Myanmar scouting trip

[KTMphil]

Great write up, especialy re 'The Rock'. Love to know how it actually got there? Oh well, just believe the story I guess.

Lots more to come when I get home Tim. Highly recommend this ride for those that want some cultural stuff as well as riding, really enjoyed it.

 

[2wheels]

Cheap property available immediately below that rock, I imagine!

 

[KTMphil]

Huge, huge traffic jam, what the hell could this be?

Turned out to be a nasty truck crash, we might be here for a long time

 

[bsacbob]

Nasty crash Phil, but the road surface looks pretty new, how did you find the road conditions during the trip ?

 

[KTMphil]

Nasty crash Phil, but the road surface looks pretty new, how did you find the road conditions during the trip ?

Once over the mountain west of Mywadaddy, bumpy tarmac everywhere, dual sport suspension is advisable.

 

[KTMphil]

Bicycle's are the main mode of transport in Myanmar, you can carry anything

The odd Chinese copy enduro bike scattered around too

 

[KTMphil]

All split up, time for some re-grouping

Beetle nut wraps, hugely popular in Myanmar

 

[KTMphil]

As expected, this 440km day towards Naypyidaw was going to be a long day. Late afternoon dusk is always the most dangerous time to be riding in a developing country. At this time of day, the locals are always scurrying around doing something, going to buy fried chicken, off to the market etc.... they are not used to fast, big motorcycle's, their perception of how fast your moving is not good. One of our group clipped a cyclist u-turning, motorcycle rider managed to stay on. This caused quite a stir in the village, everyone came out and around the rider. Local chief of police got involved, a USD$ 50 fee was negotiated and a release waiver for no further action signed by the cyclist. Even though it clearly wasnt the fault of the BMW rider, the laws in Myanmar are that the bigger vehicle is responsible in all situations - be careful!

 

[KTMphil]

A late arrival in Naypyidaw , we were all tired and glad to be there in one piece

The next morning, a visit to the Oat-Pa-Pat-Taian-Ti Pagoda in Naypyidaw, first a quick picture of this beautiful building

This is quite a Pagoda ( Oat-Pa-Pat-Taian-Ti Pagoda)

 

[KTMphil]

Onwards north west towards Bagan, a public telephone along the way

Water delivery

Military trucks lined the streets, this was probably a convoy for personnel change over

The tire changer

 

[KTMphil]

4 riders bought knives from this chap, he was having a good day








We ask the farmer what he grows here. He told us it changes every year, he tries to foresee what there will be a demand for and adapts to that

 

[KTMphil]

Lunch stop,








Burmese tea

Then to the palm liquor and peanut oil farm

 

[KTMphil]

The peanuts are ground by the huge branch and the oil captured below












He seemed pretty well cared for and looked happy

 

[KTMphil]

Palm oil liquor - 60% proof!!







Up he goes to get some more palm oil

50 meters up and hanging on just with one leg

 

[KTMphil]

The palm oil is best quality in the mornings, its then distilled (1st fermentation with sticky rice)

Sugar from the evaporated remains

The palm oil in the background being fermented with sticky rice before distillation

 

[KTMphil]

Som giving some of the limonia acidissima a shot

 

[KTMphil]

Cutting the course food for the cow

 

[KTMphil]

We made Bagan just in time for sunset, here at the Bagan Riverside Hotel

A spectacular Bagan sunset

 

[KTMphil]

The next day, Bagan Pagoda's .....







..more to come

 

[The Bigfella]

Lovin' it

 

[Just Bob]

Hardest thing for me in Burma was learning how to say thank you. Too many syllables. something like "che zoo tin ba di".

 

[KTMphil]

From the 9th to 13th Centuries, Bagan was the capital of Burma (Myanmar)., over 10,000 Pagoda's had been built in the region, around 2,200 survive today. In 1287 AD the Bagan / Pagan empire collapsed due to Mongolian invasions.

[h=3]14th to 19th centuries[edit][/h]Bagan survived into the 15th century as a human settlement,[SUP][11][/SUP] and as a pilgrimage destination throughout the imperial period. A smaller number of "new and impressive" religious monuments still went up to the mid-15th century but afterward, new temple constructions slowed to a trickle with less than 200 temples built between the 15th and 20th centuries.[SUP][6][/SUP]The old capital remained a pilgrimage destination but pilgrimage was focused only on "a score or so" most prominent temples out of the thousands such as the Ananda, theShwezigon, the Sulamani, the Htilominlo, the Dhammayazika, and a few other temples along an ancient road. The rest—thousands of less famous, out-of-the-way temples—fell into disrepair, and most did not survive the test of time.[SUP][6][/SUP]
For the few dozen temples that were regularly patronized, the continued patronage meant regular upkeep as well as architectural additions donated by the devotees. Many temples were repainted with new frescoes on top of their original Pagan era ones, or fitted with new Buddha statutes. Then came a series of state-sponsored "systematic" renovations in theKonbaung period (1752-1885), which by and large were not true to the original designs—some finished with "a rude plastered surface, scratched without taste, art or result". The interiors of some temples were also whitewashed, such as the Thatbyinnyu and the Ananda. Many painted inscriptions and even murals were added in this period.[SUP][12][/SUP]
[h=3][/h]





[h=3]20th century to present[edit][/h]

The original Bupaya seen here in 1868 was completely destroyed by the 1975 earthquake. A new pagoda in the original shape, but gilded, has been rebuilt.​

Bagan, located in an active earthquake zone, had suffered from many earthquakes over the ages, with over 400 recorded earthquakes between 1904 and 1975.[SUP][13][/SUP] The last major earthquake came on 8 July 1975, reaching 8 MM in Bagan and Myinkaba, and 7 MM inNyaung-U.[SUP][14][/SUP] The quake damaged many temples, in many cases, such as the Bupaya, severely and irreparably. Today, 2229 temples and pagodas remain.[SUP][15][/SUP]
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. Critics are aghast that the restorations paid little attention to original architectural styles, and used modern materials, and that the government has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 61-meter (200-foot) watchtower. Although the government believed that the ancient capital's hundreds of (unrestored) temples and large corpus of stone inscriptions were more than sufficient to win the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site,[SUP][16][/SUP] the city has not been so designated, allegedly mainly on account of the restorations.[SUP][17][/SUP]
Bagan today is a main tourist destination in the country's nascent tourism industry, which has long been the target of various boycott campaigns. The majority of over 300,000 international tourists to the country in 2011 are believed to have also visited Bagan. Several Burmese publications note that the city's small tourism infrastructure will have to expand rapidly even to meet a modest pickup in tourism in the following years.
[h=2][/h]

Source : Wiki

 

[KTMphil]

We weren't sure if they were going to let us take the motorcycles into the Pagoda areas, we managed to get permission.















If you love your motorbike, this has got to be one of the best places in the world to get some photo's of it!

 

[KTMphil]

Managed to convince the Myanmar lady to sit on the bike, she was terrified it would fall on her




































Bagan is definitely something you must see in your lifetime, one of the most amazing places i've ever been.





One of Reed's photo's in Bagan a while back, one of the most captivating, cultural motorcycle photo's ive ever seen




Photo: Reed Resnikoff



...more to come

 

[KTMphil]

On the way to Pyay, a huge expanse of riverbed that's used for farming in the NE Monsoon, would be interesting to see this in September

Oil rigs in the background

Look no hands

 

[KTMphil]

The bike carnage started, Ken's Multistrada got a front puncture, he had the tubeless repair kit and knew how to use it

He has the HF radio connection system from the pressure sensors on the tire valves that communicate with his Garmin Zumo warning of low tire pressure, 1st time ive ridden with someone that actually has utilized this

You can see one of the pressure sensors on the valve below that communicates with the Garmin Zumo GPS

Sweet and sour shrimp and fried vegetables, while ken fixes the flat, as you can see the food in Myanmar is quite good

 

[KTMphil]

Pressure wasn't holding, bubbling when you spat on the repair, now for a bigger piece of wax string to block the hole

Ninja turtle assisting

Its quite horrifying the size of the hole that you make in the tire for the repair, but it does work



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This time everything good


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[KTMphil]

Glenn then got a rear flat

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Then my exhaust bracket snapped, a day of carnage

I think everyone was relieved to reach the hotel riding

Rooms are typically the same setup. Lots of Chalet style rooms in most bigger towns with an adequate breakfast

10 bucks and exhaust bracket and leaky fuel tank all fixed

Engineer and trainee

 

[KTMphil]

Up bright and early and off to Bago

 

[2wheels]

1 well done Phil; a fascination coverage.

2 as the sole woman on the ride what are Khun Som's impressions?

3 Wow, talk about high-tech!

He has the HF radio connection system from the pressure sensors on the tire valves that communicate with his Garmin Zumo warning of low tire pressure, 1st time ive ridden with someone that actually has utilized this

4 agree with you about that pic of Reed's.

 

[KTMphil]

Som was the only female rider. The ride over the mountain westwards from Mywadaddy was a bit daunting for her on a 990 Adv but she absolutely loved the cultural side of the trip.


Taking a breather, more to come.

 

[2wheels]

You guys had big bikes.
Maybe a CRF/KLX250 would be more suited?

 

[KTMphil]

The BMW 1200 GS' s were weighing 324kg loaded! That's the same weight as a KTM 990 Adv with a KTM 500 EXC strapped on the back. Personal choice, I think they are too big with the panniers for this trip as you can't be nimble and split lanes.


You want something with dual sport suspension and rarely are over 100km/hr, so a 250cc consumer level enduro bike would do fine.

 

[KTMphil]

A bit of cultural dancing from the previous night

Watermelon is for sale everywhere








Glenn on his KTM 990 Adventure S (longer suspension)








Eddie on his

 

[KTMphil]

Out of nowhere, an Australian chap on a Royal Enfield comes plodding around the corner. he said he was on his own, how the hell did he do that? He said it took 2 years of paperwork and he was associated with an NGO working in Myanmar.

 

[KTMphil]

Bago was an older hotel but rooms were clean

The next day, waiting to re-group, Kevin killing some time on his KTM 690 Enduro

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The locals were pretty confused by all this.

 

[KTMphil]

Off towards Mawlamyaing we go, approx. 250km, more watermelon

View attachment 27495

 

[KTMphil]

One of the more interesting toilets we've seen riding

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Not sure i'd be eating the fish from here

 

[KTMphil]

One of the few trains we actually saw on the whole trip



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This fella was keen to have his photo taken, quite a character


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[KTMphil]

Making good time, we stop at the golden Kambawzathardi Temple

more to come