The ride from our Hotel in New Bagan to our Hotel near Mt Popa. The first 18 km was on a dirt side road!
Market Scene in New Bagan Thanakha in the raw form for sale: this is ground into a paste and used as a sunblock/moisturiser on the cheeks particularly. Another early morning market scene, Annette took while I mended yet another puncture. We set off on a small road directly from our hotel and it wasn&rsquo;t long before we were in agricultureal land. Here a family loads a cart with hay. Working in the fields It was a small sandy road for the first 18km or a third of our days ride. We pass&eacute;d many bullock drays and they made the track loose and dusty. Water is gathered from a pool and transported back to the village to be stored in huge earthenware jars. The track was variable and although we rode most of it, the going wasn&rsquo;t always easy. Brick making: <a href="../../Photo Albums/Burma 12 12 01 Brick making/" rel="self" title="Burma 12 12 01 Brick making">CLICK HERE OR PHOTO TO SEE MORE PICTURES</a> Pushing the bike was occasionally essential in the sandy bullock cart track. Once on the bitumen road there was a number of stalls. Here a simple system for producing peanut oil from raw peanuts. I think about 20 minutes to grind the peanuts. At the same stall I tried some delicious palm spirits. And here is where it was being distilled.<br />