Ode to SpiceRoads (and Toe Toe)

 Myday! That's Burmese for "Amazing!"

We knew that we wanted to mix in a little (or a lot) of athletic activity into our sabbatical.  As Myanmar came onto our radar, rather late in the planning process as it turns out, we thought "Why not do the SpiceRoads bike tour our friend TJ recommend (he road from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Saigon, Vietnam).  What started out as a short, three-day idea turned into an epic, eight-day adventure with Krissy and Zac.

The adventure began once we cleared immigration in Mandalay and were greeted by our host and guide, Toe Toe.  With all sincerity, he was the most amazing guide we've ever had.  Beyond setting a brisk, but manageable pace on the bike, he exposed us to the extraordinary sights, sounds and cultures of his native country.  We detoured to out-of-the-way cultural gems, ate spectacular meals, learned important Burmese phrases and encountered thousands of beautiful people as we traversed Myanmar.

Tim with Soe Soe, our driver extraordinaire for the trip

We were also joined by Soe Soe, our driver, and KoKo, our mechanic (and 'snack guy').  Both were kind, generous and incredibly warm. Soe Soe conveyed us safely from point-to-point, especially up the treacherous winding roads to the mountain town of Kalaw.  Koko was an amazing mechanic, not only ensuring our bikes were in good repair, but also making sure that the mechanics of our Burmese were perfect.

Nick with KoKo, our expert mechanic and snack guy

All told, we rode 144 miles over four days and on the fifth day, we kayaked.  We traversed the smooth, and sometimes very rough roads on knobby-tired mountain bikes with front suspensions...a little more challenging that our lightweight, carbon-fiber road bikes back home.

Day 1: The Scorcher (47.5 miles, Strava Ride)

We rode from Mandalay on our way to Began in heat that reached 104 F.  Whereas cyclists enjoy an occasional breeze to cool down, we would get blasts of hot air coming off the mostly arid landscape.

Day 1 Scorcher ride from Mandalay to Bagan

Day 2: The Temples of Bagan (10.4 miles, Strava Ride / 5 miles, Strava Run)

We rode among the more than 2,000 temples of Bagan.  We visited several, getting plenty of practice tying our longyis!  Nick also did a five-mile run in the late afternoon (Strava link), coming back soaked in sweat, while Tim swam 1,000 yards in the hotel's full-length pool.

Posing in front of a temple in Bagan, one of our favorite days of riding

Day 3: Mt. Popa Climb (36.6 miles, Strava Ride)

We pedaled over three hours out of Bagan and climbed nearly 2,500 feet to Table Top Mountain (where Krissy was "attacked" by a monkey), then lunched in Mount Popa.  For our NYC cycling friends, the final part of the climb was very similar, and a little bit longer than Perkins Drive on the way up Bear Mountain.

Photo op at the top of Table Top Mountain with Mt Kopa in the background

Day 4: The Descent (49.0 miles, Strava Ride)

We rode out of Kalaw for 25 km before hitting 25 km of very rocky roads, first climbing ("OMG!  Is this how difficult the next 25 km is going to be?!?"), then, after 5 km, plunging down hill over the intensely rocky roads ("Yipee!!!").  Thank goodness we had those mountain bikes.  We finished by riding to our hotel in Nyaungschwe, located to the north of Inle Lake.

Rugged Nick on his mountain bike

Day 5: Inle Lake Kayaking (2.8 miles, Strava Kayak)

We hopped aboard a boat and travelled south to a village on stilts where we met our kayaking guide for an hour-long paddle along the water "streets" of the Inle Lake towns.

Kayaking through the floating village and hydroponic gardens of Inle Lake

In Chiang Mai, we met the Francois family, an incredibly neat family from Montreal (more on them in a later post).  They asked about our thoughts on Myanmar.  Our first response was "indescribable."  The second was "the people were collectively some of the warmest, most extraordinary we've ever encountered."

Experiencing the recently-opened country on bike with SpiceRoads exposed us to a cultural Krell Brain Boost, as Ken Little, NCC's COO and our friend would say.  We were going fast enough to cover a significant distance, while going slow enough to absorb the indescribable beauty of the people and their lives.

As we rode past small villages, children would run out of their homes squealing with delight.  The ubiquitous min ga la ba (hello) we shouted from our bikes was greeted by a full-bellied min ga la ba that emanated from their souls.  Adults would also smile brilliantly and wave as we greeted them in Burmese on the bikes and at various stopovers along the way.

Tim and Krissy kayaking through Inle Lake

The same thing happened as we kayaked on Inle Lake.  From what we could tell, kayaks were a completely foreign sight to the villagers in Inle Lake.  As we paddled down the water "streets," young and old alike peered down out of their windows from the houses on stilts.  As we shouted, min ga la ba, the looks of fascinated concentration broke into brilliant smiles.

When we arrived at our destination, the spectacle of Caucasians on kayaks brought two dozen school kids to the "dock" literally jumping with excitement.  While we thought the teacher's pointing at a kayak was meant as an offer to help wrangle the kayak into the boat, he jumped in and began paddling around to the shrieks of laughter from the school children. The most beautiful sound in the world is the laughter of children!

Toe Toe, our amazing SpiceRoads guide throughout all of Myanmar

What made the connection even deep was Toe Toe giving us the cultural background and appropriate Burmese phrases to kindle a cultural fire between us and the Myanmar people.  We cannot count of the number of times we would evoke delighted laughter from the Myanmar people when we uttered a Burmese sentence or phrase.  Thank you again, Toe Toe, for your ability to understand our intentions and patiently walk us through your language!

House on stilts in the Inle Valley

After we descended from Kalaw in the mountains, we plunged into the Inle Lake Valley, risking through tree-lined roads abutting rice fields and farmlands.  It's impossible to capture in words the overwhelming feeling of riding along the road and seeing the lives of the people in one of the most breathtaking environments we've ever experienced (in fact, this is where the "Ode to SpiceRoads" blog was conceived) .  Every person should come in contact with this kind of experience.  It's through immersions like this that a better understanding of unique differences will lead to greater respect.

Thank you, TJ, for recommending SpiceRoads.  They organized an extraordinary experience.  For those who are interested, visit http://www.spiceroads.com. 

Toe Toe and Nick enjoying the ride through Bagan

Oxes are used outside the cities for many farming and day-to-day transport activities

Pedaling through a village in the Inle Lake valley

Getting a pic taken at the request of some of the locals outside a temple in Bagan

On the road cruising along

Ready for another day of riding in Bagan

Viewing one of the temples in Bagan in our longyis  

Krissy and Tim riding through Myanamr

Snack break...we're going to miss these when we get home

Pausing from riding for another photo op in front of more temples

Riding through one of the many small towns where we greeted people with min ga la ba

Nick and Toe Toe in our transfer boat on Inle Lake