Tropical Heat Tour: Myanmar Part 10
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Mandalay, Myanmar
I rented a bicycle from Mann’s Chinese restaurant for the princely sum of $1.25 for the whole day. The bikes in Myanmar have pretty bad geometry, kind of like a beach cruiser, so it’s hard to put a lot of torque on the pedals, making taking off from a standstill really slow, and pedaling really inefficient. Plus, they only have one gear, so any kind of real momentum will elude you. After another late lunch at Marie Min’s, I headed out into the sweltering sun and its best friend, heat, for a photo session around the Southwest part of town. I snapped a few funny storefronts, then headed away from all of the chaotic traffic into a tranquil Buddhist enclave, where I captured a few odd pagodas and other assorted strange statuary. As I pedaled back North to return the bike, darkness fell, making navigating the many large intersections without traffic lights a harrowing experience. Basically, everyone slows down and weaves around each other. You have to constantly swivel your head back and forth, and put a lot of trust in other drivers and hope they won’t make a lame move. If they do, you’re toast.
Roll over photos for captions.
Words and photos ©2012 Arcane Candy.
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