Deep into the jungle

It was our first week end in Yangon. After a very tiring week of running around the city, shopping and cleaning it was nice just to relax and have no weekend plans (as we thought :).

On Saturday we were invited to a dinner by one Belgian lady. Ruben got to know her via InterNations. It was a lovely evening and a fun gathering of people - it were only ladies and Ruben :)

Deb from Australia who was among the guests mentioned that she was going to do a biking trip next day. Apparently every Sunday there is a biking trip outside Yangon organized by one Australian guy.

We eagerly agreed to join as it was very exciting to go outside the city in a real rural area.

It was a real challenge to wake up at about 5 am to be on time for the departure from the meeting point. There were quite a lot of other people willing to a ride, if I recall correctly, about 15 in total. Plus the team of 3 guides.

It took us around 1 hour to get out of Yangon in the rural area by truck. The live in the village is completely different. There were no real buildings - just wooden huts; no asphalt on the road - just pure reddish soil.

We had a lovely breakfast all together, seating at those small plastic tables on plastic chairs. We ate mohinga which is a traditional fish and noodles soup. It was delicious and very nutritious. We needed those calories to survive the difficult route ahead.

Eating mohinga. Mjammyyy!!!

I think we started our way around 8 am or something. It supposed to be a 25 km ride. Oh my... If only I knew it will be that difficult...

All equipped and ready! Still clean and shiny... :)

Ruben was still a bit sleepy. So am I actually

We started our trip by visiting a small factory that produces bandages. It was amazing to see how those people make everything. The equipment was so old.. almost manual. 

Then hit the road for real. It was not easy for me at all. The road was unstable, full with ruts. I'm a city biking girl and not used to such a difficult path... But I tried my best :) Of course I was always the last one in the group :)

A farmer taking care of his bullocks. What a nice spa treatment :)

It was 1/3 of our route when we made a stop at a rubber making factory. Well, it is not a factory at all. It is just a village where they make rubber mats. All manually! That's why the quality of rubber is so poor. And although the people put a lot of effort into its production, the rubber can't be sold expensive. They get only around 2 USD for one mat. 

The whole village is involved into production. Even small children

Oh yeah, I fall down couple of times (not badly to my luck)... At times i was frustrated and cursing myself for being so crazy to agree on this tour... But then it all faded away when I was seeing all the beauty of the nature!

Just one of the beautiful views

At some point Ruben got a flat tire. It was quickly fixed by Lance. He is Burmese and works for this biking tours. By the way, he was my best friend during the tour always helping me in difficult situations :) Due to the stop over we were far behind the rest of the group. 

Lance, my best friend during the tour :) I won't be able to survive without him. 

Water is used for rice production

It took us about 4 hours to get to the starting point. Ruben was one of the first to get to finish (he came right after the main guide).I was the last one, but i didn't care - I felt proud for myself anyway.   

I was deadly exhausted. I got bruises, sunburns; I was covered with mad and very hungry. But I was happy that I've done it. 

Now I feel ready to do it again. I just hope for an easier route :)