Learning about ourselves in Myanmar

It’s been a challenging past week for us as we’ve made our way from Mawlamyine to Yangon, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the process.

Our big take away is that it’s time for us to pause or slow down for a bit, to put in perspective the huge jumble of experiences that we’ve experienced over the past year, figure out what is next for our trip, and re-energize after many draining (but rewarding) experiences of being cycling nomads for so long.

The roads after Mawlamyine got much better, with the road between Hpa An and Kyaiktiyo being an almost-completed widened highway, sometimes wide enough for 2 lanes of traffic in each direction. The traffic was moderate, but with that much space, it was easy to stay safe and out of the way.

But the biggest challenge for me was when my Montezuma’s revenge turned into full-blown food poisoning in Kyaiktiyo. When we arrived in town, the only hotels we could find had fogged out windows and little ventilation (except for the A/C), and I felt like I needed some more fresh air to settle my queasy stomach. So we found a “resort” on Google 3km outside of town but with almost no other info, so we took a chance and cycled out. When we arrived it looked quite nice but on the expensive side. Even so, we decided it would be a good place to relax for a night so we booked a room.

From 6pm for the next 40 hours, I was horribly ill, even worse than my last food poisoning incident in Bulgaria. Steve gave me a lot of space and brought me water and whatever else I needed, even though little of it stayed inside my tummy for very long, and I had absolutely no appetite. In the meantime, Steve booked us another night there and also started trying to find us a way to get to Yangon. I knew from past experience that it could be 4 days stuck in a hotel room, and it would be nice to have at least something more interesting around and also medical care in case it got worse.

It was during this time that we also chatted and decided that we needed a little break from cycle touring. The challenges that at first made this a fun adventure are starting to grate on our nerves after a year, and we are both in need of a bit more stability and time to reflect for a while. So with that, we decided to cut our trip to Myanmar short (we will come back, but maybe not by bicycle), get a 60-day visa to return to Thailand, and then find a place to rest for a little while, perhaps Chiang Mai.

So now we are in Yangon, my stomach problems continue (but are improving each day), and we’ve gotten our visa and will return to Thailand by Sunday, with the idea to then cycle to Chiang Mai.

So that’s the big picture. Now here are the little pictures!

Mawlamyine

This monk asked for a picture with us, so we asked for a selfie in return!

One of the main stupas in Mawlamyine at the top of the ridge that runs through the city.

Ornate metalwork on all the temples glints in the sun. It’s really breathtaking at times. Some of the stupas glitter with brilliance as you move past.

Leaving Mawlamyine, we saw a chance to avoid riding on the main road in exchange for what looked like a ferry on Google Maps. Actually it’s a little longtail boat that goes back and forth all day, so we joined the locals for a lovely 2-minute ride. We were not the only bicycle, surprisingly! Another local threw his on next to ours.

Ogre Island

There’s an island off the coast of Mawlamyine that’s just had a bridge built to it about 6 months ago and only has had electricity for about a year. Before that, it was extremely rural and difficult to get to. Now, it seems the whole island is under construction with new roads upgraded houses, reservoirs, and much more being built everywhere. It’s fascinating to see a region change so quickly and suddenly; your visit will undoubtedly be different from ours because things are changing literally every day.

The island is known throughout the country for its many handicrafts, so we took a guided tour to see many of these being produced.

(As usual, sorry these are all mixed up, the WordPress app seems to get worse with each update in terms of uploading photos; it’s extremely tedious now.)

There are still many buildings constructed with traditional materials like this, but many of them are now being rapidly rebuilt with concrete, stainless steel, and other modern techniques now that the bridge makes it easy to transport workers and equipment.

Locals from the mainland love to walk through the sunflower fields here to take selfies!

Our excellent tour guide and driver, arranged by Princess Hotel.

Driving through the farmland in our large tuk tuk.

Slate is a small industry on the island for making school blackboards for kids to use. The slate on Ogre Island is one of the highest quality in the country.

Brooms being made from natural material; we see brooms like these all through Asia.

Rubber is another big industry, with a lot of rubber being exported to China to make into car tires.

Slate pencils.

Rubber bands being hung to dry before cutting.

Rubber drying on sticks to form tubes to cut bands from.

In between spools of thread for making longyi (traditional clothing), each strand has to be painstakingly attached to the next one. (The makeup she is wearing on her face is called thanaka; it’s a traditional, all-natural makeup that also acts as sun protection. Some woman make beautiful patterns with it, and many apply it simply in circles.)

Rubber discards, sold as kindling.

In this metalsmithing shop, the bellows is run by a hand crank on this big wheel. The metals used are reclaimed from old bicycles and other scrap.

Amazing to see these completely manual looms made almost completely out of natural materials, wood, bamboo, and rope (a few plastic rods too!). It looks like tough work, and each woman can produce 4-6 longyi per day, which retail for around $4 each, at least that’s what we paid.

This ancient Japanese engine is still ticking just fine at the metalworking shop, running the grinder.

Metalsmith putting an edge on a new blade.

We also visited a potter and toured the kilns; these are some of the final products.

Hpa An

Workers unloading fruit in Hpa An.

On the road out of Hpa An, we ran into this German with a solar-powered e-bike! He’s got a knee injury but refused to let that stop him so uses the electric assist to compensate for his bad knee. He says the solar keeps the batteries charged just fine. Pretty awesome!

Yangon and Other Photos

You can find these noodles everywhere. They are often tasty and always really greasy. We quickly got tired of eating these as it’s often all we could figure out how to order in places that don’t have a menu and don’t speak English. The restaurants also usually have pots full of mystery curries with a thick layer of oil on top, which looked even less appetizing.

The best tea leaf salad we’ve had, maybe even better than Burma Superstar in San Francisco.

Most dishes are served with this side plate of potent, natural, antimicrobial vegetables (aka chilies and garlic), which seems like a very wise idea given the lack of food hygiene and refrigeration here. Unfortunately they weren’t strong enough to kill whatever got in my tummy.

Our new Thai visa! NB: we do qualify for a visa exemption on arrival at the land border, but it’s only a 30 day stamp (not 60), and you can only get a visa exemption twice per year at land border crossings, as of a recent change in the Thai visa rules. So we figured let’s do the legwork to apply for the longer one in Yangon. Very simple process, took 10 minutes to drop it off and 15 minutes to pick it up from the Thai Embassy.

We saw two Discovery Channel vans go by. Maybe they are filming a special on Myanmar?

The first item is the fried noodles! Other than that I have no clue. The numbers are all Sanskrit-ish, quite different from the Arabic numerals (0-9) used almost everywhere else in the world.

Betel nut and tobacco chewing is very prevalent here, it seems more so than in India. There are red stains everywhere on the ground and on cars and walls, and many people have red-stained teeth and mouth decay. We all have our own vices, but it’s sad to see this is so prevalent in the poor who can’t afford the dental work or medical care needed to repair the damage done by this habit.

Steve graciously offered to squeeze in with the bikes in the back seat so I could relax a little with my upset stomach in the front.

That’s all for now! Our next post may be from Chiang Mai, and we’ll let you know if we’re going to stay for a little while.