Myanmar Motorcycle Journey 8 - Loikaw to Taungoo

These tractor-buses putt along at about 5 mph

I was very nervous beginning this next part of my journey. My goal for the next three days was Loikaw-->Taungoo--> Pyay-->Toungup. I was beginning a stretch where I'd be going from the far eastern part of Myanmar all the way to it's west coast. Crossing the entire country, about 500 miles, with three mountain ranges in the way.

It wasn't that long ago (2014) that me even attempting this would have been forbidden by the government. Most of Myanmar was closed off to foreigners, either entirely or requiring special permits to enter. This was ostensibly to protect visitors as there's many armed ethnic insurgent groups throughout the country. There still are, but only a few places have active conflicts. There are still a few places I'd need special permission to enter. In my research to find out where, I came across this outfit, Mandalay Motorcycle Rental and Tours. I wrote them, and they told me that as I hold a Myanmar Drivers License, I could go to all these places without need of permits. Other tourists who are here temporarily do need permits unless they're part of a tour group. So, if anyone reading this wants to try something like what I've done, contact Zach at mandalaymotorbike.com and join one of his tours.

Be careful coming around corners. You never
know what might be in the road ahead.

They also told me they had recently made the Loikaw-Taungoo trek and that the road was very long and very rough. This warning added to my consternation, but at the same time, eased my mind in that I knew it could be done.  During previous stages, I had taken side trips to see sites along the way. For this stage, I only had time for one, the Seven Stages Lake in Kayah State. Be-yoooo-tiful!

This is a road

The roads coming out of Kayah State weren't actually that bad, but I crossed over into the furthest north part of Kayin State, yeah, parts of "Old Road" were torture. Really, really difficult roads. Bone jarring. Another thing I noticed that was different on the western slopes of the mountains was the forested countryside. If you've watched the previous videos, you may have judged Myanmar to be a pretty dry place. We are in the midst of the dry season, and most of these places haven't had any rain in 6 weeks or more. About halfway through the trip, the forest turned to jungle. It felt like a tropical rain forest, which I suppose is what was!

I was so relieved as the hills flattened out and I found myself again in the Bago Valley. The drive took 8 hours, and I rewarded myself with a hamburger at Taungoo's finest hotel (not where I stayed).

Enjoy the video, once again with all-ukulele background music!

Myanmar Motorcycle Journey 7 - Pinlaung to Loikaw

Cold. Oh, I was so cold. I thought I had been cold a few days previous, up in Kalaw, but this was a kind of coldness I had not experienced since leaving America.  I should point out that the town I was leaving, Pinlaung, has an elevation of 4800 feet (1460m). The temperature on the thermometer was all of 55F (13C), but I was moving on my motorbike, the air was thick with fog, and the sun had not yet risen over the ridge of the mountains. And I was wearing shorts. I didn't bring pants with me on the journey. Now, Pinlaung to Loikaw was another short stage, only 90km (55 miles); I could have just holed up in a tea house or someplace and waited it out until the air got warmer. No, with the help of some cold weather gear I bought along the way, I kept going.

In the town of Pekon, my breakfast was a bowl of Mohingga, the traditional Myanmar morning soup. My eyes and camera were open, looking for anything I could that I remembered from reading The Land a Green Ghosts, a remarkable and award-winning memoir by Pascal Khoo Thwe about growing up as a hill tribesman and the political upheaval in Myanmar in the late 80's and 90's. Much of the book is set in Pekon, and it was a real thrill for me to be visiting the town that had fascinated me so much in print. Literary tourism is a real thing, but it hasn't come to Pekon as of yet. There were no big signs saying "FORMER HOME OF PASCAL KHOO THWE THIS WAY!", but I did find one building mentioned quite a bit in the book, the town's main Catholic Church; most of the Padaung tribe are Catholic, not Buddhist.

Soon after leaving Pekon, I found myself in Loikaw, the capital of the state of Kayah. I found Loikaw to be a town of two halves. The north part of town had big, wide streets, sidewalks, landscaping, smooth flowing traffic and lots of beautiful buildings and monuments. Cross a one-lane bridge to the south part of town and you're in a crowded, chaotic, dusty Myanmar city.

As you'll see in the video, my activities in Loikaw included finding a hotel, visiting the amazing Taung Kwel Zaydi pagodas and having a dinner I'll never forget. Continuing the theme of my favorite ukulele music in the background, enjoy!


Road Report:
Distance: 89 km
Travel time: 3 hours
Road conditions (see the key): Excellent 2%, Good 83%, Fair 15%