10/11/2016 Loikaw or bust

I was a day late getting out of Nyaungshwe due to my stomach problems. After my last bout of food poisoning in Myanmar I didn't want to take any chances by pushing myself too hard too soon - so it was another day off... mostly without food.

The plan was simple, just get on the East side of Inle Lake and pedal south. I knew there was a roundabout at about km 45 where you had the choice of going left or right over mountain passes to get to Loikaw; or straight ahead following an unmarked track down the lakes and into Loikaw through the back door. I liked that option, not least because it was the path less travelled, but also because it was flatter!!

Once past the roundabout, the traffic melted away and what little there was consisted of the odd motorcycle and bullock cart. A few small dump trucks did pass as they were delivering rock and gravel further up for the unfinished road. Even though the road was flat, the going was tediously slow. The rough cobbled road demanded a slow and steady approach or you'd simply bounce off the track.

I was having problems with a queasy stomach and low energy - no food in = no energy to spin the pedals. By late afternoon I was done in and starting to entertain the idea of sleeping rough in one of the roadside paddocks. About km 60 there was a petite small roadside temple on the right side of the road with a fantastic outlook over the valley and lake. I went up to the resident monk and signed that I was looking for somewhere to stay for the night and could I possibly stay there? His initial response was to ignore me. His next was to laugh at me and his third was to point down the hill a kilometer away to a monastery. I clearly was not going to get far, so headed down the hill still uncertain of a night's lodging.

I bought some water at the village and asked if there was somewhere to stay. The shop owner called his wife who spoke some English. She pointed to the monestary and said the monk would let me stay there and he also spoke good English.

Off I went, feeling a bit more confident.

At the monestary I was approached by a young man, the local school teacher, who spoke fairly good English. He said accommodation would be no problem, but we had to formally ask the monk. When we finally found him, yes I could stay the night, I could stay as long as I liked, a few days, a week - it was no problem. And am I hungry? They would prepare my dinner and feed me breakfast the next morning, too - I was to relax and feel like I was home.

And they did look after me like I was family and I could have spent a week there, without issue. My visa was running out and I had enough time left to cycle into Loikaw and the next day catch the 18 hr bus to Yangon. There was a short but very intense rainstorm that night, the roar of the rain on the temple's tin roof was offf the decibel scale and required ear plugs (unlike the bedding and mosquito net, not supplied).

I asked how many cycle tourists came through the village each year. After a long pause, the school teacher told me maybe 10 or 12 per year, no more. Everyday, the villagers are out there building the road to link Nyaung Shwe to Loikaw. Once it's finished, the tourists will come: first the cyclists, then the backpackers, then the yuppie baby boomers...

Next morning, after breakfast, I started out on the track, but only made it about 1 km down the road before my bike was completely mud coated and mud wheels frozen from trying to negotiate the mudpit that the road had become. While attempting to scrape the mud from the wheels and running gear, the Abbot pulled up on a 4wd truck, got out and asked me, in perfect English, if he could help in anyway. Unfortunately he was heading the other way, on a tour of his district monasteries and monks, otherwise they would have thrown the bike in the back of the ute and rescued me from my muddy plight. He ordered his driver to pick up my bike and carry it 300 metres up the track, assuring me that the road improved not much further up the track. He also inquired where I spent the night and was very pleased to hear his monk had treated me well. He was a real gentleman and dare I say it, enlightened.

The whole experience was such a contrast to my last stay in a monestary.

I pedalled on for another 50 or 60 km to get to Loikaw and spent the night at a very difficult to find, but cheap and friendly Nan Ayar Inn on the northwest side of the river. They arranged my bus ticket and next morning I loaded my bags into their car and they escorted me to the bus station and waved me off on my 18+ hr bus ride into Yangon.

Navigation Note- Locus Pro: Arrived at the bus station next morning and got out the phone and cranked up Google Maps to plot a route to BikeWorld Inn. Google Maps can only plot car routes in most SE Asian cities, not bike routes. After about 20 minutes of intense Yangon gridlock traffic, I pulled off the side of the road and started up Locus Pro, my GPS app. I asked it to find me a bike route to BikeWorld and to my surprise it did so with no effort and took me down delightful back roads and footpaths to within 1 km of my final destination. On its own the app can find bike routes, but if you combine it with the Brouter app, it can do even more, including elevation profiles. I'm still discovering useful features every time I use the app.

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