looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHUAIA

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Helgazz
Posts: 5
Joined: 29 Aug 2015, 5:58am

looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHUAIA

Post by Helgazz »

Hello!
I am looking for a companion for a cycling trip which I am planning to start on the end of November 2015 (20th-25th - its flexible, but dependent on the time when i finish the project I am working on at the moment). I will have about 2 months of free time for travelling.
I have 2 options, depending on finances, air fares and just decision :):
1) coming to Bangkok and cycling around Burma and Laos and coming back to Bangkok.
2) coming to Buenos Aires and going down to the South to Ushuaia.
I am looking for a travel companion for this trip. I have no preference regarding male/female, I am just looking for cheerful easy-going person, who love adventures :) Probably around 30-38 y.o.
I am Ukrianian, but living in Poland, Warsaw. I am 33 y.o and I love adventures. I am a filmmaker.Vegetarian.
I plan this trip like a budget one, as I prefer not to stay in tourist places and hotels when I travel, but find close contacts with local people, stay with them and live like they live. But I like to afford myself comfort once in a while, rather like some extraordinary, not everyday :) I will not be in a rush, riding 60-70 km/day, exploring off the path places.
I love Asia, especially Nepal. This year I spent quite a lot of time there, I was in the mountains during the Earthquake and stayed in Nepal to help after it.
I am thinking of a long RTW trip after that, to go for travelling for a few years may be....
Phil66
Posts: 67
Joined: 10 Jul 2009, 9:46am

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by Phil66 »

Hi Helgaz,

I fly out to Bangkok on the 1 November for 4 months. Plan is to cycle north and then enter Laos and do a loop around to Phonsavan, then down to Vientiane to get a visa for Vietnam. I think I have up to 30 days in Thailand on a "visa on arrival" so will be staying in Thailand no longer than that, then I get a month in Laos.
If you think that might fit with what you have planned drop me a line, although I think I'll be 2 or 3 weeks in front of you. A shame as your style of travel, distances a day and approach to budget are much the same as mine.

All the best with your trip,

Phil.
iviehoff
Posts: 2411
Joined: 20 Jan 2009, 4:38pm

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by iviehoff »

Helgazz wrote:1) coming to Bangkok and cycling around Burma and Laos and coming back to Bangkok.
2) coming to Buenos Aires and going down to the South to Ushuaia.
I am looking for a travel companion for this trip. I have no preference regarding male/female, I am just looking for cheerful easy-going person, who love adventures :) Probably around 30-38 y.o.

I think you will find Mae Sot/Myawaddy is the only feasible bicycle crossing from Thailand to Myanmar at the moment, though there may be some others you can cross with bus assistance. It is certainly the only Thailand-Myanmar border crossing we hear of cyclists using with any regularity - some months ago I gave a link to a report of someone trying to use another one further south who discovered from a nasty man with a gun that he had better go back to town and take the bus. I think it is still just too dangerous to cycle anywhere near Kengtung - it is the centre of the "Golden Triangle" opium producing area and run by gangsters. So although the border is open at Tachilek, it may not be necessarily be useful, as you may need to fly between there and the rest of Myanmar. I don't think there is any land border open between Laos and Myanmar, and those borderlands there are gangster country. I don't know what the present situation at the Ruili-Muse border crossing to China is. I think you need to spend some time on the Myanmar branch to work these things out. But you need to leave behind the idea that if you see a road on a map you can cycle on it in this part of the world. Also if you cycle in Myanmar, you mostly have to stay in hotels and tourist places. You can sometimes stay in monasteries, but if you try being too alternative in Myanmar you will quickly meet the police - Myanmar has not liberalised freedom of movement for foreigners to the same degree as the former Soviet Union. Phil66 has a more feasible plan for cycling around this part of the world.

I've cycled a lot in Argentina, but cycling anywhere near Buenos Aires doesn't strike me as fun. Nor does cycling down the east coast of Argentina even once you had left BsAs well behind. The un-attractions include appalling winds, endlessly flat lands, unchanging views. When I was in Rio Gallegos with my bicycle and wanted to get to Comodoro Rivadavia, I got the overnight bus, because I knew I wasn't missing anything. At least in Argentina freedom of movement and wild camping is a normal part of life.

There is a lot of material out there on the web about cycling in these countries, you might benefit from researching some of it.
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by simonhill »

If you are on a budget you may want to reconsider Burma. It has become quite expensive since opening up. You have to stay in approved accom which can be expensive.

Might be worth looking at Vietnam which is much cheaper and a great place to cycle. Also Lao and Cambodia are pretty good.
Helgazz
Posts: 5
Joined: 29 Aug 2015, 5:58am

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by Helgazz »

Phil66 wrote:Hi Helgaz,

I fly out to Bangkok on the 1 November for 4 months. Plan is to cycle north and then enter Laos and do a loop around to Phonsavan, then down to Vientiane to get a visa for Vietnam. I think I have up to 30 days in Thailand on a "visa on arrival" so will be staying in Thailand no longer than that, then I get a month in Laos.
If you think that might fit with what you have planned drop me a line, although I think I'll be 2 or 3 weeks in front of you. A shame as your style of travel, distances a day and approach to budget are much the same as mine.

All the best with your trip,

Phil.


Hi Phil!
Thanks for your message. I haven`t booked the tickets yet, so I do not know the exact date when I start, but it depends only on finishing the autumn shoot of the film I am shooting right now. I expect I will start on the 25th-27th of November. I will fly in Bangkok, and I plan to move to Burma and then continue to Laos, so I think I may be in Laos just before New Year`s or smth like that. Yes, that`s a shame, because I would prefer to cycle with somebody, because it`s definitely more fun, so if you decide to include Burma into your itinerary - let me know :))!
Olga
Helgazz
Posts: 5
Joined: 29 Aug 2015, 5:58am

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by Helgazz »

simonhill wrote:If you are on a budget you may want to reconsider Burma. It has become quite expensive since opening up. You have to stay in approved accom which can be expensive.

Might be worth looking at Vietnam which is much cheaper and a great place to cycle. Also Lao and Cambodia are pretty good.


Hi Simon!
Thanks for your message and suggestions.
I don`t think Burma will become cheaper in the following years, but I want to see and explore it anyway, so it`s better now than later :)
I have already been in Southern Vietnam and Cambodia, so if SEAsia, then Burma and Laos this time :)
All the best!
Olga
Helgazz
Posts: 5
Joined: 29 Aug 2015, 5:58am

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by Helgazz »

iviehoff wrote:
Helgazz wrote:1) coming to Bangkok and cycling around Burma and Laos and coming back to Bangkok.
2) coming to Buenos Aires and going down to the South to Ushuaia.
I am looking for a travel companion for this trip. I have no preference regarding male/female, I am just looking for cheerful easy-going person, who love adventures :) Probably around 30-38 y.o.

I think you will find Mae Sot/Myawaddy is the only feasible bicycle crossing from Thailand to Myanmar at the moment, though there may be some others you can cross with bus assistance. It is certainly the only Thailand-Myanmar border crossing we hear of cyclists using with any regularity - some months ago I gave a link to a report of someone trying to use another one further south who discovered from a nasty man with a gun that he had better go back to town and take the bus. I think it is still just too dangerous to cycle anywhere near Kengtung - it is the centre of the "Golden Triangle" opium producing area and run by gangsters. So although the border is open at Tachilek, it may not be necessarily be useful, as you may need to fly between there and the rest of Myanmar. I don't think there is any land border open between Laos and Myanmar, and those borderlands there are gangster country. I don't know what the present situation at the Ruili-Muse border crossing to China is. I think you need to spend some time on the Myanmar branch to work these things out. But you need to leave behind the idea that if you see a road on a map you can cycle on it in this part of the world. Also if you cycle in Myanmar, you mostly have to stay in hotels and tourist places. You can sometimes stay in monasteries, but if you try being too alternative in Myanmar you will quickly meet the police - Myanmar has not liberalised freedom of movement for foreigners to the same degree as the former Soviet Union. Phil66 has a more feasible plan for cycling around this part of the world.

I've cycled a lot in Argentina, but cycling anywhere near Buenos Aires doesn't strike me as fun. Nor does cycling down the east coast of Argentina even once you had left BsAs well behind. The un-attractions include appalling winds, endlessly flat lands, unchanging views. When I was in Rio Gallegos with my bicycle and wanted to get to Comodoro Rivadavia, I got the overnight bus, because I knew I wasn't missing anything. At least in Argentina freedom of movement and wild camping is a normal part of life.

There is a lot of material out there on the web about cycling in these countries, you might benefit from researching some of it.


Hi Iviehof!
Thanks a lot for your information and suggestions
I will definitely read more about the border crossing between Myanmar and Laos and about Northern Myanmar. Yes, I know about all the restrictions with the traveling for tourists and regarding accommodation.
Anyway thanks a lot, I will work all these out for sure. There should be a way to move between Laos and Burma, except getting back to Bangkok, which is senseless...
iviehoff
Posts: 2411
Joined: 20 Jan 2009, 4:38pm

Re: looking for a companion: BURMA/LAOS or BUENOS AIRES/USHU

Post by iviehoff »

Helgazz wrote:There should be a way to move between Laos and Burma, except getting back to Bangkok, which is senseless...

Not all the way to Bangkok. See https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/ ... ai-or-laos Contrary to my earlier assertion, Kengtung-Tachilek is ok, at least by bus, but you probably have to fly to Kengtung from core Myanmar.
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