The road of 1000 corners to Toungoo

The road of 1000 corners to Toungoo

1st Feb 17

We left Loikaw at 8am for the 240kms ride south to Toungoo, two of our group were suffering stomach upsets. As we rode off we had an audience of at least 20 people videoing and taking pics as we rode past; we are real VIPs in this town!
After an hour we turned off on a very dusty sandy track, 6kms later we stopped at a remote village where the hill tribe women wear rings around their necks to elongate them..very interesting. We then continued up into the mountains on 150kms of very twisty narrow road; a mix of tarmac, sand, gravel and pot holes and challenges around every corner. We climbed high up into the mountains, very picturesque and green covered in trees and foliage, also very remote. Traffic was light, the odd moped but then came a big truck taking up the whole road, the front few of us managed to get through but our Aussies, Debbie and Glen got forced off the road and down they went. Thankfully both were not hurt and the bike just needed a gaffa tape repair. This was a hard ride, 29degs by now; lots of corners and uphill turns and rickety wooden bridges over small rivers and a road surface with very little grip. The next man down was Jay from USA..too much power too soon exiting a slow corner; a broken mirror, grazed knee and dented pride were the only casualties.

We stopped for lunch, watering and a much needed rest in a very remote town. There was one place that did food; they cooked up noodle soup with eggs and veg in..it was very tasty. The loo saw a lot of action from those with the stomach upsets!

We carried on this road as it twisted through dense foliage just like jungle, we noticed several crosses and the odd church along the way, which was strange in the land of pagodas.We stopped to take a rest and let the others in the group catch up.. Paul got a puncture which took a while to fix. Duncan our leader was one of those with upset stomach.. suddenly he sprinted up the road, toilet roll in hand and disappeared into the bushes. By now a few locals had gathered to take a look at us; one guy on a moped spoke some English. He and his friend were chewing beetle nuts which produce a vile looking red mess in the mouth which stains and attacks teeth and gums..but apparently it does produce a high for the chewer. The locals grow bananas and coffee, they dry the beans in the sun.

We continued on in 35c heat and were ready for a cold beer when we reached our hotel..it had been a long hard day.