Rare Footage

This is time lapse action photography of the uncommon event of a pregnant wife cyclocross mounting a moving tandem.

Full speed ahead!

Post bike tour

We did probably 500km together and I got in about 600km by virtue of one longer day on the individual bike before tandem showed up, then the riding when Cindy was overheating.  It's not stage race intense, but we were both working hard. Me pedalling harder and Cindy making a bike touring baby. 

It was shut down time. Beauty temps, beauty flowers, busy hummingbirds. 

We packed up the bike nice, cleaned it, ready for the next trip.  I got a hole in my jeans along the way so got that patched/sewed for the standard white guy price of 50 cents.  

Unfortunately the food gremlins for both of us later that day. Ugh. 

Cindy's Birthday

We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant on the Irrawaddy River.  No wind, no bugs, slow moving water, just tranquil.

Nice dinner, nice view.  Then presents!

Baby aka Mini Cinny Myanmar jersey!

Sunset at dinner time lapse!

Bagan

I'm no archeological expert, but I'm going to go out on a limb and call this the pagoda capital of earth. Apparently there were 10,000 built between around 1,000 and 1,300 when this place was the capital of the area that now approximates Myanmar. Almost 3,000 are left standing or have been renovated enough to visit.  It's really amazing. And very beautiful. 

Bhudda is in the entries. 

Small staircase. 

Cindy not feeling so well but toughing it out. 

2nd level. 

View of top. 

Pagodas as far as the eye can see. 

Sunset! 

Sunset video!

Next morning we visited more.

Stretchy. 

Steep stairs.

Sunlight hall. 

Tandem team tourism. 

Dry but beautiful farming areas. 

This is the largest one. 

Cindy way down there. 

Cindy named this hair the "Burmese Breeze". 

No wind. Nice temp. It's peaceful just to sit. 

Bike touring Myanmar

Bike touring Myanmar, or at least the open areas of the country, is a total win. Great people, food, weather and terrain. 

I'll bike tour in a Bhuddist country any day. People are happy and peaceful. They are like that on the roads, in restaurants, in hotels, and amongst themselves. They treat animals well. Our driver is so peaceful it hurts at times, so patient and courteous. I'm not aware of much Bhuddist self promotion, but they are the rightful owners of the "religion of peace" slogan in my books. 

We've been in the agriculturally rich areas. I haven't seen refrigeration yet, but I presume it exists as beers are cold in at least some places. But produce goes from soil to plate in under a day, and only minutes at times. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, chilis, soy, more beans than I can identify, corn, carrots, cabbage, leafy salad bases like gourd leaves and tamarind leaves grow. Rice of course, many different varieties. Melons, limes, avocados, strawberries, coconuts, dragon fruit, tamarind, papaya, all grow easily. Fish, pork, beef, chicken is on every menu. Cindy got one night of bad food, I ended up being fine. Flavours are amazing, they don't to bland. Animals tend to be skinny, but I think it's not for lack of food or withholding food from them - I think they stay thin because of/ to deal with heat. It's hot and we're here at coldest time of year.  

The weather in the "winter" is lovely. Not a drop of rain. Maybe 15-25 day low/hi at lower elevations and take 5 degrees off that when we were up high. People wear puffy jackets, toques, and suggest we dress warmly to be cautious. We followed that a few mornings then realized we should just leave our jackets as we take them off in 10 minutes and carry them all day. 

The terrain was varied, which made it interesting. Mountains, jungles, arid areas, flats. No real wind. Not many bugs at all. 

Bike touring on a tandem is awesome. People love it. It brings smiles to so many faces besides our own. We never split up. It's quite a workout. We got in just short of 600km. With heat, growing body weight, and a pregnant wife, we'll just say there was more than ample opportunity to work hard. I feel like I built torque and base fitness, it's not really power you build. Cindy has extremes. Extremely hot or cold, hungry or full, buzzing with energy or passed out sleeping. It's actually pretty comical. But on seperate bikes it just wouldn't really work. I'm surprised at how much she did want to do each day.  She says she gave me the gift I've always wanted by being weight on the back - more training. "I might be a sack of potatoes Bakke, but I'm your favourite sack of potatoes."

Inle Lake fisherman skills

That's a lot of balance; impressive way to free up two hands to fish.

Random Snacks

Highest glycemic index known to man?  Dried gourd that bleeds white sugar as it dries. 

This is how you make a snack tray. Pickled tea leaves in center. Peanuts. Some beans. Sliced dried ginger. Roasted garlic. Toasted sesame. 

This dish is called "small fish". 

I like this one. Black salty soy paste with onions. 

The one closest to Cindy's plate was tamarind leave salad. That was excellent. Egg curry was good. Chicken, beef, fish, gourds, peas, etc all made appearances. If you didn't like onions, garlic and tomatoes it would be hard to eat here.

I tried this today. Good. 

In the "make do" world, this bottle opener is a bolt in a scooter part.  Like most Asian countries, I'm continually amused that it appears anyone over the age of 8 can disassemble and reassemble a scooter at the side of the road with one wrench and some flip flops on. 

Tomato onion sesame salad. 

I like these beans. Fried broad beans apparently.