Naypyidaw to Bagan

26th Jan 17

Naypyidaw to Bagan

Nice cooked breakfast; impressive carving of a lion from a single piece of wood dominated the restaurant. 8am start to get some miles done before heat of the day..200mls approx today. Off we went with our police escort (TBB stickers on his bike) to see some of Naypyidaw..very modern and clean place, totally in contrast to everything else in Myanmar..stopped at a big Pagoda and lined the bikes up for a photo shoot..police very helpful and genuinely please we were visiting. Then on to drive the 10 lane highway leading to the large and modern parliament building, we were not allowed to take pics. This is a strange place; No other traffic on the highway, so each of us road in a separate lane ?. Then out of town we went back to The chaos and dust of real Myanmar just 1 mile away!

After a few miles on another straight road we turned off onto a great twisty, undulating road through a very remote area.. a bit bumpy in places and the odd layer of gravel on some corners; but we picked up the pace and had a good thrash..fantastic and great fun. Stopped for lunch and then another fun road just like a rollercoaster ride, completely airborne at times..so much fun. We stopped for water and snapped pics of the locals..they sent a young boy over to take pics of us; much laughing all round ?

I have to say that the Vstrom coped with everything really well; it’s an easy bike to ride and perfect for the roads out here. The first couple of days my body was aching from riding the long straight roads; today all pains were forgotten ?

Finally we arrived at Bagan on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River and immediately noticed lots of tourists, the first we had seen since entering Myanmar; very popular place due to the famous pagoda overlooking the valley of 2000 temples where the main attraction is watching the incredible sunset. We had 15 mins to change and then jumped on electric scooters to get to the site by 5.30pm..we just made it and climbed up as far as we could on the pagoda jostling with the hoard of tourists to get the best view, it was well worth it; check out the pics ?

27th Jan 17

Slept reasonably well on one of the hardest beds ever, but no mosquitoes! A good breakfast by the pool and then ready for a rest day and exploring the ancient city of Bagan on our electric bikes..a strange sensation cruising along silently with just the wind noise, but very relaxing. I went with Paul, a Brit from up North..we got lost; I was leading ?.. finally we ended up on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River at a lovely shady restaurant out of the 30+degs sun. Nice lunch and then a walk along the river sand banks watching women washing clothes and drying in the sun, then carrying a heavy bag full on their heads up to the road.; they work the women hard out here. Incidentally, the main road is tarmac, but all the side roads are dirt with loose sand on top, makes riding fun! That night we had a Myanmar curry, in my opinion not as good as Thai or Indian curry. Bagan, like all towns so far is pretty basic, no street lights, power cuts etc, but the hotel was good and water in the shower was hot. Of to Mandalay tomorrow at 8am