rolling from twantay to maubin

An idea was tossed out a few weeks ago to ride our bikes from the town of Twantay to Maubin to Nyaungdon. An excellent idea Dave Burton! Dave arranged a hotel in Maubin (pronounced ma-oo-bin) and a pick up in Nyaungdon then said- "that's it for my planning, bring a passport, extra tubes, and be ready for anything"

It was an amazing weekend. 8 of us from ISY met early at the Dala ferry and hit the road.

After crossing on the ferry, we asked around for a taxi to Twantay- this guy even had a bike rack!

Petra contemplates some betel for the trip

Our van's door, and what do you know there is a local bike team!

We made it to Twantay (worth seeing for it's local rocket alone) at roughly 8am, unloaded bikes- and had a bite to eat. This is also where we met Sean, who rode from Yangon!

Dave scouts for the local boat ramp...

and finds it! We had one more logistical piece before we could pedal. Crossing the twantay canal. These boats are in constant rotation back and forth, you just wait in line, pile on and pay your 500 kyat (30cents) on the far side.

Ryno, Todd, and I wait for boat number 2

And then it was time to roll.

What a pleasant way to see the countryside. Biking is great as you travel at a speed that lends itself to chatting with the person next to you, smiling and waving at people you pass, and seeing all of the amazing details this country has. Here are a few sights from the road.

Dave: very prepared or very thirsty.

I have no idea what the green things are

This is what the majority of homes look like out here

It was a 25 mile day, not too hot. I was not going very fast as I have a single speed bike best geared for Colorado mountains. Here I am near the start of the ride...

and here I am near the end. I realized I was getting (and looking) a bit tired.

Luckily, it was at about that moment that we came across a 3k sign! (and I was fully aware that I had no idea what was 3k away)

But a dirt path and cool bridge later we were in Maubin rollin up to our digs for the night. (which were unexpectedly cush)

View from the top floor.

After cleaning up we decided to look around a bit. Found a riverside spot- sold cokes but not beer. (best coke I have had in a long long time)

Incidentally we were not on the mighty banks of the Irrawaddy but a smaller tributary. My mistake was understandable... look at the size of that boat!


Next spot we found had beer, much to Petra and Sean's (and my) delight.

and the next spot also had beverages. I told Lisa and Todd to relax while I sorted out the menu.

Day 2. We had another 25 miles to travel to our pickup spot and much like the day before it was pleasant cruising. There were a few miles of road construction towards the end, but most of the tractors that passed us had flowers on the front so it really wasn't that bad.

We pulled in to Nyaungdon and I was very taken, what a cool town! Interesting streets, pagodas, mosques, and as always-people. We rode thru and made our way to a little beach on (this time) the mighty banks of the Irrawaddy. I knew I'd make it.

There were quite a few food options that seemed to find us

took me a bit to figure out price, but I got my snack!

you don't choose the beach life... it chooses you

Wonderful weekend. What a beautiful country, what fun people I work with. I used many of their photos (sorry to not properly credit them!) Can't wait for the next adventure!

Here is Lisa J. and Petra

here is a link from Todd if you want to see the map of where we were

and here is the crew minus Lisa. Petra, Dave, Sean, Ryno, Greg, Todd, and I