Myanmar Epic

[Joko_Londo]

In the past, as part of the videos, I've always given my motoring tours a name. A year ago, I went on a Myanmar Motorcycle Journey, and so I couldn't use that name again. This may sound a little grandiose, but I've decided to call this trip "Myanmar Motorcycle Epic". Well, because it is going to be epic! 2600 kilometers over 3 1/2 weeks.

Today, I finished my first leg. A short trip from Naypyitaw to Meiktila.

Day one of actual driving the bike is at an end. Videos take a long time to make, especially when you're tired and shagged out after a long ride. Pictures, on the other hand, are easy.

From the central Myanmar town of Myeiktila...

Look closely. That is a 40-foot tall bird's head in the background.

Myeiktila features a beautiful lake. Was nicely reflective of some cool clouds today.

Sunset...

The trusty steed against an amazing sky...

 

[Lone Rider]

Beautiful pictures - BIG THANK YOU for posting them

 

[Joko_Londo]

Yesterday, I suffered my first motorcycle accident on this bike. It wasn't serious; just laid it down. Got a little road rash on one hip and broke a side-view mirror. It happened on a bridge, and well, the awesome part about the whole thing is the CAMERA WAS ROLLING when I crashed. I couldn't wait to take a look at the footage.

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[Lone Rider]

Sorry to hear about the crash but happy to hear that it was n't serious and almost a classic mishap with the wheels caught in a rut and there you go.

 

[Joko_Londo]

I'm now one week out of four into this trip. I've posted two blogs with words and pictures that go into more detail about what you see in the vids. So, if you're so inclined, please come check out Naypyitaw to Meiktila, the first leg of the journey, and Meiktila to Bagan, leg two.

I couldn't help but think about this forum as a touring group of big bike riders passed me coming the other way down from Myingan towards Meiktila. I assumed they were foreigners; couldn't tell through al the gear they had on. I was confused because I couldn't figure why a tour operator would take a group down this road. Sure it's one way to get from Bagan to Inle Lake or Taunggyi... but not the most direct route.

Was that someone here's tour group? Maybe someone noticed the foreigner with the GoPro mounted on his helmet.

Enjoy the videos.

Part Two... Naypyitaw to Meiktila. (I had the camera angle too low on the helmet mount, so I'm not too proud of this one)

Part Three... Meiktila to Bagan

 

[Joko_Londo]

Not a lot of motorcycle riding in this vid, as I took my 4th day on the road as a rest and visitation day in the fascinating site of Bagan.

I had some weird, unexplainable flickering issues with my video software, which after 4 attempts at rendering, I just had to live withm

 

[Joko_Londo]

Mid Tour Report.

I'm 14 days into the journey with 12 left to go. 1600 kms traveled so far. No major mechanical issues along the way except some chain slipping right at the start. New chain and drive sprocket fixed that right up. I've had several route changes, which is fine as I didn't have a concrete itinerary to begin with. I've visited countless pagodas and 5 former capitals. I'm under budget in terms of what I was expecting to be paying, and physically, I feel great. It's been a fantastic trip so far.

At the moment, I'm a bit disappointed as my video editing software has developed a nasty glitch that I can't seem to fix. If you watched the previous video, you saw it. Weird flickering that only shows up after 'rendering' the final result. If I can find a software shop somewhere along the road, I may buy a new copy (software is ridiculously cheap here), try reinstalling it, and hope that works. If not, no new videos until I get back to Yangon.

Very good news going forward. By the end of the trip, I need to be in Mawlamyine, which is about 1000 km away to the south. Right now, I'm in Hsipaw, in Northern Shan State. I really don't want to go all the way back to Mandalay and then south down the Old Mandalay-Yangon highway. I'm sure like most of you, when I'm on a tour, I detest going back down the same roads I came up. The question was: how to cross Shan State? Much of the middle of Shan is controlled by armed ethnic groups, and much of it is still closed to foreigners.

Well, I found out from a very reliable source in Hsipaw that one road connecting the Mandalay-Lashio Road (Hwy 3) and Taungyyi in southern Shan is now open to foreign travelers. It's Hwys 41 and 43 you see on the screenshot below.

Also good news, a new hotel accepting foreigners has just opened up in the town at the head of the route, Naungkhio. This is good because at 216 km on a road that isn't in probably very good shape, I want to start as close to the beginning as possible... After Taunggyi, it's Loikaw.... and then once again I come to a route decision based on whether or not a road is open or not.

Again, no video, but here's some snapshots...

My trusty Kenbo 125, complete with ukulele strapped to back.

The Arakan Mountains of Chin State.

You like lots of hairpin turns on somewhat gravelly roads? Well, at least I was going up this road, not coming down.

Sunrise from Mindat, Chin State

Sadly, last year, the ferry connecting the two shores of the Thanlywin River at Monya, sunk. I guess they haven't replaced it yet as my way across was on a little boat, all to myself.

AT 123 meters, it's the world's tallest standing Buddha image.

24 hour Liquor Shop... closed?

U Aung Zeya, one of Myanmar's greatest kings.

In Mandalay

 

[bsacbob]

Great stuff, like the sunset behind the Buddha picture, amazing how freely you get around once you're in the country. You mentioned hotels open to foreigners, can you expect to be turned away at some hotels that are not foreigner friendly ?

I'm not much into video editing but i used Wondershare Filmora a free editing suite for my Mac and even i could use it !!

 

[Joko_Londo]

Great stuff, like the sunset behind the Buddha picture, amazing how freely you get around once you're in the country. You mentioned hotels open to foreigners, can you expect to be turned away at some hotels that are not foreigner friendly ?

Well, there are some guesthouses in smaller towns that can't accept foreigners. I haven't tried to stay at one. Thing is, I probably wouldn't recognize it as a hotel anyways as such a place wouldn't likely have a sign in English and my reading of Burmese is very poor.

I did get turned away once from a hotel in a small town called Taungdwingyi. The problem was I had overstayed my business visa by a couple days. Normally not a big deal. Overstay is $3/day and sometimes you just need to because of scheduling and such. You cannot, however, stay in a hotel with an overstay. It was only 2 hotels in town, and the other was owned by the same family. Had to turn around and go back to my starting point.

 

[Joko_Londo]

A couple more videos to share... In Part 5, I continued to have this video creation problem with nasty flickering. If you're an epileptic, don't watch.

In Part Six, I've resorted to rendering to the old MP2 format instead of MP4, so my files are huge, but they look okay as long as you don't put it into full screen. No more flickering.

As always there's words and pictures to go with these vids over on my blog.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Sadly, I'm nearing the end of my four weeks off. There hasn't been much planning on this journey; mostly seat of the pants decision making. Well, I've ended up at a place called Setse Beach, about 80 km south of Mawlamyine (Moulmein). Of the half dozen or so beach destinations in Myanmar, this is one of the least known to the outside world. Great place to wind down from a 3100 kilometer trip and enjoy a bungalow looking out onto the ocean.

Had some time to make a video. Here we're going back to the first week. Leaving the hills of Chin State and off to place called Monywa (mon-YWA), the home of the world's tallest standing Buddha.

There's a blog with words and pictures.

 

[rdrokit]

Awesome trip. Great videos. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Looking for a place that's so old that it's mentioned in records as far back as records go back! And beyond that! Unfortunately, the locals there weren't certain as to the location of their oldest settlements.See also a Buddha image so gilded in gold that it's barely recognizable as being human now. Latest travel blog and video now up... Monywa to Shwebo

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[Joko_Londo]

This is it. My last day. In a couple hours, I'm driving the Kenbo to the family home of a friend, there to be parked until the next tour of Myanmar... I don't know when that'll be, or more importantly, where I could possibly go. After two of these multi-week tours, I've been pretty much everywhere of interest in the country.

Anyways, there's still a lot more videos to edit. In Part 9, I'm in Shwebo, and I travel down some country roads to the ruins of Hanlin, and city of the ancient Pyu Kingdom, some 1700 years old.

 

[oldbloke]

place called Monywa (mon-YWA), the home of the world's tallest standing Buddha.

Yes, I've driven and ridden past that Buddha.... your video of it confirms nothing that special worth stopping for in the heat of the day.. but that timelapse of sunset is much more aesthetic and suggests it could be worth a visit as a sunset vantage point. Did you enjoy the tree-lined roads around Monywa? There were plans to chop them down for road-widening recently, but luckily locals ran a good campaign and saved them ( at least for now.. )

 

[oldbloke]

also a Buddha image so gilded in gold that it's barely recognizable as being human now.

Great video Captures the atmosphere entirely. Speaking of lumpy gold buddha's , there's one even more unrecognisable at the Shan temple in Baw Gyo ( on the road into Hsipaw ). Just looks like a huge nugget.

I'm not a big fan of "step-through" motorbikes - but your trip surely demonstrates they make a lot of sense if you have the time to enjoy the journey along narrow roads in Myanmar!! For your next trip?? How about Kachin State in depth?

 

[Joko_Londo]

Yes, I've driven and ridden past that Buddha.... your video of it confirms nothing that special worth stopping for in the heat of the day.. but that timelapse of sunset is much more aesthetic and suggests it could be worth a visit as a sunset vantage point. Did you enjoy the tree-lined roads around Monywa? There were plans to chop them down for road-widening recently, but luckily locals ran a good campaign and saved them ( at least for now.. )

Yes, the site there is up a bit of a hill, and as you saw in the vid, it's overlooks the Chindwin River plain and the view is pretty great. I think the tree-lined roads all over Myanmar are one of the best things about driving around this country. It feels like you're driving through tunnels of greenery.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Great video Captures the atmosphere entirely. Speaking of lumpy gold buddha's , there's one even more unrecognisable at the Shan temple in Baw Gyo ( on the road into Hsipaw ). Just looks like a huge nugget.

I'm not a big fan of "step-through" motorbikes - but your trip surely demonstrates they make a lot of sense if you have the time to enjoy the journey along narrow roads in Myanmar!! For your next trip?? How about Kachin State in depth?

Not to brag, but I've now visited all 7 of the Divisions, and 6 of the 7 states. Kachin is the only one remaining. They say you can't get to Putao overland.... but I wonder.

Actually, my next trip is already (somewhat) planned. I got three weeks off for Thingyan holiday in April, and I'm going to Manado, North Sulawesi in Indonesia. Rent a bike and do a loop around there.

 

[Joko_Londo]

There's a blog with words and pictures that goes with this.

After viewing the reconstructed palace of U Aung Zaya, one of Burma's greatest kings, it was on the road to Mandalay! I was quite happy to spot an alternate route, as the most direct route would mean going back down roads I had already come up. I hate doing that. Once in Mandalay, I found a hotel, visited a remarkable pagoda and tried to make my way into the inner palace, only to be turned back by soldiers.

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[Joko_Londo]

The ignore the names on the map. By places I stayed, my 3200 km journey went
Naypyitaw-Meiktila-Bagan-Kanpetlet-Mindat-Monywa-Shwebo-
Mandalay-Pyin Oo Lwin-Hsipaw-Naungkyi-Taunggyi-Loikaw-
Naypyitaw-Taungoo-Kyaikto-Mawlamyine-Setse Beach

There's words and pictures that go with this vid over at my blog.

 

[blackwolf]

Sadly, I'm nearing the end of my four weeks off. There hasn't been much planning on this journey; mostly seat of the pants decision making. Well, I've ended up at a place called Setse Beach, about 80 km south of Mawlamyine (Moulmein). Of the half dozen or so beach destinations in Myanmar, this is one of the least known to the outside world. Great place to wind down from a 3100 kilometer trip and enjoy a bungalow looking out onto the ocean.

Had some time to make a video. Here we're going back to the first week. Leaving the hills of Chin State and off to place called Monywa (mon-YWA), the home of the world's tallest standing Buddha.

There's a blog with words and pictures.

Just came back from Setse beach recently myself. Great place. As it was a weekend, the place was brimming with locals. Quite a bit of rubbish just near the edge of the sand, but spotlessly clean away from the crowds. Many parts of the beach are completely empty and you can have the beach to yourself. While the water isn't crystal clear (it's a bit muddy) it's no worse than say Hua Hin in Thailand but with absolutely 0 foreign visitors from what I could tell. The odd foreigner does make it there from time to time, but for some reason it's still rather unknown despite being located at the end of a good road only 80km south of Mawlamyine, which is quite popular with foreign visitors these days and lying just 16km from Thanbyuzayat, home of the famous WW2 cemetery and death railway museum, both of which I've visited but again strangely, didn't have a single foreign visitor when I was there.

While there are 1 or 2 hotels in and around Thanbyuzayat, the newly opened Setse beach resort (bookable on Agoda and comes up if you select 'Mawlamyine') and a couple of others along the beach look very decent and comfortable. In time, Setse beach could become one more beach resort area popular with foreign visitors. Although it's not as pretty as Maungmagan beach near Dawei or the well developed Chaungtha, Ngwesaung and especially Ngapali beach resorts, it's a very accessible local beach that gives you a taste of local beach culture.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Just came back from Setse beach recently myself. Great place. As it was a weekend, the place was brimming with locals. Quite a bit of rubbish just near the edge of the sand, but spotlessly clean away from the crowds. Many parts of the beach are completely empty and you can have the beach to yourself. While the water isn't crystal clear (it's a bit muddy) it's no worse than say Hua Hin in Thailand but with absolutely 0 foreign visitors from what I could tell. The odd foreigner does make it there from time to time, but for some reason it's still rather unknown despite being located at the end of a good road only 80km south of Mawlamyine, which is quite popular with foreign visitors these days and lying just 16km from Thanbyuzayat, home of the famous WW2 cemetery and death railway museum, both of which I've visited but again strangely, didn't have a single foreign visitor when I was there.

While there are 1 or 2 hotels in and around Thanbyuzayat, the newly opened Setse beach resort (bookable on Agoda and comes up if you select 'Mawlamyine') and a couple of others along the beach look very decent and comfortable. In time, Setse beach could become one more beach resort area popular with foreign visitors. Although it's not as pretty as Maungmagan beach near Dawei or the well developed Chaungtha, Ngwesaung and especially Ngapali beach resorts, it's a very accessible local beach that gives you a taste of local beach culture.

Yup, yup, I have to agree with all of that. Couple notes on the hotels... The Set Sae Beach Resort isn't actually ON the beach. It's on the other side of the beach road, with the bungalows about 200 meters walk from the sand. They're cheaper online, but when I rolled up without a reservation, they started at $90/night.

Also, the topic of hotels that can't accept foreigners came up earlier in this thread. I ran into that at Setse too. The Golden Beach Motel isn't licensed to take in foreigners. Seems to me the best place to stay is the 21 Paradise Hotel. I got a room there facing the beach, nicely furnished, $42/night. They have no online presence currently, but they've got lots of rooms and I was one of just a handful of guests, so no need to worry about vacancies.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Not very much motorcycling in this episode as I spent the whole day in Mandalay. I invite you to read the blog that goes with this, where I share some anecdotes illustrating how the Myanmar people are the most honest people I've ever met.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Two vids to share tonight. After a few days in Mandalay, I departed for Pyin Oo Lwin, AKA Maymyo. Wow. What a wonderful road. Smooth. Divided highway. Enough curves to keep it interesting. Totally lined by trees most of the way. And then, you get up into the hills with all the scenic landscapes that offers. I've been all over Myanmar, and the Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin is up there are being one of the nicest rides you can take here. There's a blog to go with it.

After Pyin Oo Lwin, it was off to Hsipaw in the heart of Shan State. Along the way, you need to cross the Gokhteik gorge, a remarkable up and down journey of no fewer than 25 180-degree hairpin switchbacks. As it's on the main thoroughfare connecting Myanmar and China, it's full of trucks. Sounds annoying, but I found it fun. It was as if how to get around these snail-paced 18-wheelers was a puzzle to be solved with maneuvering and acceleration. Here's the blog.

 

[Joko_Londo]

I was blown away by who I met when left my resort, ready for a full day in Hsipaw sightseeing. It was another motorcyclist touring on his own. He even had the same GoPro on his helmet that I did! Remarkable.

There's a blog with words and pictures that I invite you to visit.

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[Joko_Londo]

We get a longer look at Goke Hteik in this vid, one of the most remarkable bits of road I've ever driven down. There's a blog with words and pictures that goes with this.

 

[Joko_Londo]

I didn't know if I'd even be allowed to travel this way when I was planning this trip, but yes, you can go from Hwy 2 (Mandalay to Hsipaw Highway) down Hwy 43 to Taunggyi. Quite a nice ride too.

 

[Joko_Londo]

I hope to finish the story of my most recent tour before beginning my next one (11 April...I'm off to Manado, Indonesia)

 

[Lone Rider]

I hope to finish the story of my most recent tour before beginning my next one (11 April...I'm off to Manado, Indonesia)

[video]https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=y6LmAZOkRUI[/video]

Not sure what is happening but the video does not open but refers to my own youtube channel

 

[bsacbob]

Should be ok now Auke.

 

[Lone Rider]

Should be ok now Auke.

Thanks Bob as I now get the video running

 

[Joko_Londo]

Thanks, Bob. What is something I did wrong?

 

[bsacbob]

Not sure but the link you posted was corrupt and only went back to peoples own you tube home page, no harm done.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Joko_Londo]

Part 19 is the most epic of the epic so far. I get away from the video-game music theme for something a little more upbeat. There's a blog with words pictures that goes with this.

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[bsacbob]

Hope there was no side effects of the dodgy noodles you had

 

[Joko_Londo]

Part Twenty is the first of the series that chronicles two days of the journey. There's a blog with a words and pics that goes with this.

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[Joko_Londo]

Part 21... I visit the Golden Rock, truly one of the most spectacular sites in the whole country, and then continue southwards to Malawmyine, the capital of Mon State.

 

[Joko_Londo]

Part 22... The touring part of the month-long journey comes to an end. From Malawmyine to Settse Beach, only bout 100 km, for a last couple days on the beach.

 

[alexuk]

thanks for the videos and blog
I'd like to see more of BurmaIn Manado, be sure to go diving in Lembeh Straits,and see the black crested macaques in Tangkoko, and the local kids on the black sand beach

 

[Joko_Londo]

thanks for the videos and blog
I'd like to see more of BurmaIn Manado, be sure to go diving in Lembeh Straits,and see the black crested macaques in Tangkoko, and the local kids on the black sand beach

I'm currently on Day 8 out of 21 on this Manado journey. I've already put 1000 kms on my rented Honda Vario 150. It had 1100 km on it total when I picked it up.

I'll be heading up towards the Lembeh Straits in a couple of days. Unfortunately, I don't have a diving certificate, so snorkeling is the best I can do. Right now, I'm up in the mountain town of Tomohon. Tangkoko...wasn't on the itinerary.. I'll look into it.

Videos soon in the Indonesia thread.