Due
to the delay in getting my Indian Visa my already short 8 day trip through
Myanmar was now turned into a very short 5 day trip through the country. I'd
never travelled with an organised tour on motorbike before, generally preferring
to find my own way through a country at my own pace, however current government
regulations force any overland traveler to have a guide if they go through Myanmar
with their own vehicle. I booked through Osuga travels, which is one of the
larger companies to offer organised tours and I was very impressed by the level
of communication that I received prior to arriving at the border and at the
border they took care of all the paperwork which was a nice change from having
to deal with customs and immigration, I just sat back and let them do the work.
I figured that if I was paying for a guide they could carry some of my gear and
the team gladly threw my spare tires and dry bag in the car leaving me with a
much lighter and much better handling motorcycle. As soon we left the border
crossing the beauty of this country soon became apparent and although this was
a short trip, traveling overland gave me the opportunity to see villages and
scenery that sadly many travelers wouldn’t have the opportunity to see. It was
also quickly apparent that the guide was necessary as there were quite a few
check points and toll ways on our route.
On the way we stopped for some photo opportunities and on one such occasion we visited a temple, outside I could hear drums and traditional music being played and upon entering we saw a large group of local children practicing local dances for an upcoming competition, the energy and syncronisation in their movement needed to be seen to be appreciated, very impressive. Our first stop was the golden rock, the precariously positioned rock seems to defy gravity with its balancing act and although it was very impressive I was as much impressed by the extremely steep truck drive up to the mountain summit. The hotel on the first night was one of the nicest I'd stayed in throughout my year traveling in South East Asia, although as a solo traveler the trip was quite expensive I was glad that Osuga didn’t skimp on anything, this was like a luxury motorcycle holiday. The next day we made great time thanks to the pace of the tour driver, we arrived early at our planned destination and my guide Myo explained that it was just a transit stop so if I'd like we could push on to the town of Bagan, which is where the best site seeing was and spend an extra night there. I was thankful for the flexibity in plans and said yes to his offer, by the time we arrived we had covered 730km for the day and both myself and the tour driver needed a well earned rest.
Arriving early in Bagan turned out to be a great decision, we arrived at night so it wasn’t until the morning that I saw how amazing this town was. The temple complexes in what was the home of the Burmese empire rival that of Angkor Wat but without the throngs of tourists. Dirt roads connect the temples which gives the whole area a genuine feel and even at the sunset viewing there were only a handful of people waiting with cameras, most other tourist attractions at sunset require some serious jostling to get even close to a good viewpoint. As I quickly made my way to the top of the temple for the sunset viewing I looked back down the steps to see Myo clinging on to the handrail for dear life, he looked up smiling and said "I'm scared of heights, but its ok, I go where you go", I laughed and kept climbing, quietly impressed by his dedication. The hotel in Bagan managed to impress me even more than that at golden rock and is one of the nicest I've stayed in full stop, if there wasn't so many amazing sights to see in Bagan I would have happily lounged around the hotel in my bathrobe all day, it was 2 sizes too small for me but I managed to squeeze into just for the atmosphere, lucky I had no visitors, it didn’t leave much for the imagination. Spending time to relax wasn’t on the agenda thanks to my short trip through the country and our next stop was the village of Gangaw. It was a fun day of riding, we had to negotiate a river crossing, I got through but the tour vehicle got stuck so I joined in with other bystanders and gave it a push to get through the boggy sand. The road began to head up into the hills and I left the tour car behind on the windy narrow roads until we reached our destination. The guesthouse in Gangaw was a little more humble than my previous accommodation due to the remoteness of the village, it was still nice though and I met a Dutch couple there who were traveling the other direction, they gave me the heads up on India and it sounded like it would be a real test, but I’ll take it as it comes.
My exit from Myanmar was quite interesting, it was a Sunday and also a special holiday so the customs and immigration officers had decided to head to the local festivities for the day. We arrived at the border only to find no officers there, luckily the guys at Osuga were there to make the phone calls and get everything signed, I took a ride to fill up with petrol before I entered India and when I returned all my paperwork was sorted..... if only all border crossings were that easy!!! The team escorted me to the Indian border to make sure things went through smoothly on that side and that was it, my Myanmar adventure was at an end and my India adventure was just beginning.
On the way we stopped for some photo opportunities and on one such occasion we visited a temple, outside I could hear drums and traditional music being played and upon entering we saw a large group of local children practicing local dances for an upcoming competition, the energy and syncronisation in their movement needed to be seen to be appreciated, very impressive. Our first stop was the golden rock, the precariously positioned rock seems to defy gravity with its balancing act and although it was very impressive I was as much impressed by the extremely steep truck drive up to the mountain summit. The hotel on the first night was one of the nicest I'd stayed in throughout my year traveling in South East Asia, although as a solo traveler the trip was quite expensive I was glad that Osuga didn’t skimp on anything, this was like a luxury motorcycle holiday. The next day we made great time thanks to the pace of the tour driver, we arrived early at our planned destination and my guide Myo explained that it was just a transit stop so if I'd like we could push on to the town of Bagan, which is where the best site seeing was and spend an extra night there. I was thankful for the flexibity in plans and said yes to his offer, by the time we arrived we had covered 730km for the day and both myself and the tour driver needed a well earned rest.
Arriving early in Bagan turned out to be a great decision, we arrived at night so it wasn’t until the morning that I saw how amazing this town was. The temple complexes in what was the home of the Burmese empire rival that of Angkor Wat but without the throngs of tourists. Dirt roads connect the temples which gives the whole area a genuine feel and even at the sunset viewing there were only a handful of people waiting with cameras, most other tourist attractions at sunset require some serious jostling to get even close to a good viewpoint. As I quickly made my way to the top of the temple for the sunset viewing I looked back down the steps to see Myo clinging on to the handrail for dear life, he looked up smiling and said "I'm scared of heights, but its ok, I go where you go", I laughed and kept climbing, quietly impressed by his dedication. The hotel in Bagan managed to impress me even more than that at golden rock and is one of the nicest I've stayed in full stop, if there wasn't so many amazing sights to see in Bagan I would have happily lounged around the hotel in my bathrobe all day, it was 2 sizes too small for me but I managed to squeeze into just for the atmosphere, lucky I had no visitors, it didn’t leave much for the imagination. Spending time to relax wasn’t on the agenda thanks to my short trip through the country and our next stop was the village of Gangaw. It was a fun day of riding, we had to negotiate a river crossing, I got through but the tour vehicle got stuck so I joined in with other bystanders and gave it a push to get through the boggy sand. The road began to head up into the hills and I left the tour car behind on the windy narrow roads until we reached our destination. The guesthouse in Gangaw was a little more humble than my previous accommodation due to the remoteness of the village, it was still nice though and I met a Dutch couple there who were traveling the other direction, they gave me the heads up on India and it sounded like it would be a real test, but I’ll take it as it comes.
My exit from Myanmar was quite interesting, it was a Sunday and also a special holiday so the customs and immigration officers had decided to head to the local festivities for the day. We arrived at the border only to find no officers there, luckily the guys at Osuga were there to make the phone calls and get everything signed, I took a ride to fill up with petrol before I entered India and when I returned all my paperwork was sorted..... if only all border crossings were that easy!!! The team escorted me to the Indian border to make sure things went through smoothly on that side and that was it, my Myanmar adventure was at an end and my India adventure was just beginning.
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