I initially entered Myanmar at Tachileik. However highway 4 passes through an area controlled by the army and is closed of to foreigners. Border control staff informed me that there was an army checkpost at the edge of town and that I would not be allowed to pass and that special permits were not available. It was fortunate I was allowed to stay overnight and return to Thailand the next morning without having my visa stamped.
Officially foreigners must stay in hotels licensed to accept foreigners. However, these are quite widely spaced in some of the rural areas. The authorities didn’t seem very interested. Provided a fairly low profile is kept and a distance is kept from any military camps it is fairly unlikely that the authorities will take any action. It is best to wild camp just in case, as locals found hosting frighteners could get into trouble and don’t have the option of moving swiftly on. There was a police checkpoint as I left the border town of Myawaddy that just made a note of passport and visa number. Once further into the country I did not come across any further chekpoints. The hotels I stayed in were all of a good comfortable standard.
I entered the country properly at Myawaddy. I stayed in the hotel Lawka. The thing that I really remember about this hotel is thinking that the cleaner used to clean the rooms must be a close relative of petroleum as the smell was quite pungent.
I took the old road over the mountains. A new direct road had just been opened and was not shown on Google Maps. The old road was very scenic, passing several traditional villages and well worth the extra distance. It was narrow and windy but completely free of traffic. The descent was rather ruff but teams of locals were working on installing concrete surfacing on a number of sections. I made Hpa-An in a day but was pretty glad to arrive in the town. I was cycling past the hotel Gabbana which looked very inviting, so I thought sod-it, gone far enough today and treated myself to a night of luxury. The receptionist produced a jug of cold orange juice that was most welcome. I continued to Kyaikto, then cut the corner to join the north/south highway at Daik-U. From where it was a couple of days ride to Naypyitaw. Naypyitaw is like a post apocalyptic city from the movies. The roads have been layed out for a huge city. However very few of the plots are occupied and there are huge gaps between different sectors of the city. It was whilst doing a spot of routine bicycle maintenance in Naypyitaw that I spotted the flange of the Rholoff hub had cracked. Having consulted Rholoff, I decided the best plan was to head to Bangkok where there is a dealer that could lace a new hub body into my wheel. I followed the route I had come back to Myawady and Mae Sot with the exception that I took the new direct road over the mountains. Between Naypyitaw and Bangkok I checked the wheel daily and the crack did not noticeably grow. With hindsight it might have been possible to continue to India as planned and have the replacement hub body sent to India and re-laced the wheel myself. However, my information was that the roads in western Myanmar were quite poor and with little in the way of public transport so I didn’t want to risk being stranded with a broken bike.