Goodness gracious meeee! We crossed the Tamu/Moreh border into India
- spitthedog
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Goodness gracious meeee! We crossed the Tamu/Moreh border into India
Crossed about a week ago.
The road in Myanmar to Tamu between Monywa and Kalewa is an absolute shocker of a road that evidently is closed for 6 months of the year because i guess it turns to mush. A mix of potholes, cobblestone rocks, mud and gravel. We were pushing the bikes for most of 2 days around the Tongyi area , but very scenic and remote. It was hard but fun. Full of farmers driving ox & carts. Quite a few places where the road had collapsed on the sides.
Very little accomodation between the above points so had to stay in small Buddhist temples. I heard the large ones may phone the authorities.
Getting more near to Tamu you start to get shed loads of Myanmar army bases facing the India border. They go on for miles and then it's alot of tiny tree lined Chin Christian villages that seem to be all full of different branches of Christian churches. Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, every Chin village seems to have one of each.
It's almost like the army bases and churches combined both form a defensive barrier towards the border.
The Myanmar immigration booth at the border was the usual friendly affair and i paid the 1 day overstay and it was all smiles. The again filled in my girlfriends departure card for her.
Crossed the small steel bridge into India and turned left heading towards the enormous Indian flag where Immigration was situated in the far corner of the large building.
Walked in there thinking- fug me, where is everybody? Near empty. After a lengthy look in our passports and us finding our Indian tourist visas and stamps for them we headed for the customs desk where we filled in another form and the one dude filled in details on a note pad. All very Indian courteous, but you got the impression it hadnt been open that long. Easy though. Just took awile considering the place was empty.
Walked back to the bridge, and carried on towards the town of Moreh. Just before it is a tiny army checkpoint hut. Got told to sit down in there and it was full of burly friendly Indian dudes with 70's mustaches carrying machine guns. They seemed to be in the process of mildly interogating 2 Indian guys with a large bag of fish.
Alot of shouting went on when another soldier stormed in with what looked like detonation cable and what looked like a block of wax like material and percussion caps or something.
A polite soldier sat down next to us with two large forms and proceeded to ask us a shed load of questions;
Were we married? For how long? Final destination? Where after India? How long travelling? Countries we had been to before India?
All good vibes, but we left the hut scratching our heads about why so many questions.
Walked the few hundred meters into the town of Moreh where i realised changing dollars into rupees wasnt gonna be as easy as i had hoped. The 3 Banks wouldnt change it. The only place in town is down the mud track beside the police station where there is a Western Union. The Western Union doesnt change USD, but the guy in there calls his brother and we got 66.5 to the USD.
The state of Manipur makes Myanmar look like Singapore. The main road AH2, to Imphal and up to Nagaland is a dusty potholed gravel, mud mess. Dusty Manipur. The dont litter signs ligning the highway are amusing considering the dust the road gives off. Quite a few people mentioned about how corrupt the place is, hence the state of the main road. As soon as we crossed into the state of Nagaland the road transformed into lovely smooth tarmac and hence far less dust.
Riding out of Moreh we saw Assam Rifles soldiers everywhere on the road. One soldier told us they dominated the area and i noticed they were even in the bushes watching the road. (And thats not me being a paranoid nutjob). My girlfriend was scared to go for a pee in the bushes. We handed over our passports at around 5 checkpoints on the road, with one asking for our phone number. All mostly friendly with a couple getting a selfie with us. All carrying machine guns. We saw them alot on the back of trucks holding the mounted machine gun ready for action. They drive with and guard convoys of gas trucks that travel on the highway at 5 am.
Manipur looks so neglected. Interesting, but neglected. One Christian policeman told me that the area is neglected partly for religious reasons, but mostly because of corruption. The area is full of Christian mountain people who dont seem happy with the state of things.
Noticed the odd guesthouse with "no pre natal sex" and alcohol prohibited signs on the wall. Manipur is a lax dry state. Easy to buy in Moreh though.
In Senapati i went out to buy beer but you had to buy it in these dark underground places on the hush hush and be discreet. 2 bucks a can. Evidently there used to be a big drinking problem in the state. The dust must drive them to drink i reckon. Fark, did i mention the dust. One guy told me they just drink more now with the ban, and its driven up alcohol prices.
Nagaland is also a dry state i think. (Just got here). Though again, lax. Might have to get the legs moving so we get to Assam state.
The two states are bloody cold. Only cheap lodging mostly available in the small towns with freezing cold buckets of water for showering.
Met some lovely people in Manipur.
Shame about the dust though.
The road in Myanmar to Tamu between Monywa and Kalewa is an absolute shocker of a road that evidently is closed for 6 months of the year because i guess it turns to mush. A mix of potholes, cobblestone rocks, mud and gravel. We were pushing the bikes for most of 2 days around the Tongyi area , but very scenic and remote. It was hard but fun. Full of farmers driving ox & carts. Quite a few places where the road had collapsed on the sides.
Very little accomodation between the above points so had to stay in small Buddhist temples. I heard the large ones may phone the authorities.
Getting more near to Tamu you start to get shed loads of Myanmar army bases facing the India border. They go on for miles and then it's alot of tiny tree lined Chin Christian villages that seem to be all full of different branches of Christian churches. Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, every Chin village seems to have one of each.
It's almost like the army bases and churches combined both form a defensive barrier towards the border.
The Myanmar immigration booth at the border was the usual friendly affair and i paid the 1 day overstay and it was all smiles. The again filled in my girlfriends departure card for her.
Crossed the small steel bridge into India and turned left heading towards the enormous Indian flag where Immigration was situated in the far corner of the large building.
Walked in there thinking- fug me, where is everybody? Near empty. After a lengthy look in our passports and us finding our Indian tourist visas and stamps for them we headed for the customs desk where we filled in another form and the one dude filled in details on a note pad. All very Indian courteous, but you got the impression it hadnt been open that long. Easy though. Just took awile considering the place was empty.
Walked back to the bridge, and carried on towards the town of Moreh. Just before it is a tiny army checkpoint hut. Got told to sit down in there and it was full of burly friendly Indian dudes with 70's mustaches carrying machine guns. They seemed to be in the process of mildly interogating 2 Indian guys with a large bag of fish.
Alot of shouting went on when another soldier stormed in with what looked like detonation cable and what looked like a block of wax like material and percussion caps or something.
A polite soldier sat down next to us with two large forms and proceeded to ask us a shed load of questions;
Were we married? For how long? Final destination? Where after India? How long travelling? Countries we had been to before India?
All good vibes, but we left the hut scratching our heads about why so many questions.
Walked the few hundred meters into the town of Moreh where i realised changing dollars into rupees wasnt gonna be as easy as i had hoped. The 3 Banks wouldnt change it. The only place in town is down the mud track beside the police station where there is a Western Union. The Western Union doesnt change USD, but the guy in there calls his brother and we got 66.5 to the USD.
The state of Manipur makes Myanmar look like Singapore. The main road AH2, to Imphal and up to Nagaland is a dusty potholed gravel, mud mess. Dusty Manipur. The dont litter signs ligning the highway are amusing considering the dust the road gives off. Quite a few people mentioned about how corrupt the place is, hence the state of the main road. As soon as we crossed into the state of Nagaland the road transformed into lovely smooth tarmac and hence far less dust.
Riding out of Moreh we saw Assam Rifles soldiers everywhere on the road. One soldier told us they dominated the area and i noticed they were even in the bushes watching the road. (And thats not me being a paranoid nutjob). My girlfriend was scared to go for a pee in the bushes. We handed over our passports at around 5 checkpoints on the road, with one asking for our phone number. All mostly friendly with a couple getting a selfie with us. All carrying machine guns. We saw them alot on the back of trucks holding the mounted machine gun ready for action. They drive with and guard convoys of gas trucks that travel on the highway at 5 am.
Manipur looks so neglected. Interesting, but neglected. One Christian policeman told me that the area is neglected partly for religious reasons, but mostly because of corruption. The area is full of Christian mountain people who dont seem happy with the state of things.
Noticed the odd guesthouse with "no pre natal sex" and alcohol prohibited signs on the wall. Manipur is a lax dry state. Easy to buy in Moreh though.
In Senapati i went out to buy beer but you had to buy it in these dark underground places on the hush hush and be discreet. 2 bucks a can. Evidently there used to be a big drinking problem in the state. The dust must drive them to drink i reckon. Fark, did i mention the dust. One guy told me they just drink more now with the ban, and its driven up alcohol prices.
Nagaland is also a dry state i think. (Just got here). Though again, lax. Might have to get the legs moving so we get to Assam state.
The two states are bloody cold. Only cheap lodging mostly available in the small towns with freezing cold buckets of water for showering.
Met some lovely people in Manipur.
Shame about the dust though.
"I don't care what the people are thinking, i ain't drunk i'm just drinking"
- spitthedog
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India is actually in the process of building the new road along the border in Myanmar. There is road construction going on in Dusty Manipur , but waaay behind what's going on on the road in Myanmar.
The food in Manipur is fine, but like Myanmar, in the restaurants , no variety. They like chabatis and mutter in the morning, and for rice you get the set meal of chicken, pork or fish curry, and like Myanmar its basically the same curry flavour everywhere for 100-150 rupees. They need more muzzie curries like we have in the UK. All the rice shops are called "Hotels". I asked gor accomodation in one when we got here.
The only other alternative for meals are the "cafe's" where they sell chinese food. The menu in Manipur and Nagaland in these cafe's in the countryside has always been chow mein, fried rice, and momo. Makes a nice change from the curries.
The food in Manipur is fine, but like Myanmar, in the restaurants , no variety. They like chabatis and mutter in the morning, and for rice you get the set meal of chicken, pork or fish curry, and like Myanmar its basically the same curry flavour everywhere for 100-150 rupees. They need more muzzie curries like we have in the UK. All the rice shops are called "Hotels". I asked gor accomodation in one when we got here.
The only other alternative for meals are the "cafe's" where they sell chinese food. The menu in Manipur and Nagaland in these cafe's in the countryside has always been chow mein, fried rice, and momo. Makes a nice change from the curries.
"I don't care what the people are thinking, i ain't drunk i'm just drinking"
Sounds great. Think Mr Starving Pelliman spends a bit of time in Nagaland too, (or maybe Nagaworld).
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Great read spitdog, keep the reports coming. I always thought that area of India was predominantly Muslim for some reason. Can you take a pic of your bike? Do you know how much weight you’re carrying?
Edit to correct a typo
Edit to correct a typo
Keep the updates comming, I envy both you and Horace and the challanges you take on.
I refuse to go out with nothing more than a whimper followed by a small farting sound and a shit stain on my bed sheets..
Just thought I'd share that with you.
Just thought I'd share that with you.
- Starving Pelican
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That’s a yes. Though to which one?pedros wrote:Sounds great. Think Mr Starving Pelliman spends a bit of time in Nagaland too, (or maybe Nagaworld).
Enjoy your trip, spitthedog. The place doesn’t see many tourists and the people are incredibly hospitable and helpful to outsiders (except mainland Indians).
Indiana, the North East part of India is predominately Christian, besides Assam and parts of Manipur. I think you’re think of Bangladesh, which is a separate country in between North East India and “mainland” India.
Yeah I got that - I just assumed that with Bangladesh being a Muslim country that the rest of the region was as well. I stand corrected
- spitthedog
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Not carrying much now. Threw away the sleeping bag in Ha Tien, Vietnam. Carrying a laptop that i've only used once. Wish i had that sleeping bag now.Indiana wrote:Great read spitdog, keep the reports coming. I always thought that area of India was predominantly Muslim for some reason. Can you take a pic of your bike? Do you know how much weight you’re carrying?
Edit to correct a typo
Take it all back about the roads being much better in Nagaland. Cycled from Kohima to near Dimapur couple of days ago. Better, but only slightly. All downhill to Dimapur 20kms or so before Medziphema.
Nagaland seems way ahead of Manipur with regards to the road construction that is going on.
Was told tonight that Assam state is a developed economy and has good roads and beer available everywhere. Be interesting to see the difference.
Been an eye opener how poor those 2 states look. Fark, makes even Cambodia look like a developed country.
Crossed into Assam today. Lovely stretch of road 36kms into Assam, in comparison to Manipur and Nagaland. Hope it continues. Was warned about wild elephants in the forrest area near the Assam/Nagaland border. Someone told us they once charged him when he was in his jeep cutting wood so he had to run up a tree. Decided to cycle the 10 kms through the forrest in the end and we noticed alot of care free school kids walking on the road which set our minds at ease. Did have a few sharp looks behind me though when the ancient old Tata trucks brakes were squeeling like an elephant.
Saw quite abit of elephant poo on the road.
If dusty Manipur looks like a mountainess version of the Book of Eli, it will be interesting to see what Assam looks like. Nice short ride today, although severe case of the trots today.
Was surprised to hear that alot of the women actually drink like drunken sailors in Nagaland and the area. It's just we dont see it.Prohibition.Bwawawawa!!
Fark, my guts are groaning again. Did a shed load of Vodka with a lovely Catholic lady last night.
"I don't care what the people are thinking, i ain't drunk i'm just drinking"
I hired a bike and did a 200 km’s trip recently in eastern China. Fuck me mate, my arse still hursts. Lesson learnt, don’t skip on cycling shorts! Was great tho’, makes me admire what you and Horace are doing a whole lot more
Edit: typo correction
Edit: typo correction
- batshitcrazyweirdo
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I love bitches n gonna fuck Texas and the USA+ right up their god damn ass! Hallelujah!
- spitthedog
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Assam roads have been great so far (only been here 3 days though). Even have motorcycle lanes.
A question for the techies?
I bought an Airtel sim card which came with 1 month unlimited data for 250 rupees.
Looking back i should have bought Jio as its the largest in India.
The data finished today after only 12 days.
I think it may be where i bought the sim in Manipur state, but then travelled to Nagaland state, and now Assam state.
So roaming charges are eating up my data?? Would that be right?
What is the awnser to this? Buy a new sim when entering every state? Or a dual sim?
Cheers
A question for the techies?
I bought an Airtel sim card which came with 1 month unlimited data for 250 rupees.
Looking back i should have bought Jio as its the largest in India.
The data finished today after only 12 days.
I think it may be where i bought the sim in Manipur state, but then travelled to Nagaland state, and now Assam state.
So roaming charges are eating up my data?? Would that be right?
What is the awnser to this? Buy a new sim when entering every state? Or a dual sim?
Cheers
"I don't care what the people are thinking, i ain't drunk i'm just drinking"
I think the roaming charges are if you are out of the area where you have to connect to another companies cell towers. So you will want to get with a company that has coverage where you plan to travel.
Ι'м тнє σиє ωнσ нαѕ тσ ∂ιє ωнєи ιт'ѕ тιмє fσя мє тσ ∂ιє ѕσ ℓєт мє ℓινє му ℓιfє тнє ωαу Ι ωαит тσ - ʝJιмι Нєи∂яιχ
- spitthedog
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Cheers,
The internet on my phone now doesnt seem to work without data roaming on.
Any ideas why that is?
Normal?
The internet on my phone now doesnt seem to work without data roaming on.
Any ideas why that is?
Normal?
"I don't care what the people are thinking, i ain't drunk i'm just drinking"
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