Discovering Northwest Myanamar - Part 1: Yangon to Sagaing

Badger meets bunny at the cat-sitters place

Once again, I’m doing the thing I enjoy most in the world: I’m back on a motorcycle tour!  As I write this, I’m sitting in an odd restaurant “night club” in the small Myanmar town of Palࣰe, Sagaing Division. I’m starting to write now, long before I expect a video will be uploaded, because I want to recall details and feelings while they’re still rather fresh in my mind. 

This trip is going to be different in several ways. First of all, I’m not visiting any of the major tourist destinations in the country. Apart from Mandalay where I rented the motorbike, I’m not travelling to any cities of any significant size. This town I’m in right now has only one guesthouse, and prior to the trip, I wasn’t even sure they’d accept foreigners (not all accommodations in Myanmar are licensed to do so; they must meet certain requirements like western style toilets). I couldn’t contact them because other than appearing on Google maps, they have no presence on the internet. Not even a phone number!

Secondly, the regions I’ll be visiting are more remote and hard to get to. If you’ve followed previous journeys, you might remember from the “Epic” of February 2017 that I changed my plans and gave up on heading further into Myanmar’s westernmost state, Chin, after a bone-jarring ride in the initial leg. My little Chinese scooter couldn’t handle it. Well, this time, I’ve rented a Honda CRF250, a hardy bike that can handle pretty much anything, and this time, I’ll conquer Chin.

After Chin State, I’ll be following the Chindwin River upstream to get as close as I can to the mysterious-sounding Nagaland.  The Naga people are well known for being little known.  I don’t want to go to Nagaland proper because there’s nowhere to go from there except into India (can’t do that on a Myanamar motorbike) or back the way you came. I’m not a fan of that.

When you reach a fork in an unmapped road, you need to look
for clues. For example, in this pic, the road on the loft is
more traveled.

Lastly, this journey will be different in that I’m going to be driving on roads that only appear on some maps. Google maps won’t help me because these roads aren’t  on it. On Google Earth, however, zooming in, you can see them on the satellite image.  I just need to be careful I don’t mistake a river for a road again.

In the initial video, I start off in Yangon, on the morning of last day of work, drop Badger off at the cat-sitter I’ve employed and make a mad dash to the Yangon bus station situated way out on the outskirts of town.  As traffic can turn into gridlock at any time here, I was quite nervous that maybe I had not allotted myself enough time. I made it with 30 minutes to spare, but in my rush I had forgotten several key items: my map of Myanmar, the fancy motorcycle-riding jacket I’d been given (It had pads and armor built in) and worst of all, the carefully prepared itinerary that one of my Myanmar colleagues had made for me, well outside her regular duties. It had hotel names, phone numbers and prices. Shit!

Map of DayOne

To top it all off, I had spent extra on my ticket for a “VIP” bus, a first-class bus that instead of the normal, confined, four seats per aisle, this one only was supposed to only have three. I was actually looking forward to the nine-hour luxurious ride from Yangon to Mandalay. What I got was a standard bus. Somehow, the booking agency had messed up my ticket. I booked it online and so there was little I could do at that point.

Once in Mandalay, I got to meet someone I’ve known online for years, Zach, the owner of Mandalay Motorbike and tours. Visit: mandalaymotorbike.com!  Zach has given me tons of advice over the years on my Myanmar motorcycle journeys, and in turn, I’ve sent him referrals whenever I can. Plus, he watches and likes my videos. Zach has my dream job. He actually makes his living spending  weeks on the road, exploring new places, interacting with the wonderful people here in this exotic country. We spent a few hours swapping stories, he sharing his insights and knowledge on my proposed route.

CRF250

Then, it was off to Sagaing.  Sagaing is the capital of the province of the same name, and it’s relatively close to Mandalay, just a 45 minute drive or so. From there, I happened onto Sagaing Hill and its famous concentration of temples (some call them “pagodas”, but I’ve never been fond of that word as it reminds me more of China and Japan – the word ‘pagoda’ is nothing more than the Portuguese word for temple). Wow! What a sight!

Lastly, up to the famous antiquities of Mingun (Min Kun). There, I saw a lot of foreign tourists; the last I expect to see in any number for the rest of the way. Mingun is home to the largest temple I’ve seen here outside of Bagan. Construction began in the late 18^th century, but due to historical inconveniences like massive earthquakes and the invasion of the British, it was never completed. 

From Sagaing Hill overlooking the mighty Ayeyarwaddy River

All in all, I’m ecstatic to begin this trip. As it has its unique aspects, there will undoubtedly be unique challenges. With this awesome machine under me, I have little doubt I’ll overcome them as I have before.

Enjoy the first video! 

Technical note: I use two cameras on these journeys now. My GoPro mounts onto the helm and is also useful for recording people candidly without them realizing they’re on camera. My other camera I use for buildings and scenery and such. Anyways, the GoPro and my video software are having a hard time communicating in regards to format. The GoPro footage shows up in a 4:3 ratio, creating a vertical “letterbox” effect.