birthday in the next post 🙂

– Anne

Nov 4 2014

Old Bagan to Naypyitaw

After our wonderful night’s camping, which we have since found out is illegal in Myanmar, (no wonder we had to negotiate for 45′ last night – oops!), a refreshing shower and yet another delicious and very copious meal, we are taken by coach to Old Bagan.

A bit of historical background courtesy of wikipedia. From 1044 to 1287, Bagan was the capital as well as the political, economic and cultural nerve center of the Pagan Empire. Over the course of 250 years, Bagan’s rulers and their wealthy subjects constructed over 10,000 religious monuments (approximately 1000 stupas, 10,000 small temples and 3000 monasteries) in an area of 104 square kms (40 sq mi). The Pagan Empire collapsed in 1287 due to repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301) and the city formally ceased to be the capital of Burma in December 1297. Bagan had suffered from many earthquakes over the ages, with over 400 recorded earthquakes between 1904 and 1975. Many of these damaged pagodas underwent restorations in the 1990s by the military government, which sought to make Bagan an international tourist destination. However, the restoration efforts instead drew widespread condemnation from art historians and preservationists worldwide. Today, 2229 temples and pagodas remain. (www.wikipedia.com)

It feels strange to be traveling by air conditioned bus but it is great to be able to look at the countryside without having to concentrate on the road. The shadows are getting long, the lighting is making the contrasting colours more intense, we catch glimpses of individual stupas and pagodas from behind the bushes as we zoom past in our luxury coach. We would love to walk amongst them in the stunning countryside but we can only go where we are taken.

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

And our first stop is a lacquerware workshop. A typical tourist stop. Definitely not where we would have chosen to go to although it is interesting. Next stop is a massive gold covered temple. It is massive. There are many locals praying and paying their respects, but also such a massive tourist stop. The number of tourist we spot surprises us. Again it was an interesting stop but the countryside is calling me. The old simple pagodas have such a story to tell, especially as the evening mist is starting to rise. I am not the only one. We ask our guide if we can go to one of the simple, older pagodas. Ok. We finally get to an area with no other tourist coach – beautiful.

Basket maker, Bagan, Myanmar

Basket maker, Bagan, Myanmar

Myanmar lady with thanaka cream for its cosmetic and sunburn protection properties

Myanmar lady with thanaka cream for its cosmetic and sunburn protection properties


Shwezigon temple - (Golden Platform), Bagan, Myanmar

Shwezigon temple – (Golden Platform), Bagan, Myanmar


Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Myanmar mother and son

Myanmar mother and son

We can’t linger too long as we have to be somewhere else for the sunset so off we go. Now we get the biggest shock: there are coaches and coaches, thousands of tourists and sellers following us with their various wares, never taking no thank you as a final answer. It is dreadful. What are we doing here? We look at the massive pagoda and each level is covered in colourful ‘ants’. People everywhere!! Suddenly I worry about how Myanmar is going to be able to manage the obvious massive tourist influx, which we have since found out was 1 million in 2013 and expected to be 2 million this year.

I reluctantly join the line of tourists and climb the massive steps up the pagoda. And am I glad I did:

Shwesandaw pagoda, old Bagan, Myanmar

Shwesandaw pagoda, old Bagan, Myanmar


Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

Old Bagan, Myanmar

We head off the next day for Kalaw. The countryside is stunning, we enjoy a mid morning roadside stop. We love the people of Myanmar. Although they usually don’t speak a word of English, they are always welcoming, smile and chat (even if we don’t understand each other). They often bring extra chairs out for us to sit on. We are also often given free bottles of water at petrol stations.

With Floris and Dan at one of our roadside stops, Myanmar

With Floris and Dan at one of our roadside stops, Myanmar

Max at one our roadside stops on our way to Kalaw, Myanmar

Max at one our roadside stops on our way to Kalaw, Myanmar

Myanmar girl carefully choosing her candy

Myanmar girl carefully choosing her candy

When our guide sees us, he stops and tells us that we are to meet in 50kms for lunch. While our tour manager Tin was full of energy and enthusiasm and spoke good English, our guide has none of those attributes. As we get to about 40kms, I spot our guide on the left hand side of the road in the shadows of trees with no pilot car to be seen anywhere. This led to the first of many, many frustrated conversations I and then others had with him that the pilot car should stop before and not after and 200 metres down the road and should be visible. In this instance, one of our group had driven right past so Anthony went on after him. Unfortunately, our poor guide, with his lack of communication and leadership skills ended up causing frustrations within the group. Nothing major, but some grating.

After our massive, varied and delicious lunch, where we met Michael (an Aussie now living in Chiang Mai who flew into Myanmar for a week and hired a motorcycle to travel), we all set off to Kalaw. The weather is looking ominous, with growing rain clouds forming ahead. Eventually, it starts drizzling. As we ride up the mountain pass, two unnerving events happen. The road is horrendously slippery. I feel a couple of fish tails. Nothing too bad but unnerving. We slow down even more. A car that has just overtaken us does a full 180 spin just in front of Anthony after a sharp bend. The truck we have been following then overtaken has diesel slushing out of the top, all over the road!!!! Rain and diesel on the road does not make for a comfortable ride. Then suddenly, Streak stalls on me twice on as I am about to tackle a hairpin bend. Not nice. I pull over and stop as we spot Max pulled over too. He also has a problem with his bike. Something is not right with Streak. Streak is ‘coughing’ and loses power just when I need to open up. As we’re chatting with Max, the diesel truck drives past. No!!!!!!! Now we will be behind him again, with more spilled diesel on the road… Anyway, we ‘limp’ to our next hotel without incident. Unlike Michael who unfortunately came off his bike and damaged his knee.

What a lovely spot! Individual chalets. Garth invites us to his chalet for a drink – he bought a small bottle of the local whisky, my first alcoholic drink for ages as I don’t drink beer. We discuss my bike problem and he offers to show us the modification he made to his fuel filter and how to change the fuel pump. He carries two extra fuel pumps and very kindly insists we should have one of them.

Hoping the rain will hold off heading up the mountain towards Kalaw, Myanmar

Hoping the rain will hold off heading up the mountain towards Kalaw, Myanmar

Heading up the mountain towards Kalaw, Myanmar

Heading up the mountain towards Kalaw, Myanmar

It is festival time in Myanmar so the temples are crowded and music is blearing

It is festival time in Myanmar so the temples are crowded and music is blearing

Our lovely cottage accommodation at Kalaw, Myanmar

Our lovely cottage accommodation at Kalaw, Myanmar

Garth showing us what we might need to do to fix Anne's fuel pump problem

Garth showing us what we might need to do to fix Anne’s fuel pump problem

We only have 70kms to ride the next day to get to Nyaungshwe. It is a beautiful, relaxed ride, through serene countryside, where life seems to unfold at a very slow gentle speed.

Myanmar monk

Myanmar monk

Typical scene in Myanmar

Typical scene in Myanmar

Typical Myanmar scene

Typical Myanmar scene

Typical Myanmar scene

Typical Myanmar scene

Heading into Nyaungshwe, Myanmar

Heading into Nyaungshwe, Myanmar

Heading into Nyaungshwe, Myanmar

Heading into Nyaungshwe, Myanmar

Nyaungshwe, Myanmar

Nyaungshwe, Myanmar


We have the afternoon off. Time for some bike maintenance, organising what laundry we need done which we give to the hotel (it always feels so luxurious when we don’t have to do all the washing by hand), a nana nap for Anthony while I go out and explore the village and market. This is where I buy cakes, candles and chocolates for Anthony’s 60th.

We have all heard of the fire balloon festival and organise ourselves some transport up to Taunggyi as it is not part of our program.

We are off to Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar - Garth, Kristjan and Rolfe

We are off to Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar – Garth, Kristjan and Rolfe

We arrive at what looks like a massive fair, with blaring music coming from several stands, each one outdoing the other. The noise is horrendous. What is this?!?! As we allow ourselves to melt into the crowd and slowly walk from one stand to another, we start to enjoy what is happening here. It is definitely a local event. It is joyous. Food stalls, candy stalls, beer vendors, people picnicking. We are taken to where the fire balloons will be launched in 2 hours. So we all go our separate ways and eventually find each other again some hours later. The preparation of the first balloon by the ‘red team’ took ages but was fascinating. It started with some drumming and dancing, gradually getting more and more frenetic. We keep being offered drinks and ‘stuff’ which we politely decline. But I eventually accept the repeated offers to join in the dancing. Watching, and for Anthony, being part of the building of the balloon, the lighting of the lanterns and seeing the balloon take off into the night sky was fascinating! What an amazing evening!! Make sure you watch his video.

Anthony talking to one of the Taunggyi fire balloon competitors, Myanmar

Anthony talking to one of the Taunggyi fire balloon competitors, Myanmar

Candy floss seller at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Candy floss seller at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

One of thousands of lanterns to be lit at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

One of thousands of lanterns to be lit at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar


We were offered prime viewing seating at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

We were offered prime viewing seating at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar


Anthony has been promoted by the red team and given lighting candle and lighter at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Anthony has been promoted by the red team and given lighting candle and lighter at the Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar


Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Taunggyi fire balloon festival, Myanmar

Today, November 4th, is a full day on Inle Lake. We travel by long boat, powered by extremely noisy engines. The boat ride to the floating villages is long, noisy and fume filled. We are taken to a temple, observe silk weaving, lotus thread weaving, blacksmithing, cigar making. We really have no interest in visiting those places having been taken to similar ones so many times on our travels. We would be so much happier wondering quieter local streets, having a drink at small roadside shacks, visiting small monasteries or temples, all away from the tourist coaches and touristy boats. Towards the end of the day, we are dropped off on the west bank of the lake and walk a couple of kilometers to a natural spring spa. It is quiet and we only see a few locals on scooters. Wonderful. Until we arrive at the spa!! Ha, not so quiet. But we are here now so we may as well indulge. Our bodies are grateful. Some of my impressive bruises are now on display. It is funny how I still clearly remember thinking – oh ho, this will be interesting as I realised I was going down on that forest trail. Anyway, the spa is relaxing and does us good. Dinner tonight is at a very touristy pizza restaurant. We will be glad to return to quieter rural Myanmar tomorrow.

Our boats on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Our boats on Inle Lake, Myanmar

"Street" and powerlines on Inle Lake, Myanmar

“Street” and powerlines on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Horrific noise and air pollution on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Horrific noise and air pollution on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Ingenious one legged rowing used by fishermen on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Ingenious one legged rowing used by fishermen on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Finished our Inle Lake tour at natural springs and enjoyed a soak in a hot tub

Finished our Inle Lake tour at natural springs and enjoyed a soak in a hot tub

Our favourite part of Inle Lake - a quiet meander through the reeds

Our favourite part of Inle Lake – a quiet meander through the reeds

The destination today 5th November is Naypyitaw, 290kms away, the capital of Myanmar. (On 6 November 2005, the administrative capital of Burma was officially moved to a greenfield approximately 320 km north of Yangon/Rangoon). We have a choice of 2 routes but the other route is totally unknown and could be similar to our 2nd day so, because of the state of number of bikes, including mine, the consensus is to backtrack back beyond Kalaw – none of us like to backtrack. Anthony and I decide to leave 45′ ahead of the others as I am not looking forward to the mountain crossing with my bike ‘coughing’ as it is. We wait 45′ for the others at a junction south and start to wonder if they took a turn before our junction as they are all faster than us and should have arrived by now. So we head off alone. Unbeknownst to us, one of the bikes had a new problem and they all ended up leaving much later. We have a lovely ride. We get to the outskirts of Naypyidaw and get totally and utterly lost and completely soaked – it is pouring!!! We turn off to the left – end up in the air force area. The 4 lane dual carriage way is deserted. Turn back quick. Next we end up in the grey roof area. The residential areas are carefully organized, roofs colour coded and apartments are allotted according to rank and marital status. We finally spot a tiny army checkpoint and stop for help. We give our hotel name but no one has heard of it. After about an hour, we understand that there are 2 hotels with similar sounding names and are given one of the army officers to show us the way. It is now absolutely pouring, the rain drops can be felt through our jackets so the poor guy must really feel it!

Typical street in Naypyitaw, Myanmar capital with our army officer leading us to our hotel

Typical street in Naypyitaw, Myanmar capital with our army officer leading us to our hotel

30′ later we arrive at a hotel and staff is waiting for us!!!!! (We had been given the wrong name.). What a welcome. Ladies in beautiful traditional dress are waiting with a bouquet of flowers for each one of us. We are taking to our bungalow. Wow. The accommodation we have stayed at throughout Myanmar has been amazing! And the staff always so attentive and responsive.

Next stop, Yangon (Rangoon).

– Anne

Nov 3 2014

Myanmar – crossing over

This is the first time that we have travelled in a group since our Bhutan adventure of 2009. The difference was that our 2009 group came together for the specific aim of riding in India and Bhutan and then returning home. Half of the current group have travelled together through China from Kyrgyzstan to Nepal via Lhassa. Others, including us, made their way overland from Europe to India to join up in Imphal. We all like to travel as individuals, or a couple on our case, coming together with others and riding with them for a few days or weeks as long as our respective interests and plans dictate, so it will be interesting travelling in a group for 11 days.

We are about to leave Imphal for Myanmar

We are about to leave Imphal for Myanmar


Our group to travel through Myanmar consists of 11 people including ourselves, all with varying degrees of long distance motorcycle experience, but in all cases a lot more than us. Our origins are:

Australia: Dave, Anne and myself
Germany: Rolf and Jochen
Great Britain: Ian and Dan
Iceland: Kristján
Nederland: Floris
Russia: Max
USA: Garth

An early start sees us at the Imphal hotel at 06:45, ready to ride to Myanmar. After 3 days of rain and now seeing the sun peeping through the clouds, it is good to be back on Streak and Storm. With our nine travelling companions for our journey through Myanmar, some of whom we had already crossed trails with in West Bengal and Assam, we travel quickly out of Imphal, weaving in and out of small mopeds and motorcycles as our convoy headed south east. The first 40 kilometres fly by as we have a straight road in good condition. What catches our attention is the number of soldiers stationed along the roadside. In some cases only 100 meters apart on either side of the road. They provide security for this road from the various separatist groups which, from time to time, have undertaken attacks and kidnappings. I know little about it, and am not even sure of the current threat state in the area, but we do know it is a volatile area where attacks do occur.

So many army and police line the roads through the Manipur region to the Myanmar border

So many army and police line the roads through the Manipur region to the Myanmar border


Then the twisty bits, or ‘curlies’ as someone named them, start. They are wonderful, left and right, we turn, climb and descend, narrow but perfect motorcycling road. We then start to encounter roadblocks, some we can merely wave as we ride pass, the more serious ones we are flagged down and have the passport checks and the obligatory entry of our details into yet another ledger that will be stored for posterity. At sometime in the future, if all these ledgers are ever studied, they will give in tedious detail the comings and goings of 21st Century India. Apart from record keeping, the manual nature of systems here means that no additional knowledge and value can be garnered from the millions of ledgers that must exist around the country.
The first of 4 checkpoints in Manipur

The first of 4 checkpoints in Manipur

Another checkpoint in Manipur where passports are checked and logged

Another checkpoint in Manipur where passports are checked and logged

View from checkpoint number 2 in Manipur

View from checkpoint number 2 in Manipur

The 2 slow Speeds enjoying the ride through Manipur

The 2 slow Speeds enjoying the ride through Manipur

Gorgeous ride to the India-Myanmar border

Gorgeous ride to the India-Myanmar border


We are required at one army checkpoint to open our laptops or iPads so they can check our pictures for any we may have taken of sensitive Indian government installations. This is highly impractical as we all have thousands of photos from months of travelling. Another archaic rule that would not apply if we flew in or out of India.

We arrive at the border town of Moreh and while we have our details entered into yet another ledger we find we have overshot the immigration office, which is back in town. Garth volunteers to take all our passports to get the appropriate exit stamp. Garth heads off back to immigration as I play soccer with the local kids. This only lasts five minutes as I run out of puff. I notice that below us on the hill is a second road that bypasses the checkpoint and is busy with local traffic in both directions. An hour passes as we wait, Garth finally returns having spent his time getting the right quality of photocopies of all our passports to the satisfaction of the immigration officer. We will not miss the frustrating bureaucracy and terrible and occasionally senseless driving in India, yet will miss the wonderful individuals we met. At least Anne can continue to stay in touch with our new friends via Facebook, like she has with our friends in Uzbekistan and Iran. We may be back but not on motorcycles – we have survived once, did not enjoy the riding, why would we repeat the experience?

The Indian army wanted a photo of our group at the border with Myanmar

The Indian army wanted a photo of our group at the border with Myanmar

After our Ebola check at the India-Myanmar border at Moreh, we took over the hut while we waited for our carnets to be processed

After our Ebola check at the India-Myanmar border at Moreh, we took over the hut while we waited for our carnets to be processed

Moreh border post

Moreh border post


We reach the bridge that separates India and Myanmar which we cross and are welcomed by greetings and smiles. Tin, our cheerful trip organiser is waiting for us. To this point he has been just a name in an email, but now is our tour manager for the next 11 days. We are introduced to our guide who will travel with us for the next 11 days. Tin is efficient and organised, we quickly pass through Myanmar immigration and customs. While we wait, seats are brought out for us to sit on, a nice gesture. A reminder that we drive on the right in Myanmar, which Garth will enjoy as the distance signs are also in miles not kilometres, and we are off for an excellent lunch at a nearby town. We already see the changes from India, cleaner, more courteous drivers and people wave and smile as we pass. We feel straight away that we are going to enjoy Myanmar.
Now waiting for Myanmar immigration to process our passports

Now waiting for Myanmar immigration to process our passports

We have arrived in Myanmar!!!

We have arrived in Myanmar!!!


Our first glimpse of Myanmar - tidy town, clean streets, good roads

Our first glimpse of Myanmar – tidy town, clean streets, good roads


A couple of hours later we arrive at out first overnight destination, Kalay Myo. We are expecting a small guest house given the size of the town, but no, a recently opened hotel awaits us.

This hotel was a surprise, large and well appointed, with staff that listened to your requests and acted on them, such a change from India where you needed to ask for everything three times to maybe get it. With 360 kms to cover the next day, we woke at 5 am for a 7 am departure. We take our bags to the bikes to find they have all been washed. We thought what a great idea, until Rolfe and Joe’s BMW 1200GS motorbikes would not start as they probably had water sprayed in the engines’ air intakes. While the mechanically skilled work to remove water from the bikes’ engines, the slow speeds set off to wait at a bridge some 40km ahead. We follow a vehicle that drives at a pace that does not allow us to leave first gear. I know that we are the “slow speeds” but this was ridiculous. We gesticulate and eventually have to pull alongside to get the driver to go at a reasonable pace.

The roads thus far have been like small Australian country roads, gentle bumps, twists and a few potholes but nothing we were not used to. We have been told that today’s journey of some 360 km, hence the early departure, will include 50km of difficult road, whatever that means, after an initial 140 km.

As we leave the town and start to follow the river, we see the leaves on the road from a certain type of tree ‘dance’ as vehicles go by. Try as we may to capture on photo or video this almost magical effect, we fail and can only give you our written prose on such a beautiful sight A sense that we have not commented on much is that of smell. As we pass some villages a gentle waft of sandalwood smoke fills our sense of smell. It is a glorious smell that will forever give us a memory of clean streets, well maintained gardens, smiling people and green trees. We are able to capture sight and sound, but alas not smell. For this, your will have to rely on my poor descriptive prose. We see our first teak trees, standing tall along the road in places.

All riders soon catch us up at the bridge, the water issue on Joe and Rolfe’s bikes having been resolved. Our first glimpse of mud greets us as we ride off the bridge, then a idyllic valley unfolds before us as we travel south. Jagged hills run parallel to the road on each side of the valley, a river meanders between green fields filled with rice and other crops. Ox carts creak along the road carrying a variety of supplies. The local people wave and smile as we pass. We could have just stopped, setup the tent and stayed a few days had we not been in a group.

The rain has held off overnight so we will be taking the forest trail route

The rain has held off overnight so we will be taking the forest trail route

Myanmar scenery

Myanmar scenery


Day 2 in Myanmar

Day 2 in Myanmar

Loving this scenery in Myanmar!

Loving this scenery in Myanmar!

Gorgeous road day 2 in Myanmar

Gorgeous road day 2 in Myanmar

Pagodas dotted the scenery in this stunning valley

Pagodas dotted the scenery in this stunning valley

Myanmar day 2

Myanmar day 2

We wish we could have just stayed and camped in this stunning valley on day 2 in Myanmar

We wish we could have just stayed and camped in this stunning valley on day 2 in Myanmar

Tar finally turns to good dirt and then, for us dirt road riding novices, dirt tracks, broken tar, and potholes. Anne is suffering from a migraine which makes her efforts all the more impressive. We had been told that this is the good section and worse is to follow. This is proving for both of us to be our most challenging riding yet on this trip. Unlike the sections of dirt in Kazakstan which lasted at most 10 km at a stretch, this seems endless and in fact turns out be be 120 km bad section from the bridge. We have put together a short video that we will post separately that shows some of the road conditions we covered. Suffice to say that on the worst sections there was not even time to think about photos and videos. The road surfaces included wet mud, dry mud ruts, gravel, larger jagged rocks, on a twisty and very steep forest trail. The group with us is great and knowing our lack of experience, wait at a muddy crossing to assist us both through, see on the separate video post. Anne and I both have slow speed ‘offs’ (no personal damage done but Anne did have some impressive bruizes and broke her number plate in two) and Anne eventually succumbed to the migraine, heatstroke and exhaustion and had to take a 15km break – swapping places with one of the pilot car drivers. Anne’s first comment on rejoining the group was that she was so annoyed at not having ridden the whole road. She is still disappointed but knows she made the right decision at the time. Many said it was one of the most difficult riding days they’d ever had. All said and done we are glad we did it, but should have been told up front what to expect and plan for. Somehow it helps mentally when you know what to expect, but when the information turns out to be incorrect, it makes a difficult journey even harder.

Good dirt and mostly dry mud day 2 in Myanmar

Good dirt and mostly dry mud day 2 in Myanmar

Riding through remote villages in this high valley in Myanmar

Riding through remote villages in this high valley in Myanmar

Typical Myanmar house

Typical Myanmar house

Anne's first "off" day 2 in Myanmar

Anne’s first “off” day 2 in Myanmar

Day 2 in Myanmar

Day 2 in Myanmar

Need a break on day 2 - this is still the good road and we are getting tired!!

Need a break on day 2 – this is still the good road and we are getting tired!!

Anthony crossing the wooden log bridge under the creek bed on day 2 with those ahead waiting to help us

Anthony crossing the wooden log bridge under the creek bed on day 2 with those ahead waiting to help us

Anne made it across the log bridge too!!

Anne made it across the log bridge too!!

Anne only thought of taking a photo of where she came off after we had righted her bike

Anne only thought of taking a photo of where she came off after we had righted her bike

Myanmar day 2

Myanmar day 2

Myanmar day 2

Myanmar day 2

We finally descend from this tough adventure and with the mountains and bad road behind us start to make better progress but darkness will envelop us long before we reach our planned destination. We press on, but as dusk gives way to darkness, we are still some 150km or three hours short of our destination. Anne and I have always said we will not ride at night and we are reaching a point where further riding will be dangerous as we follow the guide vehicle through the night. A sand patch appears under from under the speeding guide vehicle, my handlebars swing left and right at 90km per hour. Shortly afterwards, as we are both exhausted, Anne and I decide we are stopping for the night. This is purportedly some 100km our destination, or as the guide says just an hour or so. A long a laborious discussion follows, further delaying our riding companions, and only after I speak over the phone to the guides’ manager Tin do we get the ok and the others ride on with the guide vehicle. We are concerned that they are also tired and hope that they will safely reach the hotel. The tent goes up and we have a fine dinner of biscuits and are asleep by 20:30.

We awake to the early morning sounds and the blackness is replaced by a growing band of light that spreads from the east. A red, blue and purple horizon lingers momentarily before the sky fills with light and a new day begins. We have always loved that moment and that is one of the reasons we still enjoy camping, even if the body complains from time to time.

Day 3 in Myanmar

Day 3 in Myanmar

We loved our camping night in Myanmar!!

We loved our camping night in Myanmar!!


We pack and have been on the road for an hour when we spot the support vehicle coming towards us. They quickly guide us on the last 25 km to the hotel in New Bagan. On the way we see a feast of Buddhist temples set amongst green trees and fields. We are reunited with our travelling companions who arrived safely the night before, but not till 10pm. Their journey took over an hour and a half more than we were told when the guide tried to convince us to go on. We made the right decision to stop last night but the lack of accurate information from our guide increases the risk for all of us. While we are mindful of our travelling companions needs, we will not be coerced into making any unsafe decisions on this trip across Myanmar.

– Anthony