Myanmar: Yangon to Bagan

Myanmar

While cycling in the Philippines we met  Kjell and Andrea and having swapped email addresses thought nothing more of it. Several months later we received an email from them asking if we would like to join them on a tour to mystical Myanmar.  Life is too short to pass up such opportunities and before we knew it the planning was under way.

It would be the first time that we had ever toured with another couple so it was a new experience for us.

Myanmar really is still a wonderful place to visit, although a little more difficult for cycle touring.

Read about some of the issues when travelling there at: Bicycling Magnificent Myanmar

For clarity's sake we have divided our trip account into a number of sections:

• Visiting Yangon
• Lake Inle
• The Taunggyi Fire Balloon Festival
• Lake Inle to Bagan Bicycle Ride
• The Temples and Stupas of Bagan
• Bago Mawlamyine Bicycle Ride

Click on the appropriate link to take you to the account on our web site My Bicycling Adventure.com

Japan: Shikoku

Shikoku Bicycle Ride

The ferry took us from Saiki on the east coast Kyushu island to the small port of Sukumo on the island of Shikoku. The ride across Shikoku would take in stunning coastlines, rivers and mountain passes, hot baths and exhilarating descents before arriving on the east coast of the Island and our final ferry ride  and our flight back to Manila from Osaka.

Read the full story at: Shikoku Bicycle Ride

Japan: Kyushu

Kyushu Bicycle Ride

The next stage of our trip would take us from Busan and South Korea's main southerly port by ferry to Fukuoka on the northern coast of Japan's Kyushu Island. Japan intrigued us and we frankly didn't really know what to expect. 

From Fukuoka we rode west and south down the western coast of Kyushu to the city of Nagasaki which was almost totally destroyed during the Second World War when the American government dropped the second deadly nuclear bomb to bring about the surrender of Japan. It was a sobering visit and we were glad that we had decided to go.

From there we crossed over the Island taking in the active volcano, Mount Aso and finishing at the easterly port of Saiki to take the ferry to the next island, Shikoku.

To read the full account visit our web site at: Kyushu Bicycle Ride

South Korea: Yeonghae to Busan

Following a day off in the lovely coastal town of Yeonghae we continued our journey through South Korea. This time heading south west to the far corner of the peninsular to visit the picturesque Wando Island. before heading east again along the coast to Yeosu and completing the final section to Busan by bus ready for next adventure in Japan.

the ride description and has been moved to our web site along with maps and profiles of the days routes.  You can read the full description by clicking the following link:

Read Full Ride Description

South Korea: Seoul to Yeonghae

We arrived at Seoul's Incheon International Airport on Tuesday  8th October 2013 for the start of a three week bicycle tour of South Korea.  Our arrival from Manila the capital of the Philippines was three hours late having left in a torrential rain storm. So it was that we didn-t arrive at our hotel in Seoul until gone midnight.

Our ride would take us from Seoul heading north east along the Han  and Bukhan rivers to reach Chuncheon just a few miles from the North / South border. From their we passed through beautiful river valleys, deep gorges and some extreme weather before arriving on the east coast of the Korean peninsular at the little town of  Yeonghae.

The full ride description has now been moved to our web site you can read it by clicking the following link.

Link to the full ride description

Taiwan West Coast and Mountains

We had cycled the whole of Taiwan's east coast from north to south and now it was time to head north again.  The west coast is more densely populated and is home to the majority of the population. So rather than work our way through this largely industrial and agricultural coast, we opted to head for the mountains and take in Taiwan's highest peak Huahuan mountain.

It would prove to be a beautiful and challenging ride crossing completely across the country from west to east before heading north again to finish in Taipei.

You can read the full story at

http://www.my-bicycling-adventure.com/Bicycle_The_Taiwan_Mountains.html

the early part of our tour along the east coast is at

http://www.my-bicycling-adventure.com/bicycle_taiwan_east_coast.html

Taiwan: East Coast

Getting There


Having had three weeks of relaxation and bike preparation at our apartment in the Philippines, it was time to get back on the road. While we had been visiting friends and family in the UK, our bikes were  resprayed by 'Timmy' at his workshop in Dumaguete. He did a great job,sourcing a green mat paint which was identical to the original finish. The    ' Thorn'  branding writing was reproduced in adhesive transfers and, as we would find out later, they would not be up to the job. So resprayed, re-fitted and lubricated, with us clad in new cycling kit, it was time to get going.


The big question was, where? The first thought was north Thailand, Laos and north Vietnam. But June is the beginning of the rainy season and we hate getting muddy. Then we thought about Indonesia but it is high season there, and difficult to extend the 30 day visa. Taiwan had never really featured on our 'to do' list until we met a group of Taiwanese living on a campsite in Tasmania. They were very enthusiastic about their beautiful homeland and encouraged us to visit. We also fancied seeing Korea and Japan so a plan began to form.

Flights to Taiwan with Cebu Pacific from Manila to Taipei  were the cheapest, and it was cheaper to return to Manila and fly on to Korea than fly there direct from Taipei. From Busan in Korea there is a ferry to Fukuoka on Kyushu island (Japan). Cebu Pacific also fly from Osaka to Manila for the return.

The flight from Dumaguete boarded on time. There was a scramble to find enough space for the cabin luggage as everyone seemed to be taking big boxes of cakes home with them from the little French bakery in the Dumaguete  mall. Once we were all seated the pilot informed us  that  there would be an hour delay in take-off due to a backlog of flights into Manila.

Luckily there was plenty of time between our two flights and no need to change terminals in Manila. Then the flight out of Manila was delayed for almost an hour waiting for a late connecting flight. We were glad we had booked a van to pick us up at Taipei airport which was a lonely place at 2am. The bikes arrived safely, packed in their new soft bags, although a little bashed around.


Taipei

The Red House

We had booked three nights in the 'Dandy Hotel' which is number 1 on Trip Adviser. It was very good, although a bit far away from the centre of the city. We spent a day exploring the city and the second day putting the bikes together and buying last minute things from a pretty good bike shop just down the road.

Feeding the birds

The best thing about Taipei is it's efficient transport system. The MRT is easy to use, with a ticketing system very similar to London underground. All the stations are announced in English as well as Mandarin.

Temple offerings

The buses are well labelled and all destinations are in two languages. There is a constantly expanding cycle path network. Most of the rivers have paths on both banks and it is easy to go from the suburbs into the city along  these.

Puppet theatre

We wandered round the Peace Park, watching the children feeding the birds, did a couple of museums and temples and spent an hour watching, but not comprehending, the puppet theatre.






The following day would be the start of our Taiwan East Coast ride which would take in the whole of the east coast from the northern most tip to the southern most.

To read the full account click here: Bicycle Taiwan East Coast