12th Jan 2017
All set to leave on Thursday 19th Jan, 1 week to go…the riding gear is packed, the Tshirts and jeans are packed. The vaccinations are up to date, mosquito repellent and Imodium purchased; Myanmar land entry Visa obtained, passport checked, Insurance cover in place, flight tickets printed, taxi booked; everything in order..or so I thought!
Then an email arrived from Duncan at Tony’s Big Bikes….”Major change to itinerary”. Apparently there has been a recent escalation in internal tensions between Government troops and rebels in Myanmar Shan State; they have been shooting each other and the army using heavy artillery!! As a result we will not go deeply into Shan State and exit Myanmar via Chiang Rai in the North as originally planned. Instead we will take the long route back and re-enter via Mae Sot in the South, then back to Chiang Mai. This is a shame as Shan State is a remote area of great natural beauty; but missing it has to be better than getting blown up..don’t need that much of an adventure!!
This change adds an extra day to our time in Myanmar and the revised route includes “A tough day of riding on not such good road surface but some very twisty sections with great views and a road very little travelled by foreign tourists”…should be fun 🙂
Our group totals 10 and is comprised of 5 Brits (including one wife pillion), an Aussie with wife as pillion, an American and the leaders Duncan & Alan from Tony’s Big Bikes.
The approx. route is as follows: https://goo.gl/maps/Lu8WnaPRCAH2
Make sure to follow my updates on this trip 🙂