Me and my single
speed bike!
Woke up
before 07:00 to get some pics of the sunrise over the Bagan plain. We didn´t
really managed to leave the hotel before 07:30 so it was a bit too late for taking
pics. No problem. I´m a kick ass photographer so I figured, I´ll take some
great pics in the mid day, baking hot sun and harsh shadows. And I did J and they all came out just perfect.
To my defence, we had an ambitious goal to wake up at 06:00. Then we remembered...OH...VACATION,,,OK
and slept in.
Anyway, we rented bicycles at teh hotel. “Robin Hood” Single Speed kick ass
bikes! A relic from the colonial times J.
They were quite OK really. Normal bikes, nu fuss. No bloody mountain bikes
where all you energy is transferred to rocking the bike up and down instead of
pushing the bike forward with the power of your body. Off we went. It was still
before 08:00, hence no hawkers at the major sites. Except for one location. We
left that temple quickly. We managed to get several temples to ourselves. Most
of the guides start their tours at around 08:00 and we were long time on the
road by then. We crossed the whole Bagain plain all the way to the tarmac road
gig around it. Partly pushing the bikes across the fields. The sandy road were
actually not that hard to ride on. Not as dusty as you might think and quite
easy to ride on. Mostly packed sand. Every time we made a detour we managed to
hit a thorn-zone! There were so many thorns in our tires that it was ridiculous!
HAHAHAHHAAA I mean, the mother of a mine field for bikes! We pushed the bike
through those areas and then scraped the thorns off with some twigs before we
continued on the road. We met several locals going out to the fields to work.
There are regular fields with crops growing on them all over the area between
the temples. The plain also serves as a pasture for goats and cows. A real
living cultural landscape. So, we cycled around on the sandy labyrinth. You
could actually cross the complete plain in around 25 minute of easy riding if
you go straight. We didn´t J. We hit
the tarmac again and continued to New Bagan and Minkaba villages. In the mid
water festival, we were open pray to all kids with water guns, scoops and
buckets of water so we ended up cycling wet most of the time. Not that it was a
problem since it was round 40C in the shadow. THERE WAS NO SHADOW THOUGH! No
worries, the air is so dry that +27C in Scandinavia feels much more hot then
+40C in Myanmar. At least we seemed to generate a lot of joy for the local
kids. Stayed at some local restaurants along the way for a beer or two. We observed
the locals being hit with tons of water to everybody’s enjoyment.
The beer
stop in New Bagan was kind of cool. The Female Boss had all her children’s graduation
photos and all vacation photos posted on the walls in the pub. And why not? She
spent all day there so why hide it? There were no organised trips at the moment
so she had the time to show us all the photos and explain every scene. We had a
lot of laughs and then we continued to the Minkaba village. Boy did we get wet!
Not only from all the local watering stations but also from all passing cars,
busses, mopeds etc. The worst case was when a moped sneaked up behind you and
poured ice cold water on your back from behind....GEEZAAS it was cold hahahhaa.
I started to squirt some water back at
the attacker from my own drinking bottle and that generated tons of laugh from
all the passing attacker that got hit back J. Talk about bringing the customs to
the localsJ. We
sat down and had three beers in a shop with some chairs outside the main
monument in Minkaba. It was a blast watching the locals repair mopeds, singing,
getting water for their water guns/buckets, hawking, see the kids planning to
shower someone with water etc. Like sitting in the front row in a theater. Sweet!
We then rode back for lunch, passed our hotel, to the lunch outside the Tharaba
gate to Sarababab II. Ordered some fish and stuff for 13000 chats. The food was so and
so. Nothing special really. We had some American "backpacker wannabes” as
company at the table beside us. Counted
the word "like" like .... 9 times in one minute...”like, you
know...like, it´s like spaced out here in Myanmar”. I guess they use “like” instead
of the coma. AND YES! IF YOU DIDN`T WASH for a wek, have dirty clothes and if
try to behave like a “backpacker” what do you order???? PIZZA OF COURSE! So did
they.
We headed
back to the hotel and relaxed at the pool. I´m not much for relaxing so I went on a walk
on the river sand bank afternoon walk. Kind of like being in the desert but not
really since we saw the river. The water in the river was way cooler they
yesterday during my midday walk. Maybe it was raining up in the mountains? We
sat down on sand dunes and watched the sun go down. Much better then sharing a temple
sundown with 300 other "local people" and fat Americans in sandals
walking around holy temples, smoking and spitting around.
We splashed
out this evening. Fakk it! You only live once, I guess, since I´m a Roman Catholic.
Had a lobster and a fisherman’s plate at the hotel for 60USD. That included 2
beers. Not really cheap but hell, how often do you eat lobster for 20 USD???? And
show me a fisherman eating like I did that night...right....
Going to
bed early...a whole day biking ahead of us!
