Myanmar is the country about which I probably knew the least before traveling there. Other than basic historical information and some knowledge of current events, I had no idea what Burmese people's day-to-day lives would look like, or how the landscape would appear. Especially the land, all I knew was that our route would be pretty flat (thanks to google maps and the route mapping technology its API enables), and I knew what to expect at a couple of different well-known tourist centers, again thanks to google image search. So moreso than perhaps any country so far, riding across Myanmar was a big adventure, full of new sights, sounds, and landscapes.
The lonely farmstead was a fixture over lots of Myanmar. Complete with a trash-littered front yard, a pretty common sight all over Asia.
Myanmar was much more arid than I expected, which much of the land consisting of this red clayish kind of dirt. Also most of the roads were 1.5 lanes, like the one above, and rarely was there a stretch where two big trucks could pass eachother comfortably.
I think one reason the land looked so dry was that we came just before the end of the dry season, the driest, hottest time of the year. The earth was parched, and so were our lips.
But luckily many of the roads, especially in more populated areas, were lined with big trees that provided a cooling canopy, which made for really pleasant riding.
Then of course there were the stretches of perfectly flat grassland, with a perfectly straight road shooting through the middle.
Most mornings, I got up at 4am, which was the only way to beat the heat, and so I got to see more sunrises during my month in Myanmar than perhaps in the rest of my entire life combined.
And my share of beautiful skies at sunset.
In some places, the landscape was covered in lush rice fields.
There was a lot of interesting architecture. Most of it was a bit crappy and falling apart, but pretty unique nonetheless.
Plenty of buildings that looked as if they'd been built during the British colonial period and then never maintained.
Most towns were just full of shade trees, giving rural Burmese life a pretty idyllic sheen.
A lot of crops looked plowed and like they were just waiting for the rain.
Even at 7am, the sun was already blazing.
A typical rural farmstead. This kind of house is completely made of wood, mostly bamboo, and without nails. And there was always a barking dog hanging out in the shade.
At this time of year, even the rivers had turned to dry sandy beds. It was hard to imagine that as soon as the monsoon came, this thing would fill up with water.
Another dry riverbed.
I was told this is a peanut field. Again awaiting the rains, this type of scorched earth scene lasted for hundreds of kilometers and days of riding.
This was apparently some colonial-era British official's house.
Some people bathing in a small stream.
Katya zooms along across a very long ( maybe 3km), and surprisingly modern bridge. The asphalt on this thing was probably the best we encountered.
Yours truly, on an empty stretch of shaded road.
Hello Mr. cow!
Some ladies hiking across their (rice?) field with heavy burdens on their heads.
Corn, as far as the eye can see, and bright orange?
See if you can spot the guy in the tree, pulling down coconuts.
Even people who live in grass huts are investing in solar power. So should you, 'merica.
More landscape goodness.
Road to nowhere. We rode roads like this for the last week or so of our sojourn in Myanmar.
Spot the pagoda!
As we got closer to India, the landscape became more mountainous, and more waterways appeared.
A Christian graveyard! Surprise.
And a Baptist church. While the vast majority of Burmese are Buddhist, the last bit of Myanmar we rode through had closer ties to Manipur and Nagaland provinces in India, which are largely Christian peoples. We met several people who went back and forth between the two countries to work or go to school, and the Christian villages were quite different from the standard Burmese villages. Instead of pagodas, they had churches everywhere; houses seemed bigger, and the atmosphere was a bit eerie (although this may have had a lot to do with the separatist militants in India who use this part of Myanmar as their base of operations.
The lonely farmstead was a fixture over lots of Myanmar. Complete with a trash-littered front yard, a pretty common sight all over Asia.
Myanmar was much more arid than I expected, which much of the land consisting of this red clayish kind of dirt. Also most of the roads were 1.5 lanes, like the one above, and rarely was there a stretch where two big trucks could pass eachother comfortably.
I think one reason the land looked so dry was that we came just before the end of the dry season, the driest, hottest time of the year. The earth was parched, and so were our lips.
But luckily many of the roads, especially in more populated areas, were lined with big trees that provided a cooling canopy, which made for really pleasant riding.
Then of course there were the stretches of perfectly flat grassland, with a perfectly straight road shooting through the middle.
Most mornings, I got up at 4am, which was the only way to beat the heat, and so I got to see more sunrises during my month in Myanmar than perhaps in the rest of my entire life combined.
And my share of beautiful skies at sunset.
In some places, the landscape was covered in lush rice fields.
There was a lot of interesting architecture. Most of it was a bit crappy and falling apart, but pretty unique nonetheless.
Plenty of buildings that looked as if they'd been built during the British colonial period and then never maintained.
Most towns were just full of shade trees, giving rural Burmese life a pretty idyllic sheen.
A lot of crops looked plowed and like they were just waiting for the rain.
Even at 7am, the sun was already blazing.
A typical rural farmstead. This kind of house is completely made of wood, mostly bamboo, and without nails. And there was always a barking dog hanging out in the shade.
At this time of year, even the rivers had turned to dry sandy beds. It was hard to imagine that as soon as the monsoon came, this thing would fill up with water.
Another dry riverbed.
I was told this is a peanut field. Again awaiting the rains, this type of scorched earth scene lasted for hundreds of kilometers and days of riding.
This was apparently some colonial-era British official's house.
Some people bathing in a small stream.
Katya zooms along across a very long ( maybe 3km), and surprisingly modern bridge. The asphalt on this thing was probably the best we encountered.
Yours truly, on an empty stretch of shaded road.
Hello Mr. cow!
Some ladies hiking across their (rice?) field with heavy burdens on their heads.
Corn, as far as the eye can see, and bright orange?
See if you can spot the guy in the tree, pulling down coconuts.
Even people who live in grass huts are investing in solar power. So should you, 'merica.
 |  |
Road to nowhere. We rode roads like this for the last week or so of our sojourn in Myanmar.
Spot the pagoda!
As we got closer to India, the landscape became more mountainous, and more waterways appeared.
A Christian graveyard! Surprise.
And a Baptist church. While the vast majority of Burmese are Buddhist, the last bit of Myanmar we rode through had closer ties to Manipur and Nagaland provinces in India, which are largely Christian peoples. We met several people who went back and forth between the two countries to work or go to school, and the Christian villages were quite different from the standard Burmese villages. Instead of pagodas, they had churches everywhere; houses seemed bigger, and the atmosphere was a bit eerie (although this may have had a lot to do with the separatist militants in India who use this part of Myanmar as their base of operations.
