We flew from Beijing to Yangon a day before our cycling tour started.
We visited the Shwedagon Pagoda in the morning and saw how dazzling it
is.
Made of 60 tons of gold, and rising to a height of 326 feet, it is an impressive sight.
This is the umbrella at the top. It is composed of gold and 4,000 bells. At the very top is the diamond orb of 1,800 karats. We could occasionally see the diamonds sparkle.
We had read about Shwedagon in The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, which is a wonderful historical novel about India and Burma starting in the late 19th century when the British colonized Burma. We had been looking forward to seeing this important Buddhist landmark for ourselves.
There were many monks and lay people praying and making offerings.
The cycling tour started in Yangon with an evening visit to Shwedagon. The pagoda shimmered in the lights.
Kristina was born on a Tuesday, so she is bathing the Tuesday Buddha, which is said to give merit. Pete is ringing the bell.
The candles at night were stunning.
The next morning we all flew north to Heho on this turbo prop plane.
Here we are at the start of cycling. We’re riding new Trek bikes, as this is the first time that the Red Spokes tour company is leading a Burma cycling trip.
Burma is primarily a Buddhist country. We saw many pagodas as we rode. Pagodas are Buddhist monuments that often contain the relics of an accomplished monk.
We took a boat ride around Inlay Lake. Pete is sporting his charming Burmese hat that he bought for $1.
This man is fishing and rowing his boat with his leg.
There were many wooden buildings right on the lake.
Transporting and traveling by boat are common here.
One of the handicrafts is large size, beautiful weaving.
These spools of thread are made from lotus plants. The many threads are combined into one and then woven into attractive patterns.
It was interesting to visit the morning market that was bustling with activity.
There were all kinds of dried fish, flowers and vegetables for sale.
We bought a custard apple. We had seen this fruit growing in Taiwan, where they are called Buddha head fruit, but it wasn't yet ripe. We loved the flavor.
Our group of 15 riders cycled about 45 miles a day. Here we are at the start of an incredible downhill ride through the forest. We had cyclists from Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the US.
This is Steve, our tour leader, who lives in London.
Poang (with the colorful helmet) was our Burmese cycling lead. He also works with the Myanmar Cycling Association. On the left is Maxine, who is a teacher from New Zealand.
We stopped at a school and talked a bit with the teachers and the kids. We were sad to learn that they had no books.
The people were very friendly and curious about us. As we rode it was fun to wave, smile and exchange greetings of “mingalaba” with the Burmese people.
Whenever we stopped, the kids would come check us out. On their cheeks is thanaka, a natural sunscreen and moisturizer.
These school kids were walking home for lunch.
We rode through a lot of agricultural land, much of it was like a patchwork quilt that was mesmerizing. This woman is harvesting rice.
There were a lot of rice fields, and we ate rice at least twice a day.
Farming is mostly non-mechanized here.
Bikes are a common mode of transport throughout Burma.
We were so impressed with this woman's ability to ride a bike while balancing a bowl on her head!
We often shared the road with cows, goats and sheep. The vehicle traffic was light.
It wasn’t common to see people riding water buffaloes, so we took this photo.
We were told the yellow fields were sesame flowers.
Our tour group of 15 rode together so we didn’t get lost. This was one of the few road signs that was in English.
We rode across central Burma, where the town of Ywa Nagon seems like their cauliflower capital.
After picking a field, a cart is loaded up. Then the cauliflowers are put on big trucks and transported to the cities.
We went to the Pindaya Buddhist caves where there are supposedly more than 8,000 Buddha statues.
The dedication plaques we could read were about 15 years old and typically were donated by westerners who listed their families.
We rode through rolling hills and along a river.
It was common to see signs for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, as well as pictures of her and her father Aung San. We read a wonderful biography of her by Jesper Bengtsson where he "presents a portrait of one of today's most significant political activists. He chronicles her background as the daughter of Burma's liberation hero Aung San, the years she spent in England and New York, and her return to Burma in the 1980s. First placed under house arrest by the military junta in 1989, she spent fifteen of the subsequent twenty-one years in captivity, separated from her husband and two children. Throughout that period, she remained a unifying figure and activist for Burma's democracy movement. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, she saw her reputation and her international stature grow the longer she was under house arrest. Upon her release in November 2010, she immediately took up her work with the democracy movement and proved that she remains the most important political force in Burma."
We stayed in the town of Kyuakse and enjoyed watching the sun set at the hilltop pagoda.
One morning in Myingan we saw many nuns and monks on alms rounds. At the sound of the bell, the villagers lined up to give the monks and nuns food. This act of generosity gives them merit.
This elephant costume is worn for celebrations.
The quality of the roads in Burma varies, with lots of stretches that are filled with pot holes or under construction.
We have enjoyed getting to know Andy and Kay from New Zealand. Andy has a cycling company in Christchurch called Natural High.
Pete, Andy and Geoff (another Kiwi) took an early morning ride to get a view of Mt Popa.
We had a delicious late lunch after riding part of the way up Mt Popa.
We saw our most incredible sunset while on a boat on the Irrawaddy River.
Bagan was the capital of Burma from the 11th century until the 13th century. During its peak, there were over 13,000 pagodas, temples and monasteries built in the 40 square mile area. It was incredible to ride through.
Only 3,000 structures remain today, but the views of the plains are still spectacular.
Historians are critical of the restorations that were done in the 1990s, as there was little regard for traditional building materials or design. Likely this was the reason UNESCO declined to make it a world heritage site, even after donating $1M for renovations.
We found the main temples in Bagan to be overrun with tourists and souvenir stalls, but there were some incredible smaller ones like Sulameni Pahto, called “the crowing jewel” temple.
Inside were wall paintings that were still in good shape.
One of the tastiest dishes we tried was tea leaf salad. The tea leaves are fermented for several months and become a paste (in center). The dried nuts, fried garlic, ginger, sesame seeds and tea leaves are mixed together into a crunchy and delicious dish.
For the final leg of the cycling tour we flew south to Ngapoli beach on the Bay of Bengal. It was delightful to swim in the warm water.
A fun group activity was a costume party where we each dressed another person. Kristina is in a beautiful sarong and Pete is in a toga with fellow cyclists Mikael in orange and Andy as a lady in pink.
We have really enjoyed spending time with and getting to know the folks on the cycling tour! This is Nancy and Tim who are from Tacoma, WA. They shared stories about when they had ridden self-supported for 10 weeks along the eastern US from Florida to Maine.
While the roads in central Burma were asphalt with lots of potholes, we were shocked at how poor the roads along the coast were.
We rode over 30 miles on roads made of dirt and rocks. It was really rough riding.
Three riders decided to do an extra 30 miles on the last cycling day. Here is Pete cresting the final peak.
Pete, along with Geoff and Andy were elated to be at the end of their epic 4.5 hour climb.
We had a great time on this inaugural cycling tour of Burma! We rode more than 400 miles over 9 days. This is the final group photo taken after we finished cycling.
As we rode the bus back to Yangon we saw people participating in a Buddhist full moon festival. The students marched through the streets with their offerings for the monasteries.
It has been really fun to cycle with such interesting people through these scenic parts of Burma. And since we enjoyed the friendliness of the Burmese people, we are excited to come back next month.
Made of 60 tons of gold, and rising to a height of 326 feet, it is an impressive sight.
This is the umbrella at the top. It is composed of gold and 4,000 bells. At the very top is the diamond orb of 1,800 karats. We could occasionally see the diamonds sparkle.
We had read about Shwedagon in The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, which is a wonderful historical novel about India and Burma starting in the late 19th century when the British colonized Burma. We had been looking forward to seeing this important Buddhist landmark for ourselves.
There were many monks and lay people praying and making offerings.
The cycling tour started in Yangon with an evening visit to Shwedagon. The pagoda shimmered in the lights.
Kristina was born on a Tuesday, so she is bathing the Tuesday Buddha, which is said to give merit. Pete is ringing the bell.
The candles at night were stunning.
The next morning we all flew north to Heho on this turbo prop plane.
Here we are at the start of cycling. We’re riding new Trek bikes, as this is the first time that the Red Spokes tour company is leading a Burma cycling trip.
Burma is primarily a Buddhist country. We saw many pagodas as we rode. Pagodas are Buddhist monuments that often contain the relics of an accomplished monk.
We took a boat ride around Inlay Lake. Pete is sporting his charming Burmese hat that he bought for $1.
This man is fishing and rowing his boat with his leg.
There were many wooden buildings right on the lake.
Transporting and traveling by boat are common here.
One of the handicrafts is large size, beautiful weaving.
These spools of thread are made from lotus plants. The many threads are combined into one and then woven into attractive patterns.
It was interesting to visit the morning market that was bustling with activity.
There were all kinds of dried fish, flowers and vegetables for sale.
We bought a custard apple. We had seen this fruit growing in Taiwan, where they are called Buddha head fruit, but it wasn't yet ripe. We loved the flavor.
Our group of 15 riders cycled about 45 miles a day. Here we are at the start of an incredible downhill ride through the forest. We had cyclists from Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the US.
This is Steve, our tour leader, who lives in London.
Poang (with the colorful helmet) was our Burmese cycling lead. He also works with the Myanmar Cycling Association. On the left is Maxine, who is a teacher from New Zealand.
We stopped at a school and talked a bit with the teachers and the kids. We were sad to learn that they had no books.
The people were very friendly and curious about us. As we rode it was fun to wave, smile and exchange greetings of “mingalaba” with the Burmese people.
Whenever we stopped, the kids would come check us out. On their cheeks is thanaka, a natural sunscreen and moisturizer.
These school kids were walking home for lunch.
We rode through a lot of agricultural land, much of it was like a patchwork quilt that was mesmerizing. This woman is harvesting rice.
There were a lot of rice fields, and we ate rice at least twice a day.
Farming is mostly non-mechanized here.
Bikes are a common mode of transport throughout Burma.
We were so impressed with this woman's ability to ride a bike while balancing a bowl on her head!
We often shared the road with cows, goats and sheep. The vehicle traffic was light.
It wasn’t common to see people riding water buffaloes, so we took this photo.
We were told the yellow fields were sesame flowers.
Our tour group of 15 rode together so we didn’t get lost. This was one of the few road signs that was in English.
We rode across central Burma, where the town of Ywa Nagon seems like their cauliflower capital.
After picking a field, a cart is loaded up. Then the cauliflowers are put on big trucks and transported to the cities.
We went to the Pindaya Buddhist caves where there are supposedly more than 8,000 Buddha statues.
The dedication plaques we could read were about 15 years old and typically were donated by westerners who listed their families.
We rode through rolling hills and along a river.
It was common to see signs for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, as well as pictures of her and her father Aung San. We read a wonderful biography of her by Jesper Bengtsson where he "presents a portrait of one of today's most significant political activists. He chronicles her background as the daughter of Burma's liberation hero Aung San, the years she spent in England and New York, and her return to Burma in the 1980s. First placed under house arrest by the military junta in 1989, she spent fifteen of the subsequent twenty-one years in captivity, separated from her husband and two children. Throughout that period, she remained a unifying figure and activist for Burma's democracy movement. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, she saw her reputation and her international stature grow the longer she was under house arrest. Upon her release in November 2010, she immediately took up her work with the democracy movement and proved that she remains the most important political force in Burma."
We stayed in the town of Kyuakse and enjoyed watching the sun set at the hilltop pagoda.
One morning in Myingan we saw many nuns and monks on alms rounds. At the sound of the bell, the villagers lined up to give the monks and nuns food. This act of generosity gives them merit.
This elephant costume is worn for celebrations.
The quality of the roads in Burma varies, with lots of stretches that are filled with pot holes or under construction.
We have enjoyed getting to know Andy and Kay from New Zealand. Andy has a cycling company in Christchurch called Natural High.
Pete, Andy and Geoff (another Kiwi) took an early morning ride to get a view of Mt Popa.
We had a delicious late lunch after riding part of the way up Mt Popa.
We saw our most incredible sunset while on a boat on the Irrawaddy River.
Bagan was the capital of Burma from the 11th century until the 13th century. During its peak, there were over 13,000 pagodas, temples and monasteries built in the 40 square mile area. It was incredible to ride through.
Only 3,000 structures remain today, but the views of the plains are still spectacular.
Historians are critical of the restorations that were done in the 1990s, as there was little regard for traditional building materials or design. Likely this was the reason UNESCO declined to make it a world heritage site, even after donating $1M for renovations.
We found the main temples in Bagan to be overrun with tourists and souvenir stalls, but there were some incredible smaller ones like Sulameni Pahto, called “the crowing jewel” temple.
Inside were wall paintings that were still in good shape.
One of the tastiest dishes we tried was tea leaf salad. The tea leaves are fermented for several months and become a paste (in center). The dried nuts, fried garlic, ginger, sesame seeds and tea leaves are mixed together into a crunchy and delicious dish.
For the final leg of the cycling tour we flew south to Ngapoli beach on the Bay of Bengal. It was delightful to swim in the warm water.
A fun group activity was a costume party where we each dressed another person. Kristina is in a beautiful sarong and Pete is in a toga with fellow cyclists Mikael in orange and Andy as a lady in pink.
We have really enjoyed spending time with and getting to know the folks on the cycling tour! This is Nancy and Tim who are from Tacoma, WA. They shared stories about when they had ridden self-supported for 10 weeks along the eastern US from Florida to Maine.
While the roads in central Burma were asphalt with lots of potholes, we were shocked at how poor the roads along the coast were.
We rode over 30 miles on roads made of dirt and rocks. It was really rough riding.
Three riders decided to do an extra 30 miles on the last cycling day. Here is Pete cresting the final peak.
Pete, along with Geoff and Andy were elated to be at the end of their epic 4.5 hour climb.
We had a great time on this inaugural cycling tour of Burma! We rode more than 400 miles over 9 days. This is the final group photo taken after we finished cycling.
As we rode the bus back to Yangon we saw people participating in a Buddhist full moon festival. The students marched through the streets with their offerings for the monasteries.
It has been really fun to cycle with such interesting people through these scenic parts of Burma. And since we enjoyed the friendliness of the Burmese people, we are excited to come back next month.