Tag: Cycling

Pindaya: Spectacular caves or just a spectacular rip off?

17th March 2016
Distance: 61km 

Road: Paved, good road 

After our luxurious day of eating and drinking and being taken around the lake yesterday on the boat it was time to get back on the bike again and head north, our final destination being Mandalay on the 21st.

Our first leg would be the 61km to Pindaya where there is a large cave complex filled with thousands of Buddhas. 

There is a steady but very manageable incline out of Nwyngshwe and then a flattish plateaux at the top. We meet some cool Americans at the turn off and stop to chat for a while. We have a very strong headwind in our faces which makes the cycle a bit gruelling from there on but the scenery is very nice.

We pass an extravagant ceremony taking place off from the road so we decide to stop to take a closer look. It turns out to be an initiation ceremony for 8 local boys who are about to embark on their first stint as a Buddhist monk. Some of the boys are tiny (5-6 years old) but they will probably only stay at the monastery for a few nights.

  
 

The whole town has come out to either take part in the ceremony or to watch. All the boys are dressed in colourful outfits and headdresses and mounted on beautifully groomed horses, flanked by golden parasols. A riderless horse leads the boys; the vacant seat signifying the presence of the Buddah. 

  

A long line of offerings carried by groups of young people (money, blankets, flowers) proceeds the boys. Four young women carry a plume of beautiful peacock feathers and a parasol and are apparently the teenage girls who will this year ‘come of age’.  

 

The long line of people makes a circuit around the village three times accompanied by live musicians.  

 

This little guy is playing it cool…  

 We reach Pindaya which, is set around a large lake, at around 4pm. It’s very pretty and is a town which is clearly doing well from the tourism.

The only problem with Pindaya is the serious lack of affordable accommodation the cheapest we could find was $20 dollars with no breakfast. It is a true tourist trap and a cheap meal is also hard to come by… To top this off tourists also have to pay a $2 fee just to enter the town!! This would be like towns such as Falmouth, Cardigan or Harrogate starting to charge tourists £5 on their way in. 

The cave is 3000 kyat to enter (hide your camera so you don’t get charged the additional 300 for that). I guess the cave complex is impressive but it’s very set up for visitors and is so lit up by lights that it lacked any real sense of wonder or mysticism for us. Having blown our budget on everything else the 20 mins we spent wondering around the statues just didn’t seem worth it really! 

If you are strapped for time or are trying to save the pennies between the inevitable money traps of Inle and Bagan/Mandalay, we might suggest to leave Pindaya off your itinerary. The issue is the cycle between Inle and the next hotel in Ywengan which would be a long day… Possible if you are in good shape or only semi-loaded. If you have a tent definitely camping would be an option. 

Mektila to Kalaw: Our First (semi) Hitch 

Distance: 50km by bike another 75k roughly by bus

Mektila is a pretty large town and we stopped for breakfast (tasty samosas and large churos like bread sticks) before continuing east. The countryside here is very flat but we knew that we’d reach the bottom of the mountains which lead up to Inle Lake after roughly 65km.

Paddy was still feeling a bit dodge and out progress was a bit slow. We managed 50k and then agreed to stop and hitch the rest of the way. We wanted to get to Kalaw that night.
After two minutes of standing by the road a small truck stopped and two guys got out. They were already pretty loaded up with boxes and we couldn’t see how we were going to fit the tandem in. They inquired as to where we were going and then helped us flag down another vehicle, this time a minivan. 
This van was going all the way to Kalaw. Yay! 
It wasn’t clear what this van was… Initially we thought it was just a family car. They said they could strap tandem to the top and nothing was mentioned about payment… Paddy by this time was feeling pretty ropey and we were just glad that we had managed to catch a lift so quickly.
The journey took about 2 hours total. After around half an hour it became clear that we had actually flagged down a private bus service, run by two guys. People were picked up and dropped off as we twisted and turned up the mountain. 
We were met with some spectacular scenery but neither of us regretted the decision to grab a ride rather than cycle. This was a tough climb, busy with cars and trucks.
As we neared the end of our journey we had come to the conclusion that some sort of payment would be required. We were happy to pay, and discussed whether we should raise the subject before our stop. In the end we decided to ask how much before we arrived. We think this was probably a mistake as it gave the two guys a good while to discuss how much they could get away with charging – it was pretty obvious what they were discussing!
They quoted 20,000 on arrival – 7000 each + 6000 for the bike. This, we though was a bit steep, and we tried to question it but a local stepped in and explained this was a fair price. 
Tandem was lifted down from the roof unscathed. In the end we paid the two guys their 20,000 in the knowledge that at least it was all going directly to them (rather than us paying a local bus or tour company who have to give a heavy cut to the government.)
We learnt a lot from this experience. When hitching, if a passenger van stops – check to see if it has a sign in the windscreen to indicate it’s a local pick up service. Always agree the price (if any) before your bike is tied on and if you can check how much locals pay before you set off then that always helps!!! 

Kawkeireuik to Hpa-An

Friday March 11th 2016

Distance: 105km

A 6.30am wake up ensures we get off to a good start the next morning. We pack up the bike and enjoy a great breakfast accompanied by tea (of course!). We paid 75p each!!!
  
Kawkeireuik is bustling as we cycle out towards the road which will eventually lead to Hpa An (105km). A morning mist hangs in the air making everything look very mysterious and dreamy. It is very humid! Golden pagodas litter the countryside everywhere you look and cattle and goats meander lazily across the road slowing up the traffic. Kayin State is very beautiful.

We get stopped at a check point where we’re asked to handover our passports, this becomes a regular occurrence throughout the day but the guards are very friendly and even offer you energy drinks and replenish your water.

10km in, Paddy notices that one of the front ortlieb panniers is hanging wrongly and so we’re forced to stop and diagnose the problem. 

One of reasons to invest in top end gear such as ortlieb is to ensure you minimise the rips, tears and breakages that are inevitably going to happen while touring. Our ortlieb panniers are not supposed to be used on a front rack strictly speaking but we still didn’t expect them to break this early on into our trip… After doing some reading it seems others have found the same thing! 

One of the screws attaching the bag to the plastic beam at the top had popped out. (It’s a metal bolt, screwed into plastic theads – cost saving, shoddy design). paddy screwed it back in but the threads are pretty ruined so we decide that it’s time to re-enforce the bags to the bike frame with rope. (I had noticed that a French couple we’d met a few days beforehand had done a similar thing.)

Paddy’s engineering brain and lifelong experience sailing comes in very handy in these situations… I watch him designs a purchase and pulley system with our washing line rope which holds both panniers to the frame and yet allows the handlebars to turn without the rope loosening… I learn a lot from just watching! 

  
We press on and finally make some headway. It’s very flat but the road is very bumpy which gets tiring. It’s amazing how much time Paddy and I currently spend discussing the various virtues of different road surfaces! 

The road is pretty narrow and has quite a bit of traffic. Myanmar traffic drives on the right but confusingly ALL the cars and trucks are also right hand drive… We also see local buses stop and passengers getting off into the road… 

Myanmar has some HUGE rivers and we cross a large bridge over the Hlaing-bwe river just after the second check point. Cycling over is slightly precarious due to the bike tyre width gaps! 

    
We stop for lunch and are served a huge pile of steaming noodles (helpings in Burma are much bigger than Thailand or Cambodia!). It’s tasty but clearly mixed with a lot of MSG, an agent which is still used a lot here. It’s served with a tasty watery soup containing garlic, cabbage and chilli. 

Onwards again, and by 3pm we’re only 15km from Hpa-An but we decide to take the more scenic detour left (after the town of Ein Du) which carves it’s way through the impressive rock formations west of Mount Zwegabin (750m) passing the Lumbini Garden where there are thousands of Buddha statues placed in perfect lines amongst the trees. 

It’s a great detour, shade covered and quiet, and the mountain top pagodas are incredible! How do they build them so far up!

  
We reach Hpa-An a large town which sits on the banks of another large river, the Saluen, at roughly 4.15. We find a hotel and meet another cycle tourer, Jolie a primary school teacher from the Basque Country in northern Spain. She is brilliant and gives us lots of tips for cycling through China and even presents her used map of Chuan State. 

We need to get north towards Inle Lake over the next two days. Cycling this isn’t an option as its over 700km so we will need to investigate bus possibilities or perhaps hitch hike up to Meiktila.

Day 2 of Tak to Mae Sot

After our struggles yesterday we enjoyed a lie in and a lazy morning before setting off to complete the mountain pass to Mae Sot.
There was still some climbing to do but we held on to the knowledge that the majority of the 55km we needed to do would be down hill.

It was tough going initially but the road is MUCH better on this side of the mountain with a decent hard shoulder (although the other side going the other way didn’t seem to have one) and wider roads. The traffic was still busy. We are very glad we made the decision to do this stretch over two days. (A lot of cyclists try to do it in one)

We finally reached the highest peak marked by a temple complex (all the trucks and cars beep as they go past) and some impressive rock formations.

  
We have a short stop at the top. This sign gave us a sense of what was to come.

  
We reach the bustling town of Mae Sot at around 5pm and take some time to find a suitable guesthouse near the bus station (Green Guesthouse 240 baht). This will be our last night in Thailand. 

There seems to be a large Muslim community here and on the map we notice that there is a significant UNHCR centre. Yesterday Paddy also noticed that there was a refugee camp some miles south too. Both perhaps a stark reminder of what is still going on over the border in Myanmar.

The town is a good place to stock up on everything you might need. 

After washing clothes we head to the night market where we have an excellent dinner and finally get round to ‘celebrating’ being together for 3 years! 

Thai Stats

Total Days: 26

Total km cycling: 843

Trains: 2

Wild Camping Nights: 4

Warm Showers Stays: 5

Thai Visas in Phnom Penh

Because Paddy has an Irish passport and we would be crossing the Thai/Cambodia border by bike we knew we would need to apply for a 30 day visa for him at the embassy in Phnom Penh. (My British passport allows me a 30 day exemption visa, see our section on Visas under ‘Before We Go’ for more info).

A warning to other cyclists/border crossing travellers, do not listen to agents who say you need proof of either certain bank funds or flights into Thailand to get a visa. They are trying to swindle you. Guys hang outside/in the embassy and will try to convince you too. You can do it all yourself.

Simply go to the embassy with a passport photo and complete the form (before 4.00). Our visa cost $40 and because we are travelling by bike we needed to write a brief letter detailing our general travel plans – e.g what border crossing, wherel we plan to exit etc.

We found the Embassy very friendly and efficient. Visa pick up is currently (Jan 2016) between 3-4.30pm week days.

Good luck!