At the end of each year, being the disastrously sentimental person I am, I am overcome by sadness at the passing of time and longing for times that have slipped by. This year, for the first time, I was filled with excitement and enthusiasm for the next leg of our trip. I guess this adventure has such linearity to it and such pointed sense of direction, both metaphorically and literally, that there is no time to feel these things.
At the end of our time in Yangon we had what we went there for - Indian Visas stamped in our passports and another city explored. We had survived our illnesses that were apparently more severe than previous ones. I cannot express enough my gratitude to a doctor younger than myself who ended my stabbing pain with a shot of anti biotics and morphine and sent me on my way for no charge. We tipped naturally. The road out of Yangon was horrific. The road shook our bicycles to the edge of their limit. We had to cover 160kms in the first day as well to make it to another town that had hotels that westerners could stay in. We pushed into a headwind all day and by the time we arrived at 5pm we were all shattered. There was no respite the next day with another massive distance up the country, again into the prevailing headwind. The road shook so much my rear wheel gave up. A spoke snapped on a particularly aggressive bump but the bike held up and managed to make it to our accommodation that evening. I'd fixed wheels on road bikes before but this one was different. It required bending the spoke to get it into position. I was convinced there was a way to get it in without bending it so I took it to the local scooter mechanic who laughed and bent it straight on in. He probably took one look and thought I was clueless with all the gear. Compared to him I probably am.
Our medicine for some of the hard times
A rare good road. The expressway had few bumps but no humans in sight or food options around
Arthur loves a good road
After another day of horrible headwind slogging we made it to the capital of Myanmar, Naypiyadaw. Again another product of mad military rule the capital city was moved from the busy, and most densely populated Yangon to Naypiyadaw. With all the embassies and consulates in Yangon it was a mad decision. It was evident that the decision was state controlled when we got there and based on nothing more than preference and the fact a large airbase resided there. We were greeted with 8 lane motorways in the capitol city with no one anywhere in sight. Things had been set up overnight it seemed to make the new capitol appear capitol worthy. We stayed in a designated area for hotels. There was no one around but dozens of huge hotels to accommodate just in case. We left the next day without any understanding of the capitol city. It was a dystopian, post zombie apocalyptic city like I've never seen before.
Two more days were spent on the road to Bagan. We covered more than 300kms in these two days and fought into the headwind still. The highway was straight for around 600kms and we were well fed up with not turning the bikes. My gear cable snapped as well rendering my front derailleur useless. I wedged it into position and limped through each day, looking forward to arriving in Mandalay for our flight to Kolkata. The plains were beautiful, despite the headwind. Massive expanses of savannah like grassland stretched as far as we could see. There was hardly a human to be seen.
Happy boy on a temple
Again on top of a temple watching the sun go down
The plains of Bagan host 4000 temples, many of which seem overly restored to be truly original
At sunrise the balloons float over the plains
We hired e-scooters at Bagan and cruised the back roads between temples and cows
One in four thousand
I was particularly fond of this rather sinister monolithic temple
I don't know what this is
The plains were beautiful and dotted with trees
I don't know why I was still wearing my helmet for the sun set
Riding through the temples on the way out
Every pagoda has a gold umbrella on top with a gem stone
We arrived in Bagan for a few days off to explore the 4,000 temples that extend across the plains. That night we celebrated with a bottle of Mandalay Rum ($2.50 for a bottle). It's safe to say, at that price, it would do disastrous things to New Zealand. The next day we hired electric scooters, which we thought was most progressive of Myanmar, and headed out to the plains. It was beautiful watching the sunrise and the hot air balloons that drifted across the expanse. Punishing tourists could be seen at each temple in complete zen pose - only for the instagram of course. I couldn't help but notice that all the temples were in remarkable condition. I think a large renovation project has been undertaken by the Myanmar government which has compromised the authenticity of the temples but I'm not sure it matters too much. People are enjoying them and you are able to climb up on top and get the views so it's not all bad.
Arthur fell sick in Bagan which was most unfortunate as we were doing our best to fatten up a wee bit so mum wouldn't panic so much when she met us in Kolkata. He dragged himself through two days of hell on the road and looked so gravely ill I was worried. He was gaunt and exhausted but managed to get through the 180kms in two days, virtually collapsing in relief in Mandalay, the cycling for the year completed.
Our time in Mandalay was spent packing the bikes into boxes, visiting the palace, drinking tea and eating roti in the tea shops across the city, and riding our ridiculous hotel hire bikes to the Jade Market and various other temples. It's a beautiful city and we enjoyed our time there. By the end of it Arthur had increased his buffet breakfast quota to 6 eggs on toast, fruit, fried rice, and spring roll burgers. He had some life back in him. We were all so excited to get on the plane to fly backwards to Bangkok and then onwards to Kolkata to meet mum for some much needed mothering and medicine.
I would be nowhere without our sponsors The Beauty Collective
Sunset in Mandalay. Sean happy to be heading to India
Arthur, as always, staying hydrated
Waiting for a plane
When one pair of BNs doesn't suffice
Off to Kolkata. Our plane suffered mechanical problems and had to return in the middle of the night to Bangkok. Fortunately, after another 6 hours, we took off again and made it
Our terrible attempt at a 'tick' for the completion of SE Asia and close to 11,000kms ridden
