Mandalay...oh...Mandalay

Ce fut une de nos etapes preferees! Nous sommes restes presque 10 jours et ce pour plusieurs raisons: une guesthouse super accueillante avec un bon petit dejeuner:-), une ville ou se deplacer en moto est aise, des environs campagnards avec pas mal de choses a visiter, une chaleur impressionante (oui c'est bien moi qui le dis:-).

Namhsan: End of the Road!

And off we go on a motorbike trip to the mountains of Myanmar! At 1700m, this village is surrounded by mountains covered by tea plants. It took us a while to recognise them as the plants were sparse and short, not at all like the luxuriant Malay ones. The whole village makes a living out of the tea production which is exported all over the country. A young guy explained to us that Germans and Japanese were about to visit them to see if they could import Namhsan tea.

Hsipaw, a Countryside Stop

A nice town in the Shan state, Hsipaw conquered us by its calm, its inhabitants' kindness and its countryside beauty where the soil wears the most beautiful red color ever seen. Like anywhere else, motorbikes have brought freedom and young people really enjoy riding between lost hamlets while kids stroll around on buffalo's backs.

Le Lac Inlay

Apres l'aridite de la plaine de Bagan, le lac Inlay nous a apportes un vent de fraicheur avec des temperatures redescendant aux alentours de 20-30 degres. Une Birmanie en mouvement s'est revelee sous nos yeux. D'un cote, les pecheurs continuent leur rythme de vie ancestral. Ils vivent de peche et de legumes qui poussent sur des jardins flottants. Ce concept nous a d'ailleurs etonnes: le travail requis est enorme! D'un autre, de grandes constructions sont en oeuvre sur les berges du lac: hotel, usine, nous n'avons trop su...Nul doute que la purete des paysages est a apprecier au plus vite.

Bagan

Are human beings mad? Yes and Bagan can prove it!

From the 11th to the 13th century, Burmese dynasties concetrated on building temples. How could they build thousands of them in just 200 years? They must have spent all their time and energy in doing bricks and constructing temples.
The result is stunning. We drove through this arid plain with our bicycles (foreigners can not rent motorbikes in Bagan....so we cycled our 10-15km a day by a minimum of 40 degrees, that was eco-friendly:-) going from one masterpiece to another.

Yangon: First Steps in Myanmar

It is no longer the capital of Myanmar but it is still the biggest city. For some obscure reasons probably related to astrology, the generals have moved the capital North of Yangon. This is a practice which was used many times in the country history. Anyway, Yangon was surprisingly multicultural. In particular Indian influences could be seen in the way people look, cook or practice Islam and Hinduism. Chinese are also very much present in the capital.

This first approach underlined straight away the poverty of Myanmar. But in the last few years things have changed dramatically. Electronic shops can be found everywhere whereas during the saffron revolution in 2007 journalists were not free to shot events. Mobile phones are currently won through lottery and more and more people use them. People came to talk to us without any problem. They were clearly happy to see foreigners. Only five years ago they were afraid of being forgotten by the international community.

Volunteering in Thai Countryside

View from our restaurant

Pakson: a small village lost in South Thailand. When the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere, I understood I had reached the heart of the Southern country....