Theme park with a difference, cycling into Kinpun the gateway to the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda…. this was not the Myanmar we intimately sensed and experienced over the previous 5 days. We were soon to join many tourists, mostly from SE Asia and Myanmar, and many, many more pilgrims that were making …
We were bemused and lost as we rolled into Kawkareik. Foreigners are not allowed to camp in Myanmar and instead must stay at foreigner licensed hotels or guest houses. As a cycle tourist this means ensuring there actually is legal accommodation within a day’s cycling distance. Unlike our previous months …
Myanmar….Burma?……we coast our bikes into Myawaddy, the poverty was immediately evident, and the notorious human and drug trafficking border town has a seedy, dangerous feel as the sun goes down and the majority of tourists….on a visa run….cross friendship bridge back into Thailand. Until August 2013 tourists were unable to …
Myanmar food? Exciting ….yes….. unique…… yes…. frightening… Absolutely, yes. Our first meal at a road side stall after we sidestepped rubbish and the odd sickly rat, mangy dogs….the food looked delicious, smelt scrumptious and spicy….and was served into our take away plastic bags…by hand. We survived half expected food poisoning …
It could have been grounds for divorce. Sleeping next to someone on a defunct camping mat…..the “f”ing and “b”ing…. The thrashing…. In bed, out of bed….tossing. More “f”ing….. tantrums…are you sure you are ok…’YES!’….thrashing…blowing air in….letting air out. No matter how comfortable your own bed….sleeping next to this……so we took …
So we are in Thailand. On a cycling adventure there are no rules….we have almost come to accept there are no rules…setting off from London it was so very easy to say there are no rules. We would ride while we are happy……and when we don’t ride? Our rules are …
04/01/14 The process of applying for a Chinese visa from our location in Central Asia was going to be difficult. Extreme conditions and the likelihood of closed mountain passes……we took a flight from Almaty…..4000 kilometres more or less south. We are in now in Hong Kong…..the perfect place to secure …
Snow capped mountains have continued to fill our vision since re entering Kazakhstan. The sun does not poke it’s head out until 8am and it is dark by 6pm. The roads are pot holed and dangerous. Wild camping would be easy anytime but winter. The trees are void of leaves …
Uzbekistan to Kazakstan. We entered at the pedestrian only crossing 25km past Tashkent. Maybe we would never have crossed the border had it not been for the guards clearing a passage for us through the surging crowds. The guards were not so gentle, at one point grabbing a man by …
Our mood has continued to flow like the bleak landscape, rays of sunshine and warmth followed by ice cold gusts and grey drabness. But this is not Uzbekistan. It is cold here…..not so, so cold, and the desert has continued for a thousand kilometres. Not much between our journey, train, …