Myeik and the Andaman highway on a step-through. Burma rides.
This fourth and currently last part of my Burma rides takes place around Myeik in Burma's southern Tanintharyi division. If you decide to ride in Burma's south along the Andaman coast - plan it so that you have your lunch and coffee breaks along the beach. Otherwise you won't see much of the Andaman coast as the main highway travels slightly inland. So do plan for short detours to the coast.
Map around Myeik archipelago
So Christmas 2015 and my Myanmar National Airlines flight landed in Myeik airport. As soon as I got out the airport building I was approached by a gentleman hand in the air 'Taxi'. Sure, I replied, how much to Grand Jade hotel ? 1,000 Kyats (about 1 USD) he replied. That's cheap I thought, deal. Before I knew my carry bag was between his legs on a scooter and me firmly seated on a pillion. Not what I expected from a Taxi but what the hell........
Checked in and straightaway I asked the hotel staff to rent me a motorcycle. No problem usually but since it was Christmas all reception staff wanted to keep their bikes so they can visit family easily. No problem, I managed to rent a Honda Wave from the motorcycle taxi guys across the street. After quick lunch by the Myeik seafront I just had to decide whether to ride north along the Andaman or southeast inland towards Tanintharyi town. North and Andaman got my vote.
Myeik and the archipelago in front
Lunch by the seafront and jetty area
Myeik is quite pleasant town and I enjoyed riding through it and the bridges over the narrow bays / river mouths north of it. After that you don't really see much of the Andaman sea from the highway unless you explore to the coast itself. However, you see a lot of rubber / latex drying outside the households and some decent hillsides in the background. The road, albeit relatively narrow, was in quite okay shape for my step-through anyway. However, there was lot of road construction going on near the villages with one lane usually closed off. This was not a problem as there wasn't any traffic anyways. But you have to slow down. The road construction was done in typical Burmese style where the materials are delivered along the roadside and seemingly most of the villagers are involved in the works. The rocks are broken into gravel / crush-rock at site and after some basic compaction hot tar is poured over it and the road is paved. This provides some basic additional income to the villages along the highway.
Bridge connecting Myeik to rest of the Tanintharyi division
Highways north of Myeik
I rode up about three hours and somewhere near Palaw I stopped for a drink break and decided it was time to head back. On my way back to Myeik I stopped for few photo ops and took in some nice scenery along the river mouths. And after six hours on the road arrived back to Myeik as it was getting dark. Dinner and Xmas beers on the rooftop restaurant of my hotel. Upon my return to Yangon several of my colleagues asked me about Myeik....nice, did you visit the island archipelago in front of Myeik ? No. Did you take the boat tours and go snorkeling or scuba diving ? No. What did you do then ???? I rented a scooter and rode six hours under the scorching sun to nowhere. You did what ??
Returning to Myeik
In downtown Myeik
This fourth and currently last part of my Burma rides takes place around Myeik in Burma's southern Tanintharyi division. If you decide to ride in Burma's south along the Andaman coast - plan it so that you have your lunch and coffee breaks along the beach. Otherwise you won't see much of the Andaman coast as the main highway travels slightly inland. So do plan for short detours to the coast.
Map around Myeik archipelago
So Christmas 2015 and my Myanmar National Airlines flight landed in Myeik airport. As soon as I got out the airport building I was approached by a gentleman hand in the air 'Taxi'. Sure, I replied, how much to Grand Jade hotel ? 1,000 Kyats (about 1 USD) he replied. That's cheap I thought, deal. Before I knew my carry bag was between his legs on a scooter and me firmly seated on a pillion. Not what I expected from a Taxi but what the hell........
Checked in and straightaway I asked the hotel staff to rent me a motorcycle. No problem usually but since it was Christmas all reception staff wanted to keep their bikes so they can visit family easily. No problem, I managed to rent a Honda Wave from the motorcycle taxi guys across the street. After quick lunch by the Myeik seafront I just had to decide whether to ride north along the Andaman or southeast inland towards Tanintharyi town. North and Andaman got my vote.
Myeik and the archipelago in front
Lunch by the seafront and jetty area
Myeik is quite pleasant town and I enjoyed riding through it and the bridges over the narrow bays / river mouths north of it. After that you don't really see much of the Andaman sea from the highway unless you explore to the coast itself. However, you see a lot of rubber / latex drying outside the households and some decent hillsides in the background. The road, albeit relatively narrow, was in quite okay shape for my step-through anyway. However, there was lot of road construction going on near the villages with one lane usually closed off. This was not a problem as there wasn't any traffic anyways. But you have to slow down. The road construction was done in typical Burmese style where the materials are delivered along the roadside and seemingly most of the villagers are involved in the works. The rocks are broken into gravel / crush-rock at site and after some basic compaction hot tar is poured over it and the road is paved. This provides some basic additional income to the villages along the highway.
Bridge connecting Myeik to rest of the Tanintharyi division
Highways north of Myeik
I rode up about three hours and somewhere near Palaw I stopped for a drink break and decided it was time to head back. On my way back to Myeik I stopped for few photo ops and took in some nice scenery along the river mouths. And after six hours on the road arrived back to Myeik as it was getting dark. Dinner and Xmas beers on the rooftop restaurant of my hotel. Upon my return to Yangon several of my colleagues asked me about Myeik....nice, did you visit the island archipelago in front of Myeik ? No. Did you take the boat tours and go snorkeling or scuba diving ? No. What did you do then ???? I rented a scooter and rode six hours under the scorching sun to nowhere. You did what ??
Returning to Myeik
In downtown Myeik
